I'm Gonna Be-500 Miles

We've reached a milestone! 13 weeks! That's the end of the first trimester. Don't quibble over small details...if you check a dozen books, you'll get a dozen answers as to when the end of the first trimester is, but I say, it's 13 weeks. :)

The baby's major organs are in place, he/she is kicking (and I have been feeling it for the past 2 weeks!) and might even be sucking his/her thumb! Aww, what a cute image. I honestly cannot complain about anything today because it's all going so smoothly. Baby's great, I feel great (if just a little fat, but I'm still blaming it on the fertility meds-carbs?? What, me?? No way!) Our next OB appointment is on the 12th of May. E should be there at that one and I'm so excited. I'll pretty much sit back and let her pepper the OB with questions. I big puffy heart (thanks LOO) my OB!!! She is just the kind of doctor that will grab the phone and give your mom directions around Houston while she checks your progression in labor. She will give her recommendation for the best low-fat crust for making pizza and she stands a little too close to my bubble and I always feel like she's about to hug me. Okay, I don't really love the last part but it does make me want to giggle at the end of every appointment because I keep thinking how inappropriate it would be if she DID hug me! Did I tell y'all the story about the nurse I almost hugged in the ER? When I went in for the bleeding, the triage nurse was trying to comfort me saying if it was a miscarriage, I could try again and all I could do was cry because I was so worried about E&J and their baby/babies and I was a mess. She said, "oh, sweetie, it's going to be alright" and got up out of her chair and came towards me with arms wide open. I really needed that hug so I started to hug her but she was actually reaching for the blood pressure cuff above my head. I think I played it off well, but I'm sure that's not the craziest thing to have happened in the ER.

Anyway, I keep going off on tangents. I'm excited about E&J coming back home. They've had lots of changes in the past couple of months and almost all of them have been great, so I want them to start settling in and getting comfortable in their Texan way of life. It's hard to believe that we're 1/3 of the way to our goal of bringing their baby into the world. Did I mention that my OB will let my IM deliver the baby? How cool is that? She'll be all suited up and will literally bring her child into the world. My husband did this with our last two kiddos and he said it was just beyond words. When we filled out the "delivered by" in their baby books, he put "Daddy." I do believe he was quite proud of that. E was tickled when I told her she'd be able to do it too (barring no complications of course). I respectfully requested that J stay above the border for the birth but I might not care once I get my epidural. Oh sweet, sweet epidural, you will be my labor partner once again and allow me to sleep, chat and eat ice chips in all their glory. Have I told you about my love for ice?

So, other than that, not much is going on. I'm anxiously awaiting a massage as my back has been hurting. It's not from the pregnancy, just poor posture mostly. My drill teach coach would be disappointed...but not surprised. I've always slouched. My middle child does it too. A massage sounds heavenly though and the last time I got one was from my 6 year old walking around on my back. (It's actually a lot more effective than it sounds!)

Here's this week's belly shot. Bear in mind that this is about 3/4 pre-baby bulge, but I love that everyone says, "Awwww, look at that cute belly" instead of "Ewww, pop in an Abs of Steel DVD, lady!" :) Thank you, baby!