Photo Shoot

I'm 15 weeks and 4 days now, creeping closer and closer to 4 months! Yesterday afternoon we visited two baby stores for research. We registered at the second, Babies R Us. In the end we were there walking around with the gun for an hour and a half and by the end I needed to sit down! We had a nice dinner together in San Carlos before coming home and doing the first proper photo shoot of me. This is partly my fault because I'm not a very cooperative photo subject, but we were able to take several nice shots.

You can also see our backyard which has been under construction the past few weeks.

Shoulda touched up my makeup before the shoot. And I could do with a hair trim.

This dress is super comfortable now but I can tell it's not going to last me the whole summer. My growing breasts are already not getting the support they need in it! Maybe I can sew extra support into it. . . right now it's too skimpy to wear more than a bralet and it's not doing my chest any favors. :-P

15 Weeks

I'm 15 weeks today, woo hoo! One week until my 16-week check-up. I'm feeling good, hope everything is good on the inside. At this point baby is squirming around like crazy, although I can't feel anything yet. She's also sensitive to light and sounds.

I've been doing mad research this week, on baby gear and cars. We'll be buying a new car in the next 6 months and I've been researching my top picks and features that we want. The baby gear is pretty daunting. This is nothing like the wedding registry we did where at least I'm familiar with the items. This is all new territory and there is so much stuff out there. On the one hand we are lucky for all the advances in technology and selection that is out there. On the other hand our moms had it much easier because there was less stuff to weed through. Aaah!!

Pickles!

I read today that pickles are a common pregnancy craving. I've always liked pickles, but they've definitely been a craving lately. Kosher dills and bread and butter sweet pickles, as a snack or with lunch. Ketchup too. Tomato juice in the morning if I feel peckish between breakfast and lunch.

Cooking

I baked a loaf of bread today, first time in months! It was nice to feel the dough in my hands again.
I made the loaf to go with a crockpot dish. I went big because a friend of Ray's will be here for dinner and I wanted to make something nice for us. We had chicken with peppers and mushrooms- delicious! The bread was an excellent pair with the saucy stew.

12 week picture

Ray took a photo of me last Saturday when we got home from dinner. We haven't taken any pictures of my changing body until now; honestly I had having my picture taken when I don't feel good and that's been too often until now. This is 12 weeks and 3 days.

I'm wearing a Bella Band over my pants for two reasons: #1 I cannot button them, and #2 it's actually quite comfortable to have something over my belly right now. It smooths everything out too, a great bonus.

Not much different but there is definitely a tiny bump there. Goodbye flat abs, I hope to see you again someday!

My First Mother's Day

I didn't think of it in advance, but I guess this was my first Mother's Day! Mother to be counts, right?

To Ray it does; he surprised me with some gifts when we were at my parents' house celebrating the day. After brunch (with Dad's yummy french toast and cheese eggs) and just before tea (I made a peach slab pie for that, yum!) I found a stack of presents next to Mom's. Very sweet! He gave me a bunch of books- really for both of us, on baby names and purchasing all the gear we'll need- and a small sleeping pillow. I've been sticking an awkward pillow between my legs lately, it's more comfortable, but not quite the right shape. This one looks like an apostrophe, you sleep with it between your legs to keep your hips in better alignment and rest your head/belly area on the upper half. It was great last night!
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I've been so tired lately. Those words don't even cover it actually- dog tired. We were out to lunch a few days ago and suddenly it swept over me like a blanket. I could barely keep my eyes open and others at the table noticed. I was pretty embarassed! We went home earlier than planned and I could barely function the rest of the day. This seems to be my one lingering pregnancy symptom, my morning sickness seems to be truly over. When you think about it I am a 24/7 baby factory, so it's not a hug surprise to be tired!
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I forgot to add the other day, my weight gain seems to be ok. I gained about 7 pounds during the first trimester, a teeny bit more than I should have. It's harder than I thought it would be to stay on track, it's a really fine line between getting enough and having too much. I am staying as active as possible, especially because exercise is still good for me and great for baby. If I can just keep the weight gain in check and retain muscle tone, I'll be pretty happy.

Visits from Mom are always good

This morning Mom came to visit me; it was nice to have a visitor during the day, especially her. We stopped by a farmers market in town before hanging out at home and doing some knitting. She's gotten me started on some baby blankets, from a book she got out of the library. The pattern is simple but lovely, so I'm planning to make a blanket and washcloth set for us, but also a set for our friends Dan and Linda who are having a girl in August.

The visit was really nice, low key and pleasant as it always is with Mom. Later in the afternoon I had my 12 week doctor's appointment- I'm 12 weeks today! All looks good, it was a quick appointment. I think they'll mostly be quick from now unless there is an issue. We got to hear our baby's heartbeat very briefly. It was the first time, and very cool.

I'm feeling much better, more normal. I still don't really look pregnant, just fat. Looking forward to this awkward stage being over!

One of my Top Favorite Doctor Visits of All Time

This morning I had my 12 week ultrasound. We came home with these pictures of our little peanut:


waving "hi!"

At this point our baby's head is kinda big (in all three shots, the body is on the left, the head on the right). This will normalize in the coming weeks. But he/she looks healthy and on track so far. I can't describe what it was like for us to see him/her squirming around on the screen. There is really a little person in there!

Right after the ultrasound I went to get a blood test. We're having the full integrated screening done for our baby: this ultrasound and two blood tests will show the probability for such conditions as Down Syndrome and a few others. It's not complete until the second blood test at 16 weeks, but thus far the indicators are good. Yay!