Flutters Have Turned Into Movements

I feel like a caged bird, as it's snowing still and I haven't been outside since Wednesday night. It's another snow day, all local schools are closed for the day. But that's okay. I'm dealing with it. Actually, Hubby and I are going to try to venture out for lunch today. I just need to get out for a little bit. And since our little princess of a dog won't do her big business outside, we have to get out for a while, leaving her at home alone. Then, she will do her business on her potty pad. Such a diva, I tell you!

So anyway, I've had flutters for a few weeks now. But, yesterday, I started to feel more movement. I didn't really feel it too much during the day, it was more at night. But it was so exciting! I can't wait to feel the kicking and punching. I'm sure I'll notice it after it already begins, since this is my first baby and I don't know what to expect or what I'm supposed to be feeling. But I know the movements are definitely that. It's the strangest feeling in the world, yet it's the most amazing feeling ever. I wouldn't trade it in for anything!

The Nausea Bug

Well, you would think that by the end of the 17th week of pregnancy, the nausea would be quieter than before. Well it hasn't worked out that way for me. Yesterday, I spent the day teaching and feeling very nauseous. I ate half my lunch before it soured in my stomach and I had throw the rest of it out. I ate half my yogurt and the same thing happened. I had my Sea.Bands on all day yesterday. The nausea was tolerable but not at all likable. 

I decided that I would call out sick today. My school district has early dismissal because of the incoming snow storm (yes, Nor'Easter #4 of the 2009-2010 winter, which makes it #3 for 2010 is on the way). Well, I'm glad I did, since the nausea has started again. It's not super bad yet and hopefully, it won't be. But it's certainly not fun, not exciting, and not at all wanted. But it's here nonetheless. 

Now, I'm just trying to decide if I think it's a boy or a girl. Only a few more weeks until I can find out!

The Things That Make My Day

Last week, I was nominated for a blogging award by Catrisha from Baby Dreams and I didn't want to to go ignored. It's just been so busy over this way. Hubby's students finally performed Aladdin for two nights. It was originally supposed to be four nights, but the original nights got snowed out, so we had the musical on Thursday and Friday. I've been involved with it and it's very time consuming. So blogging has sort of taken the back seat. But, the musical is over, my feet are up, I'm relaxing, and therefore, catching up in the blogging realm. 


My pregnancy is still going well. It seems that I'm showing a lot earlier than I thought I would. But I haven't had the sickness that most women seem to get, so I'm not complaining. At my last doctor's appointment, I had only gained 7 pounds since the month before getting pregnant. It's all pretty much in my belly and I don't eat much more than I used to. I'm showing very high, too. Weird, but I'm hoping the old wives tales about carrying high being a girl hold true. But I have such a "boy" feeling. Only a few more weeks until I can find out! 


Anyway, back to the blogging award. My blog was awarded as one that makes someone's day. 

The rules are: I have to list 10 Things That Make My Day and then list 10 Blogs worthy of this award as well, and then you'll have the award and they'll have the award too. Don't forget you'll have to do the same... list 10 Things and 10 Blogs to earn the award (then of course copy the pic of the award to your computer and paste/upload the award pic to your own blog post saying that you received this award with your 10 and 10). It's less confusing that it sounds, so I'm going to list 10 things that make my day.

1. Coming home from work to a dog who just loves to greet me. It's nice to be missed, to be loved, to have something or someone look forward to my return from wherever I am.

2. Hugs and kisses from Hubby. Nothing beats a warm embrace and the soft kisses on my cheek that tell me I'm loved and I'm special.

3. An email or Facebook comment from a good friend. It's always nice to have friends involved in life, even when distance separates you.

4. A good cup of coffee. Of course, my coffee is a specific concoction of a quarter caffeinated coffee and three-quarters decaf. But it makes my day to enjoy my one little cup of coffee with creamer and splenda.

5. Gentle reminders of God's unconditional love for me. I'm the farthest thing from perfect and those reminders give me warm fuzzies.


6. Talking to my mom on the phone. It's a daily ritual. I call my mom every day on the way to work and talking to her just makes my day.


7. Beautiful words from friends. Nothing can make someone's day more than kind words no matter what the situation is.


8. A great song on the radio. I listen a lot of K-Love and I just love when certain songs come on that I can just sing to and completely understand, like "Perfect People." If you don't know that song, look it up. It's fantastic.


9. Being told by little kids that I am the most beautiful woman besides their mom. To be ranked anywhere near the mother of a little kid is just an amazing thing. 

10. Watching a funny commercial on TV. You know the kind, the kind that makes you laugh to the point where you are almost in tears. There aren't many out there, but there are a few!


Okay, now for the 10 bloggers and blogs that make my day because I love to read them and catch up on their lives:

1. Meggo from Unconceivable (Conceived!)

2. Olivia from Misadventures in Baby Making 

3. All You Who Hope 

4. Journey Girl from Donor Eggs Journey 

5. Priscilla from It only takes one time...Not! 

6. The Mrs. from In God's Hands 

7. Sabine from A Land Far Away 

8. The Misfit from IF 

9. Chirleen from Confessions of a TC-A-Holic 

10. Miracle in the Making from TTC Baby Blog

Annoyed with the Internet

Well, my evening is just dandy. It seems that I cannot get in to SC at all, sorry girls. Google won't let me log in, as they have blocked the site as reported "Attack Site." Yep. I'm not thrilled about this at all, but what am I going to do about it, you know? Sorry that I can't keep up with you all on there. Maybe tomorrow, I'll be able to log in there again. Even if I click the "Ignore Warning" link, I still can't log in. It's ridiculous. 

There's really nothing new going on here. I just needed to vent, since I'm super annoyed about it. 

Belly Pictures

Hi, girls (and any guys that are reading my blog), it's about time I put together a compilation of the belly pics I've been taking. So I'm going to post all the pictures up through yesterday's newest one. Enjoy!!

December 25, 2009

Week 15 Day 1 Update/Quiz

Hi, all!! Valentine's Day is approaching and I thought I would update you all on how my Love Bug is doing these days. But first, I wanted to thank Journey Girl for another Beautiful Blogger Award. I awarded this to some of you a few posts ago, but I wanted to thank her for it. :-)
 
Now, for the update quiz...
 
How far along: 15 weeks 1 day

Symptoms: Nausea (usually only at night or when I have to blow my nose...tissues have a smell and I just can't stand it), my energy has returned for the next few months, bloated still, a bit gassy at times, a growing belly. I'll post a picture in another post.

Total weight gain: 7lbs at last weigh in at the doctor, I guess that's not too bad. Of course, they weighed me before they let me use the bathroom and I had just finished another 22 ounce bottle of water...

Maternity clothes: Mostly tops. I do have three pairs of pants. I wear most of my old pants still, though, with a hair tie around the button and  with the Be.Band. It's not the most comfortable, but it works to keep me from buying more maternity pants yet. I did get my first pair of maternity pantyhose today. I'm excited about that! I love to wear dresses.

Stretch marks: Only on my chest, as it has they have definitely grown already. But none on the tummy yet. I'm using tons of Palmer's Cocoa Butter.

Sleep: I sleep like a baby most of the time, until I have to pee. I find myself doing that once or twice in the middle of the night. It's sort of gotten better in the past week. They say it does during the second trimester. I'm hoping it stays that way for at least a month or two. But lately, I've also had to sleep with a pillow next to me to "snuggle" with. Otherwise, I end up sleeping on my back and I've NEVER been a back sleeper. So today, I got a body pillow.
 

Best moment last week: Having my checkup with Dr. H on the 5th and hearing Little Bean's heartbeat. It was 162bpm.

Movement: The fluttering has started. It's the strangest thing...I describe it as bubbles mixed with the feeling that I swallowed a butterfly and its wings are tickling me from the inside.

Food cravings: Oddly, none really. My sweet tooth has returned. But when I do want somethng, I want something sour and sweet. But otherwise, I've got no specific cravings these days. I'm sure that will change soon.

Belly Button in or out: In, of course!

What I miss: Lunch meat, hot dogs, sausage and peppers...

What I am looking forward to: My next appointment with Dr. H on March 5th, when we schedule the gender scan!!

 

Milestones: Telling my students at school that I am having a baby, that I'm not just getting "fat."

 

How is daddy? He is wonderful. We've had so much snow this winter. He won't let me go out and shovel. He's so good to me. And when we do venture out with the snow on the ground, he walks arm in arm with me to make sure my precious cargo is safe.

How are the grandparents? They are excited as can be.

Snowed In...Again.

We were greeted yesterday with the beginnings of Nor'Easter Number 3 for New Jersey last night. So I spent today snowed in. Seems like I just did this on Saturday...oh wait, I did! This weather is unbelievable. For lack of something better to blame (I don't want to blame it on El Nino), I'm blaming this on Little Bean. We haven't had a winter this bad in the region in...I don't know...EVER! So of course, it would be the year I was pregnant that it would snow this much. 

So what did I do while being snowed in? I made vegetable soup this morning in the crock pot for lunch and dinner. It's the perfect weather for soup, you know? The soup was very yummy and super cheap and easy. Good meal on a snowy, wintry, cold day. 

Oh, did I mention this storm was a blizzard? Yep, a blizzard. I looked out so many times and the snow was blowing sideways. It's just crazy! All this snow...school canceled today and canceled again tomorrow. You know what that means? That's right...I'm going to be waddling into school at the end of June at nearly 8 months pregnant just to make up these snow days. Not that I mind the days off, Hubby and I got a lot done today. 

We decided that to accommodate Little Bean, we need to rearrange the living room furniture. So we started the long process of cleaning our clutter and tossing the junk. Hubby did a lot more than me, but that's because there's only so much I can do. But I have this big plan on the new layout, we just need to get more cluttered cleared out first. Once the living room is done, we can work on the nursery. We need to declutter and get rid of all the furniture in there. So having an extra day off tomorrow means we can get more cleaning done. 

Oh, and it's 8:00 and it's still snowing outside...story of my pregnancy so far...

Snowed In

It appears that South Jersey is again swamped with massive amounts of snow. This is the second major snow storm since finding out I was pregnant. Not to mention all the smaller snows we had...I guess Little Bean is a snow baby! With this storm, we're looking at 2 feet of snow again. And then, it's supposed to snow again on Tuesday night into Wednesday. Thank goodness we're not looking at another 2 feet then, just 3/4 of a foot. This is so unlike NJ to have this much snow in one season. I do think I may go outside in a bit and take some pictures. Not to worry, though, DH will walk with me and make sure my precious cargo stays safe. He always protects Little Bean.

I had my check up with Dr. H yesterday. Everything seems good. Little Bean's heartbeat was 160bpm. He found it right away with the doppler. It was a strange appointment as it is the only one I've ever had at an OBGYN where I didn't undress and my feet were not in stirrups. It was a nice change! All my bloodwork came back good, which I knew it would. They haven't mentioned the glucose test yet, so I guess that'll come when it needs to. I never had issues with my glucose levels before, but being pregnant can change everything! On another positive note, my blood pressure was great. Since I struggle with high blood pressure (for unexplained reasons other than PCOS), it's something I watch closely. It was starting to become more elevated during the first trimester but Dr. H didn't want to increase my medication. Good thing, since my last two appointments have shown excellent readings. 

That's about it for me. Oh, I wanted to post two pictures of my growing belly. One is a full length shot and the other is a close up on my little bump. Enjoy!

 

My First Blogging Award

Thanks, Sabine@A Land Far Away for my first blogging award! It's so strange to think that my blog actually deserves an award from someone else. I always see other blogs with awards but never thought my blog would be one to receive one. So thank you TONS! It means a lot!

 7 (interesting) facts about me:

1. I am a quilter. I absolutely love to make quilts of all sizes for various for other people.
2. I love to wear flowers in my hair. Before our TTC, I wore them in my hair every day. But when we started to TTC, I decided not to wear them again until I was ready to announce that we were pregnant. So it's nice to have flowers in my hair again these days.
3. If I could afford Lasik surgery, I would totally get it. My eye-sight is terrible!
4. I may be quite sociable on my blogging comments and online, but I have some degree of stage fright. I can deal with kids and speaking to large groups of kids. Goes with being a teacher. But ask me to speak in front of adults and my palms get all sweaty and I turn red.
5. I love to wear dresses and skirts. Pants are nice, don't get me wrong. But I love looking all girly.
6. I'm a Mommy's girl. Yep, I'm 30 and still a Mommy's girl. Not much beats spending time with my mom.
7. Baby is due 2 days after my 7-year anniversary with Hubby. Guess that makes the 7-year itch thing a whole lot different!

And I nominate:
1. Heather@ It's Just Me.=)

2.The Mrs.@In God's Hands

3. Meggo@ INCONCEIVEABLE 

4. Olivia@Misadventures in Baby Making 

5.Angie@Victory's Within The Mile 

6.Miracle in the Making@TTC Baby Blog 

7. Another Dreamer@ An Unwanted Path

So here's what you need to do:

• Thank the person who nominated you and copy the award in your blog
• Link the person who nominated you for this award
• Share seven interesting things about yourself
• Nominate seven fellow bloggers and add the links to their blogs