15 weeks

I have been so busy since school has started! Taking five classes and teaching three may have been a mistake. Tuesdays and Thursdays are rough, because I am on campus basically from 10 am to 8 or 9 pm. I already have so much school work to do only three weeks in! So, I haven't had a lot of time to update. Sorry to those of you that check regularly! I'm hoping I will eventually get used to this schedule and I'll be able to post more often.

As you can probably guess, I've been exhausted. I'm sure it has a lot to do with the long hours at school, but it's also still brutally hot here and I also have a good deal of walking to do while on campus because of how far my parking lot is and the construction they are doing on campus. I see that as a good thing though, since I'm not getting much exercise right now other than that. I'm still feeling nauseous on and off, but it's slowly getting better. I've also developed the WORST heartburn. It got so bad one night that Aaron actually went to the store around 11 pm to get me something for it, and I have been trying so hard not to take any medicine while pregnant. Thankfully Rolaids are on the approved list of medication, and they are a good source of calcium, so I don't feel that bad about it. Aaron is truly the best though!

I'm having more trouble fitting into my clothes. Some days it can be kind of depressing how big I feel, and Aaron has to remind me that it's the baby, not me. My stomach hangs over my pants now, and it's also very uncomfortable to wear jeans while buttoned. I got a Be Band from Target, which basically allows me to wear my pre-pregnancy clothes more comfortably. You're supposed to wear it over your unbuttoned pants, and no one can tell. It's amazing! I definitely look more pregnant now too! I think you probably can't tell I'm pregnant yet unless you know (I just look chubby), but it's still exciting.

Now that we are into the second trimester, all I want to do is buy things for the baby! It's hard to really pick anything out though without knowing if we're having a boy or a girl. We did pick out a crib and changing table though! We've also gotten a few more amazing gifts from friends and family. I promise I won't post every little thing we get on here, but I'm going to now since we don't have a lot yet.

Joe and Amy got me an AWESOME Vera Bradley diaper bag for my birthday. The print is so cute, and inside it has a pull out changing pad. I am so excited to fill it up! Also, this picture was also taken in the nursery, which gives a better idea of the color we painted it.

Aaron and I's good friend, Heather, got us this adorable outfit. The little giraffe pattern is so cute! I can't wait to put it on our baby!

Uncle Paul

It's been a year now since Uncle Paul has passed away. He's been on my mind so much lately, and it makes me so sad to think that he won't meet my little angel when it is born. He was such an important person in my life, and I know that all I can do now is make sure our kids know who he is and what an amazing person he was to have in our family. I think there is still more to learn and experience from him even though he isn't with us any longer.

Times like now really make me think about how important family is. Even though our baby will grow up so far away from our family, I still want it to know how important family is and to feel the love our family has to offer. I've been pretty lucky to still have that even from so far away.

We love and miss you, Uncle Paul.

Alien Arms

I was talking with our friend, Heather, about fetal development, and I tried to look up something I didn't know. I went to the Mayo Clinic website and was looking at their site for 14 week fetal development (14 weeks on Thursday!!), and I found this interesting tid-bit:

"Fourteen weeks into your pregnancy, or 12 weeks after conception, your baby's arms have almost reached the length they'll be at birth."

Are you kidding me?! The baby will only be about 3.5 inches during the 14th week, and yet his/her arms will be longer than the body? Is that even possible? Come on, Mayo Clinic.

Keebler Elves

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I've been incredibly busy. I went to NJ the last week of July to attend the Billy Joel/Elton John concert with my mom and visit with my brother, Danny, and Uncle Ed. The show was so awesome! What an amazing experience! They played all the songs I wanted them to and more! It was also really nice getting to spend time with family.

23 rows from stage!



I got home Saturday night and left Monday morning for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for a field course. I had a lot of reservations about taking the class, considering how bad I've been feeling, and all of the hiking I'd have to do. I also didn't know ANYONE going into the trip, so I was pretty nervous about that. Seeing as I'm not the most athletic or outgoing person, it was definitely a challenge for me, but I saw that as a good thing. For the most part, the experience was awesome! I learned a lot about the environment there and different aspects of the park. The hiking was really great, except for one trip we took to monitor salamanders. It was hot that day and such a steep hike, that I got winded almost immediately and had to use my inhaler. Then I got some pains in my stomach. To make matters worse, on the way down I definitely fell. Thankfully I slid down my leg and landed on my hip/butt. I was so afraid I had hurt the baby, because they stressed to me so much the importance of not falling. I'm not bleeding though and have felt no major pains, so I'm hoping everything is ok. Otherwise it was gorgeous there and a great experience.




While I was gone Aaron finally got his scooter. He's been riding it around town like a mad man! And it motivated him to fix our garage door opener! yay!


Tomorrow I'll be 13 weeks pregnant. I told Aaron I had gotten an email saying our baby was 3 inches long, which they compared to the size of a Nutter Butter. We joked about how it's basically the size of a Keebler Elf. haha. My nausea has been pretty intense this week. I thought it was supposed to get better! I've recently started burping a lot, and I am definitely not the kind of person who really does that, so that's been weird. I feel constantly thirsty, even though I drink more water in a day than seems physically possible. My chest and stomach are definitely bigger. I wore jeans the other day, and even though I could zip and button them, I was very uncomfortable the whole night. I feel so chubby and gross. My stomach actually looked pretty lopsided earlier today, and was more rounded on the left side (as I'm looking down on it). I wonder if that is where Baby Luther is sitting! I can't believe I am almost 1/3 of the way through this pregnancy! As I'm getting bigger, I am constantly worried that what I do is hurting it. It's kind of frustrating to feel that way, and makes me anxious for our next appointment to make sure everything is ok. Do other pregnant woman worry this much? This week I've also been pretty emotional. I'm a pretty emotional person by nature, but haven't really felt since I've been pregnant that I've had any unusual mood swings until this week (not, of course, counting crying at movies, which I do a lot anyway...haha). Hopefully that won't last for the whole pregnancy! I'm still getting full really quickly when I eat, but feel hungry a lot. I got a craving today for icecream with cookie dough, brownies, and m&ms. It made me think of a time I was staying with Nicole and Alana and we made something like this. I miss those girls! So, I treated myself to some. As soon as I finished it I wanted orange soda and skittles. What the heck?! I guess Baby Luther has its daddy's sweet tooth! haha.

I start school again on Tuesday. I managed to fit five classes between Tuesday and Thursday of the week. It feels so weird going back to school full time! I'm really looking forward to it though. I'll also be a Teaching Assistant for Marine Sciences again this year, so I'll be pretty busy. Thankfully, I might have a chance to pick up health insurance through the university because I'm TAing, which would include my pregnancy! If it works out, we won't have to pay COBRA, and it'll save us so much money! Cross your fingers for us! We'll find out this week, I hope.

If I think of anything else, I'll put it in the next post. It's getting pretty late, and I'm still exhausted most of the time, so I should head to bed. I promise it won't be such a long gap before my next post!