16 weeks

The pregnancy app I have on my phone told me that the baby can now hear my voice at this point in the pregnancy! That is so surreal! I just had to share that craziness before moving on :) 

My parents are here visiting from Oregon now, which has been great but also difficult because of my not-so-fun pregnancy symptom of dizziness and fatigue that creeps up randomly it seems. We were all supposed to go to the Santa Barbara zoo on friday with my sister, brother-in-law, and niece but my baby had other plans as I started feeling light headed and woozy, and we ended up just coming home so I could rest. Sometimes pregnancy makes me feel so lazy, because I feel like I'm constantly eating and have days where I can't get much done because I need to eat or else I'll get the dizzies again. Everyone keeps telling me I'm growing a baby, so I shouldn't be so hard on myself. I guess the main frustration is I can't just go hang out with friends on a whim anymore. I have to make sure I've eaten recently enough, that I have some preggie pops and snacks packed in case I start getting hungry or light headed, and sometimes I have to just go home and rest and feel like a party pooper. This baby is making it difficult for me to be much of a social butterfly anymore ;) Still, I keep telling myself, it could be much worse and I want to appreciate that I have had a healthy pregnancy thus far with only a few annoying symptoms.  

How far along: 16 weeks and two days  

Fruit comparison: an avocado (about 4.6 inches long) 

Total weight gain: 7.5 pounds

Maternity clothes: no more belly band, I'm only in maternity pants now, haha! Since the weather has been so nice I've been mostly in jeans and t-shirts (both maternity, of course).  

Sleep: Martin got me a snoogle pillow for Christmas! It's basically a giant body pillow that you can wrap around you a bunch of different ways to make it more comfortable to sleep with during pregnancy. Right now, since my belly isn't so huge, I mostly sleep with the pillow against my back so I don't end up sleeping on my back in the middle of the night. It's nice and cozy, and I'll definitely be thankful to have it later on! 

Best moment of the week: I don't know that I can pick just one! Having my parents come to visit, spending Christmas with my sister, her husband and niece, my mom taking me to buy some maternity clothes (thanks mom!) . . . I think just being able to spend a lot of time with family this week has been great. Oh! My sister-in-law Brittney gave me her fetal doppler to borrow as well, which allows you to listen to the baby's heartbeat! I think that's my new favorite toy, haha! Sometimes when I'm just sitting at home I'll get it out to listen for a few minutes. :) 

Miss anything?: As I mentioned earlier, I think just being able to go do things on a whim. Everything seems to revolve around how much I've eaten, when I last ate, and how much water I've been drinking. I told Martin yesterday eating just feels like a chore now, I have to do it so often and lately I feel so picky! 

Movement: I think I might have felt the baby move for the first time this week! But it might have just been gas, haha. It's hard to tell at this point. 

Food cravings: I've realized this week that one thing I have wanted, not every day, but at least 2 or 3 times a week this pregnancy, has been a Jersey Mike's number 6 mini sandwich, made Mike's Way. I've always liked Jersey Mike's, but not to the point where I'll have had it the day before yesterday and think "I really want Jersey Mike's for lunch" again. 

Symptoms: occasional nausea/faintness if I don't eat often enough (I promise I am trying to eat frequently and making sure I'm eating well! Like I said, I've just never had to pay this much attention to eating before, so it's annoying!). Occasional headaches, and I'm pretty much ready for bed by 8:30 or 9 most nights. 

Looking forward to: My parents are in town til the 2nd or 3rd, so I'm glad we get to spend more time with them while they're here!

15 weeks

So I switched to a new prenatal vitamin this week after having headaches almost every day, a few different episodes of dizziness, and feeling very tired overall. I knew my prenatal didn't have iron, but I'm not anemic, so I didn't think it was a big deal. But after calling my doctor and talking to him about my headaches & dizziness, he pointed out that since my body is producing 50% more blood I really do need that extra iron! Since I've taken the new prenatal, I haven't had as many headaches, and if I get them they aren't as bad. Woohoo! :) 

How far along: 15 weeks :) 

Fruit comparison: an orange 

Total weight gain: I still haven't bought a new scale . . . but I would guess I'm at 6 or 7 pounds gained now? 

Maternity clothes: belly band with my jeans, leggings, and maternity shirts. All day. Every day. 

Sleep: I feel like I toss and turn a lot while I sleep. Plus, I constantly wake up realizing I'm sleeping on my back and have to roll over to my side. I've been told I'm not supposed to sleep on my back, but I can't remember why, haha! 

Best moment of the week: I finally made it through getting my hair done!! Thanks to my girl Barbara, snacks, fresh air while the color was setting, and a full meal before my appointment, this attempt went much better than last weeks. Now I have new color I LOVE and a haircut I feel the same way about. Barb always makes me look way better than I ever do! Plus, I ADORE getting my hair shampoo'ed by Barb. She always gives the best scalp massage ;) 

Miss anything?: I miss wearing some of my favorite blouses haha! And my skinny jeans . . . 

Movement: Nothing yet! 

Food cravings: Apples and oranges! One of my small group girls brought me some oranges from her orange tree and I've probably had two of those a day. They are delicious!! (Thanks Felicity!) 

Symptoms: occasional nausea still (rarely though), and mostly I just feel like I'm boring because most days I want to go to bed at 8:30 lately! 

Looking forward to: I get the next two weeks off work, thanks to my awesome boss at Cornerstone!! I'm excited to have that time off so I can enjoy Christmas and my family coming to visit!

14 weeks

This week has been full of showing off my baby bump. Not that I can help it anymore, baby C just likes to be obvious apparently! I get all kinds of comments, from "I can't believe you're already showing!", to "It's pretty early, you must just be bloated still" (who thinks this is ok to say to a pregnant lady?!) and my favorite, "you're baby bump is so adorable!". Thank you to my friends who know that as much as I love having this baby making an appearance already, this is still a completely new experience for me and it's easy to feel self conscious about these changes. I'm trying to remember to embrace the bump (my baby is in there! woohoo!) and not take to heart the comments that are not so kind. My prayer on the days I have a hard time with these changes has been that I would remember that we asked God for this and He answered! That my body is going to change, my belly is going to look like a watermelon, and that just means there is a sweet little baby continuing to grow in there. I can't wait to meet our little love bug. June can't come fast enough!

How far along: 14 weeks!
Fruit comparison: a lemon
Total weight gain: I think I need to buy a new scale. Ours at home says I weigh 2 pounds less than the one I weighed in at my doctor's office.
Maternity Clothes: I still wear a lot of my other shirts, but I only like one pair of my own jeans right now, and I wear those with a belly band. Time to go buy some maternity pants!
Sleep: Still trying to go to bed early, so I can get a full 8 hours in. Other than that, nothing abnormal.
Best moment of the week: Well, I would have said getting my hair colored, since I have been waiting for this day for what feels like forever, but baby C had other plans! I made it through half of my hair coloring appointment before I got really lightheaded and decided to continue at another time. Not sure if it was low blood sugar, the fumes, or a combination of the two, but it's pretty funny to me now. At the time, I was pretty annoyed and felt bad to have to ask Barbara to stop and continue later. But not only is she my hair dresser, she's my best friend. So she was pretty forgiving ;)
Miss anything?: Nope. The typical things everyone misses I didn't like before anyway (sushi, rare steaks, etc.), except for coffee.
Movement: Not yet. I read that if I poke my belly, baby will wiggle. So sometimes I will do that and wonder if it's moving around, haha! Writing that down just shows how weird I am.
Food cravings: Still breakfast smoothies. I've also probably had 3 green apples a day this week, but I'm not so sure if I've craved them. They've just always been delicious.
Symptoms: Occassional headaches (I've been using peppermint oil when I start to get them, thanks for the suggestion everyone!) and major pregnancy brain! I feel so incredibly forgetful, it's annoying!
Looking forward to: My family is coming to visit right after Christmas, and I can't wait to see all of them!

13 Weeks

This last week we had our second ultrasound, and it was great! We got to see our little baby wiggling around, hear the heartbeat, and were told everything is progressing perfectly, which is always great to hear. It was so fun to see the baby moving around since I can't feel it yet, and to be reminded that there really is a baby in there! Our doctor said at our next ultrasound (17 weeks) we may be able to find out the gender, depending on how obvious the baby is ;) So we may find out if baby C is a girl or boy sometime next month!

How far along: 13 weeks 

Fruit comparison: a peach 

Total weight gain: 5 pounds 

Maternity Clothes: I've worn the belly band every time I had my jeans on, but I also have been loving leggings. I got some great hand-me-down maternity clothes from my friend Caitlin, and I have worn a couple of the shirts and love how those show my little bump :) 

Sleep: I've been sleeping pretty well through the night, with just a little tossing and turning. 

Best moment of the week: Definitely our ultrasound! That was so fun to see and great to hear that baby is doing well! 

Miss anything?: Not that I can think of, since I started having coffee again, haha.

Movement: Still can't feel anything just yet.

Food cravings: This week it has definitely been red meat. Carne Asada, roast beef sandwiches, just gimme dat beef! 

Symptoms: Occasional headaches, but my energy is coming back so I'm not as fatigued. 

Looking forward to: This weekend we have our Christmas party with my small group girls, and I love this time with them. They are all so excited about our little one and we already have them scheduled for babysitting different days of each week ;) 

12 Weeks - First Pregnancy Post!

Hi friends!
Now that the news is officially out there, I wanted to keep a blog to share weekly updates on how crazy and surreal it is to have a little person growing inside of me, haha! My friend Kristin kept a weekly blog during her pregnancy, and since she lives in Philadelphia now, I loved getting to see her weekly updates on how she was doing and how baby Cal was growing. So that inspired me to do the same throughout my pregnancy.
The last couple of months since we found out the good news have seemed to go by incredibly slowly! It was so hard to "keep it a secret" from everyone. Of course we told our close friends and family and it was such a blessing to me to receive words of encouragement and prayer support, especially during those early weeks when it was all so new and foreign. I really needed the reminders to trust in God's faithfulness and sovereignty in forming this little one.
The best part of sharing the news has been the overwhelming enthusiasm and excitement our friends and family have shared with us. Nothing feels better than having those you love share in your joy! So thank you, for rejoicing along with us! Check out my sweet little bump in the photo below, and the section below I will be updating weekly!

 

How far along: 12 weeks!

Fruit comparison: a plum 

Total weight gain: I think 4-5 pounds? I'll have to start weighing myself, haha

Maternity Clothes: I got a belly band this weekend and that's been pretty nice since I can't button my pants anymore! But now I want to show off my little bump, so I'm not wearing as loose fitting shirts as I was the last two weeks. 

Sleep: I try to go to bed early, and most nights I wake up to use the bathroom. 

Best moment of the week: Sharing the big news with the rest of the world! It was so fun to get all the phone calls, texts, and comments of congratulations and excitement. 

Miss anything?: Coffee! I have avoided it for the first trimester, but I'm going to ask our doctor at our appointment this wednesday if it's ok to start drinking it again. 

Movement: Not that I can feel yet!

Food cravings: This one has been different every week! This week, I'm loving breakfast smoothies. My nutri bullet is once again my best friend ;) 

Symptoms: A little nausea, but nothing too bad. I'm not as tired as I was for the last few months. I have had a little dizzy episodes once or twice, but mostly I've been getting the pregnancy headaches. 

Looking forward to: Our 12 week ultrasound! It's this wednesday!!