18 weeks, 1 day

Okay, so I got a lot of crap from people about the last belly photo. Apparently it wasn't big enough for some of you! Well, it was something, anyway, and it was all I had. :)

I hope the new photo satisfies you. I'm actually now starting to outgrow some of my skinnier pants. Thank you, Jack and Jean, for the "BellaBand". That thing is the best! For those of you who don't know, it's this wide stretchy band. It's meant for that in-between stage when you're too big for your clothes but too small yet for your maternity clothes. You wear your regular pants but unbutton them. Then you put the band around them so they don't fall down, and it also smooths over the bumpiness from your fly being open. It has been a lifesaver. What a great invention. Of course, I'm not wearing it in the photo, because I'm just wearing sweatpants which are already stretchy.

We've been getting dumped on here - the snow won't stop. I still enjoy it even though I can't ride. Josh went up to Mount Bohemia yesterday with our friend Cameron. I've been out XC skiing twice now - the trails are in great shape. Here's another photo, of a snowman we made the other night.

We're heading to Hastings on Tuesday or Wednesday (depending on the weather) for Christmas. So we'll be seeing a lot of you soon!

16 weeks, 4 days

I think I'm finally starting to get a belly! I hope this photo isn't inappropriate for mixed company; after I put it up I realized I feel sort of self-conscious about it...I promise I'll put on more clothes for the next one! So, I had my 3rd doctors appointment on Friday. Josh came with and we listened to the heart beat again. Once again it was a big relief. I've also gained 5 pounds. All the pigging out must be paying off! I'm very grateful to say I'm really enjoying being pregnant. I really haven't had any unpleasant symptoms to speak of. Even the zits went away!

Winter's in full swing up here and it's a little depressing to know that I can't snowboard. Wouldn't that be a bummer if it ends up being a huge snow year up here and I can't even enjoy it! I am planning on cross-country skiing a lot though. Josh still has to tune up the skis, but I think we're going to go this weekend. Other than that, I've been doing the usual 45-minute dog walk pretty much every night.

I don't have much else to say, but here's an image I took from babycenter.com that shows what the baby looks like right now. It's the size of an avocado. Yum! I love all the anatomical labels.

14 weeks, 2 days

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted; it's just that nothing has been going on. Last weekend we went and got the paint for the baby's room, and Josh and my mom painted. Even though we got zero-VOC paint and primer, there were some VOCs in the paint from the tint, and there was a bit of a paint-y smell. So I stayed away. Then this past weekend, Josh finished up by painting the trim, the dresser, and a few other details. Here's a shot of him hard at work yesterday.

While Josh was slaving away this weekend, I was shopping in Appleton with my friend Ruth. We were very successful. I'm feeling a little guilty; I didn't do any Christmas shopping, I just bought clothes for myself. I really needed them though. I only had about two sweaters nice enough to wear to work, and my office is freezing! I also got some maternity clothes: a pair of work pants, a work skirt and a sweater. Oh, and a nursing bra. That's probably about all I'll need because my friend Kim totally hooked me up. She has two kids, isn't having any more, is about my size, and she gave me all her maternity clothes. Did she ever have the maternity clothes! When I get to the point where I have to wear them, my wardrobe will be bigger than it is now! There must've been 15 pairs of pants in the boxes she gave me. I'm very grateful to her for that; it's going to save me a lot of money. I certainly won't be needing those clothes any time soon though. I still haven't gained any weight. Well, I may have gained 2 pounds or so, but I swear it's just from all the eating I've been doing!

I realized I might've jumped the gun a little with saying I was on the second trimester in the last post. I guess I assumed week 12 was considered the second trimester because there are about 4 weeks in a month. However, according to my book and the babycenter website, week 14 is actually the start of that milestone. I guess they don't count those first two weeks of pregnancy, when you're not actually pregnant yet, even though they count them in the week count. Whatever. Anyway, I'm now there, for sure, and the baby is the size of a lemon.

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving - I'll be seeing many of you soon!

12 weeks, 2 days

Second trimester - woo hoo! I feel like I've been waiting for this forever. On Saturday, the 12-week mark, I went to a craft bazaar with my friend Beth, so I decided to buy the baby some gifts to celebrate the milestone. Here you can see the cute little hat and a towel and washcloth. I also got a pair of homemade pants, but they're for 12 months. Everything was so cheap! Those apostolic women know how to make baby stuff!

Josh and I had a huge bash on Saturday to celebrate Obama's victory and my 30th birthday. I must say, it was a huge success! We made tons of sushi (don't worry, I didn't eat any raw fish) and had a quarter barrel of KBC beer. The keg was gone by 11:00 but the party raged on until 3:00. Yeah...I guess we won't be having too many parties like that once the baby comes! It was the latest I've stayed up since I've been pregnant, by about 4 hours. I was just glad I was able to stay awake.

11 weeks, 4 days

So, this is the ultrasound photo. It turned out pretty blurry when I scanned it, but you get the idea. This was at 8 weeks...so already almost a month ago. I guess the baby probably looks pretty different by now - hopefully it has legs! When I look at this compared to other peoples' ultrasound photos from this early, I think my photo turned out pretty great - you can actually tell what it is. Must be the awesome sonographers we employ at Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital!

Yesterday was a big day. I had my 3rd doctors appointment. I asked about the (lack of) weight gain. She was very unconcerned, and said I'll gain it eventually. Dr. Hafeman is very chill, and nonchalant about everything, which is a good thing. She's had 5 babies of her own so she really knows her stuff, but I guess she's probably used to nervous first-timers being overly concerned about every little thing. Also: I got to hear the heart beat! It was pretty amazing. I have to admit that since I started telling people I'm pregnant, I've been feeling pretty nervous and paranoid, wondering if the thing was even still alive in there. Then it took my doctor forever to find it and I was getting pretty stressed. But then it came through the speaker, loud and clear! I actually almost started crying (okay, I did). It was the first time I've ever cried because I was so happy about something. Then I did it again later, when I listened to Obama's acceptance speech. I blame it on the hormones. What an emotional day though. I feel a lot better about bringing a child into a world where our country can elect Obama. Maybe he'll be able to help make the world a little more peaceful, and a little more green. YES WE CAN!

11 weeks, 1 day

Hi everyone,

After much deliberation (is this too corny?), Josh and I have decided to start a pregancy blog. All of our family (except my parents) live far away, and now that we've told them I'm pregnant, of course they're all very excited. This blog will save us the hassle of constant email updates, sending photos, etc. Everyone can just go check out the blog for the latest news! Also, a few friends (and even some people I don't know well at all) have pregancy and baby blogs, and for some reason I find them very addicting. So I hope other people will enjoy ours too.

As the heading says, I'm 11 weeks and 1 day today. So obviously we've known for quite a while. I've already had 2 doctors appointments and one ultrasound. I'll post the photo from that after I scan it at work tomorrow. We've told some of our friends, and our parents as well. Baby Jenson will be the first grandkid, and great-grandkid, on both sides of our family.

I've been feeling really good the last week or so. I guess maybe I'm already into that second-trimester period of "lots of energy and a feeling of well-being" (that was in one of my pregnancy books). I didn't have too many bad symptoms during the first trimester anyway though-no morning sickness at all. I was really tired for a few weeks there, and was getting a lot of headaches. Oh,and lots of zits. :( But I guess I can't complain, because that's way better than puking! Lisa told me that none of the Bell women had morning sickness, and they also all had very short labors! Hopefully I'll take after her, Tracey and my mom in both of those aspects.

I'm not showing at all yet, and haven't gained so much as a pound. I don't know if that's good or bad...I have my next doctors appointment on Tuesday, so we'll see what she says.

Well, that's it for today. I'll post that ultrasound photo soon.

This photo is from September 18,the day we found out.

Hope you enjoy this blog!