2008 in review....

Things done / experienced / accomplished:

• Kissed my wonderful husband on New Year's
• Drove to North Carolina and celebrated my first wedding anniversary
• Started two new jobs that I love
• Planned and participated in my first big charity event
• Celebrated a crazy St Patrick's Day with the closest of friends
• Found out (officially) that I have severe allergies and started treating them
  
• Got back in shape
• Turned 28 in Key West
• Went to my first drag queen show with the aide of many margaritas
• Found out I was pregnant the day after I got home
• Stopped the allergy treatments - and the margaritas...
  
• Started to blog again
  
• Spent the 4th of July with morning sickness
• Heard my baby's heartbeat for the first time
• Readjusted my entire life-view
• Fell even more in love with my husband
• Saw our baby for the first time
  
• Named our daughter
• Showed the line by myself and was praised by the national sales manager
  
• Bought our first house
• Started to accept losing that good shape
  
• Had our first - and hopefully only - brush with cancer
• Paid two mortgages
• Started setting up a nursery
• Realized we're not really dog people
  
• Found hope and joy in financially stressful times
• Made best friends with my husband
• Bought my first pair of maternity jeans
• Drank non-alcoholic wine by the fire in the evenings with my husband, talking about our future
  
• Celebrated our first Thanksgiving and Christmas in our new house
• Will ring in the New Year tonight with friends, a healthy baby in my belly, and the love of my life by my side
  

quick note...

Just a quick note, more for my remembrance than yours. Today is the last day of 31 weeks. We had a doctor's appt. today - we're going to every 2 weeks from this point out! Leta is measuring right at 32 1/2 weeks, and her heart is beating nice and strong, and she's head down! Yay! The doctor said at this point in the pregnancy that shouldn't change either. Double Yay!!

Oh, sweet baby love :)

31 weeks

Hello. I am HUGE.

Holy cow, really. I feel like I've doubled in size in the past 2 weeks. This is the week that I've really started to feel the weight I'm carrying around as well. I've gained about 15 lbs at this point, and it's all pulling on my lower back, which leaves me feeling pretty great by the end of the day. I notice that I'm taking really deep breaths all the time, as if I'm short of breath, and I think that's due to her putting the crunch on my lungs. Also, the days of sitting up nice and straight seem like they're long gone for me. I seem to only be comfortable when I'm leaning back, stretching that tummy out as much as possible.

Christmas was this past week, and it was great, but really, really tiring. We spent Christmas Eve with my in-laws, then Christmas morning at home to ourselves, Christmas afternoon with my parents in, then down to Miami for our annual family Christmas reunion. I'm not sure how we can keep this pace next year with a 10 mo. old. At the same time, everyone will want to see her, and it's the only time each year that all of my extended family comes together. It seems like it might be worth the sacrifice of our sanity for the day.



On another note, I think I'm battling a possible cold. It's going back and forth right now - sometimes it's winning and sometimes I seem to be coming out on top. I've got the classic scratchy throat thing happening, and with only 8 1/2 weeks of this pregnancy left to go (CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!!??), I'm just praying (begging) that I can stay healthy.

We've got a couple of doctor's appts. this week, including our next ultrasound! I'm so excited. Our last u/s was at 20 weeks, so I can't even begin to imagine how different she'll be at 32! My doctor said we'll have one more after this around week 36 to check her size and weight going into that last little stretch. Time is just flying by at this point.

Much more to come next week, I'm sure :)

30 weeks, continued :)

Merry Christmas, from The Poole's - all 3 of us...




I got to spend some time this week with some of our favorite friends from near and far and will be spending Christmas with both sides of our family. More to come next week...
In the meantime, here's one of me hanging out with some of my favorite fellow preggo's!

30 WEEKS!

LOOK! She's HUGE!

She's 3 lbs and almost 16 inches long and growing, growing, growing!

I'm so excited :)

29 weeks

I've taken to writing these posts in retrospect of the week, meaning in reality, I'm 30 weeks today. I'm really sincerely excited about the big 3-0 (!), and the count-down is really, really on at this point, but I'll try to stick to posting about this past week for now...

Week 29 was another week with not a lot to tell. I do feel like I'm visibly getting larger almost everyday, and I've got an extremely active girl in there :) Leta's movin' and shakin' ALL the time, which scares me a bit for when she's on the the outside. They say that the baby keeps to it's schedule that it kept in the womb, and it seems like little Leta-bug takes very little downtime.

We had our childbirth class this past weekend, and I think it was fully worth doing. We opted for the one-day class, as, with our schedules, it's nearly impossible to coordinate a class that meets more than twice. I don't think we missed out on any crucial info, pushing it all into one day, and it was kind of nice to be around so many other pregnant couples. My other reason for choosing the one-day option was that after reading the description of the classes, it seemed like the several day classes (6 2 hour classes and what have you) were set up that way partially to focus on getting the dad ready for what was going to be happening in the delivery room. TJ has been there and done that and is really the least of my concerns when it comes to that aspect of it all. It's how we both adapt to being parents of a newborn when she comes home that will be more interesting :) It is comforting to know that I'm not going to have to deal with giving birth AND a husband that is squeamish or looking like he's grossed out at the same time. He was able to ask really thoughtful questions (esp. about the pain management aspect, which is what we were really interested in figuring out) when we were in the class, and I walked away feeling ready to go into this with him.

On the big "pain-management" front, we've settled on our decision to go with an epidural for the delivery and nothing else. There are other iv drugs available, etc, but we only feel comfortable with the epidural. There seem to be side effects for the baby with the other options and we're not comfortable with those. I am going to attempt to fully get into the midst of active labor before we start the epidural, just to make sure it doesn't slow down the process of early labor, and we think we're going to try to stay home for the whole early labor portion if at all possible. We'll see how this all goes once there. :) All told, the baby will be born because of me or despite me and my efforts!

I'm in this weird space in the pregnancy right now where I alternate between freaking out that the baby will be here so soon and we're not ready and desperately wanting her here now. I'm still leaning toward the "not ready" part more, and I keep trying to reinforce to myself that we have time. 10 weeks or a bit less of time really. Time. But, the planner in me looks at all the t's yet to be crossed and i's yet to be dotted and hopes that we're preparing as well as we should be. ugh.

In other news, baby shower invites have gone out and rsvp's have started coming in. The shower's Jan 11th at my mother-in-law's house, and I just can't wait to see all of my closest girlfriends together again. I had the feeling that it would never happen again after the wedding, and I guess I just wasn't thinking far enough in advance to this circumstance :) Leta will have the most wonderful women in her life and she doesn't even know it!

We're quickly approaching Christmas - the last Christmas of our lives without a child. Everything is about to change so drastically. It's crazy. A good thing, but incomprehensible fully till experienced at best.

On to the 30's!

28 weeks

This has been a busy week for both me and Leta. She's growing by leaps and bounds at this point, and all of that growth is absolutely draining me of energy. I'm so sluggish (welcome back first trimester), I can't even begin to explain. My tummy's getting bigger and bigger at this point too, and she moves constantly. It now feels like massage rollers from the inside out and I can feel distinct little baby parts. It's pretty cool.

I had the infamous glucose test this week. I had to fast for 12 hours and then drink this orange flavored drink, which really wasn't too bad. I was expecting it to be much worse than it turned out to be. I had 4 viles of blood drawn and I get my results tomorrow, supposedly. The doctor checked Leta out and said she seems to be head down already. Hopefully he's right. She's still got lots of time to move if she needs to, but I'd rather have one less thing to worry about. Her heart is healthy and strong and she's measuring just right. I've managed to gain some weight this past month as well, so he was really happy about that. I've put on 13 lbs total so far, and I'm pretty happy with the slow and steady weight gain. People can finally tell that I'm pregnant now, which has made me feel a bit better. I don't feel like I look like a stumpy fat girl walking around anymore.

TJ and I have our childbirth class on Saturday, which should be interesting. I've been reading my breast feeding book in the meantime, trying to prepare for what that will entail. I'm definitely game, and I hope it goes well. The invitations for the baby shower have gone out, so I'm told :) My lovely lady friends have been fast at work planning everything and I'm pretty excited to see what they've come up with. Soon soon!

We still like to party...

Oh, Leta, your mom and dad are such dorks...



But, we have a lot of fun! Last night, despite feeling extremely exhausted, I dragged myself to a friend's b-day moustache party with TJ - and am I glad I did! We had so much fun, and I actually stayed out after midnight which is something of a bygone era at this point. I was about this close to staying home and having TJ go solo when I realized that in 3 months, the ability for the two of us to run out for a few hours to a party downtown will be a joke. I chomped on an apple, put on some mascara and donned a lovely "movie-star" moustache (that's what the packaging called it). We had a blast.

Of course, not one to leave my daughter out of the mix, I made sure Leta had some moustache fun too. God I wish that we hadn't already had our Christmas cards made...

27 weeks

She broke me. It's over. This child has gotten so flippin' big over the past week, that I absolutely crumbled and succumbed to the one thing I've been DREADING. I bought - - - (dramatic pause -maybe dramatic music as well), maternity jeans. Freaking stretchy pants. UGH!!!!!!! I can still fit into 2 pairs of my pants - one delightfully shown in the pictures from week 26 and one pair of jeans. The jeans fit because they are so low rise - however, the downside is that they are so low rise that I spend most of the day trying to pull them up so as to not torture others with the sight of my pregnant lady butt crack. These particular jeans are also too long. So long that I can't wear shoes in the chilly weather we've been having, and, in addition, not nice enough to wear "out" - that is if we make it "out". So, long story short, TJ and I found ourselves in a maternity store (yes, my husband is that great that he went with me!), and I tried on said maternity jeans, and was so overcome with how freaking comfortable they were, I bought them immediately.

People, I have maternity wear.

I will say that I made it to the 7 month mark without the need, and - technically- I can still wear my regular clothes. But, it is what it is.

In other news, here is a picture of me REALLY enjoying 1 of the Non-Alcoholic St. Pauli Girl's in my very special coozy that my hubby bought me. We spent all day Sunday watching football, and I got to have a "beer" with TJ while we relaxed after the craziness of Thanksgiving.

26 weeks

Last week was uneventful on the physical front. Just plowing through the weeks :)

On the general baby front, we started putting together Leta's room! TJ got the walls all painted and we finally hung blinds. We just need to finish the baseboard, then people can start buying us furniture! :) Also, we finally tackled the ultimate baby-induced torture of registering for the baby shower. I've been dreading this event ever since we registered for the wedding. I know some people must really look forward to this event - love it even, but the thought of wandering around a crowded babies-r-us, trying to pick out all the things we need - when we really have no idea what those things are - overwhelming. Anyhow, 2 hours later, I think TJ and I accomplished the task at hand. I guess we won't really know until Leta's here and we see how everything works, but we did the best we could.

25 weeks

I'm sitting here typing, unable to breathe, due to my second major allergy attack of the season. Both have happened on trips to Orlando - apparently there' s some tree or something up there that my system just isn't having. Fortunately I can take plain old sudafed, according to my doctor, or else I wouldn't be able to sleep at all. I was receiving allergy shots for my "severe allergies" and was on my way to having a sinus surgery to correct several issues I have going on in there before I found out I was pregnant. So, it's one more allergy season to make it through before I can get that all repaired and hopefully stop dealing with the chronic sinus infections that have plagued me since college. Other than that, I feel just fine. As mentioned, I went to Orlando on a girl's birthday weekend celebration and had a really nice time. Actually had my first non-alc beer while out to dinner (St Pauli Girl N/A), which was surprisingly tasty, especially when compared to the non-alcoholic wine I've had, which is really terrible. I think Leta was a bit thrown off by the traveling and she wasn't herself. She's on such a regular schedule, so it was kind of a bummer missing our "play-times". I missed our time together ;)

As mentioned, I'm feeling good and still working out. I am definitely getting bigger and the tummy's feeling really tight all the time. I still can't wrap my mind around the idea that I'll be easily double this size in the next 2 months. It just doesn't seem physically possible. Even though I think it's more genetics than anything, I'm lotioning up the belly daily - desperately hoping to avoid stretch marks. I'm hoping that since the weight gain has been really slow and steady, I'll be lucky to avoid them in the end, and, on the genetic front, my mom doesn't have any. My belly button doesn't look like it's popping out anytime soon either. It is stretching out further and further though. It's like this big open crater now. I've never seen the back of my belly button so clearly before -weird. Leta's about a pound and 1/2 this week and, according to my books, she's too big to do somersaults and flips anymore. I'm starting to notice the same type of movements in the same places. If I had my guess, I'd say she's face-up and head-down. I could be totally wrong, and I guess I'll find out at my next ultrasound at the end of December. She completely favors my right-side, as she has this entire pregnancy. I'm often clearly lop-sided leaving no questions as to where she's hanging out :)

Other than that, we went to a large engagement party for the daughter of good friends of my in-laws last night. Basically a ton of people my in-law's age who have known TJ since he was young, mainly. I am constantly amazed at the absolutely terrible things that people will say to you when you're pregnant. Frankly, I'm just tired of the constant commentary on my body and how big or small people think I am, the comments on what I'm eating or not, etc etc. 3 more months, and the commentary on my mothering skills can begin. yay!

Realization that in just 3 months we'll have a little, chubby baby girl hit me like a ton of bricks this week - which led to buying cute new outfits! One for mom and one for dad. And yes, those are teal leggings and striped legwarmers! I can't wait to have a cuddly little baby to dress up in them!


mommy's little lady ;)


daddy loves me.

24 weeks

Mommy and Leta are on their way to the gym to get their work-out on! :) (Please excuse the super messy bedroom behind me! I need to take that more into consideration before taking these pictures! ha!)

I'm mid-way through week 24 and feeling pretty good. A couple of new "pregnancy unpleasantries" that have popped up this week include leaky boobs - expected, but unexpected at the same time and kinda gross honestly, and hemorrhoids, which are awesome. I've had a relatively easy pregnancy, but I'm not thrilled that out of everything, this is the thing that I'm getting to experience. Let's just say, in the list of "unpleasantries", this is extremely unpleasant. I mistakingly thought this was something that happened only after birth. BE WARNED. This is not true. It can happen to you. Incidentally, there's nothing you can do to prevent this, but whatever.

So, I committed to being open about all of this here, more to keep an accurate record for myself than anything, as this is my only "journal" of this pregnancy that I'm keeping. Accordingly, sorry if all of this is more than you ever wanted to know about me and my body systems. I'm just keepin' it real. :)

Aside from the previously mentioned "snags" I'm doing well this week and Miss Leta continues to get bigger and bigger and stronger and stronger. It seems that Leta's starting to respond to TJ's voice, which he's thrilled about. We don't know this for sure, it could just be a coincidence, but our books were saying that she can actually hear his voice better than mine, as she hears deeper voices and sounds more clearly. Twice now (last night and this morning) she's started kicking whenever he starts talking to her. It's pretty cool, and he was definitely feeling more connected to her than ever.

23 wks

So, according to my baby book, this week was the first week of the 6th month - not sure how that works mathematically, but whatever! :) Still feeling really great and not much in the way of changes, aside from kicks and punches getting stronger and stronger. I had a baby appointment yesterday and her little heartbeat was going nuts at 166 a minute! Still normal, but even the doctor said she must have been really excited about something. :) I also got the news that I need to gain more weight - which is probably the first and only time I will ever hear that from a doctor! I apparently should be between 10 and 15 lbs gained as of right now and I'm only at 8. My weight gain hasn't changed since last month's visit and Leta's measuring just fine, so that means she's gaining and I'm actually losing. Not sure how this is happening. I apparently need to add more calories into the diet, but I'm eating till I'm full at meals - certainly not letting myself go hungry or dieting by any means. Anyways, my new goal is 3 lbs a month for the rest of the pregnancy. Should be reasonably easy ;) If that's the worst of the issues, it's not too bad.

22 wks

So, this week has seen the kicks and punches from Leta move upwards in my tummy, to the point where I'm now feeling them just above my belly button. In fact, last night I was getting a kick (or punch) in my lower left abdomen and a kick (or punch) above my belly button on the right side at the same time. Meaning - she's really stretched out in there. In fact she weighs about a pound and she's about a foot long! All of this seems absolutely insane when I try to wrap my mind around it. The fact that in just 4 months she'll be here is just nuts.

I'm still feeling really good, but at the same time looking forward to having this baby in our arms and out of my belly.Feeling her move around is amazing, but I think I'd prefer to hang with her on the outside... I can't wait to have my body back to myself :)

21 wks

This week has seen more growth from the little one, but not much more in the way of physical change on my side. I've heard that the changes come in spurts. That I'll have this initial "pop"; then nothing for awhile; then another big pop; then plateau for a bit, etc. So, maybe that's what's happening.

On her end, she's the size of a carrot now, if you can believe it! She weighs almost a pound and is about 10 1/2 inches long (head to toe). Little lady's packing on the poundage! ;)

19- 20wks...Half-way There!!!

We've been moving into our new house over the past 2 (almost 3 wks??) now, and I've fallen behind in my weekly updating. We closed on Sept 25, and since we don't have a renter for the condo yet, we were able to stay there while we made improvements to the new place. I'm so excited to have a new, larger space for Leta to come into. It's got a big back yard that we're already envisioning swing-sets and slip-n-slide's, and we're on a cul-de-sac, which will be awesome for playtime in the front yard. Also the "A-rated" elementary school is in our neighborhood and within walking distance. We're now finally living in the house, with just a few more boxes and a bunch of cleaning to go, so normal life is slowly returning.

In the past two weeks, Leta's been cranking! We went for another ultrasound at the beginning of the month and found that she was right on target - 11oz and about 10 1/2 inches long. Her heart and other essential organs look great, as well. She was upside down the entire u/s and had her head buried down low on the right side. She seems to favor this position as my stomach is lop-sided half of the time. Leta's been sitting so low that it was often extrememly uncomfortable - to the point where sometimes it would hurt to lift my legs. In the past two weeks this has subsided a bit as I think everything's come up a bit. It doesn't look it in the pictures, but it feels a thousand times better.

By this week, her kicks and punches have become really strong, where TJ can easily feel them on a regular basis, and I've noticed that she has certain times of day that she really gets going. This is kind of the fun part. Each night around 10:30 we get about 1/2 hr to 45 min of Leta kicking time. TJ and I kind of sprawl out on the couch and he gets a chance to leave his hand on my belly and catch up with his girl.

I'm feeling pretty darn good, although I still get tired more easily. I keep thinking I need to enjoy this time of small belly and energy, cause it can't last forever! I'm still trying to get to the gym and feeling good there as well. I had gained 7 lbs at our last appointment overall (not bad for being 1/2 way there) and I think I'm up to about 9 now. My only goal is to keep it slow and steady and mainly baby. God knows I don't need more butt and thighs! Ok.... so....

Are you ready for the MASSIVE changes my little belly is undergoing?? I thought little Leta was making herself known in week 18 - then came week 19...





Then, HOLY COW, came week 20 - the big 5 mo / half-way mark, and boom....



I'm thinking there's no way that people can't know I'm pregnant now, but I've been surprised that only one person has noticed and said something. Can it be that I just look like I've gained THAT much weight?? Oh geez.

Hopefully, my updates will return to their regularly scheduled weekly time, for my "record-keeping" sake if anything. All in all, the Poole family is doing very well.

18 wks

Oh! There she is!


We're still waiting to be able to feel her on the outside, but she's pretty active on the whole.

Open Letter to my daughter...

Dear Leta,

This has been a busy week for mommy and daddy to say the least. We bought a house and are in the process of fixing this and that and moving in. I'm sorry for all the times I've over-heated us both, waited too long to feed both of us, breathed in paint fumes, and crawled around on the ground - no doubt making you uncomfortable, which is expressed by you kicking me immediately. But, it must be done. This house is the first house you'll ever remember. The house that we'll take you home from the hospital to, the one you'll have your first baths, naps and meals in. This will be where you learn to crawl, then walk, and where we'll hear you utter your first words. Your first memories of your life will be created here, so, you see, it's an important house. It's a big deal for us to get it just right for you. You've already got your own room and closet, and we've already picked out where your furniture will go. Every choice we make when it comes to this house, is done with you in mind. You're so loved already little girl.

I really love our new house, but I know it won't be truly complete until we have you in it with us. So, until then, please continue to disregard the discomforts and inconveniences, and I'll try to keep them minimal. We'll get this new house all set up and perfect for you, and one day, you'll have to let us know what you think. See you before too long ;)

17 wks.

This pic is at 17 1/2 wks exactly. Starting to show :)

Big Sprout ;)

She's an avocado this week!

I'm really starting to feel this little avocado too. It's gotten to the point where it's uncomfortable to pull my legs up to my chest (if I'm curled up on the couch or in bed), and I have to be careful the way I move side to side and stretch. Not so much a little sprout anymore :)

16 weeks

Ok, so honestly, I think I'm actually starting to show a bit - really! No, really! :) At least, TJ and I can see a difference. I've got a little beer gut called Leta :) My bladder must be directly under my uterus, because in the morning, before I've had the chance to go to the bathroom, my belly really pops out. We can clearly feel the top and sides of my uterus, and that's pretty cool. It basically goes away as soon as I go to the bathroom, but it's neat to feel even for a bit.

I'm still waiting to be able to feel the baby move. According to all the books, etc, it should be anytime now. I sometimes think I feel the "flutter" or "bubbles" that they talk about, but then I usually second guess whether or not it was just my stomach or something else. I'm pretty sure that I'm probably starting to feel Leta moving around, but I guess you can't know for sure until it's a little bit stronger. I know TJ can't wait until he can feel something. Just a few more weeks!

I've put on 4 lbs, which I think is on target for being 4 mo. along. Tt's still hard to watch the numbers go up on the scale. I'm trying to consistently get to the gym, and I feel pretty good when I'm there. Other than that, I'm currently enjoying the beginning of allergy season! I had a horrible weekend with allergies (we were in Orlando and something there just attacked my sinuses), and I now have the start of a sinus infection. I contacted my OB today and was told that I can take plain sudafed, so at least it's something. I was supposed to have sinus surgery in July, but then with finding out I was pregnant, that's on hold for awhile, along with my allergy shots and everything else we were doing to combat this problem. It could be a long allergy season :(

And finally this week, we've broken down and allowed ourselves to start buying some little things (mainly clothes) here and there for Leta. We ventured into Baby Gap (which I've been trying to avoid due to its cuteness!) and I got her the most adorable blue sundress - because girls can wear blue too!!!!! - and a pair of little soft shorts with pink,white, blue and green fish all over them. Flipping adorable. We're trying to restrain ourselves, but we've picked up a few other things too. I just can't help myself. :)

Sonogram #2 and the BIG REVEAL!!!

First and foremost, our little one is perfectly healthy!!! We, of course, assume happy as well, but I guess we'll see soon enough. Baby's 4oz and right on target with size, weight and heartbeat. Here are some of our favorite pics from today...




Just saying hello :)





Sweet little nose and lips :)



Perfect little profile



2 tiny feet and 10 tiny toes!!



AND! finally - the BIG news! We're super excited to announce that we're having a little girl!!!! Everyone we know, with the exception of my sister, has guessed that we're having a boy, so it was quite a surprise :) Last visit, the tech told us she thought it was a boy, but she must have been seeing the umbilical chord, cause this little girl definitely doesn't have any "goods"! We're very happy, and I've got images of baby bikinis floating around in my head!

We're planning on naming her Leta Eve. Leta means "glad" and Eve (Evelyn really) is both one of my grandmother's and one of TJ's grandmother's name.

Ahhhhh, sweet, sweet baby love ;)

It's a....

APPLE!



Here's my preggo update for week 15:

"How Your Baby's Growing:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")"

15 wks

As I'm writing this, I'm at 15 1/2 weeks and looking forward to our next sonogram on Monday! Hopefully they'll be able to tell us if we're expecting a boy or girl :)

This week has been really tiring with a ton of work and the whole buying a house process. We had the inspection this week and I got started packing up our lives in the condo. I spent nearly all of today cleaning to prepare for prospective renters to come in this next week (hopefully!). Our closing is the 25th, so incredibly fast approaching. I'm just thankful we'll be settled before the holidays and before I'm getting big ;)

As far as getting big goes, you can see that I haven't yet. I'm caught in this weird space of wanting to see more of this pregnancy physically and not really wanting my body to change at all. I think if I could feel the baby move, which is a possibility in the next week or so, I'd be happy.

Emotionally and physically I'm doing really well. I've had a few moments of felling really overwhelmed with all that's going on, but nothing a good cry didn't fix :) Physically, aside from feeling really chunky, I've had more energy and felt even more like myself this week. It's a pleasant return after the first trimester of utter and complete fatigue. The headaches are still off and on and can usually be solved by massive amounts of sleep. I've been trying to get to the gym, but this past week has been a challenge with my work schedule. There's always next week. I guess not everything has changed in my life.... :)

14 wks

So, I'm at the close of my 14th week, and it's been fairly uneventful aside from the constant headaches I've started to get. This is not fun. We're talking 5, 6, 7 hour headaches, that nothing - NOTHING - gets rid of. These aren't migraines, and I know a lot of women get those during pregnancy, so I can't fully complain. However, they are very uncomfortable, and, as far as I can tell, completely unnecessary. Any day that I avoid one of these, I count as a gift, after the past 2 weeks of fun fun fun! Other than that, I'm feeling really good. I'm only feeling exhausted after being up and going for a good while. I kind of laugh, because I feel silly being so tired sometimes. I'm obviously not carrying around a lot of extra weight, but I guess the little sprout strips more out of me than I expect.

We're due for a second sonogram next Monday, and there's a very good chance they'll be able to tell us what we're having for sure. I'll be just shy of 16 weeks and I think they usually say that they can tell between 15 and 20 weeks. We are absolutely DYING to know!!!

In other news, we're in the process of buying a house and trying to get our condo rented out right now as well. I definitely have had some moments of being completely overwhelmed, including a good breakdown cry on Sunday. All of the extra hormones mixed with my normal anxiety is tough on occasion. We'll get there, but I will say that I'm very much looking forward to November when we're settled and just hopping through the holidays.

little nothin'...

Saw this and it totally reminded me of me - I had to laugh...

Second Trimester - finally! :)

Yay!! for the start of my second trimester!!! This is the prego-update I got today. I thought it was pretty awesome...

How your baby's growing:

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of lemon— and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Changes...

I was going on about my day today, and had to stop and smile at all the little baby things that are creeping into our kitchen, rooms and closets. It's amazing how much of life already revolves around this little sprout. :)