12 weeks: 17 questions

1) How far along?  12 weeks, 0 days (according to measurements from last ultrasound

scan on Thurs. Jan. 23rd) The pictures here from the iPregnancy app on my phone say that I'm already in the 2nd trimester after having finished 11 complete weeks, but I've heard that the 2nd trimester does not officially start until after 12 or even 13 complete weeks.

2) Total weight gain? The short answer is 2 pounds.  I weighed 125 last spring before my first pregnancy, then got up to 130, and never lost those 5 pounds since then so my pre-pregnancy weight this time around was 130 pounds in November and I'm now 132 pounds.
3) Maternity clothes? Nope, but I can't zip up and button my jeans anymore, so I use a stretchy hair band to loop through the hole and around the button to keep them up!  I'm wearing a lot of leggings with long blouses, skirts or dresses to school now to cover up any potential bump popping up! 

4) Stretch marks? No, but I did buy some Palmer's Cocoa Butter formula massage lotions for stretch marks so I could use it before I even seen any!

5) Sleep? I'm still sleeping a lot. I mentally "shut down" by 8:00 every night, so I try to finish lesson plans and grading in the few hours that I am am able to work efficiently when I get home.  I go to bed now before 9:00 (fall asleep by 10:00), whereas I had always gone to bed closer to 11:30 or midnight as my pre-pregnant self.

6) Best moment this week? Definitely the 11 week, 4 day ultrasound appointment on Thursday, 1/23!  It was the first time that David had come with me to the doctor for this pregnancy. This was also the first time that we saw the little guy/girl moving around, and it had a strong heart beat of 166 bpm!

7) Miss Anything? I miss running and working out in general. I'm so exhausted every day from working with teenagers 8-4 that I only have enough energy left in the day to plan for the next at school.  I can't even imagine coaching track & field for another 2-3 hours every day for 4 more months like I've done in the past 6 years. I'm hoping to at least start walking or biking in the next few weeks when I feel less nauseous and gain more energy. My doctor even got nervous when I mentioned that I'm trying to get SOME exercise by walking Hank outside every day.  She asked how much Hank weighed, and when I said 110 pounds, she said that David should definitely be holding onto the leash and I can walk alongside Hank from now on.

8) Movement? I definitely don't FEEL anything, but we SAW the movement on the ultrasound machine last Thursday.

9) Food cravings? Watermelon, pineapple, orange juice, spaghetti and meat sauce, hamburgers, Starburst candies, Jimmy John's sub sandwiches, chicken noodle soup, Triscuit crackers and cheese and summer sausage

10) Anything making you queasy or sick? Salad and all vegetables (unfortunately), coffee

11) Gender? No, we don't know yet.  I can be patient and wait until August when "it" comes out to know, but it wouldn't be fun to look away from the screen at all our future ultrasound appointments. David definitely wants to find out ASAP. When the doctor knows for sure, I want her to put the gender on a paper in a sealed envelope, so I can give it to a local baker and have our parents or grandmothers cut open the "gender reveal" cake to find out first! I've heard you can find out gender anywhere between 15 weeks and 20 weeks, but at 18-20 weeks it can be confirmed.

12) Labor Signs? No, no, no, and I hope not for a while.

13) Symptoms? Lots of saliva in my mouth and still spitting in my "spittoon" at night, often light-headed so I try to snack a lot, haven't vomited in more than a week, but I get the worst "morning sickness" at night and just feel awful with a headache and feel nauseous but can't fall asleep even with my night-time anti-nauseau pill

14) Belly Button in or out? Absolutely in

15) Wedding rings on or off? Yep, still on

16) Happy or Moody? Hmmm, I'm doing a good job at masking my symptoms during the day at school, but David can tell you that I have been whiny at night sometimes when I'm not feeling well. I yelled at him in the living room from where I was in the bedroom to come see me, but he didn't hear me, so I needed to call him on his cell phone twice to "attend" to me. ;)

17) Looking forward to what? February 14th weekend, which is our "winter break" weekend for school with a 4-day weekend, when I will hopefully see my doctor for my 14.5 week appointment, and when my mom and Grandma Patsy come to Knoxville to visit!  It will also be when I may finally feel confident and it will be come "real" that this kid is really growing strongly inside of me!