Baby at 8w6d

This is Baby Love at 8 weeks 6 days. During the ultrasound, you could even see him/her wiggle just a little bit! Definitely takes after Daddy, who fidgets a lot! The heart was beating strong at about 184 bpm.

Second Trimester Promises

Pregnant women always hear how the second trimester is the "honeymoon period" of pregnancy. Yeah right! It has so not proved to be true with me. I am still nauseous and vomit every few days and I am still living in the bathroom with my overactive bladder - although that only seems to want to happen in the evenings when I want to eat dinner and at night when I am trying to sleep. I really really hope the nausea will magically disappear sometime soon, or at least that I can stop vomiting. And it's not the nice, easy vomit - I'm talking the projectile, make the toilet water splash back onto your face kinda vomiting. So not fun. The second trimester also brought on a whole new slew of discomforts. It is already nearly impossible for me to find a comfortable position in which to sleep - I toss and turn all night, and spend many hours WIDE AWAKE, desperately wishing I could sleep. And on top of that, with the "round ligament pain," turning over causes me to wince and even cry out in pain sometimes, as it feels like I'm being stabbed in places I wasn't aware I even had. And the walking . . . now, I am just not far along enough to have a waddle, but sometimes, after a good, brisk walk (gotta try to do some sort of exercise) it feels like I've been kicked in the rear end with steel-toed boots and my hips are going to split wide open from the force and my legs will fall right off. It is a chore to get up off the bed and walk - rather, hobble - to the bathroom - it hurts sooo terribly, and unfortunately, I seem to be in the bathroom every 15 minutes.

Honeymoon period?! Yeah right! Tums are my new best friend and have a prominent place on my nightstand. If the old wive's fable about heartburn meaning the baby will have lots of hair is true, this child will come out looking like an orangutan! And it's not the usual suspects that cause the heartburn - you know, spicy foods, red sauces and what have you. It's EVERYTHING. There is nothing I can eat that doesn't cause heartburn and reflux for me! At least Tums come in a variety of flavors.

Even with all my complaining, I wouldn't change this experience for anything. It's amazing to know that new life is growing within, though when I look in the mirror, I can't imagine how a full-sized baby will ever fit in there. And now, with having a real baby bump to show for it, it makes it so much more real that all of these discomforts have a real purpose. I have occasionally felt little flutters from the baby, and once I even felt a little roll. I look forward to all of the big kicks and somersaults and hiccups, and to the day when Steve will be able to feel the baby kick from the outside.

And I am still holding out hope that one day, one magical day, I'll wake up and not have any nausea for the rest of the pregnancy . . .

Baby's First Pic

This is Baby Love's first real picture, taken at 6 weeks 6 days. We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time this day!

We've made it to Germany

We've been in Germany a couple weeks now, and boy is it COLD!! I am looking forward to the experience though, and I think we will have a great time here. So, welcome to our blog. This is where I'll keep everyone updated on the pregnancy and eventual birth of our first baby.

Already I've had my first experience with the Army medical system, and I'm not too pleased. The Air Force seems to have it together so much better. When we got here, I was told that I had to make an appointment with my primary care physician in order to get a referral for off-base OB care. So I did that, and when I arrived for my appointment, the doctor (although very sweet) had no idea what to do with me. Turns out that I should have scheduled an OB orientation appointment in order to get the referral. So we talk to the OB nurse and she schedules me for the next class, which isn't until JANUARY 13TH! I'm really kinda frustrated about the whole thing, because that means I will be 17 WEEKS ALONG (or more) until I'm actually seen by an OBGYN! I never had this problem with the Air Force. My only comfort is that my pregnancy has been pretty uneventful so far, and I have my own doppler machine with which to hear the baby's heartbeat. Ah well.

Counting down the days until the 13th . . .