Week Twelve

12 Weeks. Baby is the size of a plum. Yum!

Whoop! We made it to Week #12. I'm going to officially count our first trimester complete at 13 weeks, but it is a nice milestone to have 12 behind us. Plus, as Aggie's - 12 always means something special  :)

PHYSICAL CHANGES:
" I can see clearly now the rain is gone... It's going to be a bright (BRIGHT) bright, sunshiny day!"
Everybody sing with me! ....   No? Just me? Fine.

I think I am done with the nausea!!! <knocking on wood> Now instead of feeling nauseous, I have a nagging "empty" feeling in my stomach pretty much at all times. All things considered, I will take the change. Had to bust out the 'Belly Band' this week to help compensate for some shorts that wouldn't quite button. Overall, I would say I'm doing ok with the whole gaining weight thing. I mean, if it's got to happen, it's got to happen. Might as well enjoy the ride. In moderation of course... if I can contain myself.

CRAVINGS: Although, I'm eating a lot more these days. (I'm talking the amount of a teenage boy) I can't really pinpoint any specific cravings. I do like lots of meat (meat in tacos, meat in sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, etc.) I also am digging my vegetables again. Had a big bowl of carrots and cucumbers as my snack last night and it was DELISH.The cold crunchiness is rocking my world as the heat is starting to turn up in Texas.

SWEET BABY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: We went and looked at our first day care today. We are looking at several around town in an effort to be good parents and do all of our due diligence. Today was the first appointment and it went great. Perfect little place right behind Casey's work. It's the United Methodist Church's day school and they have a great facility and program there. They also have a 12-18 month period on their waiting list. Sheesh. and I thought I was a super planner... Who exactly are these parents that got on that list 18 months before they were due???? That's 9 months before CONCEPTION!

Oh well, we put our selves on the waiting list and are looking at other facilities as contingency options. As much as I joke, we're really not worried as we know everything will work out just as its supposed to.

Here is our parental prayer for the moment:

Dear Lord,

Thank you for blessing us with this sweet child. As you continue to weave together this precious life in my womb, we are trying to weave together a place for him/her on the outside. Please continue to lead us in the right direction so we can prepare a healthy and happy life to welcome our firstborn child into. Thank you for trusting us with one of your children, please give us the resources and strength to do all we can to be great parents. We want to make you proud.

Week Eleven

Probably my most creative board yet.



I am not sticking out my stomach nor sucking it in. this is the real stuff people.



I can't believe I'm almost done with the first trimester. and I'm so relieved to be finally saying that. Good grief! I thought I would never make it. All the food aversions and smells, all the constant nauseousness, all the saltine crackers, all the worries, all the reading... good riddance first trimester! (you big jerk face)

In other exciting baby news : We had our second appointment this week. It was a super rainy day in College Station, but we were anything but gloomy. No sonogram this time, but we did get to hear the baby's heart beat. It was at a whopping 170 bpm. And I thought I was working hard! Casey was there with me and I think he got a better listen to it than I did. I was a little preoccupied with the cold gel on my belly and my pants being down around my waist. Regardless, it was a very sweet moment for all of us.

Now for news on mommy: I'm proud to announce that I only gained 4 lbs in 5 1/2 weeks. Doctor says I'm right on track for a healthy pregnancy weight. I know I am being shamelessly self-centered here, but seriously this whole weight gain thing is a scary thing for me. My sister had a baby that weighed over 9 lbs and she wasn't even over-weight. I am really trying to make sure I have a reasonably sized child at the end of this. (and a reasonably sized rear end wouldn't be bad either) I have to admit I was scared to death going in there, because I could have sworn my scale at home was reporting I gained 8 lbs. So either I've got pregnancy brain and forgot what my starting weight was or my scale is a dirty liar and is out to take me down one self-esteem notch at a time. Who knows..?

Off to Week 12 we go!

Ten Weeks

10 Weeks. Double Digits! baby is the size of a Kumquat

A Kumquat? What is that? To tell you the truth, I actually don't know - but it is approximately the same as a prune and sounds less gross that saying our baby is the size of a prune. I know the baby is very small still, but the thought of him/her being that shriveled doesn't appeal to me - thus - our baby is the size of  a kumquat!

Here's the 4-1-1 on what else is going on with our pregnancy :

PHYSICAL CHANGES:
Definitely starting to feel a "thickening" around my mid section. My stomach area has never been my "problem area" (goodness knows I have enough of those in other areas of my body!) so now that my previously flat stomach is starting to get some curves - the high school girl trapped inside of me is starting to panic a little bit. I'm reading that is normal so I will try to just enjoy the ride. Queasiness still hits whenever it feels like (like this morning) but is becoming less and less frequent. Casey and I are now watching TV in bed at night that way in case I fall asleep he doesn't have to wake me to move from the couch. Another lesson of pregnancy: be adaptable.  : )

CRAVINGS: I would say my first real craving has arrived and it is watermelon. In the past, I have loved watermelon and eaten it when available but only bought like one every other year to actually have at the house. We are currently into our 3rd watermelon of the season. It's just sweet enough to satisfy that craving, but not too heavy to upset my stomach. Plus with all the water it has - it is super refreshing. I also eat a lot of chips and cheese, but I would say that is out of survival and not a craving.

SWEET BABY MOMENT OF THE WEEK: My sister sent us home with a baby swing this weekend. Don't know why but that cute little baby swing just has me thinking about our baby actually being in the swing and the whole thing seems more real. Plus seeing Casey load his first big piece of baby equipment into the car was super sweet to watch.

Seven, Eight and Nine Weeks!

My how time is flying by. Disclaimer: I totally stole this chalkboard idea off of Pinterest... Just a fun way to keep up with our growing baby and my soon-to-be growing belly! As you can tell the first few weeks I was using the wrong type of chalk and it wasn't really showing up well. Got smart and changed it up for week #9. Now if we could only figure out how to get the camera to stop making a big glare on the chalkboard...

Crazy to think the baby has gone from the size of a nail head to the size of an olive in such a short time!

Week # 7 Baby Z is the size of a ..... blue berry!

8 Weeks Baby Z is the size of a Jelly Bean!

9 Weeks baby is the size of an Olive



PHYSICAL CHANGES:
Sleep is not as dominant in my life lately as it was the last couple of weeks. Read : I feel like I can actually stay awake until 10 P.M. without wanting to cry. I am sleeping harder though and having some crazy vivid dreams. I'll spare you the details - trust me. Starting to feel like I'm showing,but I think it's just wishful thinking (and extreme bloating!) Tiny mood swings may be presenting themselves but I refuse to admit it. Ok, fine. I'm having mood swings. Not to any crazy extreme, just not my usual self. Hopefully my husband and friends can still love me through these "exciting times". I'm just as scared as they are at what's around the next corner! :)

CRAVINGS:
Still no cravings as of now. Still TONS of food aversions (which change on a day to day basis) Casey is probably scared to death to offer to cook dinner. <Smart Man.> Jolly Ranchers have been a life saver to keep the nausea away and so has eating as soon as I get up in the morning. I mean, wake up, walk straight to kitchen and start shoveling down crackers. One side step and my stomach starts protesting immediatly. By the time I learn all the tricks of the first trimester - I'll almost be out of it! Looking forward to being able to look in our pantry without gagging!

So as of right now we are mostly just relaxing and enjoying this easy part of the ride. No furniture to buy or maternity clothes to have to squeeze into. All in all, we've had it good so far. Feeling super duper blessed.

Six Weeks!

< This post was originally written on Feb. 15th and then posted on March 7th >

Today was our first sonogram, our first doctors appointment for little Baby Z. I wish so badly you could read this now, but as standard protocol would have it : We're supposed to wait atleast a couple more weeks before we really spill the beans to the whole world.

We hate keeping secrets! (Especially exciting secrets) so I'm just going to write this post now and then you'll be able to catch up later. Heaven forbid I keep somthing locked up inside - I might explode!

So here's the 4-1-1 on what's happening with our baby-making progress:

PHYSICAL CHANGES:
I can not get enough sleep! For the first time in my life, I'm pressing the snooze button more than once in the morning and as much as I love our DVR'd shows - I can't seem to make it through more than a few at a time with out dozing off. The kind of dozing off I'm talking about is sitting straight up in a chair with drool coming down by mouth. Serious business here

CRAVINGS:
Yeah Right! No cravings as of now. I 'm just trying to navigate the mindfield of food aversions that I currently have. I can't even type out the foods that I don't want because I'm afraid it will turn on my gag reflex. Thank goodness I'm not having to actually spend any time around the toilet - its just my stomach constantly feels like I'm going down a roller coaster. Not Cool. I'm afraid I'll never like some of my old favorites again, but friends who have done this before assure me that I will infact be able to get back to normal soon enough.

SWEET BABY MOMENT OF THE WEEK:
Seeing the rapid heart beat of our baby on the sonogram today. We couldn't hear it yet, but seeing the flutter was so so precious. I can't believe that is INSIDE of me! C.R.A.Z.Y.
Casey is already starting to hold on to my belly when we lay down. There isn't anything there yet, but his hand just comes to rest on my belly button which is sweet.

Extra! Extra! Read All About it!

So we can't keep the secret any longer!!!

WE ARE EXPECTING!!!!!

Estimated Arrival for little Baby Z : October 8th

Books say that it's best to wait 12 weeks into the pregnancy to start blabbing the news, but we just can't keep it pent up inside any longer! As of today we are officially 9 nine weeks and 2 days. And oh what a fun ride it has been already!

So now that secret is out of the bag we can start updating our blog again! You see, the reason we haven't updated our blog in so long is because it seems the only thing going on in our life is our new little creation. and since we weren't quite ready to share that news, it seemed silly to even try to write about anything else. (Plus with Kristi's early bed time, it's kind of hard to get anything done around here anyways!)

Stay tuned for more exciting news to come over the next 7 months!

Love,
Baby Mama and Baby Daddy Zimmerman