12 weeks!

This is it! The last week of my first trimester! Wow, I can't believe that. I am 1/3 done with pregnancy and that much closer to meeting our baby. Crazy.

How Peanut is this week: he's developing reflexes! We saw this last week on the ultrasound... if you poke at him, he flips in response. :) He is starting to open and close his fists and starting to do the sucking motion with his mouth. How cute! He is the size of a full lime and in between size of a lemon ;)

How I am: finally not feeling so tired. However, that could be because I have been catching up on sleep lately because I was really sick last week. Only nauseated if I don't eat for too long. And still "poochy". Not showing yet, but it's only a matter of time!

We are leaving tonight on the red eye flight home for Spokane! YAY! And my best friend Wylie is throwing us a baby shower so we can celebrate with our Spokane friends tomorrow. So excited!

11 Weeks!!!

Just so I can say I've done something with this blog... I scanned and added these! - JOEL
PS I also donated a Y chromosome, hopefully. But we'll be just as happy with an X.

Yay for Joel! :) Sooo, as you can see, we got an ultrasound this week! Isn't our baby the cutest? :) The top on is a side view and the bottom one is our baby facing us. Our baby is very active! Joel said he looked like he was doing kung fu because he was flailing around so much and cartwheeling and bouncing. It was so good to see that our little baby is strong and happy! And the cutest thing, he kept just stopping, facing us and waving his right hand. It was so great. The ultrasound tech said that our baby was active and healthy with a good strong heartbeat. Nothing makes us feel more at ease. At one point, the tech said, "Look, if I push on the amniotic sac around the baby, I won't hurt him. The sac moves to protect the baby." Right after she moved from pushing on the sac, Peanut freaked out and bounced around. Joel said it was like, "HEY! Back up!" :) Peanut brings us so much joy! From his waving to kung fu to happily bouncing around, we are so happy!

How I am feeling this week: I was very nauseated and threw up some... however, that night I ran a fever, got chills and was really sick. I called in sick to work and they said the 2 wings I work on were on quarantine from the same sickness. The infection control nurse made a point to tell me that this sickness was not harmful to the baby, so that was good. Still recuperating, but feeling better. I am starting to get, as Joel calls it, a "little poochy". :) I haven't gained any weight yet, but I am starting to stick out a little around the middle. HA! I am so excited to endure fatness for the baby :)

How Peanut is this week: Peanut is starting to hiccup because the diaphragm is forming. CUTE. Hands are fully formed and beginning to form into fists like babies are so famous for. Peanut is the size of a lime now! How he's growing! Peanut is now almost fully formed, its just a matter of baking longer in the oven and developing the already formed body! We love our little baby and are so excited as Peanut keeps on growing!

10 weeks!

Amazing week this week! We just got back from our first prenatal appointment. We have decided to go to a nurse-midwife, instead of a doctor, who delivers in the hospital. She was so attentive and caring and I feel very comfortable with her. WE HEARD PEANUT'S HEARTBEAT! It was just incredible. Our midwife, Lisa, was saying, "Well, you may have a uterus that turns back, so please please please don't freak out if we don't find a heartbeat. I know it will be hard, but that is very common. It may take up to a few minutes..." and then we heard it! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. She said it was nice and strong and 160 beats per minute, which is perfect for this age. It was so amazing! I knew I was pregnant, but hearing your baby's heartbeat is just incredible. It really solidifies it and makes it so real! Joel and I were all smiles and it was so beautiful. We are scheduled for an ultrasound next week so that will be awesome too!

How I am this week: still BLOATED. Holy goodness.... bleh. I am yet to gain any weight, but I'm starting to feel a little chubby around the middle. Not showing yet, but there is a little spare tire growing. :) No sickness either (PRAISE THE LORD!) and I am VERY tired. I think that is my worst symptom. For example, after my work week ended this Tuesday, I slept in until 10:30 am Wednesday morning, and then took a 2 hour nap that afternoon! OH, and I was still asleep by 10 pm. Ha! Lisa said that should start to subside soon.

How Peanut is this week: He has little fingernails! This week Peanut is out of the danger zone. He has all his vital organs, and they will just continue to develop throughout the pregnancy. He is the size of a kumquat! (I don't know if you've ever seen one, but it's about an inch long and round like a satsuma orange). Peanut has peach fuzz growing on his big old head and arms and legs. He can move his limbs now and is kicking up a storm! I just can't feel it yet. His skin is translucent and you can see his spinal cord and brain growing. After this week is when Peanut starts really working hard and growing like crazy. Therefore, I should start growing like crazy too!

Incredible, isn't it? We just love Peanut so much already! We love his little heart and thank you Jesus it is beating so strong!

Week 9.5

So, we have our first prenatal appointment tomorrow! Apparently in Alaska you can't schedule one until you are 8-12 weeks... so our's is right at 10 weeks!

Joel and I were talking and, wouldn't it just be the funniest if we weren't even pregnant at all? HA! No, thank you.

Dear Lord, keep our tiny little baby safe. It is so cold here and I pray you make my body strong to support and strengthen our baby. We love you and thank you for our little miracle!

9 Weeks!

Sorry to miss last week.... one huge symptom: exhaustion! Joel and I are so excited as we are getting closer and closer to being out of the "danger zone". i.e. 1st trimester. Baby is still very vulnerable but we are getting closer and closer! Out of the first trimester by Christmas. Yay!

How I am feeling: I haven't gained any weight yet. However, I may be starving, but I feel full all the time. Very. Bloated. I've been trying to eat smaller, more frequent meals because one, big sit down meal ends up making me kind of queasy. Still no real sickness... just certain things make me queasy. But SO blessed and thankful that I am not experiencing morning sickness! I must say, my least favorite thing in the world is barfing. God knows that and He has blessed me!

How Peanut is: all 4 chambers of the heart have developed this week. His tail is gone! His head is HUGE. Teeth are forming. External sex organs are officially set on boy or girl.... they just are undistinguishable to the outside world. So... it's a boy! Or girl! We will find out beginning of January for sure. So exciting! Vital organs are formed and they are going to be ever maturing and developing. Peanut is the size of a grape! He is almost as big as his namesake!

We love our little alien-looking baby! We are getting more and more excited and praising God for our miracle.

7 weeks!

Today I am officially 7 weeks! Peanut is growing like crazy... the little trooper doubled his growth this week! Peanut is the size of a blueberry. Peanut is getting very close to being the size of his namesake :)

How I am feeling -- not too much morning sickness! Praise be! I notice that if I eat too early, or get too hungry, I start feeling nauseated. However, my thing lately has been evening sickness. Who would have thought? No repercussions of nausea though... :) I am definitely counting my blessings! Smells and heat make me nauseous. So, I guess it's a blessing that I am in Alaska in 5 degree weather.

How Peanut is -- like I said, a growth spurt to the size of a blueberry! Blood is pumping through his little body, he has flippers (fingers and toes are still fused), little eyelids, already has some color in his eyes (hopefully beautiful blue like his Daddy!) and his pancreas has grown! I am so proud of my little Peanut. He is a trooper! Joel and I already love this little baby and pray daily for safety.

God is so good. That has really been on my heart these last few weeks. Our God is so big and so incredible! That he can make a beautiful baby from nothing shows how great our God is. Thank you Lord for our little blessing!

Peanut to date (look at that big old head! How I love Peanut's big old head!):

Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT) - "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! You workmanship is marvelous -- how well I know it! You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."

7 WEEKS

6 Weeks!

So I figured I would write about the story of Peanut. Both Joel and I were so excited to have children, but we weren't sure when the right time for us was. We are both SO excited to be parents. We wanted to give the whole situation to God and let it out of our hands. So, we did. And 6 weeks later we found out we are pregnant! AUGH! So, half surprise, half not. :) Right now, the baby is still very vulnerable so we are asking for your prayers that God would keep our little Peanut safe.

How I am feeling right now: you know that feeling when you go to a restaurant, eat WAY too much rich, delicious food and then you go home and feel like laying on the couch and sleeping off your calories? There you have it. My body hasn't changed yet, however, I feel like I'm stuffed from the inside out. I am very fatigued. And I am... well... snippy? (ASK JOEL! HA! He's very gracious.) No morning sickness. Yet. VERY excited.

How Peanut is doing right now: Peanut is the size of a lentil bean right now, and by the end of the week will be the size of a chickpea! Growth spurt! :) In Alaska, care providers won't see you until you are 8-12 weeks, so our first appointment is December 2 (I will be 9.5 weeks). I will be seeing a nurse midwife who delivers in the hospital. Perfect!

Dear Lord, protect our little Peanut and help growth and strength to accompany! Thank you for our little blessing!