"Well, she's not as big as you yet"...

Whew!  It's been a while, but I've been BEYOND crazy busy, so I apologize!  It's been a non-stop summer so far, but I finally have down time to do nothing, and I'm loving every minute of it!  Adam and I went on vacation to visit my aunt in Minnesota for a week a few weeks ago.  We left on the day I hit the 12 week mark, so that was exciting!  It was a great trip full of boating, fishing, good eats, a Twins game, and of course, SHOPPING!  By the way, A Pea in the Pod is a phenomenal store - a  little expensive, but the clothes are so soft and fit so well!  It was also an amazing trip because all my 'lovely' lil' peanut symptoms disappeared!  But, it must have been the Minnesota air, because it seemed that as we were crossing the Illinois state line I started feeling like losing my lunch again.  I was home for no more than 24 hours and was on the road again - this time a straight through drive to North Carolina to drop my little brother off at camp.  Nothing like a weeks worth of road trips to ease morning sickness...blah.  Since I've been back (just a few days now), my nausea actually seems to be getting worse/more intense, so I don't know what's up with that!

I think the biggest fear I've had beyond all the obvious/typical fears that come along with a pregnancy is all the weight gain.  I'm not exactly a 'skinny' girl, but I'm not obese either - but hearing stories of women gaining 60+  pounds would probably put me close to that category!  But, I'm proud to say, I haven't gained any weight yet!  I had a doctor's appointment and she didn't mention anything about it, so I'm assuming it's still okay at this point to not have gained.  I'm sure it'll catch up and even out at some point though - that would be my luck!  I have on the other hand, added 10+ inches to my belly!!  I'm only 14 weeks and I look like I'm in my 3rd trimester already!  When I was shopping on vacation I was asking a sales woman if they had a maternity section and a conversation ensued about her daughter also being pregnant, but she 'wasn't as big' as me yet...wonderful.  I was hoping she wasn't going to ask how far along I was, because I totally would've lied and said, 'Oh, I'm due next week!'  I feel like I'm still in that, "is she fat, or pregnant?" stage, so I've started touching my belly when I feel people looking at me trying to figure it out, because I figure fat people don't like to touch their bellies, right?!  Anyways - below is a picture of me the day before we left on vacation, so the day before I turned 12 weeks! - I'm already bigger than this picture!  (Sorry the quality stinks - it was a cell phone shot)

Those that know me know that I'm a fairly impatient person...well, VERY impatient actually.  Remember, I'm the girl that was trying on wedding dresses  before I was even engaged (my mother told me it was okay, so I'm not 100% taking ownership of that!).  So of course it's KILLING me to have to wait another month to figure out the sex of the lil' peanut.  Soooo, after some research, I found an independent ultrasound place near us that will do gender determination sonograms as early as 15 weeks, and it's only $70!  So technically I could be finding out next week if lil' peanut is a girl or boy, but I have to wait another week (grrrr...) because my in-laws will be on vacation.  We're going to do the 'cake-thing', as it has become fondly known as in my family, to announce the sex.  If you're unaware of what this is - read on.  When we go in to have the ultrasound, we'll ask the tech write the sex down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope (Adam is having a hard time coming to grips with this; he wants to know right then, right there), and then I'll take that envelope to a bakery, who will then bake a cake with either pink or blue cake.  We're going to have our parents come up our way for dinner and we'll cut into the 'mystery cake' in front of everyone, so we'll all find out at the same time!  I think it's more fun and exciting than sitting in a dark room with goopy stuff on my belly while a stranger tells us, "it's a girl!" (I've had two dreams so far that it's a girl - and they were in Minnesota, where good things happened to my body, so I'm going with it!).  Our family is pretty excited for it too!  But I'm going to have to ask the bakery to duct tape the cake box shut or I'll be too tempted to do a little finger-swipe of frosting! ;-)

Well since I missed a week or so, I'll just a do a quick update on the food-of-the-week:

Week 12 = Plum
Week 13 = Peach

And here we are at week 14:  The Lemon!

        
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.