16 weeks, 4 days - Belly Pic!

Ugh. See? Thick. I do feel a little better, though, after comparing this to the 6 week pic.

Turns out, my waist wasn't always this thick and it's not just that I've tricked myself into thinking it. Looks like I'm well on my way to a proper belly! Though, I still wish it would appear the same cute way Amy's did. And I need to be sure to not wear a sports bra in these pics. Yikes.

16 weeks, 4 days - Thickening Waist

Ok, so I'll take a pic today. Promise promise. But, I'm no longer excited about it because I'm at that stage where I just feel fat. It's so gross. I don't really have a bump, even though that pic I posted last week shows one. It's there, but it doesn't look like much. What I can notice, though, is that I don't really have a waist anymore. I have no problem fitting into my jeans but my shirts look really... gross. I just look thick. I remember seeing little Amy when she was about 14 weeks pregnant with Brooklyn and she had this definite bump. She said that she hated it because it looked like a beer belly, which I guess it could have if you didn't know she was pregnant, but it was for sure this little, defined pot. I, on the other hand, am just getting fat. Awesome. Ok, so I can't really complain because I know I've been waiting and waiting for it and I know I am built nothing like Amy, but still, man, I just had this darling little belly-bubble in my imagination when I'd think what it would look like. Not just this stupid "thickening." It's almost as if all the books that say, "you'll notice your waist beginning to thicken now" knew what they were talking about. How annoying. :) Anyway, it should only be a matter of time now, though. I can't imagine that my waist can get a whole lot "thicker" without starting to look pregnant.

Also, my coworker, Mika, who is a week ahead of me felt her baby kick a week ago Sunday. I know it's her second child so she's expected to feel it a lot sooner than me, but as of yesterday, I started meditating on my uterus, trying to feel something. I've read and heard that early on, it feels like a bubble popping or having butterflies or gas, but so far, every time I've felt something that feels like gas, well... it's been gas. Pretty clearly. I won't bore you with the details of how I know that, but let's just say that I -- and everyone else in the room -- can be pretty sure it's gas. Except the rest of the room thinks it's Porter. "Seriously, Pee, what are you feeding her?"

16 weeks, 1 day - Second Trimester "burst of energy"

Ha! Right. Since I entered the second trimester, I've felt nothing but hideously sick and ridiculously tired. What the what? Where is this "great feeling and burst of energy" I keep hearing about? It could be that I over did it this past weekend and I'm just paying for it now or that I'm eating things I didn't eat in the first trimester and they're not agreeing with me, but man, I have felt disgusting for the past two weeks. I did, however, take two of my iron supplements yesterday (one in the am and one in the pm) and by last night, I was feeling downright spry... right at bed time. But maybe that's the answer. Maybe my iron plummeted recently or something. In any case, I'm tired of my tummy hurting and being so tired that I can hardly function. Hopefully, once I'm caught up on sleep from the weekend and get my tummy back under control, I'll have that "spry" feeling to look forward to all day long. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Also, there will be a new belly pic soon, though I'm sorry to report that what I thought was a bump last week, I now think was a big lunch. I haven't taken a new pic yet, but it sure looks pretty flat when I look in the mirror. Though, I guess I thought that last week, too, so who's to say?

15 weeks, 6 days - Dr. Appointment

I had my 16 week dr. appointment this morning. It reaffirmed why I love my doctors so very much. I saw Dr. Lashgari again and she's just so lovely. She told me that my weight is perfect (up three lbs from my last appointment... which doesn't sound perfect to me, but whatever. I mean, really, three lbs in four weeks? Egads.) and my levels are all great except that I'm anemic. No big news there. She didn't seem worried about it or anything and since I've known that forever, I wasn't worried about it myself. It does explain why I continue to be so tired, though. I've been taking iron supplements for years now, but apparently, it's not helping as much as I'd hoped. Oh well.

After she went over all that, we listened to the heart beat again and she reminded me again why I like her so much. She seemed to get so excited when she found it. So cute. The Blob's heart rate has gone down to 141, which is great for a 16 week old baby so no complaints. She asked how I've been feeling and I told her that I've been sad and tired, but that my dad died a month ago so it's not unexpected. She wanted to talk to me a little about that and then recommended that I speak to a psychologist because there's so much going on right now with dad passing away, Matt being in Atlanta, housing being in flux, and me being pregnant. So we'll see about that. She then asked what daddy died of and when I told her it was complications of diabetes, she made a note and told me that, while it's unlikely I'll get it since I'm not over weight, they're going to start watching me closer for gestational diabetes because I'll at a higher risk for it. Which I thought was interesting because it's not one of the questions they ask on the form. If it's true that I'll be at higher risk because of my family history, why don't they ask about it when they ask about everything else? Weird. Regardless, it makes me feel better that they're watching me for it.

After we listened to the heart beat, I mentioned that I really liked hearing it because I'm not showing and I can't feel the baby kick and I'm not sick anymore, so it just doesn't feel like I'm pregnant. So she told me that I should come back in two weeks, just so I could hear the heartbeat again and keep from getting too anxious. She said that the baby is fine and I shouldn't worry about it and that I should focus on worrying about and taking care of myself right now. I thought that was pretty nice of her. I was hoping she'd measure my uterus, but I guess you have to have a belly before they do that so maybe next time. So yeah. All in all, a very nice, non-exciting appointment.

15 weeks, 5 days - "too pregnant to pedal"

"Sorry, I'm too pregnant." That was my catch phrase for the weekend and it was awesome. I spent last weekend at a bachelor party in Portland, OR. We did this awesome "brew cycle" which was, essentially, a 12 person bicycle that you drive to a number of breweries. While super fun, it was really really heavy and super duper hard to get going. Plus, after a few breweries, people were a bit too tipsy to do their best to keep the cycle going at a regular pace. So, after a few breweries, I quit pedaling. And when people called me out on it, I told them that I was pregnant and that it's not good for pregnant women to over exert themselves. Which is 100% true, but mostly, I just didn't want to anymore. So hooray for taking advantage of that.


In other news, I think I might be the worst pregnant person ever. I keep doing things and then finding out later that I probably wasn't supposed to do them. To the list which previously included such no-no's as eating soft cheese, drinking coffee, eating sushi, taking hot baths, eating lunch meat, and changing the cat's litter box, I recently discovered that I also wasn't supposed to paint my mom's house and or go through the scanners in the airport. My friend, Megan, just bought a house and is planning to do a lot of work on it before they move in. She and her husband were a big help when we moved, so I offered to go down and help. She told me that I won't be able to be much help as most of what they need to do involves using chemicals and painting, which, as we all know, pregnant women aren't supposed to do. Whoops. Apparently, "we all" didn't know, because I helped paint my mom's house for 3 days straight after my dad's funeral. Then, after I went through the security scanner at the airport on Friday and was putting my shoes back on on the other side, I saw a big fat pregnant woman tell them that she needed a manual check because she's pregnant and not supposed to go through it. Whoops again. ... so if the Blob comes out with 6 eyes and two heads, we'll blame TSA? Or Home Depot for selling us poisonous paint? But probably just me for not reading enough ahead in my books to see all of those things I wasn't supposed to do. Blerg.

15 weeks, 0 days - Belly pic!

Bump? I believe so. I haven't seen anything when looking in the mirror lately, but when I took this picture, I was a little stunned to see what appears to be a bump. Maybe it's a food bump, but I am inclined to think otherwise. When I compare it to the 6 week starting photo, it's distinctively "bumpier." Again, it's small enough that it could be from bloating or a big lunch, but I think the days of wondering where this bump is could be numbered. :D

14 weeks, 4 days - "Feelable" Uterus

My "What to Expect" book told me that I should be able to feel my uterus now. I can. It's really weird. When I push on my abdomen, right below my belly button, it's normal, soft and squishy... unless I flex my muscles, of course, then it's a virtual rock because, of course, I'm totally ripped. :) If I move down a few inches, though, it gets firm again. Not hard like flexed muscles or a bone or anything, but firm as if there's something under there. So neat. :) Still not showing or anything yet, but it feels so cool to know what that 'firmness' is that I can't stop pressing on it. I have to think that Blob may not be too crazy about being smooshed on a regular basis, but I can't help myself.

So yes, while I still don't look or feel pregnant, there's a little bit of an inkling that maybe there is something growing in there. :D Hooray!

14 weeks, 1 day - First vs Second Babies

So, I had an interesting experience yesterday. As you may or may not know, there's another girl (Mika) on our project who is pregnant. She is due one week before me, so it's been kind of neat to listen to her progression (though nobody knew about mine so I was listening secretly). This is a girl who is about 5'5" or 5'6" and probably weighed somewhere between 115 and 120 when she got pregnant. She runs marathons and does triathlons. She did a 50k before she found out that she was pregnant. She is, by any definition of the word, extremely fit. She works remotely from North Carolina and was in the office for the first time since getting pregnant. And she is showing. Big time. Like big, big time.

I kept looking at her then looking back down at myself and shaking my head. Could a week REALLY make that much of a difference? Really? Everything I've read has said that you show later with your first baby than you will with your later ones, but man, it was so bizarre to see it in real life. She is so fit that I'd just assumed her tummy muscles must have gone back to normal and that it would be like her first baby all over again. Especially since it's been 7 years since her first one.

Anyway, it was really pretty neat to see the difference that having been pregnant once before makes. Everything I've read said that I should start noticing something in the next month to 6 weeks, so that'll be fun. I hope I'm as cute as Mika when I finally do start to show. She is ADORABLE.

13 weeks, 4 days - Presents!

So, thus far, we have acquired quite a little pile of gifts. I'm surprised and delighted about it, especially since so few people know. Last night, my friend, Sheri, came over and gave me a cute bag of "Congratulations on being out of the first trimester" gifts. So cute. So, here's what we've got so far:

- 2 red and white striped newborn onesies (from the onesies pops Nana Deb & Papa Fred gave for pregnancy #1)
- 2 blue and white striped newborn onesies (from the onesies pops Nana Deb & Papa Fred gave for pregnancy #1)
- white Be-Band (from Aunt Stevie and Uncle Stevie for pregnancy #1)
- burnt Orange reading wrap for nursing and keeping big, fat bellies warm (from Aunt Stevie and Uncle Stevie for the Blob)
- yellow and white hat, bib, newborn jammie set with chics (from Shirley for the Blob)
- yellow hooded towel with a chic head hood (from Shirley for the Blob)
- "unisex" headbands with bows (in green, white and yellow. hahahahaha, oh Shirley. From Shirley for the Blob)
- _How Much Do I Love You?_ book and stuffed animal (Nana Deb & Papa Fred for the Blob)
- _Big Book of Baby_ book full of nursery rhymes, games, fairy tales and poems (Nana Deb & Papa Fred for the Blob)
- Belly Bliss tea (from Uncle Andrew and Aunt Allie for the Blob)

Pretty good haul considering the word hasn't even been spread yet. I can't believe we're almost out of the first trimester! Hooray!!

13 weeks, 2 days - Nauseous again? What the what?

After my multi-day spaghetti smorgasboard, I decided to cut back and bit and try to eat a bit healthier yesterday. What a terrible mistake. It just ended up that I was starving all day long. Which led to me eating 1/2 a box of Cinnamon Puffins (essentially, the gluten free variety of Cinnamon Toast Crunch) in bed after Jeremy and I got back from a movie. Whoops. As such, I was planning to try again and stick to a fruit and vegetable diet at least until dinner today but I woke up nauseous. What? That's right. I woke up nauseous. That hasn't happened for weeks. "What the heck, Blob? Are you crabby at the prospect of fruit so you want to teach me an early morning lesson?" I'm getting the impression that Blob has been thoroughly enjoying the crap I have been shoving down his/her throat, to include the following: cold cuts, Cheetos, Funyuns, ice cream, cupcakes, Laffy Taffy, Everlasting Gobstoppers, Nerds (I got a big bag of Wonka candy), chocolate, sausage, ungodly amounts of Indian food, cheese, bacon, and sour balls. I try to go back to fruit and vegetables for one day and Blob throws a fit. Hmm... seems like he/she hasn't gotten the memo on Matt's whole philosophy of "Virgin Dove" eatery.

13 weeks, 0 days - Last Week of First Trimester!

Hooray for the last week of the first trimester! I'm hoping that I can look forward to being less tired next week, though I don't really expect the clock to turn midnight and all of a sudden I'll feel different. I don't actually even know if I'm any more tired now than I was before I got pregnant, since I'm really always so tired. I'm still hoping, though. Other than that, nothing really to report. I'm feeling fine, no belly bump, as far as I know, weight is holding steady... though admittedly, I did not weigh myself this morning because I ate way too much of my mom's spaghetti last night. Note to self: do not wait THAT long for something you really want because you'll just end up gorging yourself. Oh Amanda, why did you eat so much spaghetti? Ugh... because it was so delicious, that's why!

Anyway, as of next week at this time, you'll finally be allowed to tell people. I know that's what my mom is waiting for.

12 weeks, 6 days - Mom's spaghetti

If you remember the mushroom post, you'll know how I'm feeling about my mom's spaghetti right now. Holy moses. It's about all I can think about. And it's not spaghetti that I want; it's Debbie Pieper's spaghetti. I've wanted it for days now but today, it's the only thing I can focus on. It appears as if a trip to the grocery store is in my future. Mmm...