oh baby!

I've been pretty absent from my blog lately - but not because I haven't had anything to write about! Actually quite the opposite is true! I've had tons to write about, just nothing that I could share yet. But I'm breaking the silence ...

We're having a baby!

Yup, that's right. Our little family is growing, and we COULD NOT be happier! We found out pretty much as soon as we possibly could have, and it was SO hard to keep the news to ourselves. We did tell our immediate families right away, but thought it wise to wait at least until our first OB appointment to start spreading the news.

The first few weeks after finding out were the toughest. I never had any full blown morning sickness, but just felt queasy and nauseous almost all the time. Also had some cramping, was absolutely exhausted all the time, and starving! I felt like I just could never eat enough, except nothing every sounded good! By around 8 or 9 weeks most of the symptoms subsided - except the hunger. But I've found that if I stay on top of that, I don't get queasy or nauseous. So I've now incorporated a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack to my day!

At 8 weeks we were finally able to meet with the prenatal care coordinator at our hospital. She was absolutely wonderful! I was so nervous, and she just put me at ease about everything. She took time to go through everything with us and let us ask as many questions as we wanted. I had a bunch of lab work done, and also got an official pregnancy test!

At 10 weeks we finally got to meet our OB. We didn't get an ultrasound, but we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat with the doppler - a strong 150 bpm! I wasn't sure how I would react, but in the moment all I could do was smile - and look at Nate. It was beyond amazing. I'm sure it is a moment I will never forget. In that moment the pregnancy, and the baby, finally became real to me.

Today is the start of my 12th week, so past the scary part of pregnancy but not quite to the 2nd trimester yet. I started gaining weight almost right way, as you can see below! The first photo was taken around 6 weeks, the second was taken today.

 6 Weeks

12 Weeks

So now you know why it's been so quite on my blog! I've had so many thoughts going through my head, so many things I wanted to share! But just couldn't spill the news just yet. But the word is out! Yay!