12 Week Photo

How far along? 12 weeks!

Total weight gain: 1.5 pounds
Maternity clothes? Not yet
Stretch marks? none yet!
Sleep: Hasn't been great this week. Crazy DREAMS!
Miss Anything? Various soft cheeses and wine
Movement: Not yet!
Food cravings: Fruit, fruit, and more fruit

Anything making you queasy or sick: meat, various smells
Gender: Don't know yet!!!
Labor Signs: Nope.
Symptoms: Still having some morning sickness and exhaustion

Belly Button in or out? In

 Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy & EXCITED
Looking forward to: To find out the gender!

Shout out

Okay, I have to take a brief moment and brag on my husband.  For those of you who gag at the slightest cheesy love fest like I do when I open the refrigerator door please save yourself the misery and skip this post.  Otherwise enjoy as I give a proper shout out (that’s what the cool kids say, right?) to the daddy-to-be.  Although we haven’t been far along in this journey, I have been so thankful for John during this process. Every morning the first thing he says to me, before he even opens his eyes, is “how are you feeling”?  I truly don’t know what I would do without him.    Despite his willingness to bring me food while I lay lifelessly in the bed, his well-intentioned head pats as I throw-up in my bedside trashcan, or his sweet and encouraging remarks, I believe I am mostly thankful for his sense of humor.  Through all of these scary adjustments, aches, pains, discomforts, and fears, he has kept me laughing.   I just love him so much and am incredibly grateful to have him as a partner, friend, and husband (and comedian)! 

 ²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

 ²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
 ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing^[a] her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^{[b] 32} This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Ephesians 5:21-33

12-Week Appointment

John and I had our 12-week appointment yesterday!  At 7 weeks that appointment felt so far away! I seriously contemplated calling the Dr.’s office several times between those five weeks just to see if I could come in to hear the heartbeat.  Luckily I have a husband who levels me out and lovingly reminded me that I was acting like a crazy person.  Anyways, I survived without setting up camp in the waiting room and everything appeared to be going perfectly!  The baby's heartbeat was 161, which is right on track.  I have to be honest and admit that when the nurse was searching for the heartbeat and we had to listen to stomach grumbles for a prolonged period of time, I had a mini “AHHHHHHHHH!!” going on silently in my head (even though I had been warned ahead of time that this may happen).  But, she finally found it and it was such a sweet and happy sound.  I didn’t have any other issues.  I did however, gain a pound and a half (gasp!), but what can you expect when you are growing a tiny person inside of you the size of a large plum (according to one of my pregnancy tracking iphone apps).

We love our doctor.   She is incredibly upbeat and positive, which is definitely what I need.  John and her also have good banter between them.  When she asked how I was feeling, John spoke up and said that he was feeling perfectly fine and hasn’t had any problems whatsoever.  You’ve got to love his sense of humor, which I know he comes by honestly.

Overall we had a wonderful day.  We spent most of the morning going on a walk, going to lunch, and seeing a movie.  Nothing can bring you down when you hear your baby’s heartbeat!   We feel so incredibly blessed to have been given the opportunity to share this experience together, something that we definitely do not take for granted.

Being Content

So today I woke up and I thought, “I can’t do it.”  I had the feeling that if I got up and attempted to drive to class this morning I would either throw up all over myself in the car, or I would take one sniff of the coffee pot brewing in the classroom and loose it all over myself and the poor person sitting next to me.  To save myself from the misery, embarrassment, and suffering, I decided to stay home.   But since my mind is still in “class” mode I am now currently wide-awake, and since it appears that I may be isolated to one spot today (afraid of moving in fear that as soon as I do I’ll loose my poptarts) I thought I would blog.   

With this vomit themed morning I have been reflecting on Philippians 4 where Paul tells the church to rejoice in all things, reflect on all things good, and be content in all situations.  This is a hard concept for a morning-sickened pregnant woman to accept.  It’s hard to imagine myself hugging the toilet seat and being content and rejoicing in that moment, but this is what God has asked us to do.  A few days ago this idea had not even occurred to me.  Misery loves company and I was certainly miserable.  With the exhaustion, sickness, and other discomforts that come with first trimester pregnancy, I was wallowing in my own self-pity.  I wasn’t able to see past my misery to the glory of what is happening to me.  In my un-content-ness I wasn’t thinking “Oh my goodness! I am having a baby and that is such an amazing and exciting miracle!” I was instead thinking “Oh my goodness! If I don’t make it to the second trimester, and soon, I’m pretty sure I’ll die from all this discomfort!” (dramatic I know, but what can I say, I’m basically hormone soup). 

It is important for me to learn how to grow in my joy and my ability to be content.  I want to continually THANK God for the miracle He has given us and to take each day as a new gift.  I want to find joy in where He has brought me this far, instead of impatiently waiting until the next appointment or the 13^th week.  When I do feel sick, I want to be able to thank God for the ability to have what it takes to grow this baby, even when that is what is making me ill.  What a small sacrifice for a mother to make for such a big payoff! 

Being content in these moments is not easy.  Worrying is practically second nature to mommies-to-be (maybe all mommies in general), but Paul has told us that he has been able to do all things because Christ has given him strength to do it (Philippians 4:13).  We know He will do the same for us. 

Here is a picture of our first ultrasound.  Didn't look like much more than a peanut. Should be bigger now! 

Hope to have some pictures soon of a baby bump! Nothing but bloat as of now, which is far less exciting.