I'm 12 weeks today!

In one sense the time has really flown. I can't believe I am only one week away from entering my second trimester. On the other hand, time has passed really, really slow. I find myself wanting it to pass more quickly. I can't wait to go to the doctor next and hear the heartbeat. I am anxious for my belly to get bigger. My clothes are getting uncomfortable and there are a few things I can't wear, but I'm not big enough to buy new clothes yet.

I'm feeling pretty good. Normally in the mornings and towards the end of the work day I start to feel a little weird, but nothing too bad. Brushing my teeth when I am tired has become an adventure.

We went on our youth retreat a little over a week ago. It was wonderful, but it took me a week to recover. Everything is so different and I keep being amazed at how much my body is changing and how things affect me.

Adam and I went to Babies R Us on Saturday night. It was soooo much fun. We hadn't done anything like that since we found out we were pregnant. In true Adam and Angela fashion, we couldn't just go and browse, no we ended up picking out our furniture and pack 'n play. I think I'll go and browse once more before we register. I never imagined it would be so much fun. We will need a lot of stuff. I still have about 2 more months before we find out what the baby is going to be and that means 2 more months until we register. I'm looking forward to picking out all sorts of fun stuff for our child!

To answer the question that I have been asked so many times: do I have a feeling of what the sex of the baby is or do I want one more than the other . . . no. I go back and forth. I have always wanted a boy first (mainly because I always wanted an older brother), but then again it would be so fun to have a little girl and we don't have any baby girls in the family yet. I really don't know. I have found 2 girls names that I like and girl bedding and find myself more indecisive on the boy stuff. I could get philosophical and say it is possibly because I am having a girl or because I'm having a boy and God wants me not to have everything figured out and just trust Him. Either way, I just want a baby and have a long time until I find out. I'm just trying to keep my mind busy so I don't think about it too much.

Lastly, we have nicknames for the baby (well, other people have nicknamed the baby) as BB (short for baby and said the same way - more of an email nickname) and peanut. I just like to call it baby, my baby!

THERE'S A BABY IN MY BELLY!

Today Adam and I went to the doctor - our first "official" visit. I was so excited and couldn't wait to hear the heartbeat and hopefully see the baby. Well, we couldn't hear the heartbeat, but the doctor did an internal sonogram and we could see the baby!

It was so incredible. There really is a baby in there! We could see the hearbeat and I even could tell what I was looking at before the doctor told us! It was so neat. She printed out the picture below for us.

She held the wand still and we could see the baby move. "It" was kicking it's feet and moving around the bottom half of it's body. It was too cute. It was on its head and I think it was practicing head stands or maybe break dancing.

Our next appointment is August 28th and we should definitely hear the heartbeat then.

I am changing so much. I don't look pregnant yet, but my stomach feels different when I push on it. I thought I might be feeling the uterus, but the doctor said it was tilted towards my back (which is no problem). I can't wait until I start showing (neither can Carrie!).

I will go see a high risk doctor when we get back from the youth retreat. They will do genetic testing (it is just blood work and a sonogram that shows the thickness of the baby's spine) just to make sure it doesn't have anything. Not that that would change anything if the baby does have something, Adam and I want to just be prepared for the wonderful gift that God has given us.

I am SOOOOO excited. I got to meet my baby today and it had its first picture taken!

So how does an 8-week pregnant mother feel?

Well, I feel good. I am crampy, really crampy, but not nauseous so it is hard to complain. The cramps have gotten a lot better since the beginning, but my stomach has become more sensitive to what I eat. I am constantly hungry. In fact, I went home from work early yesterday because I felt so bad, but I think it was because I hadn't eaten enough (then I ate too much and got sick again). I'm supposed to eat small meals every 2-3 hours. I'm also tired. It is hard to get through some work days.

All-in-all I do feel really good. I don't have much to complain about. I know I am pregnant, but because I haven't been too sick I don't feel that pregnant.

I am REALLY looking forward to going to the doctors and hearing the heart beat in 1.5 weeks! It still doesn't seem real. I know it is; it is just so amazing!

GARNET'S REACTION

So the first "person" I told was Garnet (the second was the nurse at the doctor's office when I called to make my appointment and then I told Adam).

He acted like it was no big deal and that he didn't care, but I know he does. He is really excited. He is a little confused in that when he was a puppy we used to give him stuffed animals to play with . . . er . . . destroy and we called those his "baby". We should not have done that.

I think he will figure it out. He is good with kids and he is really a gentle horse of a dog. Here are some recent pictures that will hopefully give you a small taste of his giant size (he is over 130lbs now!).

I'm having a baby!

We are really pregnant. I can't believe it! I am so excited and tired and hungry, always hungry. I am 8 weeks along now and I'm not showing yet, but I sure am bloated!

Here's the story of how we found out:

It was planned and it was so hard for me to be patient and wait for the missed period. We went on a cruise to the eastern Caribbean and had a blast. When we got back I noticed that I was tired and hungry. I thought I was just re-cooping from the trip and adjusting to not eating so much. I wondered if I was pregnant, but God was gracious and helped to keep me thinking about it non-stop. Finally I couldn't take it and I took a test on Thursday, June 21st and it was POSITIVE. I was so excited. I was home eating lunch and it was so hard to go back to work and act like everything was normal. Before the day was over I took 4 tests (I just wanted to make sure; I took 2 from 2 different brands).

I told Adam that night. I had made a book for him with pictures and went through the poem "adam and angela sitting in a tree . . ." He said "really!?!" He is super excited.

I went to the doctors that next Tuesday and found out I was already 5 weeks along. We then told our moms and they were thrilled. They cannot wait! Since then it has been a crazy time telling everyone. It has been fun in that some people are totally surprised and some people knew it before we told them.

Our first "prepping for the baby" task is to clean out the baby's room. Until now that room has been used for storage, but we just got an attic ladder so time to get to cleaning! We aren't going paint the room until we find out what it is. We will either paint the room blue (for a boy) or green (for a girl), although I really want a blue room, so our little girl might just get blue.

I'm going to try and post often to keep you up-to-date on the progress. I go back to the doctor at the end of the month (right before we go away for our youth retreat) and we will get to hear the heart beat then. I can't wait. Adam's grandmother thinks it is a boy and she has never been wrong. We will see. It is so fun to really not care what we have - we are just super excited!