14 weeks (+1 day): still cold, and mama's always right

i am a day late again, but my excuse is that since i had monday off, yesterday was really like a monday, making today really like a tuesday. so here is my weekly tuesday post.

it's still cold. really cold. i don't remember ever being so upset with the (cold) weather. if you know me, you know i generally like the cold and prefer it over sweltering heat. i swear, all those years living in a rink and walking around in only a sports bra + hockey pants do something for your immunity to the frigid air. but alas, i am no longer playing hockey, i am getting older, and most importantly, i'm pregnant. my mom said two things to me the day i got pregnant: "be ready to be super tired and super cold." true, and true. if she added, "and be ready to hate food," that sentence would sum up my pregnancy so far.

if you've talked to me about giving birth, you know that i want all the drugs. i know natural birth has become very popular these days, and i think if you can do it, you are 1) crazy and 2) amazing. but me, i know my pain threshold. it is low. give me all the drugs you got. ever watch the movie waitress? when keri russell is about to have the baby and she says, "i want the maximum legal limit of drugs"...? that's me. the end goal is a happy and healthy baby. i don't need to feel the process of getting said happy and healthy baby out. you never really think about these things until it becomes a reality for you. which is why i never thought about asking my mom how her three labor experiences were, and i never thought about the fact that epidurals are a pretty new thing. when you hear your mom tell you that she gave birth to three kids completely naturally, you want to hug her. like, bear hug her. of course, she then goes on and on about how i was the hardest and how after being in labor for hours and hours and days and days, when i finally came out, she fainted and slept for 24 hours. i think maybe she was laying it on thick at the end there, but still, i get it. i really get it. remember when you were a kid and you were being a brat and your mom says to you, "do you know how much i went through to bring you into this world?" and you go "psh" and she replies (if you're a girl), "just wait till you have a baby. you'll know. you'll know when you're a mom."...? ugh. i hate when they're right.

in other news, the next sonogram is scheduled for march 25. that's when we find out the sex of the baby and can finally stop calling the baby an "it" (although sh is already calling the baby "she").

fast facts about baby: it is now about the size of an apple. it can sense light even though its eyelids are closed.

bump picture:

13 weeks (+ 1 day): it's too cold.

i go up a week in the pregnancy every tuesday so i'm trying to blog every tuesday but yesterday i was suffering from the "omg how is vacation over already and why is new york so freakin' cold" syndrome. florida was fantastic. the cold + being pregnant = a very cranky and tired me. the vacation was exactly what i needed - some sun, some warmth, no work, no stress, and just time to rest.

i have to keep this short because i'm at work and i have a ton of things to do before i head out to my doctor's appointment at 4:30 (seriously, that is the life, my doctor never seems to work before 11 or after 5...but do all OBs have to go to the hospital at like 2am if their patient goes into labor? then that sucks).

before i go, two observations: it's a good thing i don't know the sex of the baby yet. i would be on a shopping rampage. we went to the mall in florida and there was THE CUTEST baby clothes store. sh had to rip me away from it but i didn't put up too much of a fight since i don't know if the baby is a boy or girl. moral of the story: after i know the sex of the baby, all hell breaks loose.

observation two: i was getting really frustrated with my ever-diminishing work attire as my belly grows. even the M/L forever21 leggings are getting tight. enter mommy friends who recommend the bella band which i wore for the first time to work today. awesome. so awesome.

here is the bump, which seems to have grown exponentially within a few days. kinda freaky.








*edit* - sh said my counting convention is wrong because i'm counting the week i'm entering instead of the week i just finished. i am at my 14th week (which is the way i was counting) but he said i should say i'm 13 weeks in. so fiiine - i am 13 weeks + 1 day.

week 13: second trimester!

welcome, second trimester (aka, supposedly, the "golden stage" of pregnancy). i just have a few little requests: 1) please kick morning sickness to the curb. 2) please give me my energy back (so i'm not wheezing after climbing one flight of stairs). 3) and for my most desperate request: please bring back my normally beastly appetite. i am sick of the food aversions. i want to love food again. in theory, all i want is a big burger. but then as soon as i actually see a burger, i want to puke. -_- the separation of the mind and body is a little disconcerting.

the biggest development so far (literally) is my growing belly. for a while i thought, am i showing or am i just REALLY bloated? well for a while the answer was just REALLY bloated. but now, i am definitely showing. i don't think it's particularly noticeable with the loose sweater dresses i've been wearing to work. but if you took a good look, as sh says, you'd go, "is she pregnant or just fat?" :(

but it's not about me anymore. when i think about this baby, sometimes i'm really immature and start thinking about gremlins. but more often, i am completely floored by how i can love something so much that i haven't even seen yet. well, besides in the ultrasound. speaking of ultrasound our next one is tomorrow! i am SO EXCITED. :D

quick baby stats:
he/she is now almost 3 inches long, has fingernails and toenails and is able to stick its thumb in its mouth!

so here is my first "bump" picture (but bear in mind i just inhaled an entire "love it" with waffle bowl from cold stone 5 min before the picture).

i look like:

but i feel like:

change of plans. (written jan 3, 2010)

for this blog, at the least. this blog evolved from originally being a (short-lived) running blog to a blog that sorely lacked any real purpose (or posts) and now to this: a pregnancy blog. of course, you are reading this way after i wrote it since i waited till the end of my first trimester to make these posts public. the baby's due date is august 23, 2011, just a week after my birthday and two weeks after our wedding annivesrary. (as sh says, i am gonna be one poor man in august.)

the day we found out: my mom was staying over at our place for a week. sammie got sick and started puking and peeing all over the house (my poor (canine) baby--must distinguish now), including on the new duvet. so my mom and i went out that morning (dec 18 to be exact) to the laundromat to wash the duvet and the comforter. we were walking around killing time waiting for the wash cycle to end when all of a sudden it occurred to me that i was 4 days late (reminds me of the scene in austin powers where frau farbissina says "herr doktor, i'm late." dr. evil: "no, you got here right on time." haha). i said to my mom, "i think we should drop by the drugstore." mom: "ok, what for?" me: "um, well, a pregnancy test. i'm about 4 days late." mom: "i guarantee it. you're pregnant." so i get one of those two-pack tests - one uses the lines (one line, not pregnant, two lines, pregnant) and the other is the digital read out (yes or no). we go back home and i use the "line" test. i'm standing in the bathroom just staring at the test. the first line comes through really clear. i wait another minute. then this super faint second line comes through. it's so faint i almost feel like i'm imagining seeing it. at this point my heart is racing like crazy and i open the bathroom door and look at my mom. sh has no idea this entire time that i even bought/took a pregnancy test and is lying on the couch clueless and playing nba 2k11. i said, "i think i'm pregnant." sh looks up with this "i just saw a ghost" look and my mom just starts smiling. then i said, "but i'm not sure. this second line is SO faint, like, almost not there." my mom and i read the instructions and it says "one line may be much fainter than the other." my mom says, "see? it can be fainter. i told you you're pregnant." but i didn't feel totally certain. so i waited an hour (i had no more pee left--it was the longest hour of my life) and then used the second test. it's a little harder to dispute a digital read-out that says "yes" with a smiley face staring at you. i couldn't believe it. i go to hug sh and apparently said ghost was still around because he was completely stoic and expressionless. i think he went into shock. actually, it's been a few weeks since we found out but i think he's still a little in shock, haha.

so it's been about three weeks since we found out. i am now 7 weeks pregnant. i've been ok overall. no puking (yet and hopefully never) but bouts of nausea and food aversions definitely come in waves. the food aversions are hard because come mealtime, i'm racking my brain for something to eat that doesn't cause me to feel sick to my stomach. but the hardest thing is probably how exhausted i feel. even simple activities make me feel fatigued, like putting laundry away or taking a shower. i start breathing like an obese person, my heart starts racing and i get light-headed. i hear this all goes away, for most women at least, once the second trimester comes so i'm looking forward to things normalizing. in a way i'm lucky to have gotten pregnant around the holidays because work slowed down and we had vacation time. i'm a little worried about how i'm going to fare at my high-stress long-hours job with this pregnancy, but i know i need to trust that God will take care of me and baby during this time.

now, some exciting fun facts about the baby: baby L (L stands for the name sh already picked out for the baby--it's a girl's name since he is 100% convinced it's a girl) is now the size of a grape. the baby's heart is already beating (which i can't get over). arms, fingers, legs and toes are developing and becoming more defined. eyes, ears and nose are forming as well as baby's teeth. our first prenatal visit is this wednesday so we're really excited to talk to the doctor and find out more about what's going on with baby. i still can't believe that this is really happening sometimes. does this mean i have to act like an adult now?