The last few weeks in photos...

Week 13 1/2 Baby Bump...

My adorable husband assembling our new crib!

Miss Izzy out on the town Friday night.

Our gourmet dinner at the best restaurant ever!

Izzy got to see her very first 3D movie, and she loved it... so did we:)

And then she fell asleep...

Week 14 Update

Can't believe we are on week 14 already! 

Baby Mac is now the size of a lemon. 
Last Dr. appointment on June 14 was really neat, got to hear the babies heart beat!
Everything is going perfectly so far...

My week in summary... 

How far along: 14 weeks

Baby's size: A lemon! Which is funny cause I've really been loving lemons lately...

Sleep: Have only had one bad night where I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. Still sleeping on my stomach/side. Still getting up to pee at least once in the middle of the night. Waking up with left side tailbone pain the past week or so.

Maternity Clothes: Ughh... Yes. Finally broke down and bought a few things off Ebay, and as much as I hate to admit it, they are WAY more comfy. Sticking with a lot of non-maternity dresses and skirts also. Need to find a good paid of maternity yoga pants as my current ones are getting a little uncomfy.

Food cravings: Iced Tea, Water, Fruit

Food aversions: Fast food, Pizza

Symptoms I have: I have had some pains on my sides, googled it, and its normal. It's actually the stomach muscles stretching and making room for baby. I'm still really tired, but I think that is a product of my life right now, not so much the pregnancy.

Doctor’s Appointment: July 12.

Movement: Nope.

Belly Button: Innie.

Gender: Unknown - I'm convinced it's a girl though.

What I’m looking forward to: Being able to feel the baby move/kick. Finding out what it is!

What I miss: Nothing! I feel super fortunate to have had a very easy pregnancy so far. 

Here's what BabyCenter.com has to say about our week 14 updates...

"This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active."

Photo Updates to come...

Week 11 Baby Bump Photo

Sorry this is so delayed, but here is the baby bump that goes with my last update :)

Also since my last post, I have been feeling weird sensations in my stomach... not movement but almost like a "butterfly" feeling? I had several people ask if I had been feeling this yet, and up until a few days ago the answer was a no. Kinda neat to feel signs of life :)


Also, saw the movie "What to expect when you're expecting" last night... Highly recommend it!

Week 11 Update

Here's the latest updates on baby Mac, we are on week 11 today!

We got a call to let us know when our Gender Reveal Ultrasound will be! It is scheduled for August 14. Our next doctors appointment is Thursday morning.

According to my at home scale total weight gain has been... drumroll.... 0 pounds! The doctor says my total weight gain should only be 15-25 pounds, based on my starting weight.  I am very excited as I have been trying to be very "healthy food" conscious by snacking on a lot of fruit, whole grains and soy products. 

Yesterday I FINALLY made it back to my Zumba class (doctor approved), and it felt great! I am a little sore this morning, but that's to be expected considering I haven't really worked out at all in the past 3 months. It is a big morale booster, and hope to be a lot more regular with it in the months to come. Here's an older photo of me breaking it down Zumba style, I'm the one with the big pink oval around me :)

Here's our week 11 overview from BabyCenter.com:

"Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.

She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccuping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming."


Up next: Baby Bump Photo Update Week 11

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! :)