15 Weeks

August 29, 2005 - 15 Weeks (Actually, almost 16 weeks)

We had a busy week last week! Mike and I went to the Outer Banks, NC and rented a beach house with two of his brothers and their families. Other family members dropped by and spent time with all of us at the house and on the beach, too. It was a fun and relaxing week, and we got a taste of what the future holds for us (Mike's brothers each have a daughter over 1-year- old). So good to get away for awhile!

Here are some pictures from the week...this first one is a huge family picture with us, both of Mike's brothers, their wives, two of his cousins, Mike's dad and stepmom, and three nieces...whew!

Here's just a cute one of Mike and I at the beach house:

So, I have my 16-week check-up on Wednesday. I've read that you can tell what gender the baby is by now, so I'm going to beg my doctor to do an ultrasound and see if we can tell what gender the baby is. I can wait until my 20-week appointment, but if we can find out now, why not?!

I'm feeling my uterus getting bigger now. I can really feel it (my uterus) shift inside me when I've been laying in one position for a while and then switch positions or get up. I also hear that around now is when you start feeling the baby move inside you. So far, nothing yet, but I probably could have felt it and just thought it was gas!

Week 15

August 17, 2005 - Middle of Week 15

So, it's lunch time, and I was going to be perfectly happy with my cup of cream of chicken soup...until I ran into a co-worker who offered me a pickle from the sandwich he got. Ooooh, now I want a sandwich and this soup will not satisfy me one bit. So, I'm scarfing down my hot soup and typing this, so that I can go out to the grocery store and get a sandwich! Almost done with the soup....

Meanwhile, a baby update: our little one is almost 3-1/2 inches long, with arms about 1/2 an inch long, and weighs almost 1-1/2 ounces! I am almost showing, my pants don't fit very well, and I am much more comfortable in those maternity pants I bought. I do have some low-rise jeans and pants that still fit comfortably (but not for much longer, I bet!). And, I haven't gained any more weight...still holding at a 9/10-lb overall weight gain. Okay...off to get the sandwich!

A bit of news: Mike got laser eye surgery on Tuesday! He was very nervous (which, in turn, made me pretty nervous), but everything turned out really well! He went from 20/200 to 20/15!! I watched the whole thing (which took all of 8 minutes) on a tv monitor, and I can tell you that I never want to see Mike's eye in that much detail again! But I won't gross you out with the details...All I can say is that Mike's improved vision was apparent when we left the laser eye surgery office. He had to rest his eyes for the rest of the day, but he went to work the next day and was able to read things at a distance that he couldn't read before! I'm so excited for him, no more contacts or glasses! You go, babe :)

Oh, my cousin had her baby on August 10, 2005! I am so excited for her, it is her and her husband's first child (a girl!), but I haven't been up to visit them yet. Hopefully in a few weeks they will be ready to receive more guests.

So, that's about it for today. Nausea is pretty much gone, energy is up a bit (wink, wink), and I've luckily stopped craving sweets...although, when I'm hungry, I tend to get pretty grouchy until I've gotten some food. And, I know everyone will be happy to know that I am pooping on a daily basis. :) Poor Mike has to deal with me through all this, he's such a trooper!

End of Week 14

August 15, 2005 - 14 Weeks

Well, tomorrow I will be 14 weeks along. Where has all the time gone? By tomorrow, our baby should be about 3-1/2 inches long (crown to rump) and weigh 1-1/2 ounces. I actually haven't weighed myself in a while, so I couldn't tell you if I've gained any weight, though I do feel much more comfortable in the maternity pants I bought before!

Over the weekend, Mike and I went to Camp Jeep in the Poconos (along with his brothers, his brothers' wives, and their daughters). It was a blast, let me tell you!! I was so excited to be back and taking our stock Jeep Grand Cherokee off-road. I'm always surprised at what it can do, even though Mike is probably going to take a look under the hood and beneath the body to make sure nothing horrible is wrong with it. Regardless, I think that Marty (the Jeep) did really well. Anyway, we weren't jostled around too much, all the pregnant women and babies are fine :)

This is a photo of the staging area for a trail ride.

Here I am getting ready for the trail ride to start:

There were a lot of activities to keep us busy (rock climbing, BMX bike courses, Jeep on and off-road courses, and all-terrain skateboarding), so here's Mike trying out the AT skateboarding course:

And here's his brother Jay on the same one:

Jay ended up falling inthe mud while he was trying out the BMX course...we had to capture the result for posterity!

Week 14

August 10, 2005 - Beginning of Week 14

Wow, can't believe I'm in week 14 now. The baby is around 3 inches long and weighs over 1 ounce. My uterus, on the other hand, is the size of a softball. The baby has begun to urinate in the amniotic fluid that it's living in. How precious!

Well, I bought some maternity clothes over the weekend. Mike came shopping with me and was VERY patient and a really good sport about the whole thing. We went to two maternity stores in a row when we first got to the mall. But he did find me a pair of maternity jeans that are really nice and comfortable, and don't even look like maternity-wear. To make the trip fun for him, we also went to a video game store where Mike bought a game :) I have since worn two pairs of the pants I bought, and I bet they would make great "buffet-restaurant" pants!

Mike would also like everyone to know that I have apparently become very argumentative, as of late. I disagree! Okay....well, maybe I've been a smidge argumentative...but it's not on purpose. It's just that lots of little things bother me now that never did before. The constant need to poop is also not helping. Anyway, I will TRY to not be argumentative...maybe a foot massage would aid the process?

Oh, a food aversion I forgot to talk about...my brother-in-law reminded me about it when he mentioned Taco Bell. Mike and I were driving around a few weeks ago, too lazy to make ourselves a meal, but not really able to agree on a place to go. He suggested Taco Bell, and I thought I would be able to find something there to eat. When we walked in, the smell hit me! Then I saw the pictures of the food on the menu and I felt the saliva building up in my mouth the way it does before you vomit. I tried to shake it off, and breathe through my mouth, but there were 5 people in front of us and I couldn't stay in there that long. I told Mike I felt sick, and he took one look at me and ushered me out. We drove to Applebee's where I had some garlic bread and soup. Well, I could have made that meal pretty easily at home instead of paying $10 for it. I guess hindsight is always 20/20!

Week 13

August 5, 2005 - Into Week 13 (Finished the first trimester!)

Well, I started the day off with us leaving a little late for work, because I couldn't find any pants in my closet that fit me! I finally decided on a pair that I bought 1 size larger than I normally wear just for this reason, but it's still too big right now. My sister-in-law was gracious enough to loan me a couple of smaller maternity pants to help get me by until I can go shopping this weekend :) It was getting really frustrating! One reason is that you're a little constipated all the time. I poop every day, but just not a whole lot (where I used to have a really nice, decent-sized big poop every morning at around 10 am, after my coffee had it's chance to get through my system). So there's always a stash of poo in you. I never feel completely cleared out! Maybe one day I'll eat a lot of fiber and drink tons of water and hope that will clear me out again ;)

So, we had our 12-week checkup at the obstetrician yesterday afternoon...we heard the baby's heart beating and our doctor (who is very sweet and friendly!) said that everything looked great! I've gained 2 pounds since our last checkup (4 weeks ago), which I think is right. We have to decide whether or not to get a cystic fibrosis test in the next couple of months. Since I'm Filipino, I have a low probability of being a carrier (all asians have a low carrier probability), but Mike is caucasian and has a higher probability of being a carrier. We're going to check with our insurance to see if they'll cover the testing, and if they do we'll get the test performed. If not, I don't know. We may still get it performed...

Oh, I have stopped eating so many lemons, by the way, because the enamel on my teeth was wearing down! As great as they tasted and made me feel, my teeth started becoming really sensitive, so I had to stop :( Oh well!

12 Weeks

August 2, 2005 - 12 full weeks

So, I'm 12 weeks today! Done with my first trimester, beginning the second...the baby is between 2 and 3 inches long and still less than 1 ounce. I'm still holding at a 9-pound weight gain.

Several weeks ago, I made a big issue to Mike about how it wasn't just me who was pregnant, I told him WE'RE pregnant together. So, why is it that he's losing weight while I gain it?! I told him that he better start gaining some, so that at my heaviest, he'll still weigh more than me (before I was pregnant, there was about a 30-lb difference between us, and since then I've gained 9 lbs and he's lost 5!). I CANNOT weigh more than my husband!

So, cravings...hmm...nothing major again, but it seems that I've eaten macaroni and cheese for the past two days. My sister-in-law sent out pictures of her daughter's birthday party, in which there were some cupcakes...so all of a sudden I was craving cupcakes and had to go out during my lunch hour and pick up some :) I only ate one, though!

My parents came down to visit us over the weekend. I think they're really excited about their first grandchild. I showed them all the baby's presents we've received already. I want my mom to come with me to look for maternity clothes. She probably won't believe how different the clothes are now compared to when she was pregnant!

Our 12-week check-up is this Thursday, where I assume we'll be able to hear the heartbeat again and give the doctor an update on the pregnancy. I tried to prepare Mike for the possibility of a miscarriage. It's hard to think about, but I also don't want to get so excited about the baby that letdown will be difficult to accept. So, if you're sort of prepared, I think that getting over it might be a little easier.

So as not to end on a sad note, we did decide on the theme for the nursery! It's Noah's Ark, and specifically this wonderful crib bedding set I found called Noah's Patch. Check it out: http://www.babydreams.com/noah.html. It seems like a cute set that can be either for a boy or a girl, depending on the colors that are accentuated.