15 weeks, 1 day

Definitely starting to constantly show a bit!

Baby is the size of a naval orange this week! Crazy to think it started out as a poppyseed and is already this big.

Truckin' along

I think Michael still has our camera from yesterday's hiking adventure on Monhegan Island, so I have no new belly photo yet, however I did have many comments at work the other day that I really seem to be "popping" out now. We had our regular once-every-four-weeks checkup on Thursday. Got to listen to the heartbeat at 141 bpm. Otherwise they just checked my pee, blood pressure, etc. Pretty quick and easy. Doctor said the preliminary results from our ultrasound looked like the baby was nice and healthy, no need to worry about birth defects. She did tell me I need to start putting on weight though. From what I've read, it should be about a pound a week right now. She said lots of protein is the best, so I've been shoveling eggs, beans, meat and peanut butter down. Fruits and veggies are finally tasting good, and sounding good again. Yesterday I did have to pull the elastic band trick in order to make my shorts fit (you loop an elastic band around the button hole, then put the other side around your button so there's extra give to the garment). I'm in this limbo between regular clothes really starting to not fit, but maternity clothes I have are too loose.

Also, contradictory to the not-gaining-weight thing, my boobs are getting HUGE. Well, I don't think they look super big yet, but I had to go buy new bras last week because mine were hurting me they were so tight. I had no idea where to start with sizing. Finally I ended up going from a 34C (which I never truly "filled") to a 36D (which I am rapidly realizing I am almost too big for). They feel heavy and awkward, as I'm not used to them being this size. At least Michael likes them :)

The newest thing I've been experiencing is a change in tastes. For a while shrimp didn't sound good to me, but earlier in the week I finally thought it sounded good again, so I ordered our coconut shrimp at work. Normally I hate coconut, but when we came out with this dish in May I ate it like everyday because once it's fried the coconut flavor is not noticeable. Well, I took one small bite and wanted to be sick. ALL I could taste was nasty coconut. Then, a few days later I ordered the grilled chicken strawberry salad at Michael's restaurant. I used to eat that for lunch almost daily when I worked at LoHo. I ate one of the mandarin oranges (which I LOVE and used to eat cans of) and it tasted like fish! UGH. So gross. And as of last night, I no longer like lobster. Poor Michael spent nearly 2 hours making this amazing looking dinner, and it totally grossed me out. I thought it sounded so good, but it made me throw up for the first time in close to 3 weeks. Stupid pregnancy. Hopefully I will like all these foods again once it's over!

Not much else to report here. The weeks seem to be going by faster suddenly. I am anxiously awaiting to feel the baby move. They said it should happen any time within the next 4 weeks or so. Also, at my next appointment on 8/19 they will schedule our "big" ultrasound where we can find out the gender if we want - 5 more weeks! (at which point I will be halfway done - weird)




How far along: 14 weeks, 6 days
Baby is the size of: a lemon
Weight: on Thursday's appointment it was 143
Cravings: diet coke (evil, EVIL!)

Ultrasound Pics!

Here is baby Foster at 13 weeks, 1 day:

and the creepy alien one:




and the funny one that looks like it has a huge boner:

Very excited to see what it looks like in the end! And can't wait to find out what it is (besides a human, for all you funny people).

Chapter 2

Today I am officially in the 2nd trimester! Some days 40 weeks sounds SO long, then other days I feel like it's all flying by so fast. We went to Maine Med on Friday morning for our ultrasound and blood work to do screening for downs and other genetic problems. I have to give blood one more time in a few weeks before I have official results, but the doctor said everything looked great to her. Seeing the baby for the first time was just so amazing. It's still very surreal sometimes. It was moving around quite a bit, and because the skin is transluscent you could see the spine and heartbeat really clearly. Heartbeat was at 154 bpm this time. We got some good photos printed out of the profile, and also a funny alien looking one. Hopefully with some time off I will get a pregnancy scrapbook started soon to store all of these memories and photos in.

How far along: 13weeks, 3 days
Baby is the size of: a peach
Weight: ??? my scale is f-ed up. I definitely have not lost 8 lbs this week lol
Cravings: spaghettios

12 weeks, 3 days

Here is the 12 week belly:

Most of the time I just feel fat and bloaty, but it's kind of fun to finally be starting to show. I can't suck my stomach in anymore even if I try. I have to unbutton my pants when I am sitting down. I am really close to the 2nd trimester, and knock on wood have been feeling great lately! Friday we have our first ultrasound, and I'm counting down the days. It will be so cool to see the baby finally. Luckily we're going camping for a few days, so it will keep me busy until then.

How far along: 12 weeks, 3 days
Baby is the size of: a plum
Weight: 144 (gaining now - probably all the no bake cookies i've been eating)
Cravings: tomatoey things

GREAT news

I feel so much relief after today. I found out that my mom got her volunteer position to Iraq filled, so she no longer has to go. Now she won't miss the holidays, and she will be around when the baby is born. It's such a huge relief, even though I feel kind of guilty. I know it's something she has really wanted to do. I also pray that whoever volunteered to take her spot has a safe deployment. It's bittersweet because now another family somewhere has to worry about their loved one, but at the same time I'm hormonal and selfish and am so happy I will have my mom around.

AND our kayak gets delivered tomorrow. So much fun to come!

There's a first time for everything...

Well, today is a new one for me. Hopefully the only people reading this are my closest friends, otherwise I will be severely embarassed. We decided to head out to Peaks Island for the day where we rented bicycles and rode all around the island. Things were going great til we got hungry and stopped at a little restaurant to eat. All I had was half a club sandwich, then we took off on bikes again. Well, the past few days a new "symptom" if you will, has been severe gas cramps/pains on and off. Like, really really bad. But half the time I can't release anything. It's awful, but I also tell myself that I need to get through the pain because labor will be a million times worse. So, we're riding along and slowly but surely these cramps start up. I was trying to just keep riding and enjoy myself, but it would force me to stop for a few minutes at a time while my stomach finally relaxed. Then it got bad. I realized it wasn't just my typical gas pains. I needed to poop. We found this little dead end dirt road where we parked the bikes, and I ran into the trees as quickly as I could with only newspaper to wipe myself with.

I had diarrhea. In the woods. Like, explosive. While spiders crawled all around me and I had to try not to move or flinch or else poop would land on my shorts. UGH. So disgusting. My child is going to read this someday and disown me, but in retrospect it's pretty comical so I figured I would share.

Pooped in the woods? Check.

Week 11 (plus some....)

Here is week 11 (+ 3 days) belly pic:

Maybe clothes accentuate it? Pants and shorts are definitely tight in the waist now. Luckily my dad bought all kinds of maternity clothes for my birthday haha.

How far along: 11 weeks, 3 days

Baby is the size of: a lime

Weight: 142 (how am I losing weight and clothes are getting tighter????)

Cravings: diet coke.