belly business -- 17 weeks.

How far along: 17 weeks

Size of the baby: turnip

Total weight gain/loss: I've gained about a pound

Maternity clothes: None so far, but I might be venturing out this week to finally purchase some maternity jeans. This rubberband business is getting a little ridiculous!

Cravings: all the bad things -- salty fried food and sweets and Dr. Pepper -- I'm on the lookout for caffeine-free DP

Symptoms: Still rockin' the indigestion. Thank goodness I have Zantac!

Movement: Not yet, but I'm hoping to feel the little booger soon!

I'm so ready for my belly to "pop". I know, I know, be careful what you wish for, but I'm ready to look pregnant, not overfed!

Picture coming tomorrow ...

happy thanksgiving.

There's a lot to be thankful for this year: my family, my friends, my fabulous husband, the bundle of joy we're adding to our family in May and many other things! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. 

it's a good thing ...

we don't know what we're having, because how cute is this??

Oh, and, sorry for all the baby posts ... I promise sometime soon I'll have something adult-oriented.

Belly Business -- 16 weeks

I'm going to do my best to do a weekly post, mostly for myself, but so you guys can see my belly (7 votes to 1 that my readers want to see the goods) and I keep myself up to date on how I'm feeling and what all is going on.

I saw another cute preggo that called her weekly updates "Belly Business," so I'm copying her (hey, it's flattery!)! Ha!

So, on to the updates.

Stats:

How far along: 16 weeks

Size of the baby: avocado

Total weight gain/loss: No weight gain so far. I'm still under my pre-pregnancy weight. And, I'm really trying to work on getting more calories in each day. I'm really good at eating breakfast and taking along a mid-morning snack each day. But, it's the time between lunch and dinner when I start to get hungry and nauseous.

Maternity clothes: none so far, but I'm getting much closer to needing maternity jeans.

Cravings: all the bad things -- salty fried food and sweets

Symptoms: The nausea is mostly gone but I've been dealing with some serious indigestion. I had a baked potato for dinner the other night and before I was even finished, the food was just stuck in my chest and it was super painful. As soon as I took a Zantac, though, I felt so much better. I wonder if the old wives' tale is true -- indigestions = a boy with lots of hair.

J and I had another doctor appointment this past week. I didn't really think anything eventful would happen, so to curb J's possible discomfort, I told him he didn't have to go. But, he was a trooper and went anyway. And, we heard the heartbeat again! Baby M's heartbeat was loud and strong at 152 BPM. Hearing the heartbeat really makes this thing real. 

I've been scouring the internet for some kind of cute baby bedding that isn't too girly or boyish but that I like, and doesn't cost as much as a new car. Ha. It's really tough! I found one on a custom bedding site that Kelly of Kelly's Korner used for her daughter's bedding. 

I really love the yellow and white. If it were only my decision I think I would change the blue to a green, but J likes the blue. I'm not 100% sold on this bedding (I love it, but is there something else out there that I might like better?), but it's the best one I've found that's neutral and I've definitely had dreams about it. Ha. I'll keep you posted.

I've also been looking at cribs and other baby furniture. And, let me tell ya, it's really tough to know what you really need and how it's going to look when you get it in the room and if you really need to spend money on some things. Ugh! Any pieces of advice in this arena would be really helpful.

With our final issue of the magazine going to the press tomorrow morning, I'm really looking forward to a stress free Thanksgiving week and the opportunity to maybe make a dent in cleaning out the baby's room. 

And, finally, here's a (terrible) pic of my belly. I'll be working on a better baby belly pic set up in the mean time. (No, I didn't get out of my pjs today...)

friday.

This friday marks the beginning of the end of Harry Potter. As a devoted reader/fan I'm both elated and sad to see this day.

On the one hand, those books are some of my favorites and I'm sad to think that there's only one more movie installment left before Harry, Hermione and Ron are a thing of the past. They proved to be quite the conversation piece for me and some of my friends {college students at the time} and we never failed to chat about the movies -- what we liked, what we loved, and what should have been in the movie that wasn't.

{small aside: When Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix came out, I was reading/devouring the book with avengeance. Among my friends, I was the first one finished and it was so annoying! I couldn't not read as fast as I could, but when I finished, I had no one to discuss theories/possible scenarios with! Maybe you don't care, but I may or may not have a story about getting/reading all of the books in the series.}

On the other hand, I'm so excited to see this movie and see how they interpret and shot so many of the parts. I'm really hoping that the movie lives up to my imagination, but they never really do.

I'm planning to see it with one of my faithful HP-loving girlfriends next Wednesday. I have to admit, though, I wish I was going to the midnight showing. I've never done it before! Maybe I'll save my first time for the last half of HPatDH.

Expelliarmus!

in case you wanted to know.

Since I don't have a baby book just yet and this is really my only way of journaling these first few months of my very first pregnancy, I'm just going to give you guys {and more importantly, me!} a little run down on how things have been going.

Stats:
How far along: A little over 13 weeks
Size of the baby: About the size of a lemon (3 in. long)
Total weight gain/loss: When I first found out I was pregnant and the nausea really set in, I lost probably 6 pounds, and so far I haven't gained any back -- even though the Dr. says I gained a pound. I think that was from the 1/2 Sprite I was forced to drink to get the baby to move in the right position during my first ultrasound {more on that later}.
Maternity clothes: None so far, but last Wednesday was the first day I used a rubberband to button my pants
Cravings: None so far
Symptoms: Nausea, indigestion, bad taste in my mouth, headaches and a little bit of fatigue {the 2nd trimester can't get here soon enough!}

So, about 10 days ago J and I had our second Dr. appointment and that's when we finally saw our little guy/gal and heard it's heartbeat! I cannot even begin to explain how amazing of an experience that was!

I'd obviously told a bunch a people about being pregnant, but was a little uneasy about spreading the news without ever seeing the baby. But, on Thursday it was confirmed. The heartbeat was strong and fast {169 bpm} and our little peanut was a bit stubborn. The nurse was trying to measure the back of it's neck and it would not get in the needed position. We {I} tried sit ups, coughing and finally I had to down half a Sprite before we could get the reading we needed -- everything looked great!

Last Wednesday I pulled some jeans out of the dryer and that's when it happened -- they wouldn't button. So, I resorted to a rubberband. I've been using the rubberband {with those jeans only, so far} since and I need to go by Target to get a BeBand. I would provide a bump picture, but there really isn't much to show just yet.

Since we've started spreading the news, we constantly get asked if we know what we're having {a baby, duh! haha...sorry...} or if we're going to find out. At this point, we aren't going to find out the sex, but both J and I reserve the right to change our minds. I can just see us getting to that appointment and the nurse is looking at the ultrasound, saying "Are you suuuuure???" and that's when I cave!

As far as turning one of our rooms into a nursery goes, we're moving very slowly. The room we plan on using has been a bit of a catchall for the last four years, so we're going to need to clean out closets and pack stuff away in order to move stuff out of that room and closet to make room for baby. As the room gets closer to resembling a nursery I'll be sure to post pics.

To be honest, with the ultrasounds, this pregnancy thing is starting to sink in, but it's still very surreal. I don't know that things will really hit me until I really start showing. Weird!