Growing Out

What a difference a few weeks makes! Baby Stop is now over two pounds and my uterus is the size of a basketball - and you can tell! See our 6 1/2 month photo! Baby is moving more and more and is very active. More to come after our doctor appointment next week!

Moving and Grooving

We've got a mover and shaker on our hands! For the past week or so, our Baby Stop has been dancing, playing quarterback or doing some variety of high kicks in my belly. Last night we actually saw his/her antics from the outside. If I laid still, you could see my belly vibrate back and forth with each movement. Creepy but so neat! Then this morning (Baby is definitely more active in the morning), while I was working, I would look down and see movement again. I think I better lay off the sugar!

We saw the doctor today for our 24 week appointment and all is well. She said the ultrasound looked great and Baby's heart rate is a strong 138 bpm. I am measuring one week ahead of my scheduled due date (April 22) but she said that may all even itself out (babies grow at different rates and Baby Stop was measuring right on at the ultrasound).

I am feeling great and really starting to grow (photo coming next week to be an official 6 months - time flies when you're having fun!). This pregnancy has really been a breeze and I feel very fortunate to feel so good all the time. We have been very busy with family in town but after New Year's things should settle down and I can get back into a work out and healthy eating routine. Christmas was hard on the baby diet and I think I said too many times to myself - "ah, I'm pregnant, I can eat that too!"

Our First View

We saw our baby for the first time this week - what an experience! He/She was tossing and turning a lot - it was a surprise to me that I wasn't feeling more of the kicks. It was funny because he/she was trying to get his/her thumb in her mouth and found success after a few minutes. They took photos of each part of Baby Stop's body and even turned the monitor briefly so the gender could be kept a surprise. After about 45 minutes, we got some great photos to share with our family and friends.

I think this makes it all the more real for both Pete and me. There is a living, breathing human being inside me - completely dependent on me. And, for the most part, it's pretty developed, with bones, organs and everything in the right place. It's quite an eye-opener! Pete did say to me while at dinner with the Snyder family that since we became pregnant, "kids seem all the more cuter"! Ha! We will hope our little Baby Stop is cooperative and calm!!

Girl or Boy? Or to be determined???

So since we have decided not to find out the gender of our blossoming baby, both Pete and I have been having dreams. My gut is telling me boy, but in the only dream where the gender has been revealed it was a girl. All the other baby dreams, I can never tell - no pink, no blue and no gender specific clothing either.

Pete had a dream he actually remembered. He woke up frantic that it was indeed a boy - a boy with freckles! Well, after he calmed down when we decided that was near impossible, I asked if the baby boy had dark hair or if we had a ginger on our hands. And he said dark hair. We shall see!

Time is flying by! Our next doctor's appointment is a little over two weeks away and the ultra sound is about 2 1/2 weeks away. And we have Thanksgiving in between. I think the 2nd trimester is going to be a blur!

Bulking Up

We had our 16 week appointment last week and I am definitely starting to bulk up. The doctor reports that I have gained 5 pounds, but my count is closer to 3.5 (I really think we are splitting hairs at this point). I have been getting my energy back and have been able to start working out again. Although it's nothing close to what I was doing before, I still feel much better when I am able to do the EFX or walk for 30 minutes or so.

The doctor said I was measuring well and we were able to schedule our ultrasound. Pete chose the date to have it on his birthday and we are very excited to see photos. We tried to have it put in our file that we didn't want to find out and the nurse doing the scheduling said they would "see what they could do." We were surprised at that response and questioned them further. And she just said it depended on the position of the baby and how well we could read the photos. Hopefully our little one is a tad bit sneeky at this point!

The Heartbeat

We finally got to hear the heartbeat!

At our 12 week appointment they brought out the doppler and rolled it around my belly. It felt like an eternity before we heard the quick thumping sound of that little person growing inside of me! Pete said it really was only a few seconds - I definitely was holding my breath : ) It was fun watching his face as it lit up with amazement as we heard it - I think we were both a little nervous about it. He said it sounded like a train (and with our home across the street from the train tracks, I think we have heard plenty of those).

The doctor said we would get to hear it at each appointment, so I will look forward to hearing that sweet sound each month.

I have gained 0.3 pounds as of my 12 week appointment and my shape hasn't changed all that much, even without working out for the last 2 months or so.

This week though (almost 14 weeks!) I have been more bloated and have started moving into my bigger work pants. Thank god I saved the "fat" pants! I refuse to start wearing maternity at this point but feel that's it's on the horizon soon!

Getting Used to Being Pregnant

So it's so weird to think about what's going on in my body when nothing really feels or looks that different. I had about 3 weeks of pretty bad nausea - where I would come home from work and go directly to bed. The good thing is it was mostly at night (so I would get through the entire work day no problem but then crash when I got home) and I never threw up. I can say that it's much better than what I thought it would be, especially with some of the stories and experiences my friends have had.

So at 5 weeks Pete's entire family was in town (except for Tim). So we decided we would go ahead and share. We got through dinner and Pete announced to the family and both sets of grandparents that Cole was going to have a cousin. All the girls started jumping up and down and screaming, which seemed to go on for more than five minutes. Their reaction was amazing, fun and heart warming. Joe and Kristin missed it as they were not in town yet and so we got to tell them when they got there. Pete had called Tim on our way to dinner, so he was the first person to know!

Then we called my parents on speaker from Pete's car. It was hard to tell but I believe my Mom started crying (as expected). And then we called my sister and shared that Sophia was going to have a cousin as well. It was a very surreal experience to share that news.

Now it was on to keep it a secret from everyone else until we were ready. I can't tell you how many sprite with limes I drank (aka vodka tonics) - from family gatherings to weddings. We just wanted to tell our closest friends before everyone else knew.

At one wedding, Pete showed his excitement a little much. After over-indulging, he proceeded to tell most of the people at the wedding. Which I guess was good, because then I could just drink water the rest of the night!

At one of our Chicago weddings in the summer of 2011, I was able to tell Susie. Who responded to my news with her own great news - she was pregnant too! And our estimated due dates were the same! It's going to be so much fun to go through this with a great friend!

And we got to share with Mark & Sarah and Caroline & Chad just one day apart. Both were thrilled. We were over at they Snyders and I pulled Elizabeth aside and told her I had a secret - there was a baby in my belly. When the time was right, she shared the news with her parents. At first I don't think they believed her! We got together with them last week and she asked on the way to meet us, "Does Megan still have that baby in her belly?" Too funny!

Finally at another wedding, I was able to tell my high school friends, who were overjoyed with the news. Sarah wasn't able to make it but I was able to share with her that I was also pregnant too. It will be fun to watch her go through it all just a few weeks ahead of me!

So many people left to share the news with but there is lots of time!