20 Weeks! Half Way There!

My pregnancy journal actually said that yesterday was the halfway point - 133 days down, 133 to go. But today is the official 20 week mark, so either way you look at it, we're halfway to meeting the Bun! I must say, this pregnancy thing is pretty cool. I mean, besides the nausea and flu-like feelings I had in the first trimester, this second trimester has been a breeze for the most part. I haven't felt too much movement yet, but every now and then I'll get a flutter or what I assume is a kick/punch of some sort. I know that in the coming weeks I'll be feeling much more of these. One slightly bizarre development.......: I think John thinks he's pregnant. I swear, the boy has more cravings than I do! Last night he said, "Can you get me a milkshake?" Not "Let's go get ourselves some milkshakes," it was, "Can YOU get ME a milkshake." Last time I checked, I'M the pregnant one. So now it's on. I'm determined to have more cravings than my husband.

Bump Watch! 19 weeks

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bump has arrived. I've definitely "popped" in the last week or so. Most of my pants still fit, but when I say "fit" I mean while I can technically button them, there exists a very real possibility that the button could pop off at any moment. Thank God for the Bella Band! For those who are not familiar with this miraculous invention, it's a sucker-inner of sorts that enables you to NOT button your pants but still keep them up. Side note: They would be great for after Thanksgiving dinner too.

Decisions, Decisions.....And the Quest for the Perfect Crib Set

I never knew having a baby was so......complicated. I thought trying to pick out paint colors was difficult. HA! That's a walk in the park compared to the choices you have when it comes to everything baby. For example, I know we're going to need some bottles. So I go online to register for some bottles. Sounds simple enough, and yet I had no idea that there were approximately 30 different kinds of bottles. Some have a bent neck to help with air bubbles. Some have a bag inside that's supposed to be somehow revolutionary. Others still claim that if you use any other type of bottle, your baby is doomed to have horrible gas and will cry 24/7. Talk about pressure! So we decided to look at crib sets (sheets, etc.) online this morning, thinking that would be easy. HA! Fooled again. It's very difficult to find something that's not too masculine and yet not too girlie, and not too hokey or too boring. We found one set that I thought might work.....stars and a moon, a cool little celestial theme. That was until John said, "Yeah, I like it. Except for the fact that the moon looks like a child molestor." The search continues.

Here He/She Is!

We had our Ultrasound today, and saw the first glimpses of the little nugget. He/she was not very cooperative, and was flipping around all over the place during the entire procedure (which lasted about 45 minutes), so the pics aren't that great, but they'll do. We got to see the 4 chambers of the heart, the spine, the ribs, the brain, the skull, and the technician saw all sorts of other stuff that we couldn't quite make out. Long story short, the Bun looks good! And weighs a whopping 8 ounces. :)

The photo on the bottom is pretty self explanatory - you can see the spine (the white line) at the bottom, above where it says "Profile." The top photo is a bit more confusing. Bun is facing left, and we're looking at him/her from above - kind of. You can see a leg/knee/foot on the left, the black is amniotic fluid and you can see his/her right arm pretty clearly. Meep!

The Appetite from Hell

The first trimester I could barely muster more than some Saltines and maybe an English muffin. Then, right when I was starting to get my appetite back around Christmas, I got hit with the Stomach Flu and lost 6 lbs. in three days. Well, my appetite has officially returned, and it has returned with a vengeance. This morning for brunch I had 3 eggs, 2 sausage links, 2 slices of scrapple and 2 waffles. WHOA! Oddly enough, I still haven't gained any weight. But if I keep eating like this, I'm going to be Jabba the Hut in no time. Stay tuned!

Oh, the Exhaustion

To give you all an idea about how tired you are during the first trimester of pregnancy, this is pretty much what I looked like throughout most of October and November. Here are some comparisons for you. Picture it: You're laying on the couch, completely devoid of energy, and...

1. (Ladies): Tim Gunn walks into your living room and says, "Come with me. Heidi is waiting in a limo out front to take you shopping at your favorite stores. You have 3 days and $10,000,000 to spend." And you CAN'T DO IT. You have to say, "Tim, I can't make it work" and get auf'd by Heidi.


2. (Guys): Andy Reid walks into your living room and says, "Come with me. The rest of the team is waiting in a limo out front to take you to the Linc, where you'll pig out on free cheesesteaks and beer all day and watch us win the Superbowl." And you CAN'T DO IT.

Now you're getting an idea of the exhaustion. Kind of like mono, but without the fever and sore throat.

Some Falsehoods of Pregnancy

For those of you who have yet to go through or share in this experience, let me enlighten you on some of the biggest misconceptions out there.

1. Pregnancy is 9 months long. Pregnancy is NOT 9 months long. It's 40 weeks long....you do the math people.

2. Morning sickness really sucks. It's NOT morning sickness. It's morning, noon and night sickness, and in my case, it got worse as the day went on. It was really fun looking forward to feeling like I was gonna yack, let me tell you.

3. People will know you're pregnant because you'll have a "glow." Glow, my ass. They'll know because either a) you'll turn green, stop eating everything but bread, and run to the bathroom every half hour or so, b) you'll be even bitchier than you normally are, and/or c) you'll start looking fat. And people will assume either you're pregnant or you've been hitting Dairy Queen too often. (By the way, even if you assume, DON'T ASK SOMEONE IF THEY'RE PREGNANT IF YOU'RE NOT SURE). So beware of the "glow" comment. Most of the time when people say, "You have a glow," it's a nice way of saying, "You're fat, but because you're pregnant you can pretend it looks cute."

Incidentally, I've found that pregnancy makes me slightly more sarcastic. Can you tell?

Bump Watch! 16 Weeks

Clarification! Some of you thought the photo attatched to my first post was my 16 week photo. I got lots of comments like, "Are you sure you're pregnant?" and "Will you eat a cheeseburger?" That was actually my 12 week photo. THIS is my 16 week photo. And tomorrow is the 17 week mark. Is everyone okay on the weeks? :)

And this is Miles' reaction....

....when we told him, "You're going to be a big brother!" His response? "Is......this a good thing?" followed by, "Will I have to share my food with it?" We think he's excited, though, and will be great with the Bun. He loves kids, and we won't mind the bath of doggie kisses he loves to dish out to them. Truth be told, I think Miles knew about the Bun before we did. I suddenly noticed he was sleeping right next to me on the floor every night instead of on his own bed, and he followed me EVERYWHERE - even on my nighttime bathroom trips. Now that these nighttime bathroom trips occur about 2-3 times a night, he has stopped following me. But I swear, somehow he knows something is different with me.

This is what John's face looked like....

....when I said, "I think I'm preggers!" Okay, so it wasn't quite this bad, but his expression was priceless - you're just going to have to take my word for it. We were both pretty surprised, actually, when we found out on October 14th. What followed was a whirlwind of trips to Happy Harry's (just to make SURE.......eight tests later, we felt pretty certain about it), a trip to the doctor's and phone calls to our parents. And then we had to wait. Wait to make sure the Bun "stuck," wait to tell everyone else our news......wait for the nausea to end and the energy to come back. Fast forward to tonight, to a classic John moment I know you can all appreciate. We were talking about our next doctor's appointment, and he said something to the effect of: "I can't wait for this next trip to the BYOMD." I'm pretty sure he meant OB/GYN, but bringing your own doctor sounds kind of fun, doesn't it?

Bump Watch! 12 Weeks

Okay, so technically Week 12 was 4 weeks ago. We are now in Week 16, people, so we've got some catching up to do.

I wanted to create the Bump Watch to keep you, our darling family and friends, up to date about the happenings of the Bun in the Oven.

So far, so good! We have heard the heartbeat twice now, and in a couple of weeks we go for our ultrasound.

Now that we are officially in the 2nd trimester, life has largely returned to normal for the Gordon family. I no longer appear to have a greenish hue, and I only sleep about 8-10 hours a day instead of 20. Okay, maybe 20 is an exaggeration, but weeks 6 to 11 were mostly filled with zzzz's. I think John thought he had lost his wife forever, and poor Miles thought we would never go for a run again.

Alas, I have returned! And so has my appetite, so bring on the Granny Smith apples with peanut butter and raisins!