Fourteen

I know that I'm approximately 36hours shy of officially being 14 weeks along, but some days are just not good days for photos and since I'll be working early on Saturday, today seemed a perfect opportunity for the first of the pregnancy photos.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how much weight I've gained since I've avoided stepping on a scale in over 6 weeks but judging by the rump in this photo, its a fair bit. Error in judgement? Almost certainly. I really must get a bathroom scale. Recently I had to purchase a pair of pants that are a size up from my regular size. In the far corner of my mind I knew that it was a mistake to go for a bigger size, but I was overcome by the relief of being comfortable again. This has got to stop. The words "comfort" and "relief" have never been synonymous with the words "fashionable" or "chic" or "well put together".

Solution? I've purchased the The Womens Health Big Book of Excercises that has a variety of workouts (with the various positions explained and pictured) including a prenantal workout which varies according to your trimester. I shall be be starting that this afternoon. AND (yes, there is more - I'm not really one for doing anything in half stages) I've been reading a wonderful book called Bringing Up Bebe which has some excellent information on staying trim (or getting trim) the French way. No bread during the week? No lattes? No problem! (I can have bread on the weekend - it says so!) I've also sworn off any larger sizes of anything - except maybe bras. Ummm, and shoes. I bought these classic wedges today in a size bigger so that I can wear them all summer long regardless of potential swelling or discomfort.

And so, with week 14 under my belt - ha, what a great unintentional pun - I am about to enter the "most comfortable of the three trimesters" with "renewed energy", "reduced nausea" and the excitement that comes with being able to finally share the information with others.

What to Expect When You're Expecting

*Disclaimer*
This is a boring blog post if you are not: a) Pregnant, b) Female, c) A mother, or d) Ridiculously interested in the tiny details that are experienced by all pregnant women.


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Hunger, nausea, fatigue, mood swings, anxiety, elation, sensitive sense of smell, bigger breasts (hormones), bigger thighs (ice cream) etc etc. Prenatal media is bursting at its seams with information on the variety of symptoms to expect during the 9 month development a woman faces. One consistent piece of information is that all pregnancies are unique as each woman is unique.

So imagine my surprise when I started to experience exactly what I was told to expect. Two weeks of crippling nausea has abated to months of indeterminate nausea, fatigue as I've never experience before and the rest. I seem to have dodged the mad mood swings and odd cravings. I crave watermelon, hot water with lemon and toast. I crave salt and usually satisfy this craving with Marmite, or Pringles or fries. Poor choices considering I'm craving salt, not Pringles nor fries. The main issue is that the smell of cooking food causes me to lose my appetite entirely and so I've simply had to stop cooking.

The rest of the changes are mundane, though, my "evening baby" amuses me. My stomach is normal when I wake up (fairly flat with a bit of flab) but when evening rolls around, I have a very clear firm baby belly. I know that it's probably bloating, but an obvious belly excites me. I'm sure the novelty will wear off when I no longer wake up with a flat belly. I reckon I have about 2 or 3 more weeks before I can't hide it any longer. Which also excites me.

Length of time until we publicly share the big news: 2.5 weeks. Joy!

An introduction

I am roughly 13 weeks pregnant. 13 weeks! Already! Pretty exciting things are happening in our family. We found out at 6 weeks and managed to keep it a secret from our family for 2. We've just been for our first ultrasound - a much more rewarding experience for my husband than it was for me. I was tickled by the way it moves around with abandon. floating. Which makes sense I suppose. I was disappointed to have not heard the heartbeat, but my husband seemed to find the whole experience very grounding. It made me really happy to see him so excited.

I think that I'll start doing the photo advancement which is so common. Its a great idea really. I'll start it this week while my stomach is still relatively flat. Though it'll have to be in the morning because usually by dinner time, I am quite distended. I have heard that this is normal. Though, I have heard many things thus far and have decided that the best option moving forward is to just go with the flow. Too much information can be a bad thing for those of us who scrutinize every tidbit down to its last fibre.

Anywho - the intro blog is done I suppose. I will add more about the experience and my feelings, but, I think it can wait until the next blog when I'm feeling more energetic. In the interim - here's a ultrasound image. Its so tiny!