Hi sweet friends! I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. There hasn’t been TOO much to report. We had an ultrasound with my regular OB a few weeks ago, and we finally got to HEAR the baby’s heartbeat. The machines at my specialist’s office do not have the feature that allows you to hear the heartbeat audibly. They were only able to show us the heart flickering and measure the heart rate. I have to say, it is the most beautiful sound. It’s amazing that something so small has a heart that is beating that strong. Here’s a little video of that wonderful moment:

The baby was sleeping during my last ultrasound, so Matt said I should drink a smoothie before this appointment to wake it up. Well it looked like he or she was doing gymnastics in the womb. It was moving around so much that we were unable to get any still pictures. Thanks, Matt! 🙂 It was fun to watch the baby flip around, though. The tech said the heart rate should be leveled off by this point in the pregnancy. It was 171. Our last heart rate was 174, so it seems to be consistently high.

A week and a half after that appointment, I started spotting and having cramps on a Thursday afternoon. I was incredibly nervous. Bright red blood is a scary sight when your baby is growing inside of you. I called the doctor’s office, but, of course, he was out of town. The nurse told me I could come in the following morning for blood work to make sure my hcg and progesterone levels hadn’t dropped. Their office closes at 1p.m. on Fridays, so I had to wait on pins and needles until Monday for results.

All I could do was stay off of my feet all weekend and pray that everything was ok. I was a nervous wreck. I tried to remind myself that stress isn’t good for the baby. When Monday morning finally came around, the nurse said the blood work looked “beautiful” but the doctor still wanted to do a cervical exam to be overly cautious.

After a thorough exam, the doctor assured me that everything was “better than great” with my sweet little bambino. He then remarked that he could still see worry and fear on my face. He said he wasn’t satisfied until I felt at ease, so he was going to send me for an ultrasound just to reassure me. Have I mentioned how much I love my doctor? THAT is the kind of prenatal care women need.

My anxiety turned into excitement as I waited to see my little angel on the screen. He or she was much less active (no smoothie today!) and appeared to be resting with crossed ankles. The baby’s ankles have been crossed in 2 ultrasounds so far. Apparently he or she has a favorite sleeping position already. The heart rate was 167, and I felt all of the fear leaving my body as I heard that strong heart beating. At a whopping 2.5 inches in length, the baby can no longer fit in one frame. They gave me two separate pictures. One was a picture of the baby from the neck down and one was a picture of the baby from the torso up. I didn’t want a headless or legless picture of my child, so I taped them together haha! It looks a little bizarre, but here is Baby P at 12 weeks:

It’s remarkable to see how big this baby is getting. Just 4 weeks ago, he or she only took up a tiny little portion of the sac. I am so thankful that I have had so many ultrasounds. I love watching this miraculous process unfold.

The morning (make that all day) sickness is still wreaking havoc. I haven’t had a break from it yet. The Diclegis and Phenergan help a little bit some days, but they don’t help at all other days. It is just something I have learned to live with. The doctor said it should have been gone by now and that “the baby didn’t read the textbook.” He said it might go away soon or I might be that rare 1% of women who throw up every day until delivery. Let’s hope that’s not the case.

Things have been pretty crazy around here. We are remodeling our upstairs and trying to get everything in working order for the baby. I know things will only get more hectic as the due date nears. I have to keep reminding myself to slow down and put my feet up from time to time. It’s hard to remember that it’s more important to rest than worry about everything being perfect. I am a Type A personality, and I like to keep my house in tip top shape. That has been very difficult with all of the sickness and fatigue lately. I guess this is conditioning me for life with a newborn when I will have no time to clean anything anyway or life with a toddler whose toys are scattered all around the house. My cousin’s son left for college today and she told me, “It goes by so fast. Don’t spend it all cleaning.” That really hit home with me and I thought it was great advice.

My hormones and emotions have been really out of whack the past few weeks. I will hear a song on the radio or see a touching commercial and start crying uncontrollably. Sometimes I cry for no reason at all. I know this is all just part of pregnancy and I am doing my best to enjoy the wild ride.

My belly really started to pop out last week. I’m not sure where it came from, but it is definitely there.

It feels nice to finally LOOK a little bit pregnant. I’m looking forward to buying maternity clothes and dressing my little bump soon. We are going to find out the gender in 2 and a half weeks, so I will be back to update y’all then! What do you think? Boy or girl? Have a wonderful weekend 🙂