I'm glad this is a baby blog, because I would not want to be talking about football right now - 11 & 12 Weeks

Well, this past week and a half or so has been a little rougher on me.  I have been given the impression by numerous people, books, and blogs that I would start feeling better at the tail end of the first trimester...but my nausea has actually gotten worse.  On top of that, I have a small case of adult acne, which no one told me about.  What the HECK?  (Baby-friendly language!  I need a *%@!-load of practice so I'm trying to start now :)

In other news, I've started to show...a little.  I haven't gained much weight technically (you're "supposed" to only gain 2 to 5 lbs your entire first trimester), but as of last week my stomach has popped out a bit.  I don't look "pregnant" yet, but I do look like I just drank a twelve-pack of beer...it's very flattering. It's been a little difficult for me to grasp how it's "healthy pregnancy weight gain" and not "unhealthy fat gain" when the baby is still down by my pelvic bone but my new gut is up...well, up by my gut.  Body-image-wise, it's a weeeird feeling being almost a third of the way through, because you want something to show for your three months of work, but still want to hold on to your pre-pregnancy body, too; I don't want to look pregnant, but I don't want to not look pregnant.  

Anyway, now that I'm starting to look a little different, I'm going to start posting photos of my progress (it's amazingly unsettling to me that my stomach is now on the world wide web, so please please enjoy these pics so it's worth the creepiness factor); here are a couple at 11 weeks:

I went back to the doctor at the end of week 11, and everything is still lookin' good.  No ultrasound, which I knew beforehand, but it was still a bummer (and on top of that, I had to get a pap smear...so, double bummer).  So I guess I should say sounding good, rather than looking good, since I didn't see anything this time.  I got to hear the heartbeat again - this time with a Doppler, a little microphone thingy, rather than through the ultrasound machine.  The heartbeat is now down from 173 to 167; I'm told that it's normal for it to slow - I guess Lil Fil is becoming physically fit from the marathon-ing.  I did get more than a little nervous when it took the doctor longer than I'd like (it felt like forever, but she probably searched no longer than 10 seconds) to find the heartbeat, but she said that's normal, too; babies, apparently, actually do run (er, swim..?) laps in there, so it takes awhile to track them down when they're still little.

Recap of Weeks 11 - 12:

• Lil Fil is the size of:  a large plum
• I have gained:  2 lbs, give or take
• I love:  chicken wings and ice cream, naps
• I hate:  the smells of garlic and Listerine
• I physically feel:  not great.  I'm having a fair amount of nausea, dizziness, and I tire pretty easily, but most of the time none of those things are overwhelming.  It is worse than it has been thus far, but I suppose it could be much worse than it is, too.
• I emotionally feel:  better than I do physically.  The fact that I'm taking better care of my body but still feel worse is frustrating as hell.  (And acne, are you serious?  I'm not 14.)  Other than those issues, I'm nervously optimistic.
• Comment(s) of the week: 
• Well, the cover says there's an article called 'how to lose 10 lbs without even trying'!   - Jamie, on why he chose Redbook magazine in the doctor's office waiting room.
•  [Tearing up]   - My mom, on seeing me holding my friend Angela's baby.  Hold the tears, mom, that one isn't mine!  We still have a long way to go  :)

Finally, here's Jamie and me at a little over 12 weeks: