Happy Thanksgiving...

Time is definitely flying by. It's the end of November already and my belly is getting huge! I'm 14 weeks already, and as shitty as I felt in the first trimester, it really did go by fast, thank God. The weather is perfect today, about 70 degrees, and we're going to my in-laws for dinner in a couple hours. I'm so excited to eat a lot of food!

Things I'm thankful for, from 2008:

• My husband.
• My belly and the flutters that are in it.
• My dog, and the fact that he is still healthy, despite what the German doctor said.
• My family.
• Two weeks in Costa Rica.
• My perfect wedding.
• My wedding photographer that took amazing pictures.
• The countless hours that my dad spent putting together a "wedding video", since we did not have one.
• My friends.
• My friends' babies.
• FIFs.
• Motherhood Maternity Secret Belly Pants.
• My new feather bed.
• My job, be it as it may.
• Pandora.com.
• Verizon Fios On Demand, for all of my nights on the couch during the first trimester.
• Lot's of cooler fall weather.

Lot's to be thankful for. I have a beautiful life.

Weekly belly pic (I spared you all the naked belly this week. You're welcome.) Oh, and I promise that eventually my face will be in some of these:

And, lastly, some pictures of the reef tank. A lot of you have been asking about it so here you go:

Bigger is better!

Well, it's not the best picture in the world but there it is...my bump. I think this is the first week that bloat is not effecting my belly at all, that's all baby (or uterus, if you will).
With this growth comes some pain, I'm not going to lie. I had a lot of round ligament pain for a couple of days last week. Friday it was constant. It isn't a horrible pain, just uncomfortable. Sleeping has become a bit of a challenge because of all of the pulling and stretching. I didn't think sleeping would be an issue so soon but hey, I didn't know anything else about pregnancy, apparently! Headaches have also been very prevalent this week. I think most of it is sinus related but pregnancy can also cause them. They aren't your normal, run of the mill headaches either. They are SERIOUS headaches. I have never had a migraine but I'm guessing these are pretty close.
None of the above matters though as long as this little one is healthy and thriving...and as long as I can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner! Next weekend, our project is to start organizing and moving things around to get ready for the nursery! We need to do a lot of condensing and throwing away...well, my husband does, not me. He keeps everything under the sun so this is going to be a challenge.
I went to my friend Susie's yesterday for a "Body Shop" party and spent way too much money on lotion, but that's not the point of the story. There were seven of us pregnants there, seven! We're all in different phases, which was very fun to talk about. It felt great to be around a group of women that were in the moment with me. We compared notes on our physical status, bitched and talked about how no one understands us right now. It was fantastic.
In other news...
Dustin is still working on the reef tank like it's his full time job. I would post pictures but we have an algae bloom and it isn't pretty. That's what he is currently working on fixing. We have three major tenants in there now: a tomato clown fish (a big "Nemo"), a six lined rass, and a royal gamma. We also have a bunch of starfish, snails and hermit crabs. I would have never guessed how fun they are to watch, to tell you the truth. I just didn't realize the amount of effort it takes to maintain this thing. Am I starting to get jealous of a fish tank??
I want to say congratulations to my friend Jessica and her husband Sal. Jessica gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Joseph Henry, early Sunday morning. He's gorgeous!

Nostalgia and Inspiration

With the holidays just a couple weeks away, all I can say is that I'm in the mood to shop. I might not have the energy for it, but I am in the mood. It's amazing to me how our society has put spending a shit ton of money together with the holidays. As much as it makes me a little sad that retail and Jesus Christ go hand in hand, I subscribe to it so I guess I'm part of the problem? Anyway, I'm glad my energy level will be increasing within the next couple of weeks so I can get some shopping done. I have to admit that I'm a little excited to buy some things for the baby too.

I cannot believe how fast 2008 has gone. In less than two months, we'll be in yet another new year. It's crazy to me. I can't help but be a little sad that 2008 is almost over. Maybe I'm just hormonal but looking back, it has been one of the best years of my 32 years. I married a wonderful man, I spent 2 beautiful weeks in Costa Rica with him and some of our friends and family, I made some amazing friends, both in real life and even online, and last but not least, it's also when I got pregnant. Truly amazing.

I've been too lazy to take a belly picture this week but I will get to it this weekend. I'm seeing and feeling some major changes. Staying true to last week, I'm feeling good some days and pretty gross on others. I see the light at the end of the nausea tunnel, I really do. I will not say it's over because I tend to jinx myself! This is the last week of the first trimester so for that, I'm forever blessed and thankful.

Speaking of which, I feel compelled to tell a story about an ever inspiring friend of mine. She is someone I don't know very well and to be honest, I haven't even met her in real life. I have been getting to know her, "virtually", for the past year and a half because we happened to have the same wedding month. I hope she doesn't mind that I'm typing this but like I said, she inspired me this week...

Her and I found out on the same day that we were pregnant. Her due date was to be just four days before mine. We texted and chatted about our pregnancy symptoms for weeks. Sadly, last week, just a day after my 11 week appointment, on the day of her doctor's appointment, she found out she lost the baby. It had stopped growing a few weeks back. I cried for her, my heart ached for her and I felt guilty that I have been successful thus far, and she was not. She isn't the first friend I've known to miscarry and unfortunately, she might not be the last but something just struck me about her.

What is outstanding about her story? Her. Her faith. Her attitude. Just her. Although she has some emotional healing to do, she is just such a positive force. She said, "this was God's plan". A friend of her's told her that "all the baby knew was her warm belly and God's paradise", and she held onto this. How beautiful is that? I have never been a religious person but I can say that this friend's faith restored some of my faith. For me, it opened my mind to the fact that we are not in control of very much in life and that someone else has a plan for us in some, or most, situations.
You would think that her situation would frighten me a little...but, no...it did the opposite. It let me let go a little and realize that it's ok. Whatever "it"is, it's ok. Thanks merv.

"See what a lil sex does??"

We had our 11 week appointment today! There are two docs in the practice and throughout the pregnancy, I will see both of them and one of them will definitely deliver the baby. This time, it was with Dr. Cohen. We love them both but this guy was awesome.

Dr. Cohen is a Jamaican man, which is important because you have to imagine the accent with everything he said, such as the title of this post! He said that right as he was finding the baby via ultrasound. Hi.larious. He is a great doc though with a fantastic sense of humor. He continually said, "stop movin baybah", so he could get some good pictures. He also said, "AYYY! There's the top of your uterus love!", as he pressed down on my belly. I giggled like a school girl the whole time. It was great!

Here are some snapshots:

It's ok if you're not sure what you're looking at. I really didn't either until the doc told us!

Both Dustin and I welled up with tears the minute we saw that baby jump around. It is truly real now and so amazing. The little heartbeat was 166 BPM! We heard it on the doppler which was crazy!

I'm feeling a little better this week. The fatique is still non-stop but the nausea seems to be waning a bit, thank the lord. My hair is dry, my gums bleed, my boobs are still sore and I don't fit into any clothes (don't get me started on maternity clothes!)...but I'll take all of that over the nausea any day!

Here is my weekly bellyshot:

Bear wanted in on the shot, I guess=)

Other than that, my husband is out in the Gulf of Mexico, as I type, getting his 100 gallons of salt water to fill the tank. We should have fish in there as early as next week. I'll post pics when it's finished!

Lastly, congrats to our country for making a great choice. I was going to post a whole thread about the election because I have some strong feelings towards what's going on right now, but I just don't have any more energy for it. All I'm going to say is that all of the far right conservatives that are acting like fools over this election...GET OVER IT! Obama is going to be your president too so I suggest you research all about him and stop believing vicious rumors.

Myself, I am ecstatic about this upcoming change for our country. I've never been so proud to be an American!