Alien in my belly

The reason for starting a blog was to document my life throughout the pregnancy and after my first child is born. As you can see, I have written about a post a month so I really need to step it up a bit. Since I'm not keeping a diary or journal of my pregnancy this is pretty much it. So I better document some details about this journey.
Right now I am a 26 weeks. I have gained 18 lbs (ugh) and am wearing a combination of maternity clothes and my pre pregnancy clothes that I am stretching to the max. I feel great! I had about 3 weeks of nausea in the first trimester (about 8-11 weeks) but no actual throwing up. My belly has gotten pretty big and my top half has too- just what I didn't need! Nik says I'm starting to waddle a little bit and I have to swing my legs in order to get off the couch. I went to the gym today and would like to get into more of a routine, but it sure is hard to get motivated, especially when it's cold out like this. I am finally feeling him kick, which has been the neatest experience. It started happening around 23 weeks. Now I can feel him kicking every day, many times throughout the day. Like right now. Nik was able to feel it one time, but it's so sporatic that you kind of have to be there at the right time. I am really starting to get excited about this. At first I was scared to death, and all I could think about was how my life would change forever and all the things I would not be able to do anymore (take a spontaneous trip somewhere, go out to dinner and spend a obscene amount of money, for example). I am still thinking about how things will change forever, but now I can't wait to meet him and see what he looks like and watch him grow up. In a little over 3 months he will be here. It seems like just yesterday when I was at my friend's house getting ready to take a maternity test with shaking hands. That was July, and now it is almost the new year. So many exciting things to come in 2010!

What a great weekend!

This is actually referring to the weekend of November 14th but I'm a little late to getting to writing about it. Friday the 13th is the day that I found out Nik and I were having a baby boy. Friday started out great since I had a 1/2 day planned and there's nothing better than starting the weekend early. My mom was flying in the for a few days so Nik picked her up at the airport in the morning and then I met them at home when I left work for the day. We then met Nik's mom at Houlihans for lunch. Nik and I barely ate, we were so nervous for the ultrasound. At that point I had not felt the baby move at all and it had been so long since the first ultrasound and in that time I had read too much information on the internet about things that could go wrong during the pregnancy. So I picked at my salad and Nik scarfed down his meal (he doesn't pick at any food) but we both were pretty quiet during the meal. Our moms were chatty Kathys the whole time because they were so excited. So we headed over to the doctor and Nik's mom knew the ultrasound tech which made it an great experience. As soon as we told her we wanted to know the sex she blurted out without hesitation "You're having a boy!". We all squealed and cheered and I got a little emotional. It was so neat to watch him moving around and I could have sat there all day watching him. It was also a huge relief to see all limbs and 4 chambers of the heart. Nik was grinning ear to ear, already thinking about his little hunting buddy-to-be. Afterward the ladies went shopping to buy one boy outfit each. Then we went down to the casino and had dinner with Nik and his dad. After a great meal and a long night of gambling the three us girls had a sleepover at the casino. Of course, I was so worried about snoring and keeping my mom and Nik's mom up that I tossed and turned all night, and had to listen to them singing a chorus of snores the entire night! Even though they would deny it, they both snore, haha. We had a coffee the next morning and then I took my mom back to the airport. I think she was in town for exactly 24 hours but we got so much accomplished and had such a great time! I walked around with a smile on my face for the next week. I will never forget that very lucky Friday the 13th of November.