Tracking the Baby Bump: Week 17

Hey there. Here I am. I feel like every day I look down and my stomach looks bigger. I can't imagine how much bigger it's going to get..... Slightly scary to think about.

Baby Stats:

Length: 5 inches
Weight: 5-6 ounces
If it were a vegetable, it would be: an onion.

I was so excited to tell you it had been 12 days, almost two weeks, since I've thrown up. This morning ruined my streak. It was also the first time Jed actually heard me throw up. He said it was pretty gross ha ha.

Another great thing: I think I've been able to feel the baby kick a little. I know it could be anything, but I can't recall ever feeling these little movements in my abdomen before, so I count it as baby kicks! The first time I thought I felt something was at the dentist's last week. Do you ever get like a little blood vessel or muscle spasm in you leg or on your eyelid or arm where you can feel a twitch? (And sometimes see the twitch?) Well I had just one sudden twitch in my abdomen, and I've never felt a twitch like that before in that area. It was not a surface twitch, either, like those others I've described. It was definitely coming from the inside. On Monday I swear I felt a movement like teeny little limbs kicking back and forth like you would kick if you were swimming. Almost every day since, always in the afternoon or evening, I have felt little pushes from my abdomen, sometimes just one and sometimes several in a time period, and so I dub these little pushes to be our active child! In case you can't tell, I've tried very hard to decipher what I've felt and to be sure it wasn't just gas or something, so I feel pretty confident saying it was me feeling the baby!

This week I wore maternity jeans for the first time. Not that I can't fit into my old jeans, but they have developed some holes that show off my underwear, so I finally had to give in and say they were not wearable. However, then came casual Friday and I couldn't wear slacks! So I grabbed a pair of jeans from the bins that my wonderful sister in law gave to me which are full of maternity wear, and I put them on. They fit perfectly. The thing I don't like about them, though, is they don't have a place for a belt! Where the belt should be, there was a 2 inch band of stretchy material. So, all day long, I was constantly tucking in my undershirt and making sure nothing was showing since they slipped down a little every time I sat down (the fact that the majority of the time I sat was in little kindergarten chairs or on the floor did not help). Tell me this isn't how the rest of my pregnancy will go, right? Will I be forever in a state of re-situating my pants?

A sad thing: one of my coats is getting a little snug down around my waist. The buttons are noticeably pulling, and so I think this coat may have to be retired until next fall. It saddens me deeply, especially as I imagine the size of my stomach in February and think about which coat I will be able to wear.... So I may be in the market for a new, roomy coat pretty soon. Can I justify getting a cute, nice coat solely for when I'm pregnant? I'm bound to be pregnant during the winter another time down the road, right? Or perhaps I will permanently weight more and will need a big coat anyways? Let's not think that.

Pregnancy Symptoms I have yet to experience:

• High frequency of... visiting the restroom, shall we say? Nope, never felt that one. Thank goodness, because right now it is rather convenient to not need to go to the bathroom in the mornings until lunch time.
• Increased appetite. Unless you count wanting to eat more times throughout the day, but I don't feel I eat much more than before. 
• Swelling of the ankles, feet, hands, face
• Major weight gain

Symptoms I have may have yet to mention, but have been experiencing

• Mood Swings/more emotions. I cry often, or at least tear up. Biggest Loser, Extreme Home Makeover, these are big contributors to my crying. The other night I cried while watching Under the Greenwood Tree (BBC movie - watch it on Netflix, I love it). Why did I cry? The main girl was playing the harmonium in church and some people had put some sort of fluid in it, and so when it stopped working, people were laughing at it, not at her, but she ran out of the church, feeling humiliated. I was near sobbing at this point. So yes, my emotions are very high.
• Headaches, migraines, it varies what ails me, but those have yet to go away. I will say, Excedrin Tension Headache = greatest invention for pregnant women.
• Nasal congestion. I have to blow my nose all the time, and I'm not sick, it's just a fact of my life now.
• Sensitive gums that bleed when I brush. As if brushing my teeth wasn't already unpleasant enough.
• Fatigue.

This is a super duper long post, and I apologize for that. On the bright side, anyone who reads this knows exactly how I've felt this week! I feel closer to you already.

P.S. I still want to do a party to announce the baby's gender, also just as a way to invite people over and eat cake. But my mom can't be there! So I'm debating.... should it be the day after? Can I wait that long??

Temples, Pizza, and Corn

Hey there folks! Third post in one day? It must be Sunday.

Yesterday we had a lovely date together that didn't go entirely as planned, but was a really fun day.

First, we headed to the temple. We try to go to the temple once a month for one of our weekly dates, and we also try to vary which temple we go to. For the last several months, I've been wanting to go to the Draper Temple. I received my Endowment at the Draper temple (so that was May 6, 2010) and I haven't done a session there since! It was beautiful, and meaningful, so I really want to go back! So that was the plan yesterday: do a session at the Draper Temple. I always check online to be sure the temple isn't closed for cleaning or anything, and the Draper Temple was in fact scheduled to be open. When we arrived, we arrived early, so we walked around the temple. It really is so beautiful. Then we went inside.

When we got inside there was this woman there and the way she was standing and smiling I just knew she was going to tell us we couldn't go in. That was exactly what she said. She told us there was District Conference and the last session was at 3:00. We were hoping to do the 4:00 session. She was so sad and apologetic that me in my emotional pregnancy state actually felt like I should start crying, but being so blessed in Utah with so many temples, we quickly told her it was okay, we'd go to the Oquirrh Mountain temple. She suggested the Jordan River as well. Don't you love that within 20 minutes there are 3 temples to get to?

So then we went to the Oquirrh Mountain temple. They didn't even bother with a nice lady telling you that you couldn't go in, they locked their doors and put up signs ha ha. So they were closed as well, for regional conference, so we walked around the temple and then left. So the first part of our date was foiled!

On to dinner, delicious Pier 49 Pizza. They have a dinner for 2 and a dinner for 4, and it's a pretty good deal. The dinner for 4 is especially well priced, so do a double date, split the check, and save some money! The only unfortunate thing was that the dinner for 2 came with cheesy breadsticks, pizza, and dessert pizza, so being the hungry pregnant woman I am, I inhaled the breadsticks, ate one piece of pizza, and was stuffed to the brim. Thank goodness for boxes to take leftovers home.

Then we went to Cornbellies! This is a corn maze and a million other fun fall things to do and see and play on at Thanksgiving Point. I had a coupon from school, as did our friends Amy and Brandon, so we doubled and went together! It was extremely fun. We climbed on hay, went through several mazes, raced ducks, took lots of pictures, and had a lot of fun.

Here we are racing ducks..... It was very fun but slightly damaging to your thumb to pump so fast and hard...

This is the first corn maze we went through (the main one). They had space and NASA music playing throughout the field, and it made me feel rather patriotic. You know the songs, like the songs they play in the movies while the astronauts are walking onto the rocket and they're going in slow motion through smoke and everyone else is stopped and staring at them and the American flag waves on.... that sort of inspirational, patriotic music. It kept the maze from being creepy ha ha.

We were punished and put in the stocks!

Don't you just love the cut outs? They had these everywhere.

There was a mini corn maze for children that had these spinners at varying places in the maze. What ever the spinner landed on, you had to do! It was fun and extremely silly.

The big rocking chair. As we took our pictures a family came up to wait until we were finished, and literally as we were climbing off, the kids were climbing on. It's just too much fun to even wait a second to get on!

So that was our date night! It was great fun and put us very much in the spirit of fall!

Delicious Fall Dessert - Apple Dumplings

Thanks to my dear mother, I have yet another delicious dessert to share with you. This is not only delicious but it's fun because you can tell your guests it has Mountain Dew in it!

APPLE DUMPLING DESSERT

2 Granny Smith apples
2 cans crescent rolls
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 small can Mountain Dew (about 2/3 cup)
Vanilla Ice Cream

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll. Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Serve with ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauce from the pan over the top.

I love this, as does my mom's book group, so use this delicious recipe while apples are in season!

Tracking the Baby Bump: Week 16

Week 16 is here! I think I notice an ever so slight difference, what do you think? It's like my tummy has moved a little higher.

Baby Stats:

Length: 4-5 inches
Weight: 3-5 ounces
If it were a fruit, it would be: an avocado

Mommy Happenings:

1) I think I've finally notice a difference in hair/nail growth. My nails have grown really long this last week and I feel like I just cut them. So, maybe those prenatal vitamins are finally affecting my nails! If only I could tell if my hair was growing faster.... I plan on getting my hair cut next month, so we'll see if after that I can tell a difference. On a related note, I hear that you stop losing your hair when you get pregnant. Not so! I've also heard of some women who lose tons more hair. Neither is true for me. I have always lost lots of hair (because of the thickness?), and I have seen no difference in hair loss between pre-pregnancy and currently.

2) Another happy fact: it's been 5 days since I've last thrown up. Yay! I'm actually keeping a count on our dry erase board. I'm hoping the morning sickness has finally decided to move on....

3) Dry skin: it's getting worse. I'm itching all over the place because of it. I've never been a person to put on lotion after my shower or before bed, but now I think one or both might be necessary. It doesn't help that winter is approaching.

4) Cravings. I still don't have any constant cravings, but the cravings are definitely worsening. I think of a food and bam! I want that like nothing else and I can taste it and it would be sooooo good if I actually had it. The funny thing is that whether it's a craving or I am just hungry, by the time I get food, I can eat about half of what I thought I wanted and then I'm stuffed full. It's very strange, and Jed and I have tried to come up with theories as to why, but I think it's just that the baby and the uterus are starting to take up more room in my belly, so my stomach is getting smaller (but at the same time, emptying faster).

5) Acne has finally subsided! I am noticing fewer breakouts, and that makes me happy.

26 days until we find out the baby's gender!

Tracking the Baby Bump: Week 15

So, here and now we start the pregnancy pictures. I am 15 weeks along and I figure I MUST be growing a little, but haven't noticed a difference. So today we start the tracking to see how I differ in the next several months.

This is me and Baby Stephenson, Week 15!

My disclaimer is that I've had a little pooch since high school, so I can't tell if this little bump is purely me or if it's little Baby Stephenson growing.

By the by, this outfit was specially chosen. You will see this every time I take the baby bump picture because Jed and I both agree it will make it easier to tell a difference from week to week if I've grown. It was also chosen because both the pants and the shirt have lots of stretch... hence why I have to hold the shirt tighter.

Week 15 Baby Stats:

Length: 4 1/2 inches
Weight: 2-3 ounces
If it were a fruit, it would be a: naval orange

Also, 1 month and 2 days until we find out the gender! Mark your calendar to be available the evening of November 18th to come to (in person or via Skype) a party where we'll announce the gender! 

Maternity Clothes?

For those wondering about the pregnancy, things are going well. Wednesday and Thursday I brushed my teeth without throwing up! So I thought perhaps my morning sickness was actually subsiding like it often does after the first trimester. Friday I discovered I was mistaken....... But there is still hope that soon enough, I will be past morning sickness. I can't say that if I continue to throw up when I brush my teeth I am unlucky, though, because I have had much better morning sickness than many women I know, including my mother. I have also had a little bit of a hard time taking my prenatal vitamin (I gag when I try to swallow it). Today at the store I was looking for more vitamins because my bottle is almost out, and I found gummy ones! Not only does that play to my love for gummy candy, but it solves the problem of gagging when I swallow pills.... So far, they taste pretty good and have only a slightly odd after taste, but I'll let you know how it goes. I only hope I don't give in to temptation to eat more than two a day....

The biggest thing that I'm waiting for is maternity clothes! Now is about the time that women start to grow..... And call me lucky but I haven't noticed any changes in my waistline! In fact, from week 7 to week 12, I lost weight. I'm eating a lot better now, by eating smaller meals and more snack throughout the day (not even by choice, but my appetite dictates that's what I do), and so I wonder if I'm losing some fat while gaining some baby..... So no maternity pants for me yet! I'm even just waiting to go up a size for pants, but so far nothing like that is needed. Does anyone know, because I'm not starting off a small size 6, and so does that make a difference? Like the skinny women have to start moving up in size pretty quickly while the curvy women have room for the baby to grow without getting new pants? It's something rather unimportant, but I wonder. I think I'd better start taking the classic prego shot to start comparing, because I think my tummy will start growing pretty soon.... And I don't know how I'll feel in three months, but I'm looking forward to actually looking pregnant! This is all conditional on the fact that I gain weight only in my tummy area and nowhere else, ha ha.

So, we'll see, people, what comes my way with this pregnancy. Last night I dreamed that I delivered this baby at home, at 14 weeks, and it was 8 pounds already, so I took it to the hospital to make sure everything was alright, and then commenced in carrying this baby around everywhere that did not look like a newborn but more like a 3 month old baby. So are the delivery dreams starting already? I still have 26 weeks to go to worry about it.....

Another topic I'd like to address: pregnancy photos. I think I'll get started on those in the next few weeks (because I think you'll be able to tell pretty soon) so you can expect to see those on the blog. For some entertaining pregnancy pictures go to Awkward Family Photos. It's super funny. Disclaimer #1: Be aware that there are some where the women have less than the desired amount of clothes. Disclaimer #2: I will not be taking any pictures with my bare belly. That's just gross.

So, there's how the pregnancy's going..... Yep.

Why Our Marriage Works

My feet get hot easily (one reason I sleep with my feet sticking out of the covers). Sometimes when they get hot, they itch. So, for a long time, I have rubbed my feet together as I fall asleep.

Jed likes massages. Any kind: head massage, shoulders, neck, back, hands, and feet.

When we are falling asleep, my feet need to rub, and his feet like to be rubbed. I rub his feet with mine, and everyone’s happy! One small reason we were meant for each other.