Merry Christmas and Week 14 pics

Wow, here we are at 14 weeks. I'm still feeling pretty fat and I am hopeful that I will start to show at least a little bit of a real baby bump next week or in week 16.

I feel great aside from this wave of fatigue and drowsiness that hits me every day around 6 pm. It is absolutely mandatory that I at least lay down at this point since I can hardly keep my eyes open. I thought maybe it was only on work days but it hit me today in the same way it hits me on other days of the week.

Christmas was ok. I'm not a huge holiday person, but I'm sure I will be more of one once the baby is with us. I got some gift cards, picture frame, a jar opener (WTF MIL?), and drumroll please....we got an awesome blu(e) ray DVD player that we are super excited about.

Week 14 pics:

We have officially picked out names :)

Some of you may know that my husband had the hardest time picking out boys names. Girls names were never a problem as we both like the same names. But, since I have such a strong boy feeling lately, I made him sit down and look at the baby names book. So, here are our boy names:

Hugo
Oliver
Rafael

We also like Sebastian but not nearly as much as we like the 1st 3. For girls we love:

Katarina
Mikela
Isabel
Dalia

Isabel has been my favorite girls name since it was my French name in 7th grade French class, 13 years ago. Now, its so freakin popular it makes me want to scream. But Chris and I really do love the name and I don't think we'll hesitate too much on it if we do have a girl and that name just seems to fit. I also like the variation of Aribelle and the name Natalia.

Now we just have to wait and see if my instinct is right :)

13 weeks - 2nd tri here I come!

I can't believe I'm into the 2nd tri....I am so excited. I have been feeling really good lately. The nausea is gone and my appetite is back with a vengeance! I have been having cravings for sausage and egg breakfast sandwiches like you would not believe...and I've been loving fruit. I still have moments where I am pretty tired, but I do seem to be getting these bursts of energy that I am definitely thankful for. Tonight was the 1st time I actually cooked dinner in the past 2 months!

In other exciting news, my boss is pregnant. I adore my boss. She is due 06-13...so just 10 days before me. Lets just say that we've definitely been the talk of the office in the past couple of days!

I have to go get my flu shot next week...definitely not excited about that. I've also been getting comments from people that I am starting to show. Meh, I'm not sure. I just feel fat. You be the judge ;)

Week 13:

Trip to CA

Oh CA, how do I miss thee? Let me count the ways!

Let's just say I wasn't exactly thrilled to wake up to a temperature of 6F. Not my idea of fun...

My weekend trip was wonderful. Of course I miss my family even more now, but thankfully I know I will be back soon. I got some wonderful news while I was there. My mom has decided to come for about 3 weeks to a month once the baby comes. She is skipping her usual trip to Croatia and coming to Chicago to be with me. This makes me so happy I could cry. My BFF is also coming for a visit once the baby comes and this makes me so excited too!

In other news, I found the baby's heartbeat on the doppler for the 1st time on Saturday and since then I have pretty much been able to find it right away every time I try. I'll give it another go this afternoon. It's heartbeat has consistently been 155 bpm. I'm feeling pretty good. The nausea is gone (for good I hope). I'm still really tired but I'll take that over nausea any day!

Quick hello from CA

Hello loyal blog followers :)

I just wanted to say a quick hello and give an update on my NT scan results. I just heard back from the hospital and our risk for trisomy and downs is 1 in greater than 10,000. So, WAHOO for great results!

Much love and hugs to all!

Week 12 updates

I am so excited to be finishing up my 1st trimester. This past weekend was completely nausea free and rather than enjoying it, I was worrying something was wrong with the baby. Monday was back to business as usual in that department however it was less than it had been. I'm kind've still experiencing it, much its much milder than in prior weeks.

We had our NT scan yesterday. It was amazing to see how big the baby had already gotten. At first the baby was sleeping on its side facing us. After some poking from the u/s tech, the tech decided that I should empty my bladder since baby was just too comfortable on its side and needed to get on its stomach or back for the measurements. Once I emptied my bladder (a glorious moment) the baby decided that it wanted to move around. We saw everything; arms, legs, feet, hands, etc. We even watch the baby swallowing amniotic fluid. It was amazing. I definitely have more of a girl feeling now. In terms of the NT measurement, everything was completely normal. Now all we have to do is wait for the b/w results and we should get our probability, even though we already know its low.

In other news, I am going to CA tomorrow--WOOHOO. I will be gone till Sunday and I cannot wait to see my family (that includes BFF as well, of course). I received the doppler today and was unsuccessful the 1st try. I'm waiting for my bladder to fill up and see if I can hear it then.

Hope everyone has a great weekend--I know mine will be :)

Week 12:

Recommend your home doppler

**UPDATE: Thanks for the recommendations. I just purchased the HI Bebe doppler. Can't wait to get it!**

Where you got it and what the cost was...especially if it's one that is able to pick up 1st tri fetal tones.

I would really like to get one. I have my NT scan on Tuesday and then won't have another u/s till 20 weeks. I need something to help me stay sane and at least be able to listen to the baby.

Thanks in advance!