Quick Update

Well lots have asked about how everything is going and if my belly is growing, so here is a quick update.

I am great! Overall, I am SO blessed because I have more good days/hours than bad :-) Thank you Lord! I do have to admit, that I have had some unexpected things this week, which I can explain in a bit.

I am now OFFICIALLY in my second trimester. I always thought that your first trimester were weeks 1-12, however, it is weeks 1-13 (or at least that is what all the "new" edition books and websites say). SO... now I am officially in week 14, my second trimester. That is really hard to wrap my head around, J&I cannot believe that we are a third of the way there!

Now for the unexpected things...
I am coming to realize (very quickly) that I knew little to nothing about pregnancy prior to now (with good reason, having never been pregnant before:-). Anyway, I am still nauseous every now and then (only threw up once this week), but with the second trimester comes new adventures. I now get headaches with a stuffy nose, and very dramatic and realistic dreams (so real I woke up actually crying in one dream). Who knew those were common signs/symptoms of pregnancy?!? Plus I have been EXTREMELY hormonal this week (poor J, but trust me he has been amazing!), laughing one minute, crying and crying the next... it is very different. OH! I am also experiencing really intense abdominal pains called round ligament pains. Apparently,now my uterus is "popping" out from behind my pelvic bone so all those muscles and ligaments have to grow and stretch like they never have before. Most people just experience them when they move positions quickly (like going from sitting to standing); however, I tend to have them if I stand/walk around for too long and yes if I stand up too quickly. All this is normal and honestly not bad, just things that I was not expecting :-)
I tell you all of that not to feel sorry for me, or anything else like that, just to let you know what has been going on in my life. I am truly beginning to LOVE this experience. J&I talk all the time about how blessed we feel to have this little miracle of the Lord's growing inside of me. We are just in awe of this entire experience.

As far as my belly, well as you can see, it is growing. I have to admit, that J took this picture at night after dinner, so it is full of food and liquids. I am now waking up to a little belly, which is exciting because I use to wake up and I was skinny in the morning with a little belly at night, now I at least have a belly in the morning and it just gets bigger and bigger through the day :-)

*I am sorry I am not wearing my maroon cami for you to compare how much I have grown better, but I promise to post a picture in the next 2 weeks (after my next doctor's apt.) with the maroon cami.

What is happening with the baby this week...
Well, all the books & websites say.. The baby is about the size of a clinched fist (about 3-4 inches) and the baby is becoming more and more straight, instead of all curled up. The neck is getting longer and the head more erect. The baby might actually be "sprouting" hair on its little head (although since J&I were both bald, we are not counting on too much being up top :-) The eyebrow are also filling in and the baby is growing hair all over its body called lanugo. This hair helps to keep it warm, and as the baby accumulates fat the hair will shed. The face is also becoming more developed, and the bones are beginning to form (replacing the cartilage). WOW! That is a lot going on. Praise God for how detailed oriented He is and all that He is crafting and creating inside of me right now :-)

As far as J goes...
He is such an amazing husband (but I know that I did not have to tell you all that). He is already talking to the baby, praying to/with it and poking at it (Ha Ha... he thinks it is SO funny to poke my round belly button. He says that he is amazed because it use to be a little slit and now it is round. He cracks me up.) He is also working HARD at work and then having to come home and study for the PE Exam that he takes when we get back to the States. He is juggling a lot right now, but he is doing an amazing job! Thank you baby for everything!!!

Anyway, I say all of the above to say, I/we are fabulous! We just feel so blessed to be going through all of this. Thank you Lord for our little miracle and we just pray that You continue to watch over him/her.