I guess I really look pregnant!

I got my first "are you expecting?" from a (pretty much) complete stranger today! Such a dangerous question when you're not sure- no one wants to hear that if they're not pregnant!! But since I am, it made me pretty happy. :)
One of the moms of a baby in the room where I work at the daycare asked today. She doesn't see me too often, so it's close to having a total stranger ask you. Anyway, just had to share. T minus 20 days to the big ultrasound!!

15 Weeks: Back on Track

My cold is gone- yay!! I am feeling so much better, and I think I'm finally feeling the real benefits of the 2nd trimester. I feel a lot more like myself lately, which is a nice feeling.
Big news this week- we heard the heartbeat for the first time!!! It was... well, pretty much amazing. :) I don't even know if I can describe how incredible it was to hear that little heart beating away in my belly- definitely one of the coolest days of my life! It made everything feel so real to know our little guy/gal is down there swimming around and we got to hear his/her little heartbeat. And looking over and seeing the grin on Eric's face as he heard our little baby- well it brings tears to my eyes right now as I'm typing. :) What a blessing to have a child, we truly are so grateful and excited. The heartbeat was 158 bpm, which the doctor said is within the normal range for 15 weeks.
And side point- if you can believe it, I've only gained a pound since the beginning! I was shocked at this- I feel a lot bigger- but the doc said this is just fine, and now I have a little wiggle room with weight gain in the 2nd trimester. I've been reading a couple books, one of which is What to Expect When You're Expecting, and it has a chapter on pregnancy nutrition that is super interesting. It's also really overwhelming- you need to get SO many vitamins and nutrients from so many foods when you're growing a baby!! I feel like I could never eat all of that in one day, and I'd spend a fortune on produce every week. But, I'm doing my best to give this baby everything it needs everyday.
Also big news- mark your calendars friends, we've scheduled our 18 week ultrasound!!! This will be our "anatomy scan" and we'll find out the gender- I can't wait! :) It's scheduled for November 17th at 11:30 am.
And finally, I leave you with the 15 week bump- baby Roy is the size of a navel orange this week.

14 Weeks: First Cold of the Year

Boo! I am sick, and I miss DayQuil/NyQuil like crazy. :( I have a terrible head cold, today is day two- hopefully I start to feel better tomorrow. Last winter I took echinacea like crazy, and it really helped me not get sick, even from the kids at the daycare. But the NP at my last doctor's visit told me not to take it (or pretty much any other preventative aside from Vitamin C), and now I am sick. Of course, I don't want to risk anything so I won't take anything they tell me not to- but my immune system is suffering!
In other news, I definitely think my bump is shrinking (did I say that last week too?), and it's getting firmer, which means it's really a baby bump- yay!! I haven't taken a bump photo yet this week because of being horribly sick and not feeling like having my photo taken. I will get one up soon though- maybe tomorrow. I have no more gagging issues thank goodness, however I don't really feel like my energy is getting any better. Although I suppose it's hard to tell this week with being sick.
I go to the doctor next week on Monday, and we'll FINALLY be able to hear the heartbeat- I can't wait!!! I know I have no reason to worry, but not having had an ultrasound or doppler I'm just feeling like I need the doctor to tell me everything's fine in there. AND, when I go for this visit- we'll be scheduling the next appointment for our ultrasound to find out the baby's gender. :) That's even more exciting!!! Probably, my appointment will be the week before or the week of Thanksgiving, I will let you all know when it's scheduled.
I will tell you though- I've seriously been feeling like it's a boy lately. ;) We'll see!

13 Weeks: Goodbye 1st Trimester!!

Well, according to some calculations 1st Tri is over. :) I'm going to go with it- I'm feeling so much better this week!! My energy is back, and I haven't really had nausea at all in a few days. Yay!!! Also, as you can see, my bump is a little smaller this week than last week. I think this means the bloat is receding, and now we're left with actual baby bump. Double yay!!! Eric has taken to poking my belly and telling me it's getting harder everyday. He also talks to my belly, which is pretty adorable. :) He's so excited to be a dad!
So we've been talking names, and I realized I haven't put any of them on the blog yet. Although I realize most ppl who read this already know our name choices, there's a couple who haven't heard them yet. And I'm a full-disclosure kind of girl. :) I've never been good with keeping things to myself, so here ya go!
Girl Name: Charlotte Anne. This is pretty much set in stone, we've been looking and talking and haven't seen anything we love more. And we really love Charlotte. :)
Boy Name: Middle name will definitely be James. First name considerations include Emerson (my fav), Elliott (Eric's fav), and Oliver. We're still working on a boy name, but I think I'm going to win. ;)
For fun, here's a site that explains the various ways to calculate trimesters, as well as a calculator to figure out the date of each trimester. It's funny that the medical field doesn't have just one system with this- they're just trying to confuse all us pregnant girls!!

Edit: My lovely friend Shaunna brought to my attention that I had said 2nd trimester in my title- obviously I meant 1st. Thanks Shaunna- I blame pregnancy brain!!

12 Weeks Part 2

Okay, so 12 weeks wasn't the magic switch I was hoping for- but things are getting better!! I definitely notice that my energy is slowly returning, as in I'm not about to fall over asleep by 4 pm everyday. :) And although my food issues are not completely gone (I tried to get some veggies down Tuesday night- it was a no go), I am feeling like it's improving. I feel like I'm hungry all the time- that's a change! And I just keep telling myself that feeling yucky is supposed to be a good sign.
Nothing much else to report for this week- last week we had a blast in WV, and I did pretty well considering. I definitely crashed Sunday and Monday, but it wasn't too bad. I can't wait to keep moving along and have more to share- I feel like this is kind of boring in the beginning!!

12 Week Photo

I am quite honestly too tired to write about this week tonight- so much for the magic 12 week energy boost! :P So, enjoy my bump photo (isn't it getting cute!?! This is the first week I had Eric take the photo with me wearing real clothes instead of pjs, nice!) and I shall return tomorrow to tell you about week 12.

11 Weeks: It's Marguerita Week!

Our baby is the size of a lime this week- all I can think of is a delicious marguerita. :) Especially because my mom drank one in front of me the other night- I wanted some so bad!! Oh the sacrifices we make little baby- but you're worth it!
Week 11 is a busy one, we are spending the week in Charleston, WV on a trip with a few friends helping out the local congregation. We get to drive all over the West Virginia mountains talking to people, it's been pretty fun so far! I am still pretty exhausted most of the time, so it's been demanding for me to be out and about all day, but I think I'm being reasonable and not pushing myself too much. The only difficult part is that it's only Tuesday and I'm already kind of sick of eating out all the time! We'll be heading home on Saturday.
My food issues are slowly improving, and even when I'm not feeling well I'm able to deal with it. I'm still having a hard time eating veggies, but I had some corn last night at Cracker Barrel and that was alright, so I'm going to keep trying. Oh, and salad is starting to sound good, so I should probably eat that whenever I have a chance. :)
Here's my photo for week 11 (forgive me for not wearing make-up, I almost forgot to take one since we're on vaca!). I took another one today, wanting a photo with makeup on, but it was after dinner and oh my WORD you ought to see the difference. The food bloat was out of control, so I didn't think it was a very accurate portrayal. ;) So, this'll do- yay for week 11!!