Week 12 and 13

Ugh...I am a terrible blogger! Not really, I just had a really busy week last week and didn't have a chance to blog. So this will be a two-fer week!

Tommy and I have been so busy moving into the new house. We finally have everything painted. (Thanks Mom!) And we have a few more boxes, but we are starting to feel at home there! We absolutely love our new house! It is so wonderful and we are so happy there!

Last week I also had a friend come home that has been gone for WAY too long. She was living in Africa for a year and a half and then in Taiwan for about 6 months. She is finally home, so I spent a lot of time with her last week...and her boyfriend!

Anyway, on the pregnancy front, week 12 was a pretty easy week. The tiredness isn't any better and I had my first migraine since being pregnant, and that sucked. But other than that nothing really to report.

The baby was the size of a plum!

As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of baby's systems are fully formed.

Last week I went to the store and had to buy a plum! It sat on the counter all week and Tom kept picking it up and putting it next to my belly and saying "Wow!

I also picked up a peach!

Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords... savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy. (Much more convenient.)

How amazing! I can't believe the baby is growing so fast! Such a miracle!

We had our second doctor's appointment this week and we got to hear the heartbeat! Wow! It was 155 beats per minute. The doctor said everything is looking good. The baby's heartbeat was good and strong and all my blood work came back and looks really good!

I keep thinking "Is there really a baby in there? Is this really possible?" Then to hear the heartbeat made me relax again! I guess that's why they make you go to the doctor's every month...just so I can be reassured that there is still a baby in my oven!

I did ask the doctor when we will be able to find out the sex of the baby and she told us it will be when I am 20 weeks. I will have another appointment at 17 weeks then she will move the next one up and have me come in early. I CAN'T WAIT!!! So it should be on September 14th...if everything goes as scheduled!

Week 11...Still Emotional!

I have passed a big milestone today! (Well, I think it is a big one) On my pregnancy countdown on the right side of the screen-it says we have 199 days left until we meet our little bundle of joy! 199 days! That's under 200! Wow! Pretty cool!

Well, this week the baby is the size of a lime! We went out with one of my very best friends and her boyfriend the other night and she had a margarita in honor of my little lime! And the guys got beer that came with limes too...although they quickly ditched the lime! You know fruit with beer isn't very manly! Then my friend had another margarita for me! That's true friendship right there! Love ya!

Anyway, the baby's eyes are completely developed now! Wow! A lime with eyes! That's kinda scary!

Your fetus currently enjoys a 1:1 ratio between body and head, and has skin so transparent that blood vessels show right through. But, fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and hair follicles, tooth buds and nail beds are forming -- setting up a significantly more attractive future.

I have no doubts that we will have an absolutely adorable baby!

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And yes, I am still very emotional. This morning I heard a song on the radio that seriously made me get some tears in my eyes.

It's a country song about being in high school and when the boy goes and picks the girl up for a date and her dad has a talk with him.

Come on in, boy, sit on down,
and tell me 'bout yourself.

So you like my daughter, do ya now?

Yeah, we think she's something else.

She's her daddy's girl, her mama's world,

She deserves respect, that's what she'll get.

Ain't it son?

Now ya'll run off and have a little fun.

I'll see ya when ya get back,

I'll probably be up all night,

Still cleanin' this gun.

This is SO not a song that would make a NORMAL person cry! So there I was just driving and singing along then all of a sudden I thought about if we have a girl. This is going to be the way Tom will be. I can just see it!

But the part that really got me is the "she's her daddy's girl, her mama's world". Wow, I am getting choked up again.

I am so ready to meet our little baby! I just can't wait!

Week 10

Wow things have been so busy with us this week! We have been staying at my mom's house for the last week and a half. Last night we got to go see the new house! It's completely empty! We walked through and talked about paint colors and things we want to change. It's very exciting!

Tomorrow we will go get the paint and start working!

I can't wait! I will put pictures up when I get a chance.

So this week the baby is the size of a prune! I'm not really sure how I feel about saying that...I mean, a prune? Really? Can't we come up with a cuter fruit?

Anyway, here it is!

With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will too.)

Aww!! That is so incredible!

After more research, I have discovered that the baby is also the size of a strawberry! So that's what I will be saying this week! I like strawberries more than prunes! Besides the picture of that prune looks scary...kinda like a bird skull! haha

So here is the baby!

Yep, the baby like being called a strawberry much better!!

Week 9

Nine weeks! Wow! It seems like when we first found out we were pregnant, I thought the time to go see the doctor would never get here. It finally did!

We went to see the doctor yesterday. I love my doctor! She is so REAL...so down to earth! At one point she told me that she is not going to preach at me, because she is human and she is a mom and has been here. She knows that every person is different and every pregnancy is different and she is going to do what she needs to help me have the best pregnancy possible. I love that! I didn't want a doctor that was going to preach at me. I just love her!

Tom got to meet her too, and he really liked her also! They had a little chat about gardening! She is definitely the right doctor for us!!

The night before the appointment I told Tom that I am really anxious to hear from a professional that I am definitely pregnant. So when the nurse was about to take my blood, I asked her, "So I really am pregnant, right?" She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Yeah you're pregnant." I breathed a sigh of relief and told her that I have been telling my husband about these dreams I've been having where the nurses say, "Umm Amy, you are NOT pregnant. And we show no signs that you ever were. So we don't know what you are thinking, but you are definitely not pregnant."

That made the nurse laugh and she said, "Well, you are defnintely pregnant!"

That's good to know!

I was also very anxious to find out if we would get to hear the baby's heart beat. The doctor told me we would and to go back out and wait in the waiting room with Tom.

When the nurse called us back and started the procedure, I was very surprised to find that we were going to get to see the baby, not just hear the heart beat.

Here is our little baby.

That was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. I could see the little legs and the little heart beating. It was so incredible, I don't even know how to explain how I felt. And to have Tom there with me holding my hand and looking at our baby together...words just can't describe.

It made it more "real", I guess.

The baby's heart rate was 182 beats per minute. The nurse said that is normal and it will slow down as time goes on.

I already have an appointment in another month!

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I think one thing I look forward to each week is looking on thebump.com and seeing what kind of fruit or vegetable they are saying the baby is the size of this week! I think it's just so neat!

So this week, the baby is the size of a green olive!

Your little embryo has now officially graduated to fetus-hood. Adding to the excitement, a Doppler ultrasound device might be able to pick up the beating heart. With basic physical structures in place and increasingly distinct facial features, baby is kind of starting to look like... well... a baby!

Martini anyone? Not me!!

First Father's Day

Tommy had his first Father's Day yesterday! Well, I guess it's more of a "Father-To-Be" Day! I got him a card for a Daddy-to-be!

How to make an emotional pregnant woman cry:

Mushy Daddy-to-be cards talking about the new little life that is on it's way and how the daddy-to-be is going to be a good daddy becuase he is already such a good man.

Yep, tears!

I went to Target with my mom and we stopped to look at the Father's Day cards. I had no idea they had Father-to-be cards! So I started looking at them. I am standing in the middle of Target reading these cards and have tears coming.

My mom just grinned and said, "Yep, you're pregnant!"

Geez!! I am a human-water faucet!

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As for my symptoms, I have been feeling much better. Not as much nausea as before. Round ligament pains haven't been AS bad as they were. And my exhaustion level is getting a little better...I think.

This weekend we packed up our SAM (POD) that came. So all Saturday was spent packing. Tommy and I made it about half-way through the day before we both crashed! So I don't think that is a fair assessment of my fatigue level!

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This week the baby is the size of a RASPBERRY!!!

Your baby is growing like mad, putting on about a millimeter every day and continuing to straighten out in the trunk. Though you can't feel it yet, baby is moving those little arms, legs and (now only slightly) webbed fingers and toes like crazy.

Wow!

Our first doctor's appointment is ONE WEEK from today!!!

I can't wait!!!

I told Tom, I feel like I still need a doctor to tell me I am pregnant just to make it more real.

He was talking to a lady at his work the other day and she was congratulating him and asked if it was official yet. He told her, "Honestly, either she's pregnant, or she's gone completely crazy!"

HAHAHA So funny! I have to agree with that! Either I'm pregnant or there is something VERY wrong with me!!

Week 7

I am now in week 7! Sometimes I can't imagine having to go through this for a total of 40 weeks! It's just not possible! Then I think, ok I just have to make it out of the first trimester. Then I am told things will get better. We shall see!

I am blessed that so far, I haven't had a very rough pregnancy. My only real strong symptom is fatigue. It seems like I just can't get enough rest no matter how long I sleep. It's a little frustrating. I have had some nausea, but overall it hasn't been too bad. Some days are better than others.

Then lately I have been having what is called "round ligament pain". It's the ligaments around the uterus stretching. Everything I have read says it is a shooting pain that goes away quickly, but mine seems to stick around.

I spoke with a nurse yesterday and she said that was normal and it's just stronger for some women than for others.

She told me my body is doing some pretty incredible things right now and it's normal to feel very strange. That made me feel better!

The baby is no longer the size of a sweet pea...it's now the size of a blueberry! Aww!!

Baby's brain -- both hemispheres! -- is growing fast, generating about 100 new cells every minute. Arms and legs are emerging as joints start to form, and a permanent set of kidneys (baby's third!) is now in place.

Wow!

That is just so incredible!

I read something like that and think about how incredible our bodies are. I can't believe I have a life forming inside me! Our God truly is an awesome God!

We will go see the doctor two weeks from today! I am so excited! I have told Tom that I KNOW I am pregnant, but I still want a doctor to tell me that!

Emotional Pregnancy

So I'm not sure about this whole pregnancy thing. I have become a completely different person. Someone I don't even reognize, and I know it's only going to bet worse! I am so emotional that it seems liek anything can make me cry. I have never been a big crier. And I have NEVER been the type of person to cry because of a commercial! I used to always make fun of my mom because she would cry about the sappy commercials on tv. I thought that was so funny. Well, payback time I guess! Yep...it happened...Last night a commercial came on that actually made me cry! The worst part is that I have seen it before! UGH!!

It's the one where the guy finds a door that someone threw away and he takes it and refinishes it and paints it and puts it in the middle of the living room. Then his wife comes home and says, "What's this?" He tells her it's a promise that someday they will have a place of their own. Aww....UGH!!! I can't believe it made me cry! I blame this kid!

It's Sweet Pea's fault!!!

Go ahead mom, you can laugh at me now. It's only fair. And I'll let you, just because I love ya!