The ultrasound date is set!

We've scheduled our big ultrasound for Monday, September 14th. So in just a couple of weeks we'll get to see the baby again, hopefully find out everything's healthy and growing strong, and whether we're having Joe 7 or need to start coming up with girl names!

Just for fun, I found a list of old wives tales to tell whether you're having a boy or girl and highlighted which things I'm identifying with ...

It's a boy if:
You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy
Your baby's heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute
You are carrying the extra weight out front
Your belly looks like a basketball
Your areolas have darkened considerably
You are carrying low
You are craving salty or sour foods
You are craving protein -- meats and cheese
Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy
The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy
Your hands are very dry
Your pillow faces north when you sleep
Dad-to-be is gaining weight, right along with you (he, he, sorry Joe!)
Pregnancy has you looking better than ever
Your urine is bright yellow in color
Your nose is spreading
You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves in circles
You are having headaches
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number

It's a girl if:
You had morning sickness early in pregnancy
Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute
You are carrying the weight in your hips and rear
Your left breast is larger than your right breast
Your hair develops red highlights
You are carrying high
Your belly looks like a watermelon
You are craving sweets
You are craving fruit
You crave orange juice
You don't look quite as good as normal during pregnancy
You are moodier than usual during pregnancy
Your face breaks out more than usual
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread
Your breasts have really blossomed!
Your pillow faces south when you sleep
Your urine is a dull yellow color
You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves from side to side
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number

We'll find out soon!

Another milestone

So I've been mainly wearing my normal pants, although shorts and some of my jeans just don't quite fit anymore. This morning, with my only pair of "fat" jeans in the wash, I pulled out two of my "normal" pre-pregnany jeans. The first pair was definitely a no go - I could hardly get them zipped! The second pair was better, and zipped about 2/3 of the way up before it was really uncomfortable. Remembering that I had my "belly band" (a stretchy band of material used to help hold waistbands up when you can't zip all the way) to use, I grabbed that and it seemed to do the trick. Until I'd been wearing it a few hours. I know understand why pregnant women seem to hate zippers! I hadn't felt this uncomfortable at all in the previous 15 weeks, but I guess I'm now to the point where I need the soft, stretchy maternity bottoms. Of course, I still don't have much of a belly, but just enough of one to take notice!

Anyway, I went to a local consignment maternity store at lunch and bought another pair of maternity jeans, since my first pair seem to need a much larger belly to stay up. Hopefully these will work out for the next few weeks, and at $15, I don't mind the "splurge"!

Monthly Doctor's Appointment

We had our monthly doctor's appointment today. Everything sounded and looked good, and we got to hear the baby's heart beat again, which is still good and strong. I've been feeling really good, except for occasionally being light headed. I asked the doctor about walking/jogging the KC half marathon, and she cleared me to do it, saying as long as I listen to my body and get plenty of fluids, it shouldn't be an issue or anything. Good thing, as this morning the dogs and I did our weekly long walk, 5 miles, and that was pretty easy.

Next up? Scheduling our big ultrasound! Sometime in the next few weeks we'll get a chance to see the baby again and find out if it's a boy or girl. We have to wait another 2-3 weeks, which I'm sure will be here before we know it, especially with how busy our schedules are. We can't wait!

Week 14 pictures

This is me exactly two weeks ago, at 12 weeks pregnant. It was my first time wearing a maternity shirt, and if you saw the front facing picture, you'd see just how baggy it is. I don't really look too different, although at 12 weeks I started losing my waist and my middle was getting thicker.

Here's today's 14 week picture. Not much has changed, except for my very happy girl in the picture with me - we had just gotten back from a morning walk, she had her breakfast and was having the best possible morning. :) I know I'm getting rounder, but it's subtle. Of course, if you saw me in the evenings, you'd see a totally different body!

Belly on the way

The week has been so nice - I am at that stage where I really don't feel pregnant, have much of my "normal" energy back, and have taken up jogging with the dogs again. I know I'm not supposed to be dieting or trying to lose weight right now, but I felt like I put on too much weight in the first trimester so I've been trying to watch more closely what I'm eating and up my activity levels to flatten out the growth. What I can't flatten out, though, is the slowly growing belly. This week I've noticed that I'm really starting to look more round (of course, ask me again in a few months and I'm sure I'll tell you I was crazy right now!).

Most of my jeans and shorts still fit, but are getting rather tight at the waist. Yesterday I was doing laundry and tried to get it all finished, but the jeans and shorts were the last load to be finished, and weren't dry this morning. Since I didn't have anything else to wear, and didn't want to wear a dress to work, I pulled the maternity jeans out of the bag that has been sitting on the floor for the last couple of weeks and decided I'd wear them today. Now, the elastic waist is quite comfortable, but I definitely put them on too soon - I can't hardly keep them up! Not that they're falling down, but they keep slowly creeping down to the point where I feel like the crotch is down around my knees. Sigh. I'm officially to the point of being a little too snug in my normal clothes to be comfortable (and not look like I'm really pudgy), but nowhere near big enough for true maternity clothes. Hopefully this period won't last too long, b/c I'm going to get really tired of the limited options I currently have!

Pictures

Joe has encouraged me to take weekly pictures to document the belly that will probably soon start growing. So far, the changes have been small enough that I don't think a camera will capture them, but we started taking a profile picture last Friday, which I'll post soon. I've decided to wear one of the maternity shirts I bought in each picture, so the clothing reference point will always be the same, provided it fits throughout the pregnancy. Right now, after wearing the shirt all day, it just looked very loose, almost baggy, around the waist, so I'm happy to report I'm nowhere near filling it out... with my belly, that is.

Anyway, I've seen some people post "stats" with their weekly pictures, including weight gain, cravings, how they're feeling, and other random things about that week. I'll try to do the same, but since my pregnancy so far has been quite symptom-free, it may not be too exciting! *Knocking on wood that it stays this way*

In other news, we started looking at baby items this weekend, since we figure we need to know what we're getting ourselves into and registering for baby goods, although a ways off, seems much more intimidating that registering for wedding presents! All of you with small children, we have decided that you are a much better resource for knowing what we "need" versus what Babies 'R' Us says, so don't be surprised when we start asking a million questions!