13 weeks!

Oh man, where has the past month gone?!  So many exciting things and fairly average, but still exciting in pregnant land, things have happened over the past 5 weeks.  The most exciting thing of all was having our first appointment.  We met with an ARNP for this first appointment (we'll meet our OB at the next one).  After the routine gyno appointment (very enlightening for Aron. Apparently speculums are frightening), we finally got to the first ultrasound where we got to SEE AND HEAR BABY!!!!  Nothing in this world had prepared me for that moment.  It was beyond amazing and I felt like the whole world was perfect and I was being rewarded with the most beautiful gift ever.  Little baby Lum was right there on the screen, wiggling around with a very very fast heartbeat.  As I was obviously very excited and emotional, so was baby.  Her heart rate clocked in at 193 beats per minute.  Hopefully baby L has calmed down a smidge since then, since the high end of the heart beat range is typically 180.  Here's a few ultrasound images we were able to bring home with us.  (Eeee! Our baby!!)

Seeing this very real sign of life was so incredibly mind-boggling.  Ever since that appointment (August 19) the pregnancy has felt so much more real.  Other pregnancy symptoms have continued to also remind me every day that this pregnancy is real.  I spent the entire month of August very nauseous, and each day at work felt like an eternity.  I couldn't wait to get home and crawl into bed.  An 8 pm bedtime was not unusual for me, even on the weekends (no, not the weekends!).  There were some days I felt like I might not survive.  This might be a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.  Looking back on August, I'm very surprised how fast it passed.  Things are looking much more optimistic these days.  I'm much less nauseous during the day; it really only sets in around 6 pm.  I've been actually vomiting more often, but that's not so bad, compared to the constant nausea.  I'd rather know what my triggers are than be stuck in all-day misery.

Here's some fun pictures we took last month.  I've been steadily stealing ideas from pinterest and other friends' preggo blogs.  There are so many fun ways to document the pregnancy!  This week, I may start taking pictures with produce.  What the heck did she say?!  Yes, produce.  Every week, all of the baby books and websites compare your baby's size to a fruit or vegetable (pea, kiwi, peach, grapefruit, etc).  I saw these cute pictures where the woman posed with the appropriately-sized fruit each week.  Aron's not on board with these pictures, but he has to do what I say!  He's obviously the volun-told photographer for the next 6 months.

  

If the second line looks a little faint on this test, that's only because I left it sitting on the back of the toilet for 3 weeks before I remembered I wanted to do these photos. :) I think the ultrasound pic above should quell any worries that this pregnancy might not be legit.  Including our own worries.

Here's a picture we took of me at 7 weeks.  I realized after this photo that I might not want to take any more until I start showing, so we didn't do any more these past few weeks.  But that was before I stumbled across the produce picture idea.

If you're thinking my boobs look more awesome than ever in this photo, it's because they are! (Sorry to any family that might not want to be reading this part.)  I've gone up almost a full cup size in the past month, but not without a price.  There has definitely been a lot of pain and tenderness, and I've had to start sleeping in a sports bra to be more comfortable.  But really, these issues do not bother me because I'm getting boobs for the first time in my life!

Other fun "pregnant" things that have occurred over the last month are frequent peeing, occasional dizziness, overwhelming exhaustion, ongoing bloated belly, and a lot of emotional ups and downs.  Besides being tired all the time, these things have been minor.  Although Aron might disagree.  He might kill me if he hears me ask "babe, can you do me a teeny favor?" one more time!  I'm starting to get a lot of my energy back, so hopefully I can start helping out around the home more.

Speaking of Aron, he has been absolutely wonderful these past 7 weeks.  He pampers me and takes care of me and lets me rest and eat junk food if that's all I can keep down.  He's put up with my crazy meal requests and endures me yelling at him when the food wasn't what I wanted in the end.  He's already finished his "Dude, You're Gonna be a Dad" book and has put a good dent in our "What to Expect When You're Expecting."  He's going to be such a good father!!

Outside of pregnant land, but equally exciting in our lives - last week we closed on a house!  We bought a house!!  We get the keys on October 18!!  Now that we're about to sail into the second trimester, I'm going to put all of my renewed energy into packing.  I'm so excited to move out of this condo and into a house!!  A house with a fenced in yard!!