Week 13

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of Baby: Baby H is now about the size of a medium size shrimp and is almost 3 inches long and weighs

 nearly an ounce.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: As of my last appointment over a week ago I was +3 and I haven't stepped on a scales since.

Maternity Clothes: Sometimes! They are just so much more comfortable than my regular clothes. I don't have to wear maternity pants yet but I have just because I hate when my buttons dig into my belly with my regular pants and it's so uncomfortable. The work pants I have have the big belly band, or whatever it's called, so I just pull them up just over my belly and it's comfy. LOL And tops, I'm not really comfy in anything else. If I'm at home I can wear some bigger t-shirts and that's OK but when I'm out and about I like the maternity shirts, especially the T-shirt material ones. I found a couple of really cute shirts at Kohl's but they only have to colors, I was wishing for more but oh well.

Gender: We will be finding out on November 25th or 26th at our Gender Reveal Party!

Movement: Nothing really, I did feel a flutter the other day after eating lunch but I don't know if it was the baby or gas, but I'm saying it was the baby.

Sleep: I've been sleeping great! Last night I got up to go to the bathroom around my usual time of around 2:30 and I couldn't get back to sleep and it was driving me crazy. I think I was just thinking about things. I hate when I do this.

What I Miss: I can't think of anything right now, my energy is coming back. I have been staying up past 9:00 so that's a plus!

Cravings: Again, I haven't really had any cravings. Every once in a while I'll want something sweet but that's about it.

Symptoms: I don't if this is really a symptom but seeing and feeling my belly getting bigger and harder. I will lay in bed and just rub it and I can feel the difference. I can't "suck" in my gut anymore but some day's I do try. 

Best Moment This Week: Tom and I tried going for a walk but ended up at the neighbors. There are 4 of us in our neighborhood that are all expecting babies around the same time. The first one due, Kathy, is due around the end of the year. Joie, she's due a month before me, March 7th, then there's me due April 4th and Angie, she's due, I think the end of April. She wasn't out the other night but the 3 of us girls were talking and we've decided to all get together some night in October and go out for dinner and get to know each other. I've been living there for 2 years and I hardly know my neighbors and if we all have small children around, what better way then to get to know each other. I'm really looking forward to it, we are all around the same age and we were also discussing about ways to communicate with each other just in case we need a break or something and for me, since this is my first and Tom works 3rd shift they said to definitely call them if I need anything. I have good feelings about all this and I can't wait to get to know them.

I'm also so excited to almost be out of my first trimester! It's such a great feeling knowing everything is going great so far.

In other news, tonight I get my hair done! I've been needing this for the past couple of weeks. My hair is getting long and super dry. I'm hoping that my hair dresser can help me out with this. Saturday I'm heading to Schaumburg (suburb of Chicago) for a Jazzercise district meeting. We have decided to spend the night instead of driving home after the meeting. We got a hotel room at The Hilton and 5 of us are staying in one room! This should be interesting. LOL Linda is bringing an air mattress so someone, not me, will be sleeping on it. I'm hoping to get to a maternity shop, since we don't really have anything here in DBQ and of course, I want to hit Home Goods, Crate and Barrel and William-Sonoma, these are my favorites stores. Stores we don't have in DBQ so it's always nice to browse through them. I'm sure we'll hit a few other stores but that's my goal.

Oh and this picture taking sure is difficult, I think we took around 10 pictures and this is the best one I could come up with, this was taking with Tom's camera. I still haven't found a place to put my hands. I want you to be able to see my belly but they seem to hide it. Oh well, I have 27 more weeks to figure it out.

Love note

Last night when I got home from work Tom asked me if I found something in my lunch bag. I said "no" of course because I didn't see anything, but here he put a little note in my lunch bag. It's the sweetest thing, I just wish I would have ate all my food then I would have seen it. This will be something I treasure for the rest of my life and my baby's as well as its a note for the baby as well.

If you click on the picture you should be able to read it pretty clearly. He's so darn sweet and it made my night last night. I put it back in my lunch bag so I could look at it again today! LOL

Camping weekend

Friday night, Tom and I headed up to Whitetail! The nice weekends are coming to an end and it's so sad but then again I'm so excited because I know next year come camping season we will have a little baby! So we pulled into the clubhouse Friday night to get a bag of ice and when I got in there, there were some friends that we used to work with at Thermo Fisher. Jerry Hartford and his wife Sherry and Barb and otto, they were all well on there way so Jerry grabbed Tom and bought him a few drinks and some shots. I on the other hand a virgin Bloody Mary and a Busch NA. Oh and I got to join in on a buck shot, I sure wish I had my camera for this because I don't know how to explain it, but it's some kind of stick or something and they have 4 holes in it where the shot glasses sit and you all do a shot together, well I was the 4th one so I had to do a shot of water. I can say that was the first! Meanwhile, the dog is still in the truck because we haven't been down to the camper yet so Tom and Jerry ended up leaving with the dog and I drove the truck to the camper. It was a quiet Friday night by us so we headed up the way to have a few more with the others. Since everyone was pretty well schnockered, we went home and tried to watch a movie but we both fell asleep pretty early. I ended up having a really bad back pain, it was in my upper back so I wasn't worried about the baby or anything, but we were sitting up at the bar and Jerry was rubbing my back/shoulder area and I don't know if he pinched a nerve or something but right after that my back was killing me. I had a really hard time sleeping that night but when I woke up the next day it was pretty much gone. Thank God because I don't think I could have stayed if it was like that all weekend.

Saturday a few more campers showed up as well as Chris and Kristi, we were shocked. We had a feeling after talking to mom that they were coming but they never called until they got there. It was so nice visiting with them. It would be cool if they because permanent but I highly doubt my brother would go for that. He's not fond of camping AT ALL! But I think if he tried it with the group we camp with he'd love it!

After they left we headed up to the clubhouse for customer/camper appreciation. They have free fish! George, the owner, is a huge fisherman and what he catches in the winter he has for this big event. It's so good. Plus they had all other kinds of food, everything was delicious and free! We ate then headed back to the camper. We walked over to the neighbors who had a fire going, by this time we needed it because it was getting cold. Later on that night once it got dark, we all watched the movie Bridesmaids. Tara, a girl we camp with, has a projector so we hung up a sheet and watched it outside. It was chilly but we had blankets and all. It was kind of hard to hear so I really want to watch it again but from what I saw it was pretty good.

We called it a night after that. We got up Sunday morning and headed home.

Week 12

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of Baby:  Baby H weighs about half an ounce, the size of a lime, and just over 2 inches long.

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  +3 at my appointment on Monday. I was a little shocked but she said that's OK but just remember you're NOT eating for two! I sure hope I don't gain 3 pounds every month I go to the doctor.

Maternity Clothes: Not quite but I have worn a few shirts, just because I hate wearing tight shirts and the maternity shirts I bought are super comfy. I have bought some pants and jeans but haven't had to wear them yet.

 

Gender: Will find out on November 25th!

Movement:  Nothing yet

What I Miss: My energy!

Cravings:  I can't say I have any cravings, but all food sounds good, however when I think I want something and I eat it, I'm not very satisfied. I don't know if that makes sense or not but that's the best way I can describe it.

Symptoms: Nothing really, after dinner tonight I had some cramps and I just think I over did it or something. I just sat down and everything was fine.

 

Best Moment This Week: My 12 week ultrasound and getting to hear the baby's heartbeat. Baby H was being a stinker because he/she wouldn't hold still for very long for the doctor to count the BPM, but we got to hear it beating hard and strong.

Party/Baby gift

Last night we had a little party at Julie (Jazzercise instructor) and Fred's house, they are the two that got married while we were all in Vegas. It was a little party for the wedding party. It was a blast. They served us steak, twice baked potatoes and salad. We all brought a few snackie foods as well. Fred also made stuffed portebello mushrooms and shrimp scampi. We had way too much food before dinner was even served. We were stuffed!

After dinner we sat and watched the wedding video, it lasted a whole 10 minutes or so. LOL then there were a few gifts to hand out. I wasn't expecting a thing! And I ended up with a couple of gifts. 

It's a Pandora bracelet. Something I've always wanted but just never asked for it or really thought about it. They are kind of expensive and I can't believe Julie bought this for me. This was a congratulations gift for my being pregnant. If you can see the small charm it's a baby carriage. And the second charm is a bell that Julie gave me for being a bridesmaid in her wedding. How sweet and thoughtful, now I can start to fill my bracelet. This will also be an easy Christmas and/or birthday present, to get me new charms. Doland Jewelers for anyone who wants to know. LOL The little rattle was in the cupcakes that Julie had got from Hy-Vee, they were delicious and I had to take the rattle home.

After the little gift exchange the men went downstairs to play Texas Hold Em' and the girls stayed upstairs and talked, what we do best. It was a great night and were home around 12:30, way past my bedtime.

We slept in the next morning and relaxed all day. Watched the Bears lose and made homemade chicken noodle soup. OMG it smelled so good in our house all day and now I'm ready to eat a bowl.

Tomorrow is our 12 week ultrasound at 11:00, afterwards we are thinking about going to Galena for the afternoon for lunch and to putz around. Tom took the night off tonight so he'll be able to be at the u/s with me. I can't wait to hear this baby's heartbeat

Gourmet dinner at Mom and Dad's

Last night we were invited up for a "special" dinner. I can't even pronounce what we ate but it wasn't too bad.

Grandma enjoying her drink before dinner.

First was our appetizer - I don't remember what this was called. But it had a slice of tomato, spinach (I think) and mozzarella. But not sure what the sauce was. It was cooked in the over and it tasted pretty good.

Then our salad - Spinach and Arugula Salad with Orange

Mom, getting ready to put her creation in the oven.

Mom and dad finishing up last minute details.

Fried eggs

And the meal - Deviled Ham Croque Madame

Very different but we all liked it. I told mom she really needs to get back on her feet and if you've noticed in a few pictures she is doing a little walking with her boot! Yeah!!!

If you're looking for the recipe I believe she got it off of Rachael Ray!

11 Weeks plus 1 day

Yesterday I was 11 weeks pregnant. Next week I will start to take pics so you all can see my growing belly. Last night I was skyping with Steph and Leah and I showed them my belly. Leah was so excited knowing I have a baby growing in my belly too. We asked her what she thinks I'm going to have and she said a boy. We were both shocked. She's so darn precious.

So my baby is just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig and is now almost fully formed. His or her hands will soon open and close into fist. She's already busy kicking and stretching. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows. Too bad I won't be able to feel this though for a couple more months. I'm sure it will be here before I know it. Heck, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are all right around the corner and we know how fast they sneak up on us.

I feel like I'm starting to get some of my energy back but then again other days I feel like I could go to bed when I get home from work. I'm hoping this changes and I'm sure it will. I haven't really had any other symptoms and I feel so lucky. But I've also heard that if you don't suffer from any symptoms that I will have a hard labor. Oh well, I guess I will just have to wait and see.

Monday is my next appt. I have an ultrasound and a physical. I can't wait to hear the baby's heartbeat and to make sure everything is OK. I will keep you all posted.

New maternity clothes

Tonight, Me, Tom, Micayla and Brandon all went out for supper at Crust we had the $20 special, a large pizza and all the pop you can drink, it's so worth it. The pizza is somewhat like Marco's and Cafe Mana Cafa, both are excellent and so was this. The pizza was huge, we have enough for 2 more meals. Lunch will be good the next few days.

After dinner, Micayla went on her way, not sure where she was going but she said something about going to her mom's. And we headed out to the mall. I had 2 coupons for VS for free panties. Thanks to Mom I got an extra one, plus the one I get in the mail once in a while. Thanks to Tom for buying me stuff out there around X-mas time that I get these in the mail. So you know Mom must have gotten something from Dad, because she said she's never shopped out there. Yeah right, they just don't want to admit it. LOL Since I was in need of some new undies I bought a few extra pairs. After VS we headed to JCPenney's, I wanted to look at the Maternity clothes and I found a few things. Not that I really need it yet but I think I could use a few new shirts, mine are kind of getting tight and uncomfortable to wear. I feel like I'm always pulling my shirt and it was driving me crazy and I know I'm going to be needing jeans soon, I'm afraid to try on my jeans that fit me earlier in the year so I broke down and bought a pair of jeans and 3 shirts. I didn't try the jeans I bought on at the store, I tried a different pair o nand they were a little small, so I bought the bigger size and just bought them and tried them on at home. They fit pretty good but they are a little long. I haven't seen anything yet that has a size tall, regular or short for the length. I'm hoping to find something like that, I just have to keep my eye open. It's so fun looking at all the clothes but man are they expensive. I'm afraid once I get big come December and I will be needing work clothes and a winter jacket, this one I don't know about yet, maybe one of Tom's jackets will fit. God knows he has a ton of jackets. We'll figure it out once the time comes.

So here's a few pictures of my new clothes. They are pretty plain but I'm a plain kind of girl.

A black short sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. I can't get used to the belly thing, not sure what it's called but right now it's a little big. I doubt I'll be saying that in 2-3 months.

And a white and grey long sleeve shirt.

This week its supposed to drop like 30 degrees and only be a high in the 60's so the long sleeve shirts may come in handy.

Oh and Tom got a new pillow, he's been complaining about having headaches and neck aches when he gets up so he's hoping a new pillow will do the trick.

Starting next week, after my 12 week ultrasound I will start taking weekly pictures. I'm so excited to be able to start doing this and share my experience with everyone.

10 Weeks

I'm finally in double digits, only 30 more weeks to go! LOL

This week my baby is the size of a kumquat, not sure what that is, but tit weighs less than a quarter of an ounce and is a little over an inch long from head to bottom. Wow, he/she is sure growing up fast!

My baby has now completed the most critical portion of his/her development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his/her body rapidly grow and mature.

My baby is swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. He/she now has tiny nails forming on there fingers and toes, no more webbing and peach-fuzz hair is beginning to grow on  her tender skin. My baby's limbs can now bend, his hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his hear and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body.

My baby is going to double in size in the coming weeks. That's scary because I'm already feeling like a horse.

Last night Tom and I went and did a little maternity clothes shopping hoping to find some on sale but no luck. I just looked but didn't buy anything. If I found something I liked on sale I probably would have bought it but no luck yet.

I have been feeling great, just tired and I feel like I'm always hungry but from what I'm reading it's normal.I've been reading this book "The Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy" and everything in this book is so true. I was laughing so hard last night I had tears in my eyes and I think Tom thought I was nuts. It was about being hungry all the time and having to pee. It just cracked me up. I will have to quote it next time I blog.

I started back teaching at Jazz last week and everything seemed to go fine other than my muscles were sore but that's to be expected. I'm excited for the weekend of camping again, I'm just hoping its a nice one.

Cold and rainy weekend

Isn't Labor Day weekend supposed to be nice? Well, it wasn't very nice, mother nature did not want us outside enjoying the holiday weekend. It felt more like Memorial Day weekend.

Friday we got off work at 2:00! We were so excited because August is such a crazy month and no one is allowed to take vacation unless something major comes up so we were super excited to get out early and have a 3 day weekend.

Tom and I took off for Whitetail about 3:00, the kids stayed home, they had family in town and Brandon had to work so they stayed home.

It's hard to believe but when we got up to Whitetail, it was about 90 degrees out, it was HOT! I know I said earlier it was a crappy weekend but Friday was beautiful. This crazy weather, the kids got out of school early on Thursday because of the heat and today it's not even 75 degrees out. I just don't get it. Anyway, we mowed the lawn so we didn't have to worry about it the rest of the weekend. All the permanent campers were up there this weekend, it's so fun when we are all together, we have lots of fun and lots of laughs. I sure get to see sides of people not being able to drink that's for sure.

One thing is for sure we eat well when we camp, Friday night we grilled out brats and had chips and dip, Saturday we put a roast in the crock pot and let it cook all day, our camper smelled wonderful, and we make Italian beef sandwiches out of it, OMG it was so good, we even had to share with our fellow campers, they loved it as well. It was a big hit and super duper easy. Sunday we all had a little potluck amongst our group, there were so many different items, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed jalapenos, spinach artichoke dip and much much more. We made a chicken salad dip, it was so yummy.

Mom, Dad and Grandma all came up Sunday afternoon to visit with us. Grandma has never seen Whitetail before and Andy and Bill, Erica and her family and Gordon and Lorlie were all up there too. Unfortunately with the crappy weather we didn't get to hang out much. But Grandma got to see our new camper and seemed to really enjoy herself. They went to the 3 Mile House on there way back home.

Speaking of weather, Saturday it rained ALL day, there were a few breaks in between but it was cold and rainy all day. Tom and I borrowed a couple of movies from the neighbors and snuck in early to watch and snuggle. We put the couch bed out, turned the TV out so we could see it and watched Limitless and Black Swan, that one was a little weird but Limetless was really good. Who wouldn't like a movie with Bradly Cooper? Sunday the weather was much better but still chilly and windy. We did get to sit by the campfire Sunday when felt wonderful and Sunday, of course, it was beautiful and time to go home. That always happens, it's always the nicest day when you have to leave.

Sunday night I went to Grandma's for a cook out, she had hamburgers and chips and Uncle Dan's dip. That's the best dip, speaking of that, I need to order some more, we are out.

Overall it was a great weekend. Next weekend is a Chili cook off up at Whitetail so we are going to cook up some chili and hopefully win something. Tom makes a mean Chili. That sounds so good right now.

9 Weeks and 1 Day

Yesterday marked my 9 weeks of being pregnant. I'm really debating on starting to take pictures. I think what's getting the biggest are my breast! And I don't need bigger ones. I'm TMI, sorry. So I think I will start maybe next week with pictures.

My baby is about an inch long, about the size of a grape, and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. My baby's heart is finishing dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form - as do his/her tiny teeth. Her organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear and the external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. The placenta is developed enough now to take overmost of the critical job of produing hormones. Now that my baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain. Yeah, I can't wait!

I still haven't had any sickness, not that I'm complaining but sometimes I can't even tell I'm pregnant and that scares me sometimes but I know everything is fine in there. I have been kind of moody lately, just ask my husband, I kind of freaked out on him Monday when I got home from Jazzercise, supper wasn't started andI was starving! I felt bad after I kind of freaked out. Sorry sweetie. We made a delicious homemade pizza.

Tomorrow will start my first day back teaching at Jazzercise. I'm pretty excited and nervous all at the same time. I will only be doing 2 days. Monday and Friday mornings at 5:45am. Friday is all muscle work so I can control how much weight I use and Monday's will be low impact aerobics. Everything I've read and I've talked to my doctor and they said that its great to exercise throughout your pregnancy just listen to your body and that's what I'm going to do.

The most exciting thing that I've been doing lately is rubbing my belly while I'm laying in bed. I've also read that I should start a daily ritual to connect with my baby and I've been doing this since our egg transfer back in July. I will just lay there and rub and pray and talk to my baby, it's so relaxing and a great way to start the bonding process and to help me plan for the kind of parent I want to be.