The Ever Expanding Belly- Week 13/14

Well, here they are, my belly pics! It doesn't seem like much of a difference from the last pics, but I can confirm that my belly is definitely growing little by little. Pretty much I can measure the growth by how far I can zip my pants up.

The amazing thing is that my belly varies in size throughout the day. In the mourning I barely can make anything out, but as the day goes by it seems to miraculously grow and by bed time it is huge. My pilates teacher told me that when she was pregnant her belly would grow throughout the day too. So weird! She also had an aversion to vegetables like broccoli, just like myself. I wonder why that is?
This past weekend I purchased my first pair of prego jeans at a maternity store in the mall. I love to shop, but shopping in a maternity store is no fun. Not because everything is huge, but because nothing looks good on and most of it is butt ugly. I am definitely going to have to do my research on cute maternity boutiques in Seattle, otherwise I am going to be wearing dresses my whole pregnancy.

Other news is that we are probably going to move. Not from Sequim, but from our current residency. We've been having complaints by neighbors about our dogs going the bathroom on the grass. Our duplex does not have grass, so I have to take them for walks around the neighborhood. Of course I pick up any droppings, but this neighborhood is full of old people who have nothing better to do, but complain about everything. I swear I live in the movie Cacoon.

However, this is not the only reason why we want to move, we also have noticed after cleaning out our third room that there is not much room to grow. Our garage is stuffed to the rim. I mean literally, we had to hang shelves from the ceiling. Plus it would be nice to have a house with an enclosed backyard for the dogs.

We found a craftsman style house down the street from us for rent this past weekend and it is too cute. It has an enclosed back yard and lots of room to grow. We put in our application tomorrow and hopefully we will get it. Yeah, can't wait to move! Well sort of...

Over the hurdle of the First Trimester!

Today was my 12 week appointment, a milestone in the pregnancy since the first 12 weeks are the most fragile time in the babies development. I saw a new doctor this time, Doctor Burkhardt, one of three doctor's that I will be seeing throughout my pregnancy. He was an older man, but very nice.

The appointment was a normal OB exam with doppler to hear the heart. I made Cha come along since he didn't hear the heart beat the first time. Plus if anything went wrong I would need his support.

Of course the appointment started off by stepping on the scale, which I was not looking forward to, but who ever does. To my surprise and Cha's I lost a pound. Don't ask me how that happened! I have been eating like a pig lately and not going to the gym as religously as I normally do. I am usually a pretty healthy eater, but not lately. My sweet tooth and craving for carbs has been ridiculous. It is so bad that I can't even go down the candy aisle at the grocery store. The doctor said that there was nothing to worry about and that he wouldn't be surprised if I even lost more than that since my body has significantly increased in blood flow and boob tissue. Plus most women don't tend to gain weight until the second and third trimester. He has never had a patient were the problem is not enough weight gain, usually it is the other way around.

Once he began the exam and then the doppler, that's when I became extremely nervous. I mean if anything bad was going to happen it would of happened by now. It took him a few minutes to find the heart beat and the whole time I was praying to God, please let everything be ok. The doctor even said, "she is a shy little thing, isn't she". Cha and I just looked at each other like does he know something we don't! Is there something on my file that says she wants a girl? But finally he found it and I think Cha almost fainted from suspense. The doc calculated the heart beat at 156 bpm and he said, "it sounded like a strong little heart beat and it's also in the girl range". Each time I hear that rapid little heart I am amazed. I think the next appointment I will record it because I could just listen to it all day long.

After we left the doctor Cha confessed to me that his heart was in his throat the whole time when the doctor was trying to find the heart beat. But now both of us can relax and feel comforted that we have made it through the scary first trimester. Although even though I know this I still can't wait for the next appointment. I probably won't feel totally relaxed until I deliver the baby and hear her/him cry, along with the doctors confirmation that everything is ok. Oh, the joys of motherhood!