9 weeks...

Today (Sunday) I am 9 weeks and thrilled about it. Every morning I've thanked God for adding another day to our baby's life.

Just wanted to Journal the happenings of this pregnancy.

Last week I was craving cheese like crazy. Here is a picture of the things I bought at the store last week. I got really excited b/c you can't exactly get ritz cheese crackers and cheesy bugles here all the time. I like to think God put those there just for me and my lil' bug. And- the best part is I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for them... I think he did that for me as well. :) When the guy at the grocery was packing my bags for me, I wanted to say "Please can you hurry up. I have GOT to get into those Bugles." Fortunately I did not and had enough self control to wait until I got to the car. I asked CT to go back and get 2 more bags for me. :)

I have over 2lbs of Rice crispies too! Those are normally about $9.40, but I found them for $2.80 per box. Talk about excited. I wish I had gotten more!

I've been a very good girl- eating my carrot sticks instead of too much junk food and have been completely off caffeine since the day I found out. That hasn't been hard. I've gone from loving coffee and never missing a single morning to despising it. I have not been able to STAND the smell of coffee. I think this is so bazaar for me to go from loving to hating coffee. I can tell it's getting better though- I can tolerate the smell a bit better, but have no desire to drink it or any other hot drink. My nausea is much better. It's just when my blood sugar gets low (some mornings) I get a bit nauseous, but nothing to write home about.

Without going into detail- the symptom that is probably the most difficult for me is my "system slowing down" and MAJOR bloating. I look 4 months pregnant b/c of the air that fills my belly. My clothes are getting tighter just b/c of this. I'm uncomfortable in my most of my normal jeans. I was in my Weekend Excursion T-shirt the other day and a friend of mine said "I guess you won't be wearing that shirt must longer, huh?" I looked down. Big ol' belly. Nope... guess not. I weighed myself the day I found out and I haven't gained a pound. So why is my belly so massive??! yikes. I'd rather know it was massive b/c the baby is just getting that big. I can't drink a soda to save my life. I know I'll soon pay for it if I choose to. Fine by me, water is my BFF. I'm NOT complaining though. Just want to make that clear. CT will say "Sorry you are so uncomfortable... " I say "Well, I'm not."

Okay, so the best part about this post is that my best buddy over here, Helen Clarke, is PREGNANT! We are within about 3 weeks of one another. She just cried at church this morning telling me how excited she was that we were doing this together for the first time. We're both struggling in this first 12 weeks with trusting God completely. We're just scared about some different things going on with our bodies. She had some very unusual pain before she found out she was pregnant, so when she found out it scared her and she wouldn't let herself get excited. She went to the MD and she is going for a scan on Thursday to check for fetal viability. She's pretty worked up. She hasn't had any symptoms of pregnancy.

This morning I woke up praying that she would be nauseous. I read that it is a GOOD sign in your pregnancy- so that's what I prayed for. I talked to her at church and she said this morning was the first morning she had nausea! She said she barely could choke down a bowl of cereal. :) YAY GOD!! When I told her what I prayed for she sort of thanked me, but asked me not to pray that anymore. hahaa!

I have plans to get together with 2 friends here who recently went through natural childbirth at the same hospital where we'll be delivering. I just want to feel every part of this possible. I've NEVER had a narcotic (that I remember). Only when I had my wisdom teeth out, but that just comes with the package and I don't remember a thing due to the hypnotic. I think I'm a total weenie and I'm kinda scared that I won't be able to handle it, but I'm keeping an open mind and I'm still making myself run. I REALLY don't feel like it some days, but I read about how great it is for you for many reasons, one being labor. Plus there are WAY more woman in this world that do it without drugs than with. So I'm hoping I can do it Eve's way. Plus... I mean it was our punishment after all.

RECAP:

9weeks

Cravings: stewed zucchini, squash and onions. I pretty much just LOVE ALL FOOD! It tastes better than ever right now. Can't eat quite as much though. I prefer several a ton of smaller meals.

Symptoms: fatigue, hunger

Gross stuff: hot drinks. Almost barfed drinking hot water for my "slow system" Friday.

8 weeks

Cravings: cheesy ritz, cheesy bugles, yoghurt (dairy)

Symptoms: Constant hunger, occasional nausea, fatigue

Gross stuff: hot drinks, the dog/cat food

7 weeks

Cravings: nothing

Symptoms: nausea, extreme fatigue and weird vivid dreams (about being a "good" vampire and carrying my naked friends around b/c I had wings to carry them place to place)

Gross stuff: coffee, hot drinks, ANY FOOD!

About lil' bug:

By now, most of the aspects of lil' bug's physical structure, such as head, arms, legs, and torso are in place. If I were to peek in on our little one, you'd find he/she resembles a miniature human being (one with a very large head!). Because lil' bug's organs and limbs are forming, in the next few weeks, he/she will be putting on weight. Right now it is about an inch long, but by next week the baby will be the size of a lime. The little "tail" should have disappeared by now, and it's organs and muscles should be functioning on their own.

This week his/ her eyelids will fuse shut and won't open up again until about 27 weeks along. The face is becoming more distinct every day, with the mouth, nose and nostrils becoming clearly visible. By nine weeks, our lil' bug will even have developed sex organs!!!

Our baby's heart should have divided into four separate chambers now.

This is just so COOL!