12.5 weeks aka where is my uterus?

Nothing that interesting has gone on this week, except for these few tidbits:

I'm obsessed with figuring out where the top of my uterus is, since supposedly it ought to be popping out above my pelvic bone or something this week. Well, I've always known where my uterus resides in theory, but never in reality. So this week I've researched how to find my uterus, but so far no luck.

HOWEVER, this evening I have noticed (perhaps more out of pure desire to find something than actually finding something) a mini-speedbump-like protrusion near the area where websites claim my ute ought to be making its grand appearance. It's slightly harder than the skin around it, so I'm convinced that this is where my babyoven resides :)

My mom saw me changing clothes the other day and exclaimed, "You have your bump already!" I quickly corrected her by reminding her that I've always had a pooch belly that is still all fat, no baby. Though perhaps it *has* moved up my stomach, maybe to make room for the uterus' appearance?

I wore my maternity jeans for the first time this week, too. They're very strange, mainly because of this spandex panel and lack of buttons and zippers. They're faux pants, I guess. The pants are a little big in the butt/back thigh area, but I don't think I'm going to return them because there's a chance those choice areas could need the extra room :) I called my mom the day I got them to ask her whether I could expect those areas to become bigger... she laughed at me. I could button my regular jeans if I wanted to, but it would hurt... sucking in is no longer a viable option, at least not for more than 5 minutes.

I suppose that's all, friends. On Thursday, I enter the second trimester... less than 200 days to go before the fruit of my womb appears (hahah sorry that sounds weird and gross).

xoxo!

11 weeks

Today is a milestone day, but kind of bittersweet. My fat day jeans don't fit in the waist. See, I bought the belly band thing, but I figured I'd use it for my smaller jeans and skirts.



However, today I realized that I need it for the rest of my pants, too. I wish I could say it's because I have a really cute belly bump like the lady in the target picture above, but that's not the case. I'm in some mean in-between phase, that I'll probably be in for like months. I guess I'll have to start rubbing my belly furiously in public to show that I'm not getting fat, I'm actually pregnant.

I realized -- a little too late, I guess -- that I should have started taking pictures of myself prior to getting big enough that my clothes don't fit. Because now I don't really have a reference point. Ooh well :)

My ravenous hunger pregnancy symptom has returned. Have you ever been so hungry that you feel as though you'll throw up if you don't eat immediately? Well, that's what today has been like. I usually eat just enough to relieve that feeling, and then wait until it starts again about 30 minutes later. Because seriously, people, if I ate a whole meal each time, I'd be huge. I read about some woman who put on 100 pounds with her last pregnancy... at first I wasn't sure how you could do that, but I guess eating a huge, perhaps unhealthy meal each time you felt starving would probably help ;)

Here's to me not gaining 100 pounds!!

Ten weeks

So, friends, I'm now 25% done with this pregnancy. Yesterday I noticed that my queasy reaction to my fridge wasn't as pronounced, so maybe that little side effect is going away. I'm still pretty tired, and I'm very upset by the fact that my bras don't fit very well, but overall I shouldn't complain because I've had a very easy 10 weeks. Let's hope the last three weeks of this trimester don't make me regret that last statement.

So I measured my chest yesterday and I'm horrified to think that I'm now at 34DD. What happened to going up to like 36D or 38D first? And if they keep growing, what do I do then?! I asked John to help me with the straps of one of my sports bras (I sleep in them because the crushing they'd get otherwise is unbearable) and he told me that he had some bad news... they were as loose as they could be, and he still couldn't make them comfortable. Sob. So I guess it's off to Target today. I refuse to buy a nice bra that won't fit in a few weeks. What if my chest gets so big that it blocks my face?! This could get tricky really quickly.

I also decided to assault my eyes with pictures of large pregnant bellies and post-partum bellies. Usually these types of images make my knees weak and I feel sick thinking about them, but I think it's time to toughen up. It's very difficult, but I'm learning. I'm still horrified that I'm going to get that large, but there's nothing I can do about it now :)

Let's pause for a moment and think about how upsetting it is that the baby will be so cramped inside of my uterus. I hate thinking about how once he gets too big, he just can't really move, and he has to stay in certain positions (like upside down) for long periods of time. The thought of being inside of something and unable to move makes me freak out, so I (naturally) freak out now for the baby. I feel bad for him! I'm too small to give him a huge, olympic sized uterus to be free in. John has to calm me down when I start to think about how he'll be stuck in there like that. (Shiver)

I moved my doctor's appointment from Tuesday to Monday. I did it because John wants to go, just in case they do another ultrasound and we get to see the baby move around (often happens at this point, though I can't feel it yet.) I'm pretty sure the nurse thought that I was lying when I said I was moving it because he wanted to go... she's probably like "sure, blame it on your husband, you crazy pregnant woman who just wants to see her baby one day earlier." Ooh well. At least I know I wasn't lying :)

Two BabiesRUs trips in 24 hours

Annnnd we returned the travel system. I looked online and saw that the stroller part of the combo had a bad rep (wheels falling off, lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth) so we're looking into something else :)

I'm now going to talk about having to pee 800 times a day. While those who have lived with me know that I am a little crazy about bathroom access and such, this is even worse than my normal needs. I woke up 5 times last night! And each time I had to pee really badly... you know, the way you do when you've been drinking and you break the seal. While I keep reading that most of my icky first trimester symptoms will magically disappear in a few weeks, this one particular loveliness about being pregnant won't disappear. Sob. I may need to look into some depends. Ashley, who usually accompanies me to the bathroom or anywhere I go in the house, has stopped getting up in the middle of the night to walk me to the bathroom. It's gotten that bad, I guess.

In other news... this is the first September that I've been back in Houston in a billion years. I'm ready to start wearing fall fashions again, but I don't know when it's appropriate to do so down here. I mean, it's still really hot, but it's after Labor Day... when can I start wearing flats again? My mom laughed at me when I asked this, mainly because it's neverending summer here so I'll never get to wear cute fall clothes again.

Also, I need to find a dress that's both appropriate for a nun's 50th anniversary of being a nun AND for an October evening wedding. I realize that I don't know if I'll be sporting a true bump by then (probably not) but I'm seeking suggestions that have more of an empire waist or wrap dress style. Please submit those to me at your convenience :)

Nine weeks

So just as I waited forever to get anything done with regard to my wedding, I think that it's appropriate that I didn't start this thing until nearly the end of my first trimester. Let's remember, people, that while I am pregnant, I'm still me.

So I'm using this thing to record the ridiculous things that I think and say over the course of my "journey," mainly because Laura told me I have to write this stuff down because it makes her laugh. I hope it's more because I'm funny and not because my life makes everyone else's seem so much better by comparison, but hey, whatever works ;)

So here we are. Let's round through the symptoms I've had present today:
-- bloating
-- cramps
-- horribly sore boobs
-- hunger pangs so powerful that they make my stomach hurt (related: I eat, fill up, and then become starving again in about an hour.)
-- weird taste in my mouth that appeared out of nowhere

Baby-related things I've done today:

We went to BabiesRUs today (I *hate* the stupid backwards R) to look for an infant car seat. You may be wondering why on earth we felt compelled to buy a baby seat now when our fetus is still only the size of a grape (according to babycenter.com). Well, John's looking into a new car and wanted to make sure that the seat base would fit in the backseat. So obviously the way to figure this out is to buy a seat and take the base with us tomorrow when we test drive some cars. Putting that ridiculous reasoning aside, let's talk about our trip to this store.

We go in, armed with our consumer reports list of best seats, and start to try some out. We're in the middle of a group of very obviously pregnant women and their significant others, who are also checking out car seats. I felt pretty weird shopping in this group, since I have no bump to speak of and here we were, comparing the merits of a travel system versus a separate seat and stroller. Then, once we found one that we liked, we noticed that another couple was eyeing the same one. No big deal, except that there was only one left. So what do we do? We swipe the giant box and walk away with it to the registers, leaving that couple, who would obviously use the darn thing much sooner than we will, having to look at other ones. Tsk tsk. But we're now the proud owners of a travel system that cost less than the flippin' car seat on its own :) It's brown with bits of lime green. I'm not entirely sure that I love the colors, but then again, the baby's going to make a mess of it anyway.

Did you know that everything used for babies, like, isn't useable for the next one if it's born over a year or so later? I'm sure I'm exaggerating, but apparently car seats and the like expire. That's ridiculous. I guess I'm going to end up spending a billion dollars at this stuff each time because I'm not having babies like Michelle Duggar just to make sure that I get the full value of my first travel system.