Fell in love today...

Since before little Mac was conceived, I have educated and entertained myself with reading "Mommy Blogs". I have read so many, a lot of them never peaking my interest enough to return for a second view. I find myself using the term "Information Overload" more and more now that I am pregnant, just due to what seems like an infinite number of never-ending experts, advice columnists, mommy bloggers, ect.

FINALLY - A breath of fresh air. Today I stumbled across a hidden gem of a blog... one that I have already bookmarked, and will revisit time and time again. It is called Inked In Colour, and I implore you to check it out. What caught my attention first off, was the fact that the Mom blogging was from Australia,  and had just moved to a remote town in Indonesia to be closer to her husband (you can read more about their story on her blog). To be quite frank, I'm always interested in reading anything that comes from a person in a different culture then ours because I find a lot of our "Americanized" information to be, well, not educational or interesting.

 After reading her newest blog entry, I decided to go back through and start at the very beginning, reading each post in order. I think the moment I fell in love was with the post "Something Borrowed, Something Blue?" where the blogger talks about the "rule" of dressing your child in "gender appropriate" colors, decorating, ect. Then when I read her post "The culture of sleep..." which talked about co-sleeping and how natural it is in most countries - while it's a used as a scare tactic here...

All I can say is reading through this blog felt like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, the writing style is very calming. There are no promotional giveaways, no endorsed product reviews, no flashy baby photo shoots... just honest, simple, enlightening posts about a new mother and her baby girl.

Check it out.

Week 10 Baby Update

Baby update time! Tomorrow I will be 10 weeks, and a lot is happening with baby's development. According to BabyCenter.com (which is quickly becoming my favorite reference site) the baby is the size of a Kumquat this week. First thought was... "Hello, can't we compare it to a fruit or veggie that actually grows in this country?"... which then lead me to Google the word Kumquat... which led me to the following photo...

Another site said the baby was the size of a large Brazil Nut...

Either way you get the idea. Some exciting developments in week 10: No more webbed feet/hands, fingernails are growing, peach fuzz is growing on the babies head, and most exciting of all....

The end of week 10 graduates the little one from embryo to fetus status! 

The most critical part of formation is over, including all major organs, ect.

Here is an idea of what baby looks like from the inside...

Aww... isn't she CUTE?!?!

I decided that since my Chinese Birth Chart insists that I'm having a girl, I'm going to stop calling my child "it", and refer to "it" as "she" for the time being :)

My mom bought me the coolest diaper bag EVER, that I keep forgetting to post a picture of. Please believe me when I tell you the photo does not do it justice as to how amazing it is...

On a final note, our garden in the front yard is doing awesome! Here is a few photos of our Roma Tomatoes and our Green Beans...

My week in summary... 

How far along: 9 Weeks, 6 Days

Baby's size: a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce (size of a Kumquat)

Sleep: Last night was awful, got up 4 times to pee… normally only get up once, and besides that can’t complain. Trying to enjoy what little time I have left sleeping on my stomach. Dr. says as long as it’s comfortable you can stomach sleep up to 20 weeks.

Maternity Clothes: Not yet, though it’s getting harder to fit into my normal pants. Between Mom and I we have a pretty cute collection ready to go for whenever I need them :)

Food cravings: Iced Tea, Any kind of batter (cookie, cake, ect)

Food aversions: Every so often I am totally grossed out by dairy, but only at certain times

Symptoms I have: Lite nausea all the time, though it seems to be getting better, still a lot of fatigue

Doctor’s Appointment: June 14

Movement: Not yet, though last night I think I felt the “butterfly” feeling that people have told me about.

Belly Button: Innie.

Gender: Unknown

What I’m looking forward to: Being able to feel the baby move

What I miss: Coffee, a lot of it…

1st Ultra Sound and 9 Week Update

On Monday we had our first ultra sound! I was very excited/nervous to see how many babies were there (twins run on both sides of the family). Lucky for us, it's just one :) We didn't get to hear the heartbeat but saw it on the screen... it was going so fast! We also found out that I am O Negative, the rarest blood type there is. RH negative, in a nutshell, means that at some point in my pregnancy my body may begin to attack the baby, if the babies blood type is positive. So to prevent that, they will be testing my blood throughout the pregnancy and if need be I will be given a series of shots. It is quite rare, but nothing to be too concerned about according to the Dr.

I haven't really been in the blogging spirit, been EXTREMELY exhausted which I'm hoping gets better in the second trimester. Besides that we have had a lot of... let's call it family drama... and I feel like I haven't fully gotten to enjoy the fact that I am carrying a little life inside me. 

Also, because I haven't been feeling great, I haven't been eating the way I expected too. Far to often I am snacking on things that are not healthy because the healthy options don't appeal to me... AT ALL. I brought my What To Expect When You're Expecting book with me to work today, and I am going to try and make a list of the recommended foods to pick up at the store tonight. I love to cook, it's lack of time and energy that puts a nix on that. I am really going to make it a priority this weekend to prepare for next week, and create a meal plan, and follow it!

Last but not least, here is a 9 week Baby Bump photo... Have a great 3 day weekend!

P.S - I was shocked to find out that I had actually lost .6 lbs at my latest Dr. visit. I have felt so bloated, and have been eating so horribly that I can't fathom how this is possible, but I'll take it! :)