15 weeks pregnant

How big is baby? 

Baby is the size of an orange. 
4inches long already and 2.5oz

How I’m changing?

Still no weight gain. I need to gain something before my doctor's appointment or else I think I'm going to get a talking to.

How I’m feeling?

I'm still feeling good. Still sleeping a lot. Usually come Thursday and Friday nights I am beat. This past Saturday of this week I slept until about 8:30am, took a 30-45min nap before dinner. I get up basically every single night to pee. This isn't too far from the norm as I normally peed during the night prior to pregnancy. I did wake up last night in a panic because I forgot to take my prenatal vitamin! So what felt like the wee hours of the morning - aka 12:30am - I had some milk and my vitamin (I was a bit hungry anyway so the milk was welcomed).

I'm still having indigestion but less headaches!

Excuse how I look. I literally woke up from a nap and took these photos. If I turned my head the other way you would notice some pillow marks. That also explains the hair.

What I'm eating?

I went to an amazing birthday party this weekend at a country club - such good food - and they had a salad with ranch dressing. I love ranch dressing but it never really loved me. So I only got some on my salad, with a lactaid pill, and all was fine. The next day I went out, scoped out all the ranch dressings at a grocery store, and bought the one that I think my tummy would like the most. I can't wait to crack it open!!!

This week I also craved chili - chock full of veggies and beans! Other meals included pasta with salad and veggies, macaroni and cheese with stewed tomatoes, pizza (obviously)

Gotta love night belly is so much bigger.

Odds and Ends:

This week I am really missing my sushi. I can't even have my avocado cucumber rolls in case of cross contamination with raw fish. I think I'm going to ask my doctor about this. The one NP I saw told me no but I want a second opinion... I did find a sushi kit this weekend and I told my husband when he's feeling romantic to make me it. 

Still in all my own clothes and still no movement from the baby. 

road to baby making
week 5
week 6
week 8
week 9
week 10 
week 11 
week 12
week 13
week 14

14 weeks pregnant

How big is baby?

Baby is the size of a lemon 3.4 in and 1.5oz

I don't think I have grown much or am changing much week to week. I know that it's only a matter of time. 

How I’m changing?

I'm feeling pretty much normal. I haven't gained any weight even though there are days I feel huge, my weight is always the same. 

How I’m feeling?

Feeling good. I'm sleeping well. I'm sleeping a lot actually. There are still days when I come home from work and can't even function. Then there are other days when I do a lot, what I think is a lot, when I get home from work - dishes, cleaning, a workout - and then I crash on the couch and am pretty useless the rest of the day.

I have been having headaches lately, although they are better than last week. I need to remember to keep drinking lots and lots of water. And if my headache is really bad I find a quick nap will fix me right up. 

I am napping quite a bit and am really enjoying it. On weekends in particular I find myself napping in the afternoon or doing an evening nap, around 7:30pm, and then waking up for a few more hours before bed. And then sleeping in until 8am or 9am.

I'm also still having boob pain, cramping - which I hope is baby growing - crazy amounts of indigestion/heartburn. Pretty much after every meal I have some kind of indigestion.

What I'm eating?

I am just loving all food right now. This isn't the healthiest thing to crave, but I'm really loving Velveeta. I do not eat it every day, maaaaybe once a week. And I always measure the portion size. It's really good with mexican food. yum-o. Reminds me of my college queso days. I also can't get enough milk, broccoli, green beans and grapes.

I'm not hating anything right now but I also haven't ventured back to an apple, orange or cheerios since I nixed them from my life weeks ago.

Common meals this week consisted of raviolos, quinoa bake with broccoli, pizza (gotta have pizza), Greek salad (no feta).

Odds and Ends: 

I really missed running this week. We had some cool weather, felt like fall, and I went out for a walk and just wanted to take off. Not running has been a lot harder on me than I had ever thought it would be. I find myself talking about running with my husband a lot and already planning a race that we could do after I deliver. I just can’t believe how much I miss it! It’s hard to express to anyone, however, because I know I’m not running for a very good reason, and it’ll be there when my pregnancy is over, but mentally not being able to get out there and go is very, very, very tough!! I’m happy I was able to run at least a few weeks with baby even if it was only up to 5.5-6m long run, wasn’t the half I was hoping for but, things happen.

We have another doctor appointment coming up so I am very excited to hear baby's heartbeat again! Unfortunately I think it will still be a few weeks before I feel baby move.

On an exciting note, Josh and I started looking at baby stuff and just started adding things we like to a registry. We figure it was easier to have it all on a list of what we like and can research and delete from there instead of writing down endless names of things on pieces of paper. Who would have thought such a little munchkin needs so much stuff!

So far for baby we bought some hats and socks we wanted to do for a photo shoot to announce and then our friends Jenn and Jen bought us some gifts! Baby is already being spoiled!!!
(almost caught up! I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant...)

road to baby making
week 5
week 6
week 8
week 9
week 10 
week 11 
week 12
week 13 

13 weeks pregnant

At thirteen weeks baby is the size of a peach!




Fun fact: I am allergic to peach skin!



Baby is 2.9in and .81oz

In looking at all my belly shots, I think I look the most pregnant here. It seems as though this was taken later in the day, maybe later in the week. Def bump in the second picture.

We had another doctor appointment this week. No ultrasound. But we did get to officially hear the baby’s heartbeat. It was unreal. Even though I have seen my baby in an ultrasound and heard my baby’s heartbeat it is still hard for me to believe I am actually pregnant. That I actually have a little person growing inside me. I think because I haven’t had any major pregnancy symptoms – which I am so, so grateful for and thank God daily – I feel pretty normal that it’s hard for me to believe. I think I am waiting for an official bump. A bump that other people notice and there is no question that I am pregnant and that I didn't just have a good dinner of pasta the night before.

We finally told our families and friends! Here I was thinking everyone knew – that when I announced everyone was going to say, “I thought something was up!” But every single person was blown away. It was nice to finally get it out in the open so I didn’t need to hide my belly one day if I was feeling larger than normal, or hide any talk of food (and I talk about food a lot), or try to hide if I wasn’t feeling well or sleepy. It’s also terrifying to announce. I know I’m past the danger zone but anything can still happen.


road to baby making
week 5
week 6
week 8
week 9
week 10 
week 11 
week 12

12 weeks pregnant

This week baby is the size of a plum




I'm very happy that thus far everything baby has been has been in season. I know that won't be the case when baby is the size of a watermelon. Where am I going to find a watermelon in winter?

Baby is 2.1in and .49oz








There were a few things I left out of week 11’s update. I also got blood work done because I had a doctor appointment coming up. So, yes, on the day of my Gram’s viewing, I had to go and get 7 vials of blood. 7!! If you remember from my previous posts, I hate needles and blood work. I didn't know how much I was getting taken. So after a few minutes I thought, “clearly this must be over soon!” but it just would not end! I literally felt like all the blood was being drained from my body. Whenever I need to get blood drawn, I come prepared. I bring liquid and a snack to get me feeling better and not end up sprawled out on the floor.

For whatever reason, the tech asked if I was right handed to which I said yes, and he proceeded to take blood from my right arm. I was also insulted because I have always been told I had wonderful veins. My husband, a nurse, just looks at my veins and tells me how great of a patient I would be with my juicy veins. Now this tech insulted my veins!! Don't insult my veins, Mr. Technician, just because you're bitter about your divorce (he told me this whole story). Leave my veins out of it.

I didn't realize just how dumb it was to get blood drawn from my right arm until I went to put my make-up on. I can't bend my right arm. Putting on makeup turned into a two man job and I had visions of Ross helping Rachel put on her makeup in my mind. Thankfully, I ended up much more normal looking and no one was more the wiser. I did get a monstrous bruise, however, and had to wear sweaters for over a week. Luckily my office is the Arctic tundra so no one thought anything of it.

Each week I seem to just mention symptoms in general that I experience – mainly because I can’t remember when exactly they started but for as long as I can remember I've had them.

I’d like to discuss breast pain.

Holy breast pain, batman! I’ve read and heard that women experience breast pain, or breast tenderness as some refer to it as. This is not tenderness. This is ‘holy crap you breathed in my breast direction and now I am engulfed in breast nipple pain.’ And that’s really more so what it is. Nipple pain. This may be way too much information, but I’m being honest. I cannot wait to take off my bra at the end of the day. My poor little gals in a bra all day at work and a sports bra when I exercise, my nipples take a beating. It feels so good to take off all bra support. Want to know how good it feels? You know when you’re handed a vanilla soft serve cone with rainbow sprinkles and you take that first lick and you just smile and can’t believe something can be SO GOOD. It’s that good!!!!!

road to baby making
week 5
week 6
week 8
week 9
week 10 
week 11

11 weeks pregnant

And here we are at 11 weeks. Quite a surprise since I thought I was approaching 10 weeks.

This was a tough week. Physically and emotionally. This week my Grandma passed away. It was something we saw coming but at the same time we didn’t. She had been sick. She had a lot of things wrong with her. To fix her kidneys would affect her heart. To fix her heart affects her kidneys.

Visiting my Grandma in the hospital the first day, when I saw her, broke my heart and it took everything, and I mean everything, in my power to not burst into tears right then and there. I know I needed to be strong for my mom and not let my Grandma see it on my face. It was scary.

The next day, however, she looked like a completely different person. So much better.  She was talking. She was laughing. She was yelling… she was Gram! And that gave us all hope.

This didn’t last long.

That weekend it wasn’t looking promising. After speaking to my husband about the reality of my Gram’s situation, not what my mom told me, but the reality of her situation, I knew it was just a matter of when not if. When I heard the doctor tell my husband that it could be 6 months, it could be a year, I knew it wouldn’t even be that long. It’s amazing that in a matter of days what can happen to the human body. My Gram was admitted on Thursday, the 4^th of July, on Monday, the 8^th, I was woken to a call from my dad that she was being read her last rites. I was at the hospital by 9am. She was already heavily medicated and she just looked like she was asleep. We sat with her. Holding her hand. Talking with her. She was brought to hospice by 10:30am. I sat there, in a room, with all of my family around my Gram and it hit me that I was going to be with my Gram when she took her last breath. I thought I would be scared to see someone die. Instead, it was a comfort. Towards the end, I saw her eyes open and look up. I was later told by my mom that when people are ready they’ll look up – to heaven. My Gram’s goddaughter came, blessed her with holy oil, said St. Ann’s prayer. Within a matter of 10 minutes, my mom, who was a nurse for 30+ years and knows when it is coming, knew when my Gram was taking her last breaths: Gram mouthed the word “mom” twice – either she saw her mother in heaven or it was the Blessed Virgin Mary. At 6pm, she was gone.

We all knew she was waiting for that final prayer from her goddaughter….

On my Gram’s deathbed, I told her she was going to be a Great Grandma. Whether she heard me or not, I will never know for sure. I like to believe she did. She was responsive through hand squeezes when you told her you loved her. Whether she heard me or not, within moments after 6pm, she knew!

It sounds cliché but it is a comfort to know that after 27 years, she is back with the love of her life – my Grandpa – and with her son, my uncle, who passed away 3.5 years ago.

I realize I am so blessed to have had a grandmother for as long as I have. I’m nearly 30 and I’ve had her my entire life. Almost every childhood memory has my Gram in it. I realize not many people have that and for these moments and memories I am grateful.

She had a very long, fulfilling life. She had a more active social life in her 70s and 80s than I do in my 20s. She was so stubborn and set in her ways but she was so generous and lucky. She was my preschool teacher and taught me so much. I’ll never forget the first time she met my now husband and the up down look she gave him haha. And I’ll never forget how my husband cared for her in the hospital as she was dying.

I can only hope to have half the life she led and do all the things she did.

Every time I go to a restaurant I’ll think of my Gram saying, with crooked finger out, “I can sit in a chair at home, I want a booth.”  So true, Gram, so true...

 Sorry for the downer.... I do want to share baby update as well.
At 11 weeks baby is the size of a lime!

That seems really big to me.

1.6in and .25oz

I look incredibly tired because I am incredibly tired. This is also at night so after a day of food and liquid. It looks like there's a bump but it's really not much larger than it would be from the week I had.
(note: I am still playing catch-up with posts. I am currently 18 weeks pregnant)

road to baby making
week 5
week 6
week 8
week 9
week 10 

10 weeks pregnant

At ten weeks baby is 1.2in and .14oz - doubled it's weight in a week!!!
Thanks goodness that doesn't happen now a days...

I don’t have a picture for this week because at our most recent ultrasound it turns out baby caught up to the size it should be according to having my last period on 4/20. Just like that – I gained a week! I walked in one week and left being another, go figure.

Shame too cause I actually love the food baby is this week - a PRUNE!

Yes, I love prunes. I used to keep those snack packs of prunes in my cookie jar in college. You can imagine people's disappointment when they go in for a chocolate chipper and come out with a prune pack.
BAM! 80-year old, 20-something Sarah gotcha! Just trying to keep things flowing, people.

Back to baby...
Fatigue is something I haven’t mentioned just yet. I have been sooooooo tired. Tired to the point that I don’t know how I am going to make it home. On my husband’s days off he’s been driving me to and picking me up from work. I would come home from work and just not be able to do anything – “too tired to function” as I call it. No dishes. No cooking. No cleaning. You can imagine how my house looked after a few weeks. Josh did everything. When I say everything, I mean everything. After working a 12-hour day, he would come home, make dinner, clean up after dinner, get me anything I wanted from water to my prenatal. And never a peep from him. He told me from the start that my job was to make sure the baby is healthy and just work on growing baby. I came home one day and asked, “What’s that noise?” to which he responded, “That’s the washing machine”

Oh.

Haven’t used that in weeks.

The man is a saint.

Funny story about my last period. At my first appointment I apparently did something pretty stupid. When I was asked what the date was of my last period I said, with a smirk, "4/20".  She asked "Are you sure?" and I said, with a smirk, "Of course I'm sure... cause, you know, it's national pot day"

The look on my husband's face was one of disbelief and shock. Apparently this isn't common knowledge!!

Now, I am not a pot head. I have never touched the stuff in my life. I don't even know how to get pot, where to find pot. I don't know pot from poison ivy! I had just assumed that everyone else knew this as well. My husband later informed me that I can't make comments like that because it implies I am a user or was a user and no one knows any different. Thankfully, this wasn't one of my doctors who sees me regularly but a technician in the hospital who was doing my emergency ultrasound. Not marked in my file. I'm clean! I'm clean!

From now on when a doctor asks the date of my last period, I state "4/20" and glance over at my husband with a smirk on my face and he just shakes his head....the last thing I want is to end up like Elaine Benes

9 weeks pregnant

At week nine, baby is the size of a green olive. I hate olives, my husband hates green olives, so we used a black olive. Don't judge.

This week baby is .9in and .07oz! 

Not much is changing week to week. Again, just bloat.

While I haven’t suffered from morning sickness (or all-day sickness as I have heard people refer to it as) I have been experiencing food aversions. Prior to pregnancy, I had some staple foods that I would constantly eat. I had a basic routine of foods. This routine was quickly nixed. Overnight oats for breakfast? You mind as well open a can of sardines. It sounded that appealing. I moved on to Cheerios. Until one morning, I think around week 6, I put a spoonful in my mouth and instantly hated them. Haven’t had them since (even now at nearly 15 weeks). Rice Chex and Kix were my saving grace. I told my husband if he came home with that corn Chex shit I would throw the box on the floor – that’s how much I didn’t want them! (I said it nicely).

My lunches haven’t varied to the point that I think people at work would say, “ What the hell are you eating? Are you pregnant?” No one knew I had a drawer full of lemonade, ginger ale and saltines just in case something went kooky in my stomach and I needed to calm it down pronto.  Thankfully I only had to drink a few ginger ales and lemonades – no suspicion.  

One thing I found very interesting is that one day I will LOVE food. Dream of a food. Can’t stop thinking of a food. In this particular case it was oranges. I could not stop thinking of them and eating them. How juicy they were and the sweetness. I bought five at a time and would go to town on them. Then one day I took it out of my lunch, took one bite, spit it out – never touched them again.  

I would always have food cravings before I was pregnant now it’s just to a whole new level.  If I want something I can’t stop thinking about it until I get it. If I want something for dinner, say ravioli, I won’t stop thinking about that ravioli and how amazing it would taste with the cheese and the sauce until my plate is clean. Usually it is more amazing than I could have ever imagined! I’m not crazy craving where I’ll send my husband out at all hours to get me something, however. If we don’t have it I usually just google images of it. Cause that's perfectly normal.

the road to baby making
5 weeks pregnant
6 weeks pregnant
8 weeks pregnant

8 weeks pregnant

Measuring in at .63in and .04oz...

...baby is the size of a raspberry

It's probably around this time that I thought people had to start thinking something was up. I mean look at that bloat (and boobs!!!)

After two weeks of scary time, we are into more normal weeks. I am an emotional basket case! I was pretty emotional prior to pregnancy so now it is just beyond emotional. I thought it would be fun to write down some of the more amusing things that made me burst into tears to look back on and laugh:

• Josh and I were watching Jeopardy, the answer to the question was “Beaches”. I got it correct (yay) but then burst into tears. Josh asked me what was the matter and I managed to get out that Beaches was just such a sad movie… we needed to pause the show until my cry-scapade was over 

• Josh bought me cottage cheese at the store… I didn’t even ask for it

• Josh bought me a cookie at our local bakery, shaped like a frog, and a pastry to share

•  I knew the answer on Jeopardy but didn’t say it! I told Josh I knew it but cried because I didn’t think he believed me (maybe I should stop watching Jeopardy??)

• I cried after doing my prenatal DVD workout because they were so nice and I felt like they really wanted me to be healthy and well

• I really liked an episode of At Home With Jamie Deen and cried because I wanted him to know how much I enjoyed it (Josh said we could tweet him)

• I cried at Wegmans when I saw the sushi because I can’t have it (not even my avocado cucumber roll)

•  I cried because I wanted to sit next to Josh on the couch but my water was near the armchair

Also interesting this week - At first I thought it might be a fluke, but I have noticed Eddie will sleep on my stomach at night. He just rests his head on my tummy. He must know!

We had another ultrasound this week. We actually got to take this image home with us. It was very surreal to see your baby and see the heartbeat (wow that heartbeat was fast!) We should have measured 8 weeks but we were really measuring in the 7 week range (in a few weeks you’ll see why I’m keeping with 8 weeks). I thought our baby looked like a little horse – tail and all! We came home, hung it on the fridge and each day get to see our little baby.

the road to baby making
5 weeks pregnant
6 weeks pregnant

6 weeks pregnant

This week was slightly… adventurous.  I had been experiencing cramping, but one day at work I was having a lot of cramps. We thought it would be best to call my doctor just to make sure it was normal. I happened to get a doctor on call that is very, very cautious, which is fine by me, and was told to come in. I had to leave work without telling anyone the real reason why and just said I had an emergency. I went in for blood work and our first ultrasound! I hate blood work. I hate needles. When I say hate I can’t even express how much I really hate it. My husband met me at the hospital and in the end, everything was fine! They were checking to confirm the pregnancy and see if it was an ectopic pregnancy. Our ultrasound showed everything was as it should be but that I could maybe be 5 weeks or before 5 weeks. Based on what we googled when we went home we knew we had to be at least 5 weeks… more on that later.  

This week baby is the size of a pea! 

Still bloated!!!

I guess I should note that currently as I type this I am almost 17 weeks pregnant so I'm playing major catchup. 

Previous posts:
the road to pregnancy
5 weeks pregnant

5 weeks pregnant

It is a difficult thing to wrap my mind around that there is a human inside my body. There is a small embryo that (God willing) is going to grow into a baby. It is unbelievable to think but I still don’t feel pregnant. The strangest part was the day I tested positive, I had my mom and dad over for a cookout for Memorial Day and they asked what’s new…. they wouldn’t know what was new for 8 weeks!

I quickly began a routine of eating saltine crackers in bed before waking up – not because I was nauseous but because I wanted to prevent it from even coming (if possible). I had a container of them on my nightstand and would lie in bed eating 4-6 crackers and watch TV for about 20 minutes before even stepping foot out of bed. I had read that morning sickness can come about when you have no food in your stomach and your stomach acid is just churning away in there basically eating at your stomach. Also, when pregnant, you supposedly have an increased amount of stomach acid. I had a goal to not let my stomach get empty. This felt like I was dooming myself to gain an excessive amount of weight. I told myself that I would much rather put on a few extra pounds then be nauseous and sick to my stomach on a daily basis.

So photo time - I apologize for my looks - I clearly just woke up and am getting ready to wash my dog outside.
At 5 weeks baby is the size of an apple seed!

It may not look it but there is some major bloat happening already.

Here is me with an appleseed in my hand that you clearly cannot see:


Baby and I went for a run together and Eddie wanted in on the action.

As a reference point here is an early photo - I knew bloat could be an issue and one's body could change quickly SO when we decided we should start trying I wanted a before photo:

In conclusion, I have some bloat. But the bloating is just going to get worse.

Previous posts:
the road to baby making

the road to baby making

My husband and I knew we wanted to try for a baby soon after getting married.  Before we were married, we began preparing as much as we could. Like so many women, I was on the pill. For years. I needed to let my body do what my body was made to do. After getting off the pill, thankfully my body picked up where it left off and, for the most part, I had regular cycles. We also began Natural Family Planning (NFP) because we didn’t want a baby until we were ready to officially start trying.

If you’re unfamiliar with NFP it’s fantastic and I highly recommend it. Basically you learn when you are fertile (when you ovulate/if you ovulate) and when you are not based on basal body temperature (BBT) and mucus. So every morning at 5:45am (holy early!) I would wake up and take my temperature. That along with mucus would tell me if husband and I could do what nature intended or hold off. We took a class on it one weeknight and it worked out great for us! Like I said, I highly recommend it. You really get to learn so much about your body and how it works without all those fake hormones. (Note: if you’re thinking of NFP I would recommend finding a class in your area and being taught by a certified instructor. There are more details that go into it and charting, etc.)

I also began taking my pre-natal vitamins and reading books on how to best prepare my body and my husband’s for making a baby – foods to avoid, foods that are said to be helpful with conceiving etc. I had stopped drinking caffeine a long, long time ago, I nixed artificial sweeteners from my life months ago and started using homemade cleaners so there would be no toxic chemicals in the house or in the air - so there weren't any changes that I needed to make in those regards. It might be extreme but I wanted my body to be as healthy as it could be before growing a life.  I also made sure to continue working out as much as I could. I actually started training for a marathon not knowing if or when we would actually conceive and in the event it took longer than expected, I had plans on running a half-marathon in August and then a full marathon in October.

I was actually pregnant in this photo!

We had originally wanted to wait until May to start trying. I had a feeling that either we would conceive right away or it would be a loooong process. Statistically, young, healthy couples with no fertility issues conceive within the first 3 months. As it was getting closer and closer to May my husband and I kind of said, “what exactly are we waiting for? What difference is a month going to make?” so we continued to chart but didn’t restrict ourselves otherwise IF you know what I mean. A nifty feature of charting is that your chart can actually tell you if you’re pregnant before a pregnancy test confirms it! Our chart was leaning towards pregnant but I wanted the confirmation. As it was getting closer and closer to getting my period, every time I went to the bathroom I was afraid I was going to see my period. The day I was supposed to get my period I was having cramps. I was convinced every single time I went to the bathroom I was going to see blood. But every time I left the bathroom with a small smirk on my face. There are early pregnancy detection tests but I wanted to wait until I missed my period. Days went by and nothing – no period. I wanted to test on the weekend so I wouldn’t have to go into work with either good news or bad news. Fortunately, my husband was asked to work a Friday instead of Saturday so we were able to test on Saturday instead of having to wait until Monday (day off for Memorial Day).

At this point when we were testing I was already over a week late. Either the test was going to be positive or I knew I was having some other female issue and was going to need to call my doctor.  We woke up early. Followed the instructions.  Waited. And saw the most glorious positive sign. We are going to have a baby!!!

The next day I took a test again (I did have a 3 pack after all) and before I was even done peeing, the positive sign popped up. Lots of hcg in my system. We know we are very lucky and very fortunate that our road to baby making wasn’t too long and didn’t have many bumps. We did have some concerns about my luteal phase, but I didn’t need to get into that here. Again, something you would learn about in a NFP class. At the time we tested positive, I was 5 weeks pregnant. And that is where I will continue next time…