Aaaaah! That is my sigh of relief for I having reached the monumental END OF THE FIRST TRIMESTER! Week 12 is upon us! Thank you LORD for keeping me and BB healthy these past three months!

They say nothing is official until it's posted on Facebook. I don't know if I completely agree with that statement, but excitement got the better of me, as I was starting to bust at the seams to tell everyone! So the deed was done. I mean the bump is starting to look a little more than just bloated-ness 24/7, as if I need an excuse!

How far along: 12 weeks

Total weight gain: ??? Next week I'll know!
Maternity clothes? Wore maternity pants for the first time to church on Sunday. THEY ARE SO COMFY!
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep: Knock on wood, but I'm still sleeping very well. Waking up promptly at 2:30 every morning to use the lav hasn't phased me, I'm able to fall right back asleep.
Best moment this week: Testing out baby names with the hubsters and my mama.

Miss Anything? Again, may be TMI, but my regularity. I miss it.

Movement: Nope, although, I read that if I poke my belly, the baby will wiggle in response because his/her reflexes are developing! BB is still too small for me to feel anything though.
Food cravings: No huge cravings this week so far, although last night I really craved hot and sour soup. Of course I got some:)
Anything making you queasy or sick: The norm. 
Gender: Still unknown! 
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: The usual.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Exstatic to be done with the 1st trimester!
Looking forward to: Next week! We'll get to hear the heart beat!!!

There is a good chance there is a little baby bump trying to sneak through! It's there in the morning and gets bigger as the day goes on. Some may say it's from bloating, but I've been bloated since week 6, and I didn't always have this little pooch! Unlike last week, this pooch makes me SO HAPPY! I am so excited to have a baby bump and show it off!

This week is our family's vacation week, so I'm keeping this post short so that I can enjoy it to the fullest<3.

How far along: 11 weeks

Total weight gain: If I were to guess, probably another pound or two?
Maternity clothes? I bought some, but haven't used them yet. This week I've lived in a bathing suit and lounge wear and sun dresses.
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep: Slept like a baby:)
Best moment this week: Being with family and getting a glimpse of what could be the start of my baby bump!

Miss Anything? nothing at the moment:)

Movement: Nope
Food cravings: Ritz crackers and salty things again
Anything making you queasy or sick: Same old, same old. Nothing new.
Gender: What do they say about salty cravings? Boy? 
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: It's embarrassing, but gas has reared it's ugly head this week.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and relaxed!
Looking forward to: One more week and we'll be out of the "danger zone". Being done with the 1st trimester (or semester as my hubby has been mistakenly calling it) is going to be a relief.

Please, let this be a fair word of warning to ALL people out there; think about what you say before you say it! I was told I looked "fuller" at work the other day. Now, take note, I haven't yet made our big news public. I was cornered  by a coworker who had asked me if I was expecting (didn't think I was that obvious, yet!). I didn't answer "yes", but I also didn't tell her "no" either. She proceeds to tell me how she has this sixth sense of being able to tell when women are expecting. I sort of snipped at her, (thank you hormones), and said, "well, if you're so good at this, then you probably answered your own question!" With a smile and a laugh of course, realizing the harshness of my comment, but I was purely taken aback with the her forcefulness and grilling nature! Sheesh, some people just need to know everything! Anywho, back to the story, she concluded by saying the way she could tell that I was expecting was because I looked "full", which in my mind automatically went to "fat". I KNEW I had only gained 2 measly pounds, all of which are probably in my breasts (likely of which was looking more "full" to her). Which then made me think, why in the world are you looking at my breasts?! Ugh, darn hormones getting me all riled up!

How far along: 10 weeks

Total weight gain: Haven't weighed myself. We don't have a scale at our house, so I won't know how much weight I've gained until I got for 12 week check-up:)
Maternity clothes?  Haha, probably would be a good idea to cater to the bloating. In general, I'm still able to button pants but they are snug, so I unbutton sometimes and just make sure I'm wearing longer/looser shirts.
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep: Glorious. The general anxiousness has worn off, so at night my mind doesn't race about all sorts of things. Most nights run like this; head to pillow and out.
Best moment this week: It was a tough week, best moment is knowing it's over, and vacation to the beach is next week!

Miss Anything? Sushi...I've been craving it like currrrazy!

Movement: Nope
Food cravings: Fruit! I can totally handle this, without feeling guilty over it like all my previous cravings.
Anything making you queasy or sick: The smell of onions or fish.
Gender: ???? Can't wait to find out!
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Very tired this week.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Moody.
Looking forward to: Next week; A relaxing time to be with family and spend some time on the beach:)

Beyond looking to see how big BB is per week (BB is the size of an OLIVE) reading information on the internet and in books has been giving me more anxiety than I bargained for, so it has gone on the back burner for the time being. Everyone's different, and I'm sure the surge of hormones doesn't help, but just chatting with friends and family who have had babies has been the way to go for me. There is something about discussing pregnancy with those who are close to me and whom I trust. It's more FUN. It's more PERSONAL. It excites me, and doesn't make me nervous.

Went to the doctors on July 2nd for a routine check-up and exam. I'm happy to report that everything is normal and looking healthy, from the blood work reports to the internal exams, it has been smooth sailing so far! Thank you God!!!

Had some fun with a close friend of mine. We were chatting about the different wives tales about determining whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Being that BB is only 9 weeks old, it's about 11 weeks too early to tell the sex of BB. I could be wrong about that, but all I know is that at 20 weeks we'll have a sonogram to find out BB's sex, if "it" decides to cooperate. OOPS, I spilled the beans! Oh well, if you were wondering, Ben and I ARE going to find out the sex of BB--it's our first, we want to be prepared! Anywho, back to the story about different wives tales, there is one in particular where you tie your wedding band to the end of a string. While laying flat on your back and with a steady hand you, or someone else, in this case my best friend, hold the string with the ring attached to over your belly. If the ring turns around in circles=boy. If the ring swings back and forth=girl. What did the ring do over BB? IT TURNED IN CIRCLES! I was having fun telling this story to family members at a 4th of July celebration and they wanted to do it again to see. What did the ring do over BB? IT WENT BACK AND FORTH! Haha, I know what you're thinking, do the test one more time! Or my thought was, "oh crap, TWINS?" Maybe I'll have Ben hold HIS ring over BB...to be continued.

According to my cousin, I'm already getting some sort of "hormone line" that stretches from about your naval to your hoohah. She said it's a good sign, that my hormones are good. NO KIDDING! Hehe, I didn't need a line on my belly to tell me that haha! Ok, so there is your first sign that sometimes getting info from close friends and family is so much more cool than reading it on the internet. I would have MUCH rather my cousin tell me that tid-bit of info, than to have read the info, then searched my body for the "line" a week ago, and have never found it, and freaked out. But rather, I was oblivious to such "line" and my cousin, who is a pregnancy guru, noticed it, and told me about it in our own little intimate convo. SO cool. Love her! 

How far along: 9 weeks

Total weight gain:  I weighed 127 at the doctors, up from 125. Could be all those Pop Tarts and Chips.
Maternity clothes?  Do stretchy pants count? But to answer the question, no "maternity" clothes yet. My bloated belly makes me want to go shopping for some though!
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep: Has gotten a lot better this week. I've had the week off work for the holiday, so taking naps when I want/need has been a blessing. Somehow, that has made it easier to fall asleep at night. I've gotten the hang of how to get myself comfy too.
Best moment this week: Bonding with best friends and family over BB and pregnancy info.

Miss Anything? COFFEE

Movement: Nope
Food cravings: Still have the occasional craving for "fruity junk" but it's turned to salty things: potato chips, gold fish, bacon. Fruit juice with ice. Cold drinks (but maybe because we are having a heat wave). Sushi, too bad I can't eat what I want!
Anything making you queasy or sick: Some meat, if it's in a sandwich it's okay though. So weird. If it's not salty or "fruity junk", forget it. 
Gender: Boy? Girl? Both?
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: Food aversions! Darn food aversions!
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Happy! Happy!
Looking forward to: 12 weeks! It marks the beginning of the 2 trimester and the week we get to hear BB's heartbeat!

June 6, 2012- The day we found out our time on this earth to become a mommy and a daddy has finally come! We hadn't been "trying" for a long time, so we felt completely blessed when we found out we had a baby on board!

Feeling blessed is an understatement, when talking about about this pregnancy. Starting out with the care I have received from a family friend who is a midwife. She came to our neck of the woods just in the nick of time. A month or so before we found out we were pregnant, she was living and working outside of Washington DC, but is now living and working but 20 minutes from us! How lucky are we?!

Father's Day was especially exciting time for our family of 3 (I get the chills when I say that!). We had the opportunity of telling both our parents in person that they were going to be grandparents! We had gotten our dad's "grandfather" Father's Day cards to break the news:). Get this; our due date for BB is February 5, 2013. My Father's birthday is February 4th, Ben's grandmother's birthday is the 9th, and Valentine's day, as you all know, is the 14th. Early or late, BB's birthday will be monumental for this family! It will be the first great-grandchild on Ben's side of the family<3. A phenomenal moment was when we called his grandparents; his 82 year old grandfather cried and happily muttered a, "This is the best news I've ever heard!". It was hard not to let the tears start to flow. (Darn pregnancy hormones!)

I suppose I'll hop on the pregnancy belly growth wagon. I don't have any earlier pics, but here it goes: 

How far along? 8 weeks

Total weight gain:  a pound or two
Maternity clothes?  No need for it…yet!
Stretch marks?  No
Sleep: the physical activity of sleeping is still pretty good…turning my mind off to get there is where I am struggling
Best moment this week: Telling our grandparents and family the exciting news! We waited until Father’s day to tell our fathers/grandfathers. For Ben’s side of the family, BB will be the first great-grandchild. It’s #17, or something like that, on the list of great-grandchildren for my side :-P

Miss Anything? My energy :(

Movement: Can’t feel anything yet, but according to my research, BB is a moving machine!
Food cravings: Fruity junk; pop tarts 
Anything making you queasy or sick: This is such a gray area for me because having to eat anything in general makes me feel queasy. But once I eat it makes the queazies go away. But to name some definite no-go’s: raw veggies, anything with onion, and coffee (so sad!)
Gender: Mama Kuntz thinks it’s a girl, Benny wants a boy (of course)
Labor Signs: No
Symptoms: In addition to the loss of energy that occurs from teaching 8 toddlers, BB has been zapping my energy on top of all that! I’m ready for bed at 7 or 8 every night! I need to get better at keeping snacks by my bed for the morning. I wake up a bit light headed and queasy. In general, no morning sickness, just extreme food aversions.
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Keeping BB a secret is easier said than done when you’re this happy!
Looking forward to: Telling everyone about BB!