Flutters

Seriously, guys. Feeling all this baby's little flutters is the weirdest thing, but at the same time it's not. It feels like I've always or never imagined it. In a word: indescribable.

I feel him (assuming it's a him) shift around just about daily, besides today where I felt him during every school period. I'm really hoping that all this moving is going to tire him out so when he's here, he'll just sleep and not want to run all around always. But I doubt that's even close to how it works. It's fine, I'll just be happy to have him.

There is one thing that I'm not the biggest fan of, though. Lately, I've been SO HUNGRY ALWAYS. This has never been a part of my life. Some days, when I was by myself at home all day, I would just forget to eat. Either that, or I would just snack most of the day till dinner. Not anymore. I could seriously eat like 5 or 9 meals a day, it feels like.

Snacks just don't cut it most of the time and I'm getting tired of going to grab something after school before I beast-out on somebody because I'm starving. I'd be happy eating fruits and veggies if they were an entire meal, but that just circles back to snacks. I want a full meal: side dishes, entree, drink, the full deal.  Here's the catch, though. I am a terrible cook and I'm hungry NOW. NOT WHEN FOOD HAS BEEN COOKED. Now. As in immediately.

Okay, I had a snack and it's better... but now I just need like 7 more snacks and we can talk. Thinking about it makes it worse. My current every second feeling:

That's all. Just thought you'd like an update.
Love, Miss Ellen

In a Heart Beat...

We had our 16 week appointment today! Good news: we heard the heart beat! 155 - regular! We'll have another appointment with a specialist in a week or so to see all the organs and find out the gender! Wee!

And I'm starting to look nice and round and wearing real maternity clothes. It's all exciting!

Just thought I'd post an update. This weekend we got to spend a little time with Sean's sister Rhiannon (and might again tonight if she can get on a dumb airplane)   and it was great! It's always nice to see some of Sean's family.

And this next weekend is Valentine's! Sean and I are going to a super fun ball and it's gonna be awesome! I'm just really lucky.
Love,
Miss Ellen

Sinking in

In all honesty, it's still pretty strange to think that in a few short months, I'll be a mom. I almost cried a little while watching the Mother's Day episode of Raising Hope with the realization of it.

But I'm actually super excited although this all seems like a dream still. Even with the bump getting bigger and occasionally having little flutters (maybe?), it's so unreal.

I think it might be because I've been dreaming about this since I was so little that it doesn't seem like it's happening. Crazy.

Anyway, everything is going well. I'm feeling better about wearing fitted shirts and I'm eating way more than I was a few months ago (for example, I just ate 4 string cheeses, a small bag of sunchips, and 2 airheads as an after school snack). So it's all good news.

Yay Second Trimester!

It seriously is all it's cracked up to be. The nausea is gone (beside the occasional surprise...) and, even though I still want to take naps all the time, I'm getting my energy back! I even went to the gym yesterday and lounge-biked (I really don't know what that comfy bike machine is called) a full 30 minutes/4 miles. WOOOOO.

I'm finally starting to feel cute in some of my clothing because a bump is almost there. Sometimes it just looks like chub (i.e. when I went to the gym) but I'm really trying to not be afraid to show it off, no matter how little it is.

Plus, I'm told by a few of my numerous phone apps that I'm supposed to be able to start feeling him (assuming still that it's a him) within the next few weeks. And I won't panic if I don't. Probably.

Just as a personal update, Sean and I took my sister to a rad Twin Forks/ Jukebox the Ghost concert this weekend. Here's a song (You can skip the first minute intro if you want. I won't be offended.):

We had to leave when Jukebox played, though because it was a little to base-y and McNugget didn't completely love it and it weirdly made me out of breath.

Speaking of McNugget, he's at least 4x the size of one. About apple- or orange-sized. Eek!

Tonight, Sean and I are going to see one of our favorite comediannes, Tig Notaro, and I'm SO EXCITED. One thing about me is that I love comedy. If I could stand up long enough to do stand up (and be funny enough to talk for an hour or more without boring people), I totally would.

Also, only 72 days till The Bees' Opening day! It might sound like I'm trying to count down to events other than my baby's birth, which I kind of am because I think if I do, the due date will come more quickly, if that makes any sense.

Cool.
-Miss Ellen

Bump #1

It's not quite a bump, but there's definitely a belly going on! Hooray!

Only 180 something more days til we meet our little friend!

It's a... REAL BABY!

Our second doctors appointment went so excellently today! Guys. It's starting to look like a real human baby. AAAHHHHHH. Here are some pictures as evidence:

Look! It has a head and a body and arms and legs and hands! So cute! 

Now to invade it's privacy.... You have been warned.

This is a between the legs shot. It definitely looks particularly boy but we're not allowed to put our money on anything yet. 

AHHHH. I can't even tell you how excited I am. Here's a bit of truth:

When I was very little, I would imagine myself to be pregnant by stuffing multiple teddy bears and dolls up my shirt. NOW I DON'T HAVE TO PRETEND. IT'S REAL!

Maybe I should quit with the caps... It's just very exciting. I'm so excited to be a mom.

Also, there may or may not be a tiny baby bump forming and I'm having to wear baggier shirts and such. It's great and you're great. 

Love, 

Miss Ellen and Nugget.

Thoughts on the First Trimester

I'm only about 3 days away from my second trimester. HALLELUJAH. The first trimester was certainly not a breeze, but I feel like it could have been much worse. I had the usual morning sickness and exhaustion as well as most of the other strange things that happen during this whole deal, but I only felt really bad for a couple weeks and even then I still had energy to go out sometimes and get dressed every day. And it was also really nice that those 2 weeks I had off of work because of Christmas.

Morning Sickness
To say my morning sickness was horrible would be an overstatement. Only about 30 to 40% of the days involved actual vomit, although most all of them included nausea. Considering, though, that a lot of my life (i.e. pms, periods, random weekdays, etc) involved nausea without having a baby in me it wasn't as bad as I was originally imagining. Also with my mom having a history of being violently ill a large portion of being pregnant with me and my sister, I'd say I've been blessed. Either that, or it's a boy and the old wives tale saying they don't make you as sick is really true.

Exhaustion
The exhaustion was rough though. Living in the basement is a pain during that time because if I want something to eat that involved anything besides a small cart, mini fridge, and microwave, I had to hike up 13 steps and take a breather. Nearly every morning during my 2 week holiday break from work, I had to take a rest and sit down while still showering. Looking back, I should've just taken baths but our tub is really shallow and I don't think the drain plugs all the way.

Moodiness
Moodiness was minor. Maybe a few times I had a really hard time but I've always been pretty even-keel and skillful at keeping my emotions in check. Even watching a particularly touching episode of Parenthood last night with my mom I kept it together and didn't weep profusely at the thought of Sean having a heart attack or having an emotionally charged baby shower in a hospital cafeteria. Cry count so far this pregnancy: 2. I'm great.

#Blessed
Plus, I really shouldn't have too much to complain about anyway because Sean really is the best husband in the entire world. I honestly don't think I would've been able to handle any of this if he wasn't as incredible as he is. He'd probably just say he was doing his job, which he probably was but i digress. Sean is great, I'm great. We can totally handle this.


Love,
Miss Ellen