Belly Shots

OK, here they are...pictures of my belly progression so far. I am a little embarrassed about sharing pictures of my round(ing) tummy, but pregnancy is supposed to be beautiful right?

MONTH 1

MONTH 2
(I had a cold when this was taken. Notice the red nose.)

MONTH 3

MONTH 4

And....the close up:

MONTH 4 again

I also tried to take a picture of myself last night in the bathroom mirror. This one came out the least blurry.

MONTH 4
(17 weeks 5 days)

I'm also wearing one of my very first maternity shirts that my mom bought me in that last picture (above). I'm not quite at the phase where I really need maternity clothes, but they are just so comfy with all of the extra room!

Pregnancy Pilates

This Saturday I did my first pregnancy workout video...Pregnancy Pilates. I couldn't believe this workout actually included some ab work (15 minutes of ab work!). I thought abs were the first thing to go out the window during pregnancy. But this work out was actually really great...I got 15 minutes of modified pilates ab moves along with 22 minutes of work for my legs, thighs and hips (because let's face it, that's where I really am going to need the help). I am proud to say that I finished the workout and I plan to do it again sometime in the near future.

Now that the majority of my sickness is behind me, I'm looking forward to being more active. It's surprising to me that at almost 18 weeks pregnant (4 1/2 months), my body doesn't really look that different...except for the growing belly bulge. We'll see how long that lasts! In the meantime, I am going to work on getting a good picture of what I look like now to post on this blog. Hopefully that will be coming tomorrow!

Legends

Yesterday I took the day off from blogging to remember 3 legends who passed this week: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

The passing of Michael Jackson hits especially hard because his music and persona were iconic during most of my formative years. However, his life seemed lonely and tragic due to how much he missed out on as a child and how fame corrupted his lifestyle. As I go down the path to parenthood, Michael Jackson's story makes me think about what will be important to me as a parent and what will be important for my children. Through show business, he was forced to grow up quickly and never got to experience the joys of being a child. Even at 50 years old, he was very childlike and seemed to relate better with children than with adults. But he always said that he was most at home on stage and enjoyed performing because he was able to make his fans happy. He was a wonderful performer, a musical legend, and he will be missed.

I wonder if Michael Jackson and his music will be to my kids what Elvis and his music have been to me...

Dreaming of baby

Last night I think I had the craziest dream I have ever had in my life. Before I was pregnant, I was usually pretty good at remembering my weirder dreams. I heard that you have some wild dreams when you are pregnant, but I hadn't really had too many...until last night.

The upcoming ultrasound must have been on my mind because my dream began with Ryan and I going into the hospital for our ultrasound. They had me lay down on a table and they put some goo and a contraption on my stomach to see the baby. So far, this is all very normal. Then, somehow they opened up my stomach, pulled out the baby, and announced "It's a girl!" This little girl was very small and not fully developed since I was still only about 20 weeks pregnant. The sonographer laid her on my stomach and let me play with her for a bit and touch her. Then, they put her back inside of me and closed me up...no stitching, no scars, no healing.

Though I know I won't actually get to touch and play with my baby at the real ultrasound, I wonder if this dream was a prediction of the gender. I guess we'll just have to wait until July 13 to see!

"Flutters"

I've been discovering that I think a lot of the pregnancy terminology is silly. I've already posted a blog about "showing," and everyone always talks about "nesting" (more on that later). Now that I will be 17 weeks tomorrow (over 4 months pregnant), I'm in the phase of my pregnancy where I'm supposed to be feeling "flutters."

For the past few weeks, I'm pretty sure I've been feeling the baby moving. My midwife asked at my 15 week appointment if I had felt the baby, and I responded that I had been feeling something but I thought it was probably too early to actually feel the baby move. She assured me that those feelings were more than likely baby...especially since our baby is a jitter bug (he/she does not like to sit still to let us hear the heartbeat with that doppler).

Now when I tell people I have been feeling the baby move, they always respond with the same question. "Does it feel like flutters?" All the pregnancy books and websites tell you that the baby's early movements will feel like "flutters". Even my friends who are mothers refer to these movements as "flutters." But I don't think the movements feel like flutters at all. My friend who is 10 weeks ahead of me with her pregnancy put it better by describing the movement as feeling like someone is moving a knuckle around inside of your stomach. "Flutters" sound like such soft, delicate movements. The description of knuckles is much more substantial and much more accurate for what I am feeling. Now that the baby's cartilage is turning into bone, that baby could actually be knuckling me from inside. Maybe I've finally come up with a nickname for our baby...our little knuckle-head. Or maybe I'll just wait on the nicknaming thing! :)

No room at the inn

There are so many things to learn about pregnancy that I had no idea about. One of the biggest learning experiences is figuring out how everything that's already inside of my body is making room for baby. I already feel like there is no more room! Before you are pregnant, all of your internal organs and such fit nicely inside your body. Then, a baby starts growing in there and he/she decides to shove everything out of the way to make room for baby. Well all of those pieces have to go somewhere because I still need them!

One day not too long ago, I was lounging on the couch (imagine that?!) when I noticed a strange lump above my belly button that had not been there before. Of course, I made Ryan feel it (because if I have to feel strange things than he should too) and Ryan assumed it was the baby. But that's impossible...the baby is still well below my belly button at this stage of pregnancy. So I had to do a little research online to see if this lump was normal. After digging around, I found out that this lump is probably the result of my internal organs moving upward to make room for the baby. Weird, huh?

Also, in the past few days my rib cage has been feeling some extra pressure like everything that is inside it is pushing outward...like my ribcage has reached maximum capacity. And my tummy still isn't popping out too far...it just gets very full and firm by the end of the day (after eating all of my required meals and snacks). Maybe it's time for baby to start moving outward instead of upward. :) Once that happens, I'll post a picture to share.

Swimsuit Update

Update on yesterday's post - Looks like I will have to purchase a new swimsuit for this summer. I tried all of my swimsuits on last night, and I couldn't even get some of the tops to close in the back! Only 1 of last year's bikinis will fit (and it's the one that was too big last summer). It will probably get me through visits to the pool this month, but by July I will definitely need something new. Not sure if I will go with a maternity swimsuit or a regular swimsuit in a larger size. Most of the maternity swimsuits are still too baggy, but maybe they'll fit just right by July/August. Stay tuned!

Swimsuit Shopping

Swimsuit shopping is never really any woman's favorite activity...so swimsuit shopping while pregnant can go down as my least favorite activity of all time. As I have mentioned before, I am still too small for most maternity clothes, but I am quickly growing out of my regular clothes. So I am in a predicament for the summer. Should I try to squeeze into last year's bikinis this summer at 4, 5 and even almost 6 months pregnant (in August) and show off my growing belly? Or should I break down and buy a maternity swimsuit (tankini with belly room)? And if I do buy a maternity swimsuit, do I buy the cheap one from Target that doesn't fit right (I tried one on yesterday, and it was just awful) or do I spend the money on the expensive one from A Pea in the Pod that looks good on me but costs waaaay too much for a bathing suit that I will wear this 1 summer (or maybe another summer if I happen to be pregnant again in the summer). I plan to go to the pool this summer and I also have a trip planned to Lake Tahoe, so I certainly need something. Advice?

Now where did I leave my brain?

All of the pregnancy books that I have been reading have warned me of "Mommy Brain." Apparently pregnant women start to forget things....there's no rhyme or reason. Maybe it's just that there are so many things to think about that your brain can't hold all of your thoughts anymore. Now I can already be forgetful sometimes, even without "Mommy Brain," so I figured this would happen sooner or later. But it hit sooner rather than later. When I was doing laundry this weekend, I remembered putting the wet laundry in the dryer but I just couldn't remember if I had actually turned the dryer on (I did, but it took a trip upstairs to our laundry room to confirm it). Then yesterday, I was driving home after a trip to buy the famous/infamous pants with an elastic waist (maternity jeans)...and I literally drove down the highway right past the exit for our house. We live in a semi-suburban area near the airport, so when I say that I drove past my exit I mean that I started heading towards the airport...I even started seeing the signs for Terminal East and Terminal West with the airlines listed under the headings. When I realized what I was doing, I was mortified. I've never missed our exit! But what can you do but laugh. Luckily, there was an exit I could take to backtrack before I actually pulled up to the arrivals area at the terminal. During this 15 minute detour, all I could think about was how I was going to explain this escapade to Ryan. But when I got home, he was playing Guitar Hero World Tour so I got completely distracted and forgot to tell him about my driving episode. Isn't that fitting?

Snickers does not satisfy

During my first trimester, I had a lot of trouble with eating...as in NOTHING sounded good (or even edible) to me. However, my stomach felt better only when I was constantly eating. What a dilemma! I either had to force down food that sounded repulsive or risk a vomiting/dry heaves spell. I usually opted for forcing down the food. The only problem was that I had absolutely no idea what would sound good (edible) until the exact moment I was ready to eat. So I found myself at fast food restaurants and the vending machine more often than I would like to admit. And apparently during pregnancy your tastes can change dramatically from what they were pre-pregnancy. Plain bagel with plain cream cheese = goes down well. Spinach salad = bad stomach ache. One of the biggest surprises came on a day when I spent about $3 in the vending machine on various candy bars...and NONE of them tasted good. What??!! I'm a chocolate lover...how can this be? Sadly, chocolate candy has been a victim of my pregnancy. It just doesn't taste good any more. Will this crime against nature persist during my remaining 5+ months of pregnancy??

Couch Potato

When I imagined my pregnancy before I actually got pregnant, I always thought I would be a model mom-to-be. I planned to exercise 3-5 days a week, eat healthy, and follow all of the "healthy pregnancy rules." Boy was I wrong! I had no idea that my body would start making my decisions for me. I did work out during the first 6 weeks of my pregnancy...but I didn't know I was pregnant for the first 4 weeks, and I didn't have morning sickness the next 2. During those 2 weeks of pregnant bliss, I bought 3 pre-natal work out dvds to get me through my 9 (10) months of healthy pregnancy. I have yet to even take the plastic wrap off of them. Instead, when I come home from work, my body tells me to sit down on the couch with a blanket, the remote and a box of Gobstoppers. How can I argue with that? Even though I wanted so badly to be the healthiest pregnant lady ever, I've given in to the pregnancy urges. I keep telling myself that when the 2nd trimester "high" kicks in, I'll break those dvds out and get to work on building my strength and endurance. Until then...if you need me, I'll be on the couch.

It's really in there!

Yesterday Ryan and I had our 3rd appointment with the midwife. I gained almost 5 lbs in the past month, and while my blood pressure was a bit higher than it usually is everything fell into the "normal pregnancy" range. After talking with the midwife about some of my question (and Ryan sat quietly and listened), I laid down on the exam table so we could hear our baby's heartbeat with the doppler again. Except our baby just didn't want to be bothered. The midwife searched and searched for the heartbeat with TWO doppler machines for a very long time, and while we could hear the little one moving around in there we only caught VERY VERY short blips of the heartbeat.

So then the midwife asks a very interesting question. "Do you mind if I get the ultrasound machine?" What, are you kidding? I would love for you to get the ultrasound machine! So she wheels in the old ultrasound machine that the ultrasound department "rejected" when they got an upgrade. She sets it up, and Ryan comes around beside me to see the monitor. In no time at all, we see baby...the whole baby! Not weird alien looking thing or blob or anything like that. This is a baby with a big head and little arms with fingers (balled up into fists and punching, like it was trying to make sure that doppler thing didn't come back poking around) and little legs all stretched out and pushing on the edge of the uterus. I think I just kept repeating "This is crazy!" I think I still had doubts that there was actually a baby in my barely-there tummy. But no, it's really in there! And actually seeing it moving on the screen was cooler and more real than any still ultrasound pictures ever look. The midwife pointed out the little heart beating (which we could actually see on the monitor. How cool!), and we could even see the baby opening and closing its mouth. We don't have any pictures because the midwife didn't know how to print with the old ultrasound machine, but I have the image ingrained in my memory (and everyone else will just have to wait).

This baby seems so much more real now that we've seen it with our own eyes. Now we just have to wait one more month before we can stop calling the baby "it" and "Humphrey #2" and start saying "him" or "her!"

Will Humphrey make a good big brother?

One of the biggest pregnancy concerns for dog owners is how the dog will get along with the new baby. I have to admit I think about this almost every day. Humphrey is a great dog, and now that he is 2 years old he is growing out of the crazy puppy phase and becoming more of a cool dog with a personality. There are so many days when I look at him lounging around on the loveseat and think "He'll be so great when we have the baby. He'll finally have a little buddy to hang out with!" Then, there are other times when he is being a hellion, running around the house with a slipper in his mouth, when I think "He is just going to have to live in his crate full time when we have the baby." Now of course, he would never live in his crate full time...and we really have no doubt that he will rise to the challenge of being a good big brother when the time comes. But he will have to prove himself to us, and I have heard to never fully trust a dog. But look at that little angel face and try to tell me that you don't think he'll be a good boy! :)

Sweet Emotion

Everyone keeps telling me that pregnancy really kicks the emotions into high gear, but I had yet to experience that...until last night. I'm not really a crier, so I thought I would be able to make it through my pregnancy without the waterworks. I've heard of pregnant women crying while watching the news, while driving to work, even when a certain commercial comes on. So far, I made it through my first trimester and into my second trimester pretty tear-less.

Last night I saw that Dan In Real Life was on Encore. I saw this movie in the theater, but it's been a while so I decided to watch it again. It's a pretty cute movie about a widower with 3 children who hits it off with a new woman...only to find that she is his brother's new girlfriend. The plot thickens when they all vacation as a "family" in a remote vacation home. I sat on the couch, Gobstoppers in hand, laughing and enjoying the movie....until the family talent show scene. The boyfriend/brother character, Dane Cook, pulls the widower, Steve Carrell, up in front of the family to perform "Let My Love Open The Door." The performance is cute and funny as Dane Cook forgets his words, and Steve Carrell (accompanying him on guitar) chimes in to help with the lyrics...UNTIL the tone gets serious as the widower tearfully sings the final verses of the song...

"When tragedy befalls you
Don't let it drag you down
Love can cure your problems
You're so lucky I'm around"

That's when I lost it. And I mean I sobbed. Hard. And then I laughed at myself for being that typical pregnant lady on the couch with a box of candy crying her eyes out at a silly movie. Guess you can't escape the preggo hormones!

"Showing"

I think that one of the weirdest parts of pregnancy so far has been waiting to "show." First of all, I think it is funny that there is an official term for getting a baby belly. And each woman gets her baby belly at different times, so no one can tell you when you will stop looking just fat/bloated and start actually looking pregnant.

Since I am normally pretty small, I thought people would be able to notice earlier that I was putting on weight...but that really hasn't been the case. I'll be 15 weeks pregnant tomorrow (that's almost 4 months for those who don't speak preggo language), but when I tell people that I am pregnant I still get the glance at my face, glance at my belly, glance back at my face with a confused look look. I follow that up with an "I know, I'm not really showing yet."

I have gotten to the point where I don't like to zip and button my pants. Actually, I've been at that point since week 8 (2 months). The Be Band from Target (from the makers of Bella Band) has been a lifesaver...It's like a big stretchy elastic band that I can wear over the waist of my pants so no one can tell that I don't have my pants buttoned. Helps the growing belly...which is really just a little bloated for me at this point.

It's been nice that I can still wear a lot of my regular clothes...especially dresses. I have experimented with maternity clothes (1 pair of capris with a hidden elastic waist and 2 really trendy maternity tops that just look like loose versions of regular tops), but I'm still small enough that most maternity clothes just look ridiculous on me...like I'm trying too hard to look pregnant. So for now I'll continue to squeeze into my regular clothes as long as they will let me...I'm sure I'll be looking back nostalgically on these days soon enough!

Due Date

I realized I haven't yet posted my due date. Must be that pregnancy-related forgetfulness (or at least that's what I will blame it on).

Here's the big date:
December 2, 2009

We should be able to find out the gender in about another month, so I'll make sure to spread that news when we have it!

When I'm responsible for myself

Ryan is out of town for work for the next few days so I'm getting a little taste of taking care of myself while I am pregnant...and I'm not sure that I like it. For the past few months, Ryan has been really great with doing the cooking, most of the cleaning, and all of the dirty dish washing (since the smell of dirty dishes pushes me over the edge). Since Ryan left yesterday, I have had to cook for myself (not that bad...I made some pierogies and cheesy rice with broccoli) and feed Humphrey (the smell of his food makes me gag). There are a few chores that I should have done that I have not been able to bring myself to do. Specifically, I have not taken out the overflowing bag of trash from our kitchen OR emptied the full recycling bin or washed the dishes from my dinner last night. Do you think these can wait until Ryan comes home on Wednesday morning?? :)

Feeding Schedule

One of the things I have been most surprised about with pregnancy is how few actual cravings I have had. However, my first 14 weeks have been filled with lots of food AVERSIONS. I'm starting to be able to eat a little more normally (I don't feel like I'm going to die if I don't eat every 1 1/2-2 hours), but there are still certain foods that turn my stomach. The main one is ground beef...one of the past staple foods in our household. I'm talking burgers, tacos, meatloaf, casseroles...I don't want any of it. And I don't want to smell it either.

Here's my eating schedule on a normal day:
7:45 am - skim milk with Carnation Instant Breakfast mixed in (I've had one every day since week 8)
9:45 am - toast with peanut butter and maybe some honey
11:45 am - handful of cheese-its or an oatmeal cream pie (to tide me over until lunch)
12:15 am - bland lunch at a restaurant (probably soup, salad or the like)
2:00 pm - flav-o-ice/chilly willy popsicle
3:30 pm - another 3 handfuls of cheese-its or a frosty/milkshake if I feel like going out for a treat
4:30 pm - grapefruit with honey (if I remember)
6:30 pm - quiche (from the freezer, hopefully florentine flavor)
7:45 pm - mint chocolate chip ice cream

I might mix it up a bit by trying to have some chicken...or some non-raw sushi rolls like I had yesterday (actually, they hit the spot...especially with the pickled ginger).

I've been telling Ryan that I am ready to get to the "eating stage" of my pregnancy. Even though it probably seems that I am eating all the time, I usually do not finish my big meals (lunch and dinner) because I'm not hungry anymore after 2 bites....and nothing tastes all that good. I think it has something to do with the weird taste that is always in my mouth. At first it seemed sour, but now it is turning bitter/metallic. I wonder when those cravings for weird and wonderful junk food items kick in...?? I'm ready!!

Hi there! I'm not much of a blogger, but since I live miles and miles away from so many of my friends and family members I thought this would be a good way to keep everyone updated on my pregnancy. Ryan and I are officially 14 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. This means we have just begun our 2nd trimester! Yipee! We don't have a good nickname for the baby yet (since we don't know the gender), so sometimes we just refer to him/her as Humphrey #2 since this baby will technically be Humphrey (our dog)'s little brother or sister. Heehee.

So far our pregnancy has been pretty normal. Around 6 weeks morning sickness hit...and it hit even harder around weeks 7 and 8. Nausea, dry heaves, vomiting, need I say more? At 14 weeks, the sickness seemed to be waning until I got a wiff of dirty dishes in the sink this morning and I found myself holding my nose and mouth and running to the bathroom! My midwife says things should be looking up at 16 weeks. I certainly hope so!

We've decided to see a group of midwives at the University of Colorado Hospital for our pre-natal care. Midwifery at University of Colorado Hospital They provide very personal attention and offer a lot of options for low-risk births (a category that I will hopefully continue to fall under). We've only had 2 appointments so far. I gained a whopping 1/2 lb between appointment #1 and appointment #2 (1 month apart), but the nurses assure me I will start packing on the pounds in no time. At our last appointment, we were able to hear the heartbeat with a fetal heart doppler (after about a minute of searching for it and me getting very nervous). Our baby had a strong heart rate of 160 beats per minute! Our next appointment is next week, but I don't expect anything too earth shattering to happen. They'll probably just get my weight and blood pressure, so I'll update the blog if I've gained a few pounds in the past month.

I'll post more on this blog as I think of interesting tidbits about my pregnancy to share with the world...or at least the friends and family that are interested enough to read this! Love you all!
-Caroline