Bump pictures!

Here's one picture of me anyhow.... I'm not sure how to turn it though! I'll have to figure it out and re-post... :-) Not a great shot of me, so it's only going on here, but at least you can see the bump! :-)
And, a second picture with Jimmy's bump! Definitely a goon... he was having a very hard time holding that so I could get a picture. He just fills up with air somehow! I told him his is bigger, but I'll pass him up! Anyhow, he said it was okay for me to post. :-)
Gotta go make some pizza. Sad, isn't it?! Shannon, I need to write you back on your comment, very interesting theory!

Nine weeks!!!

Just hit nine weeks yesterday, and I am delighted!!! Only three weeks to go and I'll be at 12 weeks, which will be a relief! Monday and Tuesday I felt pretty good. Not terrific, but good- up all day, baked, cleaned the house... and that had me worried. Siobhan told me not to worry, she'd had that happen occasionally, and it usually came back with a vengeance. She was right! I was much relieved yesterday to find that I felt awful again. And continued to feel icky the entire day and all the way through this morning. My sweet man made me breakfast and straightened up for me, and I am very happy to report that his coke-and-chocolate-chip-mint float worked wonders! When I started nothing sounded even remotely okay, and by the time I finished I felt good enough to get up and actually eat the breakfast! Guess he figured both those things sometimes helped, so combined they'd do even better. :-)
So I believe our baby is now the size of an olive. Fortunately, I don't much like olives unless they are the black kind and either sliced or chopped. And the one on the website demonstrating the size was distinctly a whole, green olive. I had to find my little pro-life hands pin because that is a 10 week baby, and we are getting really close at 9 weeks! I will have to take a bump picture and post it here soon. Now that both Nichole and Shannon have posted theirs, I feel compelled. :-) However, I am slightly embarrassed to admit my bump is about twice the size. I've tried coming up with explanations for this, and the best I can do is the twin theory. I like that one, personally! Really, I was getting almost flat before I got pregnant! Of course there was the extra med. weight, but I don't know if that would have anything to do with it.... I thought the bigger you were the longer it took to show? Anyhow, I will try and get a pic taken soon and post it, and then you can comment away. :-)
Right now, when I feel like eating, I mostly want two things-- beans and meat. Especially meat right now. Slabs of meat, hunks of meat, many forms of meat... I've finished off all the chicken (besides chicken patties... gross!), ate the steak, and am most the way through the second package of ground beef. The other thing I want is lasagna... with sausage. Cottage cheese and meat mixed deliciously... heavenly! I sense a protein craving here. That's good I suppose, but I think a grocery run will be in order here soon. The midwife suggested dumping protein powder into a milkshake. Not protein powder as a main source of it, but as a "I'm too sick most the time to eat anything and the few times I can I'm not coming anywhere close to 90g" remedy. Sounds like it might be worth trying, at least for the next few weeks until I can just plain eat it in regular forms.

8 weeks, 4 days

I got to go to my first prenatal on Thursday! No heartbeat of course, but we did a blood draw, went through the paper stuff, did all the usual 'when is your due date' type stuff... it was fun! Anything baby related. :-) They are both really nice and really seem to know their stuff. And they are both super excited about doing this birth, which is nice! Kori said next time we should be able to get the heartbeat, although as she said, by that point we'll probably already have tried to get it ourselves, which is of course true! lol! Not sure if we'll be successful since I have a stethescope and not much practice compared to their lots of practice and a doppler. But I'll sure try! They both enjoyed the fact that I've studied midwifery as well, since it make things easy for them to explain. They don't have to go through whys and wherefores of a lot of stuff with me, and they like that. Also, being familiar with homebirth and all, I'm not likely to get cold feet or demand an epidural. :-) Anyhow, they couldn't really check things too much, but we got the paper stuff out of the way, so next time it should be all fun! And baby reminds me constantly that he is doing well, which I love! Seriously, I can't say I enjoy feeling tired and awful, persay, but it's about as close as you can come to enjoying it. I wish I felt better, but at the same time I love the fact that it means there really is a baby, and he really is growing, and he really is OURS!! That last part really amazes me! I've wanted a baby so long, and always said I wouldn't mind the sickness and such if it meant there was a baby, and you know, I really don't mind because it means there is a baby!! Wow. :-)
As far as that goes, I do find that potatos are only good to a point. Apparently in early stages they can ward it off. Later, in the thick of it, I am hopeful that they calm it down, but certainly they do not entirely take care of it. Neither do bananas. I read on "the bump" that right now I might "start feeling a little tired." HA!! I'm completely wiped out and have been sick into the afternoon pretty much every other day for the past week and a half. The other days I'm just sick, but can get around somewhat. Good thing for the house, it looks bad enough as it is. Jimmy's been a sweetheart and takes care of the garbage and the compost and straightens things up for me, but one still tends to get clutter on open surfaces and such.Oh well. :-) Anyhow, so goes my rant on potatoes lately. If you can't tell, the thought of them does not make me happy, and trying to eat them or bananas every evening has not been as fun as it otherwise would be.Still, for all my rants I am still hopeful they have some effect.
Shannon, I was happy to see your comment re the grape juice. I just found out this evening that apple juice does not make me happy. :-) I've been drinking pink lemonade, and that works pretty well, but I'm fairly certain I'm not drinking enough even at that. Grape juice sounds definitely worth a try! Oh, and the midwife reccommended blue gatoraid. I don't think the color matters too much, but she said that although she doesn't usually like the taste at all, when she was expecting it was heavenly. :-) Also has electrolytes, so while massive amounts over a long period probably aren't great, for a few weeks it's certainly better than not getting enough liquid. :-) Another thing to try! I may have to call you on the tasty suggestions, because right now I can' t think of anything at all... even pizza sounded icky earlier, and that rarely happens!
Anyhow, I'm making rather a lengthy entry here, but food seems to occupy my thoughts rather thoroughly, whether or not I can eat or any of it even sounds good! I keep checking the 'week by week' things for updates on what my little person looks like and is doing, and am thrilled to see he really looks like a baby! Goodness, that was fast!

My man...

I'm pretty sure.... no, I'm certain I'm married to the sweetest guy ever! Yesterday's rebellion did not stop despite 2/3 of a box of amazing smelling Uncle Ben's style rice, and a banana. All night it was iffy, though fortunately I only noticed when I woke up, and in the morning it was not good. I tried crackers, I had some yougurt....I felt good enough to get up a bit, had an orange since it was one of the few things that sounded vaguely okay and not likely to increase nausea. I had some water despite really not wanting some since it did feel nausea-making, but one has to drink, right? Bleah.... I ended up back in bed feeling awful, and actually lost it at one point. First time, and I'd been hoping to avoid it. So what did my man do? He offered me anything he could think of, made me some orange juice (which I couldn't down, even though it wasn't water), did all the dishes which were stacked up after yesterday's bout of rebellion, AND dried them and put them away, took care of things, rubbed my back, and then when he found out that the only thing I wanted to eat (or rather, the only thing that didn't sicken me at the thought), was a Burger King Jr. Whopper, which was 25 miles away, he took me out and got me not one, but two. Fortunately for my guilt we did have some other errands to run, but whether we would have done them today if it hadn't been for that whopper is debatable... He also took care of everything, swept, and made the bed when I finally got up for the last time! He even got me ice cream, crackers, and granola bars for later when I need them, as well as some coke for upset stomache, and some mac and cheese which has also been sounding good. And all he says is, "I can't believe I'm so lucky I got to marry you!" If that's not amazing and sweet, I've never met it...
Also, all this means baby must be doing fabulously, so apperantly I've got a wonderful husband AND a healthy baby! I am one fortunate girl, that's for sure. Can't believe what God has done for me!

Madame Blueberry!

So I read that my baby is the size of a blueberry. I look down at the ever-disappearing waistline and wonder how on earth he could still be so tiny, but I am most happy to loose the waist at the same time! I think he's got excess room taken up with his accessories right now. :-) My first prenatal is supposed to be Thursday at one, and I am quite excited! I don't think we'll be able to hear a heartbeat yet, but that means the next prenatal would probably be at 12 weeks, since they're usually once a month for awhile, and at 12 weeks they can often hear the heart! In the meantime, the brain is generating 100 new cells every minute, which is absolutely amazing! I'm pretty sure whatever is casing this generation is what is causing my brain cells to dissapear at 100 cells per minute. :-) No wonder they talk about "pregnancy brain", lol!! I feel like an idiot, so many words are escaping me! Luckily Jimmy knows me well enough he can usually figure out what I'm trying to say, lol!
I'm feeling okay, but have noticed an interesting problem-- I am starving, but nothing sounds good. Everything I think of sounds yucky....especially the chicken patties that I got that sounded so amazing a week or two ago. Ugh! Well, I will go find something good and nutritious for baby. A short post, yes, but between the brain and the open rebellion below, things must be done. There are wheels within wheels, and that's the humor of it.

The Kidneys are Growing...

I really think that is one of those phrases that you either get excited over or don't, no middle ground. There is something so amazing when you glance at the screen saver that is up with it's little diagram of a baby and it says "The Kidneys are Growing"! Goodness, things really happen fast! This baby is so small he is still being measured in millimeters, and yet he has kidneys growing!
The midwives came on Monday, and we both really liked them. We did ask for a reference since it's the good thing to do, and are just waiting on a call back from that lady, but really I think we're pretty well decided on using them. They are in agreement on all important aspects, and seem easy to get along with and work with. Plus, they are both really excited about doing this birth, which is neat! With all the births they've done, there is still nothing hum-drum about it for them. Not that there is for most midwives, but it's neat to see. :-) Kori said she has a really good feeling about it. She said she prays about every birth before she will accept someone as a client, and has had to send people elsewhere, but she said with all the praying she has only good feelings about it. Yeah, that might sound a little weird to some people, but really I've heard too many stories, and even seen things for me to ignore that. Briana (the other midwife) said they'd probably do the first prenatal around ten weeks. I almost hope it's around 12 so we could hear the heartbeat when we go it... either way we'd hear it the time after, but it would be so amazing to get to hear our baby's heart!! I have a stethoscope, so we can try it ourselves, but they are definitely more practiced at picking it up and getting the heartbeat rather than the uterus sounds. Anyhow, it's still a few weeks off but I'm excited about it!! Seven weeks yesterday! That is so amazing!