15 weeks

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and everything looks great!

I've been having a lot of cramping the past few weeks, but the doctor checked us out and said the baby is fine. Apparently the cramping is just from everything growing and shifting in there. That's a relief!

It will be so much better when I can feel the baby moving around. Right now things are so quiet it's hard for me to not get scared a little. It should only be another week or so before the bean is big enough to start making a racket in there.

Only 4 weeks until my ultrasound!

How far along: 15 weeks
Net weight gain/loss: gained 3 lbs since getting pregnant
Maternity clothes: not yet
Stretch marks: none (thanks Mama Bee)
Belly button: this is strange, but it's getting noticeably wider
Sleep: can't sleep on my back or my arm falls asleep
Baby movement: nothing yet, but soon!
Food cravings: Swedish fish (that's right, those little red fish candies!)
Food aversions: I can't even watch commercials for chicken anymore, it's getting worse

What I miss: turkey subs
Looking forward to: visiting with my parents over the 4th!
Best moment this week: hearing the heartbeat again

Milestones: the baby can sense light in there

orange you glad...

the bean's an orange!

And an apple!

At 15 weeks, the bean is about 4 inches long and weighs 2.5 ounces. She's getting to look a lot more like a baby --- her face is more round and her legs are now longer than her arms.

The bean can sense light even though his eyes are still fused shut. If I shined a flashlight at my belly, he'd turn away from it! That's definitely a trick I'll have to try once the baby's big enough for me to feel the movement.

Today is another doctor's appointment and I'm so excited to hear the heartbeat again! Keep growning, little bean. We love you out here!

happy 5th anniversary

Drew and I are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary today!

I can't believe it's really been 5 years since we got married. In some ways it feels like the time has flown by. Even though the years have gone fast, I really can't remember what things were like before Drew and I were partners.

I love you, Drew, and am so grateful to have you in my life.

Next year we will celebrate with a 6 month old baby!

June 25, 2004 at our wedding rehearsal. Wow, we look young.



Our wedding day





My family



Drew's family



Our honeymoon in Bermuda. No, we didn't take a cruise, that ship was just in the way back there!



We've had a lot of fun travel adventures over the past 5 years too.

In Japan



At the Roman Forum



Drew's graduation from Carnegie-Mellon with his MBA. Yay!



Love you, buddy.

dressed to impress

I love dresses in the summer.

There's just something about a floating, flow-y dress that feels so cool and comfortable in the summer heat.

The other day I went searching at the mall for a maternity summer dress that would get me through these hot months. I thought it would be a piece of cake.

Let's just say this isn't the first time I've made a bad assumption.

To start off, let's realize that there are 3...count 'em 3...stores in my mall that sell maternity clothes at all, so I'm starting from a slight disadvantage.

Then let's add in the fact that I'm shorter than your average 27 year old. I wear petite length pants and those 2 inches really make a difference, meaning that most full-length dresses come down over my shoes.

As far as I can tell, petite maternity clothes don't exist -- especially in dresses.

But, I digress.

The first shop I go into has racks and racks of summer dresses, score! There has to be something here that works, right? Um, no.

Why, oh why do the manufacturers of maternity clothes make all (but 1 or 2) of the dresses either strapless or spaghetti straps?

Please tell me what pregnant woman doesn't need to wear a bra? That's ridiculous. I tried a few on with a tank top underneath, but there was too much weird bunching. Blah.

Ok, on to the next stop.

This place also had quite a few dresses -- and several with wider straps on the top! It's a miracle!

I finally found a dress that I love. It's long (especially on me) and flows all over the place. It's awesome!

Unfortunately, this photo doesn't do it justice at all. In fact, if all I saw was this photo online I never would have bought it. But, I'm sure at some point I'll be wearing it at a function over the summer and will post a photo of me in it then. I really add a special something to it. :o)

I know you're all waiting with bated breath.

In the meantime, if you find any good summer dresses out there let me know!

14 weeks

I'm officially in the 2nd trimester!

My doctor assured me that I would be feeling much less nauseous now and should have more energy. She was right! The nausea has (mostly) been replaced by an all-consuming hunger. I still can't eat a lot at one time, but I eat much more often. Yum!

How far along: 14 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: down 2 lbs.

Maternity clothes: soon

Stretch marks: none (thanks Mama Bee)

Belly button: still an innie, but definitely getting wider

Sleep: bad the past few days

Baby movement: I feel some flutters, but nothing really obvious

Food cravings: french onion soup!

Food aversions: always with the chicken...

What I miss: margaritas with taco night

Looking forward to: painting my new bedroom this weekend

Best moment this week: receiving the rest of my baby bedding

Milestones: the baby can suck his/her thumb!

when life gives you lemons...

The bean is a lemon according to both of my sources this week! It's a consensus, finally!






I love, love lemon-y foods and drinks, so this one is right up my alley.







The bean is making all kinds of facial expressions now -- squinting, grimacing, wrinkling his/her nose.

So cute!

The bean is also able to inhale and expel amniotic fluid, which he/she will continue to do right until birth. Good practice for eating and making dirty diapers in a few months. :o)

I wish I could have an ultrasound now because the bean is finally able to suck his/her thumb -- I'll just have to use my imagination for now. Only 5 weeks until my peak at the bean. Yay!

happy father's day!

Today is Drew's first (unofficial) Father's Day. We had to celebrate!

When we were out shopping for baby furniture, Drew saw this faucet cover and was instantly taken with it. I knew that the bean would want to get it for him for Father's Day. We love the Moby!

Needless to say, Drew was pretty excited to open it up. :o)

Drew's parents also sent him a little gift to celebrate -- I love this bib. It's so true.

I can't wait for our first official Father's Day with the little one next year. I know that Drew is going to be a wonderful father and has just been waiting for the chance to get started.

There can't be a Father's Day post without mentioning our wonderful fathers!

Thanks, Dad(s) for always being there for us. We love you!

Drew's dad, Gene:

My dad, Mark:

favorite thing friday

I've noticed that all my pregnancy cravings so far have been for foods that I already liked, but now want to eat lots more of!

One craving I noticed most specifically is a treat that I've had (and enjoyed) in the past, but certainly didn't have very often.

Now I can't get enough.

I'd eat one every day if they were sold in bigger boxes. Or at Costco. As it is, I buy the 4 packs to control myself and only have 1 every other day...or so.

Can you guess what it is??

Let me give a few clues...

This treat is wonderful for summer because it's frozen.

It's a classic at state fairs and carnivals.

And the beach. Especially where the Bluth's live.

Poor George Michael.

This yummy treat is especially good for pregnant girls because the bulk of it is a healthy item...

with a delicious coating to make it decadent.

Did you guess yet?

It's frozen chocolate covered bananas!

My current favorites come from Trader Joe's and are called Gone Bananas. Which I frequently do.

I love them!

13 weeks

We're in week 13! This is the last week of the first trimester and I'm thrilled!

I've been feeling a lot better this week as far as the exhaustion and nausea go. Hopefully it will just keep getting better. I could use some more energy -- Drew and I have a few rooms to paint!

How far along: 13 weeks
Net weight gain/loss: even
Maternity clothes: no, not yet
Stretch marks: none thank goodness!
Belly button: still an innie
Sleep: still pretty good
Baby movement: nothing definitive yet, but I'm hopeful there soon will be
Food cravings: guacamole
Food aversions: big meals in general (I can only eat small meals these days)
What I miss: goat cheese on my salads
Looking forward to: having an obvious baby bump
Best moment this week: getting paint for the nursery
Milestones: the baby has fingerprints!

what a peach

Just in time for summer, my bean is a peach! Delicious!

I can't believe that the bean is 13 weeks now, we're cruising along. This is the last week of the first trimester and big things are happening.

To start with the bean now has his/her own set of fingerprints. That just amazes me. The fingers are too tiny to grasp anything, but already set the baby apart as an individual.

The bean is almost three inches long and weighs nearly an ounce. That's my little shrimp!

This week I'm so grateful to be finishing the first trimester and leaving behind the time with the greatest risk of miscarriage. It seems like this bean is here to stay. Yay!

cord blood

Drew and I have recently started discussing whether we want to collect and save our baby's cord blood after he or she is born.

I searched online and found (what I can tell to be) the 2 best companies for this process. It seems like the Cord Blood Registry and ViaCord are the ways we could go. I requested information from both of them, but while I was waiting for it I thought I'd ask you all...

What do you think of cord blood collection?

Have you done it?

Will you in the future?

Did you use either of these companies? How has your experience with them been?

As a scientist, I definitely understand the benefit of having the cord blood available if anything terrible would happen. What's hard to swallow is the very high cost of collection and storage. Again, I understand why it costs quite a bit, what I'm not sure is if we can swing it with a newborn on the way. There would certainly be other things we'd have to forgo -- is it worth it?

Isn't that the way it always is??

If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

like a racehorse

Sometimes I feel (inadvertently) like Wally.

Any other mommies-to-be out there feel like they spend the majority of their time near a bathroom?! :o)

I don't mind per se, but as someone who only went a couple times a day for the first 27 years of my life, this seems a little strange to me. Just another one of the wonderful new experiences, I guess!

At least now I have a purpose to life. Thanks for clarifying, Wally.

FAQs

Ever since I started telling people that I'm pregnant I've noticed that they all have the same questions for me.

The funniest part is that even though the questions are the same, the people are very different from each other. It doesn't matter if it's my family or friends or people on Facebook or co-workers. They all want to know the same things! It's very sweet of everyone to ask about me and the bean -- I don't mind at all!

So, for those of you who don't have direct contact with me, I know you're just dying to know my thoughts on these questions...

Q: How are you feeling?

A: I was feeling pretty nauseous and exhausted for the first few (12) weeks, but things are starting to look up! I've definitely had more energy and less of that "rolling stomach" feeling this week. Yay! I've been very lucky on the morning sickness front (compared to a lot of other stories I've heard) so no real complaints from me.

Q: Have you had any weird food cravings?

A: Mostly I've had some aversions to foods that just don't sound good at all. I think that's probably related to the as yet hair-trigger nausea. As far as wanting food -- there's been a lot less of that. Probably the weirdest combo so far happened 1 night when I didn't have dinner planned out. I ended up eating garlic bread, then an hour later Eggo waffles. Talk about carb loading! I'm sure more weirdness is coming -- I'll keep you updated!

Q: Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?

A: Actually, no. This answer surprises me a little. When we found out we were pregnant, the first thing Drew announced was that he absolutely didn't want to know the sex of the baby before the birth. He wants a surprise and although I wasn't totally on board with this idea at first I've come around. I know that I couldn't find out and keep the secret from him, so we're going to be surprised! There really aren't many true surprises in life, so why not go for this one!

That's it for now -- if more common questions come up I'll be sure to share them!

12 weeks

Only 1 more week until I'm out of the 1st trimester!

This is actually really hard for me to believe, but I'm looking forward to it! My doctor assures me that the end of the 1st trimester will signal an abrupt (and noticible) end to the nausea and utter exhaustion that I've felt every day so far.

Until then, I'm just trying to enjoy every day of my rapidly dwindling diaper-less existence. :o)

At 12 weeks I'm definitely noticing a tighening of my pant waistbands. It's no coincidence that I'm wearing elastic waist skirts in the past few photos. These are the best!

How far along: 12 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: -1 lbs

Maternity clothes: nope, but I have busted out the Bella band with lots of success

Stretch marks: not yet -- hopefully the Mama Bee belly butter will keep them at bay

Belly button: still an innie

Sleep: good whenever I'm not getting up to use the bathroom. Which is 2-4(!) times every night. Oh my.

Baby movement: only in my imagination

Food cravings: black licorice

Food aversions: most meats

What I miss: cold beer when grilling

Looking forward to: looking pregnant to anyone besides myself

Best moment this week: ordering the baby's furniture

Milestones: the bean can curl his/her fingers and toes

a plum within

At 12 weeks, my bean is a plum!



We're definitely getting into more delicious fruits every week.

This week, the bean starts to have reflexes. That's right, his or her fingers and toes curl, eyes open and shut, and mouth will make sucking movements. The bean is even starting to look more human -- the eyes are in the front of the head and the ears are right where they should be on the sides. My bean will be a baby soon!

Only 1 more week until we're in the 2nd trimester! Once that happens, the bean will be out of the most critical organ system development stage and will be fine tuning everything that's started to get in place. He/she will also be gaining lots of weight to fill out the skin and get chubby and cute!

In a small bit of confusion, my secondary baby info site tells me that the bean is the size of a lime. Wasn't she a lime last week? I guess there's a little wiggle room in the produce section.





I'll take it!

baby furniture

Our baby bean is so lucky!

Last week when Drew's parents were here I went out shopping with his Mom and we ordered all of the baby's furniture!

My mother-in-law is so generous -- she and Drew's dad bought us the crib and dresser that the bean will use. As she tells the story, when she was pregnant with her first child they couldn't afford much and had to make due with a secondhand crib. Ever since then she decided that, if at all possible, her children would have whatever crib they wanted. So sweet of her -- and nice for me!

I wanted a crib that had very simple lines and no moving sides. This one fit the bill exactly! Drew and I decided to go with a dark, espresso brown color. It will match our bedding well and should add a more mascueline feel, should the baby be a boy.

Drew and I decided to go ahead and order the other furniture we would need at the same time. Furniture stores tend to give discounts for larger orders, so why not! Plus, it takes 10+ weeks to get everything in, so it will be awhile before the nursery is actually set up.

Dresser (with changing station on top):

Chest of drawers:

Night stand:

Drew's grandparents wanted to give us a glider rocker for a baby gift, so we ordered that as well. It's so lovely and will be wonderful for late night (and early morning and mid-afternoon) feedings.

Our chair is this style, but will have the same espresso finish as the other furniture and caramel colored cushions.

I am so grateful for our generous families! I'll definitely post some photos once we get it all in and set up!