Twelve Weeks and more swimming

So, we've reached the 12th week! This weekend was another fun-in-the-sun time with friends. I donned my maternity bathing suit (borrowed from my older sister) not because my usual bikini wouldn't have fit, but because I feel kind of immodest around my friends who usually wear board shorts with their bathing suits, then there I am baring it all. I definitely realized after getting the suit wet that I have a lot of room to grow in it. It sagged all day around my belly since my bump is nothing really to speak of. But I felt very comfortable in it, nonetheless. In honor of it being the 12th week* I took a bare belly pic of my "bump" for the blog just in case this is the last time my belly looks somewhat normal and not all huge or stretchy.

It's weird how when I'm wearing clothes the bump looks bigger to me. Although, I was wearing a very poufy dress to church today with a belt AND had just had a big lunch before the picture. I look like a need a nap in this picture! I definitely had one immediately afterwards.

Favorite moments of this week:
Random cravings (cherry blow-pops, corn dogs)
Random bursts of energy
Doing the insanity workout with friends and being told  to "take a break, preggo!"
Going on a 4-mile evening bike ride double-date with friends and getting to ride a tandem bike for the first time!
Swimming and eating fresh summer fruit by the pool.
Waking up from a nap to Texan asking me sweetly, "Why so sleepy? Busy making a baby?"
Texan's new song for rubbing my belly, "That baby bump, the bump, the baby bump..." haha!
Registering for car seat, pack n play, stroller, and such at BUY BUY BABY and Babies R Us.

We have just over a week until our next appointment to make sure everything is going well. Can't wait!
*The week in which I promised to embrace the bump...

10 and 11 weeks

Here we are, getting close to that 2nd trimester mark! I am currently 11 weeks along, and looking ever-forward to 12 weeks--which is where I have decided that I will embrace a baby bump...which seems to be appearing without my consent already at 11 weeks. Oh well, I have been pretty pudgy the last two weeks on and off, mostly bloated or otherwise much of the time. But now I have to say, "Oh well, let the baby bump come."*
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This weekend my parents came into town for a 2-day visit where my mom actually rubbed my belly and said, "Aww, I see the baby." Yep. When Mom says it, it's happening. We had lots of relaxing fun in our weekend. We ate out at various eateries, went antique shopping (browsing), had way too much ice cream, and watched movies. I got to introduce my parents to all of my friends at Sunday school, and they helped me touch up my VBS room for the coming week. They said they are very proud of me for teaching VBS for the first time. It was nice to have them around. They have so much love to give Texan and I, just like good parents do.
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In my 10th week, I took a turn for the nauseated. Wednesday night, instead of bible study, we handed out fliers for VBS. Walking door-to-door was exhausting, and I ended up sleeping 12 hours that night! The long night was quickly followed by vomiting first thing in the morning. The good thing about this day was that I was not at a lack of energy for once! I mopped my kitchen floor before work, and had a pretty good day at work to follow. But ever since then, my stomach hasn't been quite right. For the most part it is, but then there are days like yesterday where whether hungry or starving I felt the same...nauseated. But I can whole-heartedly say "Oh well" to that, because my energy most days is back in full swing. It's great.
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I'm feeling pretty morose today, though. I think a good night's sleep will probably solve it. It seems that any day where I wake up before 9 a.m. I end up feeling pretty weepy by dinner time. It's just these emotions...taking me over...remember that song? Anyway, here are my 10-week and 11-week pictures.
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*I don't mean it. I actually have a terrible fear that I'm just fat even though I have only gained 1.5 lbs. Sigh, I guess I should just let it be.

That's My Baby!

On Tuesday of pregnancy week 9, I had a doctor's appointment. And just to show how clueless I am, I had no idea this wold be my first glimpse at the baby other than the time we saw the gestational sack on pregnancy week 6. Therefore, I didn't tell Texan to get the day off work to come with me. Will I ever get over this guilt? The first ultrasound of our first baby and I'm the reason he missed it? Ugh. I did send him a snapshot of our little "green olive" and had a copy framed on the dresser (pic below) when he got home, so he didn't seem too bummed. But, I'm still pretty worked up about it. It was a good visit. I LOVE my OBGYN and his staff. I will definitely be referring him to friends for his personability and patience. My favorite part or the ultrasound was when Dr. M zoomed in on the baby and he/she seemed to do a few crunches for me! It was a profile view, so I could see from head to toe the whole body bunch up then stretch back out then jump around. So thrilling! And the heartbeat was so fast! I spent the whole day on a baby high, and even now I haven't come down. I feel so great! 

On the feelings note, I feel less nauseated this week and only vomited once Monday morning, and was instantly voracious afterward. I took that as a good sign. I also ran twice this week, which puts me almost back to where I was pre-constant nausea. I think my girlfriends are glad to have me back in action on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Here's your weekly emotions update: last night after administering my ear drops (into my infected ear which became infected a week after I got a sinus infection) my Texan thought it would be nice to kiss my infected ear. To which I did not respond well and basically sobbed for 20 minutes. 

This morning, I then cried while listening to the Alan Jackson song, "Drive" which chronicles Jackson's experiences learning to drive under the supervision of his grandfather, who he called "daddy." I love that song, but today it loved me back. Pah!

Cravings update: chocolate milk. Today I had a decision to make. "I can be on time for work, or I can make a delicious glass of chocolate milk..." Needless to say, I was late to work where I had two more glasses. The chocolate milk thing has been pretty steady for he past two weeks but it took a turn for "intense" this week. Yum :)

Eight and Nine Weeks

My eighth week of pregnancy can best be described as "The Sick Week." I stayed home from bible study on Wednesday night and work on Thursday so I could go to the doctor. My allergies gave me a sinus infection, and I was vomiting pretty uncontrollably from 9:30 Wednesday night until 6:30 Thursday morning.
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 It was also the week where Texan worked very long hours, and by the time he came home every night I was already in my pajamas. Thus, there is no picture for eight weeks, not that it would look any different than nine weeks. Still no bump to speak of--but he LOVES being in charge of decorating the board. He even had the eight weeks board all ready, we just never snapped the shot.
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Now we are nine weeks, and Texan is getting more interested in the baby. Mind you, he  has always been very interested in my pregnant state. In fact, he says that pregnant women in general are more attractive than the non-pregnant kind...whatever that means. However, for the first time, I found him reading about what the baby looks like and what he/she is doing. This week the baby is the size of a green olive (so beautifully drawn below) and a heartbeat is detectable through ultrasounds. We also read that when I am ten weeks, all of the baby's vital organs will be fully-developed and fully-functional! I think that is an amazing work of God, that when the baby is still only an inch and a half at most, its most important organs are in place and working like they will for the rest of its life. Wow.
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Tomorrow I have my first real prenatal checkup. I say "real" because though I have been to the doctor to have blood drawn and receive an exam, I have not seen an OB. So, tomorrow is the big day. Since our insurance is sure to change again at some point in the pregnancy, I'm not holding up much hope that the doctor I meet tomorrow that I painstakingly chose will be the doctor that remains my doctor throughout (because depending on what insurance we change to he may not accept it...) I am still excited to meet him and find out more about what's happening in my body and my baby's. I know that having the same doctor throughout the pregnancy may be a luxury we don't receive with this baby. But for now I know I will receive good care.
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I attribute the nostalgic spirit I have attained this week to my pregnancy and raging hormones. In the past few days I have watched Pocahontas, Spirit, Cars, The Incredibles, and Tangled. I cried hopelessly at the end of Tangled, and came very close during Spirit. I'm just so happy when the beloved characters find where they belong in the end! (Yikes) Also my energy has been at an all-time low over the past week, hence all of the lounging in front of the TV/iPad. If I don't have to get out of bed for some splendid reason, I don't and I won't. In fact, yesterday was the most relaxing Sunday we have had in a while. Aside from church, we actually stayed home and in bed all day! Well, I stayed in bed all day while Texan came and went as he pleased. He napped with me for a while, then watched an action thriller (Yuck) in the living room while I watched Pixar movies on my iPad.
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Now I am using this Monday to finish rounding up my professional references and hand in job applications for the new school year. Fingers crossed!

First Swim and Seven Weeks

Today was a Sunday of fun in the sun. We had a cookout/pool party with three couples from our Sunday school class that lasted well into the evening. I was too pooped to party anymore by 6 o'clock, but I've grown tired of ruining everything for Texan just because I'm not up to doing things the way I used to. So, we stayed long enough for him to play a mean game of basketball with our friends while I sat on the sidelines watching our friends' baby, during which, my sweet friend fed her son dinner and he cheered on the players. It felt like a nice change to hang back from the action and chill with the babies. Here are a few other things that have changed since manifest baby happened...


1. Crying. I cry over anything that "touches" me. Not just sappy commercials or songs, either. I'm talking Cake Boss on TLC. Do you know that show? A bakery in New Jersey makes specialty cakes and desserts for people and their events like birthdays, bachelorette parties, weddings, etc. Well, lately when I watch it, every time Buddy (the cake boss) delivers a cake to the customers and they see the cake...I cry. My heart cries, "They're so happy! It's exactly what they wanted!" It's lame. Not the show--my crying.

2. My relationship with Texan. Today a friend of mine whose son is 11 months told me that when my baby is born, I will love my husband more than I ever did before. And I can already feel that. We have a different connection than ever before, and it's something I'll never share with anyone else. It's thrilling and scary at the same time. And when he passes me in the hall and pats my stomach or kisses me on the forehead as he leaves the room, I can tell that he feels the same thing.

3. The way I look at my body. This one's easy. I am usually very hard on myself about my ship-shapedness, but now I just look at myself and say, "I'm thankful for this, and I hope it doesn't all disappear completely. Amen."


Aaaaaand, here's a 7-weeks photo.




Don't sell out on God's eternal plan for you just because of the intensity of today's pain.

I'm Pregnant! Oh, Crap.

Dear Reader,
The writing bug that infected my body on Thursday, May 2, 2013 has been brutally murdered. Who is the culprit? MORNING SICKNESS*. I will now, henceforth refer to Morning Sickness as Constant Sickness. Constant Sickness, however, is not merely sickness. It is associated with many other constants such as, Constant Exhaustion, Constant Emotions, Constant Heartburn, Constant-feeling-like-your-bra-is-punching-you-repeatedly-in-the-chest-region...All of these constants began on that fateful day.
Thursday, the second day of May, was very unlike most other Thursdays in May. It was not in the mid-sixties and sunny or even fifties and cloudy. It was forty degrees and misting rain*. Also, Texan was back in Florida for his college graduation. And I was teaching fifth-grade science. But for some reason, the children were impossible to deal with. They did their work and chatted occasionally. There were no brawls or Ebola outbreaks. But, somehow, I found myself near tears TWICE by mid-day. Then I found myself in real tears at the end of the day when I handed in my key and said I wouldn't be returning for part two of my two-day assignment* because I "just can't do it." I even had no reply when one of my students said to me during indoor recess, "Why do we hafta watch Toy Story 2? That movie is old-school. This (motioning to the other students) is the new school. We wanna watch Ice Age. Plus, we (motioning to two ruffians beside him) are the trouble-makers. So you might just wanna send us outta here." I looked on in horror. The Trouble Makers? You're the only ones? And I get to meet you? Yeah, that's probably what I would've said any other day. But this day...I was off my game. And I just told the little faux-hawk hooligan to do something else if he wasn't interested in a time-honored classic.
After school, as I sit in my car trying to compose myself, I walked through my options.
1. Call Texan. No, with the time change, he is probably eating graduation celebration dinner with his family. Never mind.
2. Call Mom. Yes, she'll make me feel better. She'll say something like, "Those nasty kids! When you're certified, you'll never have to deal with kids like that." But that won't be true. Then I'll have to tell myself that and further remind myself that I'm not cut out for the future I have planned. More crying. Okay, no.
3. I am pregnant. I need to pee on a stick of some brand. Also, I need some Cheetos. There's probably a store nearby that sells both of those things.
4. Go to above store.
As you can probably guess, smart Reader, I chose option 4. And, after peeing on a stick* (actually two), I came up with a double positive, which, as it turns out, doesn't make a negative and basically just means YES! Your're pregnant! I also ate 4 servings of Cheetos to equal at least 450 calories. It was my most proud and least proud moments combined into one.
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Here's the first test I took. It merited a picture. I didn't have a chance to take a picture of the Cheetos. They went fast.
The next day I bought two more pregnancy tests, both more expensive and of a well-known brand name to confirm my suspicion, and was not surprised at all to see the pink lines appear within 2 seconds. Next was to tell Texan--which I did on the way home from the airport 2 days later. His response? "I'm excitedbutnervous..." Kind of in one word like that.


And then, there's me sticking out my belly for a 6-weeks shot. Bear in mind that I was sick and napping moments before the photo shoot took place. Hence the disheveled look.
*While I did puke my most recent puke around 10 o'clock yesterday morning, that does not negate the fact that my sickness did not end suddenly when the morning was over. The very name of it makes it out to sound manageable and painfully temporary. But alas, I was ill all day and into the night. So, let's call it henceforth, Constant Sickness.
*I am still growing accustomed to Texas weather. So, yes, I take time to marvel in the fact that one day it can be 75 and sunny, and the next they are calling for possible flurries. This is my life now.
*A two-day assignment for a sub is such a tease. I accepted it thinking nothing of it. But then, I should have remembered the sweet feeling of freedom I feel when I leave after a really hard day chanting my mantra..."I never have to go there again! I never have to see those kids again!" While this doesn't happen often, I reserve the right to embrace it when it does. On a two-day assignment, there's only a dreadful feeling of imminent return. Yuck.
*I bought the store brand of Early Pregnancy Detection. Which, I'm guessing is different from you're average run-of-the-mill pregnancy test. I spent $6 on a box of 2. And the worst part is, I had to ask a clerk for the tests because some corporate person thinks it sane to keep them behind the counter, out of the might-be-with-child's reach. And I could feel my mind-reading powers on overdrive picking up, "Oh man, I bet she's freaking out," coming at me from the greasy blond across the counter.

Mommy with a capital "M." Welcome!

Welcome to Mommy Out West. This is a blog created by a first-time twenty-something wife and teacher. It was created to help put into words the exploration of uncharted (by me, as of yet) territory upon which I am about to embark. With Texan (my hubby) by my side, two sisters (and seasoned mothers) each willing to lend their advice, and a support group a country mile wide, this Florida girl will take on Texas and motherhood one trimester at a time.
How to read Mommy Out West:
Texan-Here is my hubby (and myself) of 3 years as of May 30, 2013. He was raised in Texas, but we met in Florida and moved back in December 2012. You'll read a lot about him, despite the blog being mostly about me and my pregnancy. I like to think he had something to do with all of this...hah! Okay, enough with the sexual innuendoes.
Here's something I like to do. Footnotes* I find my self elaborating on things in the midst of a story, or even in the midst of another elaboration. So, I have resolved to use an asterisk to point out those moments where I would like to elaborate, and you can follow the asterisk to the bottom of the page where you will find my elaboration. That way you can go on reading, or if you are easily distracted, you can skip to the bottom of the page to find out what I find so important to deserve an asterisk. Here's an example:
My dog's* hot breath is making me nauseated.
I think I have sufficiently prepared you to read, Reader. Please feel free to comment with phrases like, "Wow! I craved cheese something fierce, too!" (please, someone comment that so I can feel less self-conscious about my cheese craving...) or advice, or "it'll be worth it in the end," because that never gets old.
Enjoy!

*My dog's name is Woody, and I love him dearly. But since I have conceived a child, I find any warmth (air, lack of a breeze, breath--mainly breath) to be absolutely appalling. But he is my fur baby and I will prove all of those animal-haters wrong. You know what I'm talking about? Those women who say in their best advice-giving twit voice, "Once you hold your baby, you'll do exactly what I did...(dramatic pause)...you'll take that dog straight to the pound." So, am I to believe that when I am a mother I will have lost all capacity for loving other species other than my own, you small-minded buffoon? You get the idea.