Here is the baby bump! I am fifteen weeks along today and for the 14/15 week updates I thought I would just post a picture. There isn’t much to say, the picture kind of says it all. I am very relieved to be within the second trimester already! Praise the Lord! I’m going to be pulling out the maternity clothes pretty soon, especially the maternity pants. I must admit, I do look rather funny when I’m wearing several layers to go out. I look like an eskimo! But there is Pixie, for all the world to see!

~ Anna

So, I missed ten weeks and eleven weeks! Aaron and I were out of town for both those weeks visiting my family for Thanksgiving. I shall be posting pictures of that later this week I hope so come back for those pictures! But people have been asking me (jokingly), if I was still 9 weeks along, so I figured I should probably update the blog before thirteen weeks rolled along!

How far along are you? 12 weeks! Almost done with the first trimester which shall be nice.

How big is baby? Pixie is the size of a plum and weighs half an ounce. This week, Pixie’s reflexes are developing. By now, if you saw Pixie you would say he/she was a baby. Pixie has all the major building blocks in place, now they are continuing to develop and grow into maturity. Pixie can feel if I poke my abdomen and will squirm away, although I can’t feel it yet.

Maternity clothes? Yes! A very kind friend who had a baby not too long ago herself gave me her maternity clothes! And while I haven’t quite moved into wearing them, it’s such a blessing to have them when the time comes! I did however wear a maternity top yesterday, but since my baby bump isn’t that big yet, it felt rather smothered in all that extra fabric!

Symptoms? Well, for those of you keeping tabs on whether I would end up throwing up at all, I have. While we were on vacation, I did end up throwing up. Thankfully though, it’s all gone, every bit of the nausea! I’m so glad and it’s great to not have to worry about it popping up at inconvenient times and I feel much better.

Changes to mom? I’m definitely showing! It’s very exciting and I feel like the bump gets bigger every day.

Sleep? It varies from night to night, but thankfully in general I’m getting a good night’s sleep.

Food cravings? Nothing special yet, but just whatever someone else is eating or talking about.

Milestones? I guess wearing my first maternity top counts as a milestone. It was pretty funny though, I wore the maternity top to have coffee with some women from our church and I was all excited and proud of my little baby bump and the fact that I was wearing this new maternity shirt. Of course, the topic went to being pregnant and some of the other women and their pregnancy experiences. One of the women made the comment, “You’re not showing yet but….” Kind of popped my bubble! I decided to wait to wear maternity shirts until they really fit so that the bump was obvious.

~ Anna

I know this is a little late for the 8 week post but I wanted to make sure it went up. So here it is!

How far along are you? 8 weeks.

How big is baby? About the size of a kidney bean! Everything that is present in the baby is present in an adult. Bones are continuing to form and the muscles can flex. The facial features are beginning to mature and the fingers and toes are beginning to form.

Maternity clothes? Still nothing, but I am about to purchase the Bella Band so that I have it when we go to see my family for Thanksgiving.

Symptoms? Well, my morning sickness has turned into all-day-sickness. Thankfully no throwing up, but it’s hard to function when you don’t feel well! Thankfully, mint tea and peppermints have really been helping. Some days I wake up and feel fine and some days I wake up and feel sick all day. The other “symptom” I’ve been experiencing is headaches. I talked to a friend of mine, and she helped me to see that it’s because of the increased levels of estrogen in my body. Apparently, that can cause headaches in some women. The tiredness has also gotten worse. I feel like I’m complaining a lot, but even though this is hard at times, I know I have it much better off than some women and I am very grateful. I’m also very grateful for the morning sickness because it’s a great indicator that Pixie is healthy, so I try to thank God whenever I do feel sick.

Changes to mom? My uterus is now the size of a grapefruit and I have forty to fifty percent more blood than I did before pregnancy.

Sleep? Same as last week. Some nights are great, some are more difficult to get comfortable.

Food cravings? Still any kind of protein. Give me meat!! Protein also helps keep the morning sickness at bay.

Milestones? I am not sure what to put this under, but I know I wanted to tell you all about it, so I’ll put it here. Aaron has been so sweet to me every single day of this pregnancy. On my bad days and on my good days. The other night, we got home from being gone all day. I was exhausted but the kitchen was a huge mess. (There was a legitimate reason for this!) I absolutely hate going to bed when the house is messy because that means the next morning I’ll have to wake up to this mess and immediately clean it up! But Aaron made me go to bed and cleaned up the entire kitchen all by himself. When I got up the next morning, the kitchen was pristine. That is just one of the many things he has done for me. He’s gone to the store to get me peppermints, made me mint tea all of his own accord (including first thing in the morning!), he has made himself a meal because I didn’t feel well. He has quite literally been a true servant leader. I love him so very much!

Hopefully now you feel updated. Nine weeks is just around the corner!

~ Anna

Hey everyone,

I am terribly sorry about not posting a 6 week update last week. I shall try and do a better job keeping up here! Here’s the update on the Pixie this week:

How far along are you? I am seven weeks along.

How big is baby? Pixie is about the size of a blueberry and weighs less than an aspirin. The baby’s heart is beating about 150 beats a minute which is twice the rate of an adult. Pixie’s liver, kidneys, lungs, and intestines are all nearing completion. Both hemispheres of the baby’s brain are developing.

Maternity clothes? Nothing yet, but I already know what I’m going to purchase first: a Bella Band! I will probably purchase this in just a few weeks so that I’m prepared when things start to not fit quite right.

Symptoms? Thankfully, not too bad. I’ve had morning sickness every morning when I wake up, but eating a few crackers before I get out of bed has been helping. If I go to long without eating I can feel it start to creep over me again too. Also one day this week I had morning sickness all day, which was not fun! Both Aaron and I were worried that this was going to be the trend but the next day I got up and was just fine, so praise God for that! I definitely have a much stronger sense of smell. There are things that I had never knew had a scent before! Every scent is very strong, and sometimes a scent may cause me to feel sick. I accidentally discovered that perfume was a bad idea for this reason! The last symptom I have noticed would be that I get tired a lot more easily and by the end of the day I’m exhausted. Thankfully, I’ve read that my energy will pick up during the second trimester.

Changes to mom? My uterus has doubled in size and I have 10% more blood in my body than I did before pregnancy.

Sleep? Mostly okay, but some nights I’m just restless. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to find a comfortable position, and when that happens, I wonder what I’m going to be like when I have a legitimate bump!

Food cravings? At first I was craving pizza. Then it was eggs. Now it’s just whatever someone else has or talks about eating. I really crave protein all the time, it doesn’t matter what form the protein comes in, it just has to be protein! I made these today and they’ve been pretty tasty to snack on. (I doubt they’re going to last through the night though!)

Milestones? Nothing huge here, except I made my first prenatal appointment! I’m excited and nervous. There are so many decisions to be made and I’m not sure which way to go. I will have many questions for my doctor!

Oh! There is one other milestone: we’ve decided on baby names. BUT! We’re not going to tell you what we decided! We will be finding out the baby’s gender and you all get to know that wonderful piece of news, but the baby’s name will have to wait till Pixie’s birthday!

~ Anna

PS – when I actually begin showing, I will take weekly pictures of the baby bump, but since there is nothing yet, it’s not worth posting a picture. :)