15 weeks

I passed my test!!!!! It is such a relief to have that over and done with and now I can kick back and enjoy the fact that all my favorite TV shows are coming back on! Seriously, I will not be signing up to get any more licenses while I am pregnant.
We had our dr. appointment on Tuesday and everything went well. It was a pretty uneventful visit but we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat - 152 bpm. She measured my belly and said that everything was progressing perfectly. Everything came back normal on all my blood work and on the other tests. I did find out that I have type O- blood (I have always wondered what my blood type was) which is the universal donor. I can give blood to anyone but can only receive blood from another O- person. Apparently most people are + so I am in the minority here and normally it has no affect on your health except during pregnancy. I will not take the time to bore everyone who does not wish to read about the rh factor but here is a link if you want to learn more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhesus_blood_group_system
Basically since I am negative Dow had to get blood drawn to find out what he is. If he is negative, then the baby will be negative and nothing needs to be done. If he is positive (which he probably is) then I have to get several shots to prevent the baby's blood from mixing with my blood. It was nice that I was not the one getting poked this visit! :)
We were able to set up the BIG gender ultrasound for May 16th. I was pretty bummed because I had hoped to have it on May the 9th and this is a whole week later! It seems trivial in the grand scheme of things but I have been waiting long enough! The doctor was out of the office several days and they had a hard time scheduling the ultrasound and a doctor's appointment right after. I can't wait to find out but I guess I have no choice but to wait another week. The poll sure is looking like it's a boy. I still think it is a boy but my mom said she thought my sister and I were both boys, so I guess the mother's intuition is not always right!
Other than that there is not much to report. I have been feeling really good except for a few minor headaches. I have really vivid dreams at night. Random, I know, but it has been something I have really noticed lately. I am really excited about just being able to enjoy my pregnancy now. I feel like I am showing a lot more. It sort of seemed to happen overnight and this morning while I was getting ready for work I was like, "where did this come from?" I'll let you be the judge and will post a picture once Dow gets home and can take it. :)

14 weeks

I just realized that I never really posted anything for 13 weeks - oops! I think I posted the pictures and then I forgot to write something a few days later. Oh well, time seems to be going by much faster now that the nausea is gone. Or it could just be that I have been very preoccupied by studying for my test on Monday. It's down to the wire now and I am starting to stress. I am taking a class today and tomorrow, will study all weekend, and then take the test on Monday. AHHH, the pressure! I cannot think of a worse time to have to be dealing with this. I sure hope I pass but at this point I am just ready for it to be over!!!
I am very excited about hitting the 14 week milestone because that means I am now officially in the 2nd trimester! It just feels good to be a point where I can tell everyone (or tell a few people and let them spread the word for me). Let's see, what else is new? I found out that my ice cream headaches were actually migraines so that has been really fun. I have had 2 pretty bad ones where basically all I can do is lay in bed with all the lights off and not listen to the TV or have anyone talk to me. The most recent one pretty much lasted the whole weekend. I did some research and found that is fairly common for women to get their first one during pregnancy. Tylenol is about the only pain killer I can take and that really does nothing for the migraines. I just hope that this does not continue after I have the baby. I talked to my Mom and she said she remembered getting one or two while she was pregnant but never again after. Hopefully that will be true for me as well. So far my pregnancy has been very similar to her pregnancy with me.
I am definitely in maternity clothes full time now - not the shirts but the bottoms. I got lots of cute, essential items from Gap Maternity and am feeling much more comfortable. I think most of the things I got should get me through my entire pregnancy. Eventually I will need the shirts as well but for now I am just wearing a select few tops that are loose and long. I guess I can't think of much else to report. We go back to the doctor on Tuesday for my monthly check up and I guess we will find out the results of the NT scan. I am hoping I will be able to schedule the BIG ultrasound at that point as well!!!!

then and now

Okay, so I can't say that I am pleased with the change that has occurred in my body in the last 2 months but I am documenting it nevertheless. The first picture was taken at about 4 weeks, pretty much right when I found out I was pregnant. The other picture was taken tonight. I must say in my defense that Dow took that one from a really unflattering angle (he got down on his knee to take it so it was basically shooting up at me). For next week's picture I will be sure not to make that same mistake. Well you can definitely tell that my waistline is growing!

Pics from the ultrasound today!

I didn't think they were going to give me any pictures but the tech was so sweet and she printed me a few. The ultrasound was incredible and I got to see everything about the baby (except for the sex). It really looks like a baby now. It was moving all around in there and was SO cute. As you can see in the pictures, he/ she is up-side-down. :) If you click on the pictures they will open larger in another window.

12 weeks

Not much to report this week. I think I am starting to feel better! The nausea seems to have tapered off a little bit and I am hoping that in the next few weeks it will disappear all together. I have been getting headaches this week so I guess you trade one thing for another. It feels like the brain freeze you get when you eat too much ice cream too quickly except that it doesn't go away. I sure hope this is not something that continues.
I bought my first maternity items this week! I got a pair of bermuda shorts to wear on the weekends and they are so comfortable. I also got this thing called a belly sleeve that allows you to wear your normal pants but you can unbutton/ unzip them. It is basically like a tube top that just goes over your middle section to keep your pants from falling down and to smooth out everything under your shirt. I wore it on Friday to work and it was functional, but rather awkward. I have been wearing my nice stretchy, forgiving dresses to work everyday but Friday's are jeans days. Last Friday, I could button my jeans fine, it was just a little uncomfortable when i was sitting down for a long time. All mine are very low rise and the waist hits right at my growing uterus. This Friday, I tried to put on the same jeans and it was just too uncomfortable! I had to use the band. I think it would be good if you were standing all day but I am constantly getting up and then sitting back down and it would bunch up and ride up or down so I just felt like I might be exposing my self all day. It was also weird because no one at work knows that I am pregnant and I was constantly messing with it. I feel like a couple of the girls that sit near me might have a suspicion now. After that, I went online and ordered lots of bottoms from gap.com. I figured I can try it all out and return what doesn't work. They had lots of cute things on sale. I think I will be fine with my shirts for now but the bottoms are definitely getting too tight.
I have to take my series 65 exam for work on the 21st and I am dreading it. It has been almost impossible to study because I am not supposed to do so during the work day, but when I get home at night I just way too tired. I was planning on studying some this weekend but I left my book at work! Next week I am going to have to really crack down and study during my lunch break or I will never pass this thing. I will feel so relieved once this thing is just over!
I have my ultrasound on Monday morning so I will be sure to post the results once I find out. I also need to post a belly picture but have been hesitant because I feel much more fat than pregnant at this point. According to the scale I haven't gained any weight but my stomach is definitely growing!

11 weeks

We had our second doctor's appointment this week and we were able to hear the heartbeat! It took the nurse a while to find it and I was really nervous but finally we heard a very faint and rapid beat. She said it was about 160 beats per minute, which is good. They also preformed a PAP and took LOTS of blood. I am not very good with that but Dow was great at holding my hand and keeping me from passing out. I go back on April 7th for another ultrasound specifically for the Nuchal Fold test which, in combination with more blood work, has about a 96% accuracy rate of predicting Down's Syndrome. We also elected to do a Cystic Fibrosis screen which the doctor recommended. They basically test me and if I am not a carrier then there is no chance of the baby getting it (both parents would have to be a carrier of the gene). She said to go ahead and do it with the first baby and then you never have to worry about it again. I am really excited to get to the see the baby again because I think it will look a lot more like a baby this time; unfortunately, they don't allow anyone else to come with you and they don't take any pictures for me to post. :( We also found out that we will have the big ultrasound at around 17 or 18 weeks where we will be able to find out the gender. That will be in early May and I cannot wait! I am dying to find out!
Since everything went well yesterday, I think we will start telling people in about 2 weeks. It keeps getting harder and harder to keep all to myself. It has been really nice that all the family knows. I don't know how people don't tell ANYONE until they into their second trimester.
I have been feeling pretty sick lately and have thrown up most nights in the past week. The doctor said that most people feel better around 14 weeks so I am definitely ready for that to come. Dow has been very sweet and has been sleeping in the guest room some nights so that I can get enough rest. Since I have become pregnant, I have a really hard time going back to sleep if something wakes me up and he usually gets up during the night. When I don't get enough sleep, I am pretty much dysfunctional (those who know me well know this was true before pregnancy but ESPECIALLY true now). I have not been feeling too emotional in a weepy way but have noticed that I have a much shorter fuse lately. Things that normally would not faze me get me all riled up like, traffic, work, etc.
Well that's about all I have to report for now - more next week.

pics from first ultrasound