The First Trimester

The first trimester is officially over. The above photo was taken at 12 weeks and I am at 14 weeks now and grown a little since then. I am wearing one of J's shirts because I thought it would be neat to see how/if it fits in the end.

When I had my first check up they bumped my due date up to February 27, 2010 according to sonogram measurements, but my personal calculations were for March 7. I am guessing it will be inbetween the two. Put me down for March 4th. Feel free to make your own birth date guesses and let me know what you think.* I can't promise any prizes, but how about some personal satisfaction? Or if you are right maybe a little public acknowledgement of the one who guessed closest. Oh this is only the beginning, we still have to guess what gender, how much the baby will weigh, and whether or not I will have any brain cells left at the end of this pregnancy. Ah, let the games begins.

Speaking of guessing the gender I really am unsure. With Z I felt like I KNEW he was a boy, and I was right. This time I vacillate. I just took a little online gender prediction quiz. Not that I take that kind of thing seriously, but what really cracked me up is that my result said boy, and at the top the results read "50% chance you are having a boy"

Wow! It is amazing how accurately they can determine these things. I would have never thought I had a 50/50 chance. Well I guess we should find out either way in October.

Though I may have had some complaints overall it was a really good first trimester, but I am open to this next one being even better.




*A couple tidbits that could be helpful for the birth date guessing game: My mom had 4 babies and they all came late. I have only had one so far and he was a week early. I would love to hear what happened with your pregnancies. Early? Late? Induced? Any one have a baby on the due date?

Top 5 Complaints

I don't like to be a whiner, but sometimes you just have to let it all out. Like nurmisur commented when I announced the pregnancy

"Good thing about having blog is that you can complain about morning sickness, cramps, and the whole thing as much as you want"

So I am going to take her up on that and list my top 5 pregnancy complaints for the first trimester.

1. Obviously nausea is a biggie. So far no actual vomiting unlike my last pregnancy. I still feel really sick though if I haven't eaten in a few hours, and then it's hard to find something I actually feel like eating. Oh, and then there is brushing the teeth and flossing, talk about a gag fest.

2. I am really in between clothes right now. I am definitely out of my regular clothes, but the maternity clothes are still too big. I have a few items that I wear over and over at this time.

3. No one likes having to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes. Maybe it's not that bad, but it feels like it, especially at night.

4. Speaking of night, I am still having those weird dreams. They range from bizarre dreams to night mares. Sometimes they startle me and I will wake up gasping. Needless to say between that and the ongoing emptying of the bladder I get very little sleep.

5. I have saved the strangest for last. I have struggled with having headaches during this pregnancy, but mostly when I am on Facebook. I know it sounds crazy, but I guess it's the small photos, combined with scrolling and reading. I can't do it anymore. I have to read slowly then stop and scroll down. 'Scrolling" linked with nausea. I guess that is not a pregnancy symptom of our ancestors.

My First Prenatal Checkup

There have been a vast number of differences between this pregnancy and the last. Not so much physical, but more emotional. The first time I got a positive pregnancy test (with Z) it was followed up with probably 10 more tests! I just couldn't believe it and I wanted to be sure. I took tests all throughout the first trimester. This time I took ONE. That's it. No further confirmation needed. I knew the routine.

I felt connected to the baby early on last time. Not all in a good way, some of it was fear and concern of loosing the baby. I was constantly thinking and dreaming about the baby. This time I would often forget that I was pregnant and have to remind myself to pray for this little one that is on the way.

Last pregnancy I wanted my midwife to see me RIGHT AWAY! I went in at about 6 weeks. I couldn't even imagine waiting another month to be seen, it would have driven me crazy. This time I waited till 11 weeks. Of course I was happy to be pregnant, but I began to wonder when it would really sink in that I am having another baby. My question was answered the day I had my first prenatal checkup.

I was hoping just to hear the heartbeat, but when we were offered a sonogram I was thrilled. The moment I saw that little baby moving around on the screen I felt like time stopped. I have seen many sonograms before, but for me that was the moment I connected with this baby. I tried to hold back the tears. It was unbelievable, just seeing the tiny being and knowing that before too long I will be holding a son or daughter that will change my life forever, and already has.


This was followed by hearing the heartbeat on doppler, which for an already emotionally charged pregnant woman was just another tear jerker moment. J recorded it on his iphone and we got copies of the sonogram photos to take with us, one of which is hanging on the fridge.

I am so excited about finding out what the gender is, and feeling movement. I am even excited about giving birth, believe it or not. It might still be months away, but I am getting to the point in life where you begin to realize that it truly does go by in the blink of an eye.

Look Back and Laugh: That Came Out Wrong

I am notorious for saying things the wrong way. Let's just start this story with the fact that I have always had a heart to adopt. I hope that someday we will be able to adopt some children and I have always been open to having a biracial family. Who knows, we'll see what God has in store.

One time I was having a conversation with an acquaintance and we were talking about family and children. I told her that I was up for adoption. Then I had to correct myself "I" am not up for adoption. Being in my mid 20's that would be weird. I guess I should l have said that I am interested in the possibility of adopting.

So then today I was at the park with my little family and J commented on a cute little black baby that was playing nearby. I said "you know we might end up having one those." He looked at me in my maternity shirt and said "a little black baby?"

"Well not this time." I replied and then it hit me how that could really be taken the wrong way! Yeah, if I end up giving birth to a little black baby then we have a problem on are hands. Obviously I meant that we may one day be blessed with a black baby through adopting. J knew what I meant, he just likes to give me a hard time. Ugh!

Maternity Update

When my friend Amy commented on my post "bun in the oven" which announced this pregnancy she asked "Will you do a totsite like before, or will you put all your details on here?" Which is actually a really good question and something I have had to put a lot of thought into.

Totsite is a website where you can customize your own webpage for your baby. It's really easy to use and similar to a blog, but has layouts, polls, and growth charts etc. that are specifically designed for children. I started my totsite as soon as I found out I was pregnant and have faithfully updated with photos, videos, and journal entries for the past 2 1/2 years. As previously stated when I shared 25 random facts about me I am really into documenting everything. The problem is a few things have changed since I started the totsite and I am not sure that I want to keep up with it for this baby on the way. Here are some of my reasons.

1. When I started the totsite I didn't have a facebook and neither did everyone and their mother. Before that the totsite was a great way to keep family and friends updated on all the latest milestones, but now I can just post in on Facebook and BOOM! half the world has been notified.

2. When you do the free version of totsite you run out of space frequently and have to delete all the old postings. This is frustrating to me, I want to be able to go back and look at it at anytime.

3. When I started the tosite I did not have a blog. Having to update a blog, facebook, and totsite is a bit overwhelming. I know, I know, what a major life delimma.

With that being said I want to cherish the memories of this baby just as much as I did with Z. I have decided to let the totsite go, BUT I am going to do updates once a month on here with all the latest details of this pregnancy and birth. A lot has happened since we made our announcement a month ago and I am sure that there is a lot more to come!

The Rest of Our Guests

We have had quite the variety of house guest over the past couple of weeks. Besides Seabird, we also had one of J's former college roommates visit on his way to and from Puerto Rico. He is now married with two kids, they are all latino (Puerto Rican and Mexican).

It was great meeting his family. They all have beautiful unique names that are hard for me to pronounce because I don't speak Spanish. Unfortunately even after they spent 3 days with us I never did figure out how to pronounce one of the names. She was a baby though so it was a little easier for me to get away without saying it.

The next person to stop by for the night was a dear friend of mine who lives in Michigan. I think some of our earliest bonding moments where spent sharing stories while having a pint... of Ben and Jerry's of course. Earlier that week I just happened to find some $1 tear off coupons at a gas station which came in handy when my Michigan friend was here. I passed out one coupon to everyone and 5 of us piled in the car after dinner and went down to H.E.B. to pick out our favorite flavor. It was a good time.


The last 2 of the 11 out of town guests that we had this month were my mom and dad. My dad comes in on business trips sometimes and he stays with us. My mom flies for free so she came down too. They actually bought another used Volvo while they were here. This will be the replacement for the one that just recently flooded.

Of course Z got spoiled by his grandparents. We did all kinds of fun stuff like the Choo Choo Station and Rain Forest Cafe' at Grapevine Mills.

That pretty much sums up all the visitors that we have had over the past couple weeks. The air mattresses have been deflated and things are pretty mellow around here now, for the most part. However, let us know if you are ever in the DFW area and need a place to stay. Our door is always open!



Photos top to bottom:
Z with our friend from New Mexico
Me and my Michigan friend with our Ben & Jerry's which we did NOT finish
Z and his "Pepae" at the Choo Choo Station

Seabird

On Monday I shared about how we had eleven people at our home over the past two weeks. The first set of guest arrived when my brother who lives in Cincinnati OH called to see if the band he is touring with could stay with us in between traveling from Tulsa OK to Houston TX. I rarely get to see my brother and welcomed the impromptu visit. 

It's a pretty cool gig that he has going right now. It's not like this is just some High School garage band, although he's my brother and I would still be proud of him if that were the case. The band is called Seabird. Their last CD is called 'Til We See the Shore and some of the songs have been played on shows like Numb3rs and Grey's Anatomy. They also had a song that was featured in the promo for Pushing Daisies.

The thing about having musicians staying with you is that they have really odd sleep schedules, which being pregnant I can relate to. The night they stayed with us I was lying awake at 4:30 in the morning feeling like I am about to starve to death until I finally cave in and make my way out to the kitchen only to find that someone is already out there working on their laptop. So I stand there in the doorway with my eyes still adjusting trying to figure out if it is my brother that is sitting in my kitchen in the dark with his shirt off or someone else. After a few moments of staring I realize it is not my brother, so I apologize and quickly explain with minimal amount of words that I am pregnant and hungry. Then I grabbed some crackers and granola bars from the pantry and quickly retreated back to the bedroom. 

The next day they were off on the road again and I saw them in concert a few nights later which was fun. If you haven't heard them already, I totally recommend checking them out. They are a great band, with a great sound, and I can say after having spent the evening with them that they are all very down to earth. 

The photo above is of my brother playing at The Prophet Bar in Dallas.