14 Weeks - Pregnant, who?

I skipped week 13 out of superstition and general uneventfulness, so here we are at week 14...OFFICIALLY in the 2nd Trimester now by all counting methods.

I'm pretty much feeling not at all pregnant right now. My skin is back to it's normal, smooth, zit free complexion. The gas and bloating of the last 3 weeks has returned to a normal, pre-preggo level. I've only gained 1 pound since August 11th. My waistline hasn't gotten any rounder (though it did measure one inch longer today). No mood swings, no crazy behavior, nada.

I have this fear that I will go in for my next ultrasound (on the 22nd) and they are going to say "we're sorry Mrs. Kubec, you were never really pregnant!". If I hadn't seen speck swimming around with my own eyes I'd think I was making the whole thing up.

On the other hand, not looking or feeling preggo is a good thing for the job search. I've pretty much made up my mind that I am not going to tell my future employer about my "condition" prior to a job offer, and even after that I think I will wait until I'm settled in. In fact, I am still toying with the idea of pretending it is new news when I am ready to break it. The travel and the stress of unemployment were causing my cycle to be irregular (Mr. Boss), and now I finally understand why the food in Mexico was so gross!!

One sign though that I am in deed pregnant--today I had a craving for a tuna sandwich (speaking of food). I have NEVER had a desire to eat a tuna sandwich...I didn't even know how to make one!

And here you have it, your Speck Progress Report for week 14, provided courtesey of baby-gaga.com:

At about 3.5 inches long, their little body and limber limbs are coordinated enough for loads of complicated motions. In fact, their whole body is moving right now! You're not feeling it because their current size is still a bit too small to make an impact you'd recognize. Still, their movements are recognizable on an ultrasound...Your baby is also starting to develop the ability to move their eyes this week, although the eyelids still remain fused shut. What's more, they can make all sorts of fun facial expressions as they practice squinting, frowning, and grimacing. Cute development of the week: their little hands can grasp at things and they may already be sucking their thumb!

Home from Mexico

Erik and I finally returned from Mexico today. We headed straight for the store and stocked up on all the foods we've been missing...bratwurst, chips & salsa, cokes, cheddar cheese, you name it. We had a yummy dinner of fresh tomatoes, brats, and garlic bread. And then I puked it all up.

Why did my first pregnancy puke have to be a meal I've been dying to eat for weeks? How unfair! Maybe my mind has been effective at keeping my cookies while we were in Mexico, because I didn't want to put my head in Olivia's toilette (it was always full of blue toilette cleaning stuff). Or maybe my stomach just needs some time to adjust to food that actually tastes good.

I hope this isn't the start of morning sickness. At almost 11 weeks, I thought I was in the clear. I haven't had any preggo symptoms in over a week. I need to feel not pregnant for a couple more weeks so I can land a job! I've got my eye on one with a really nice base and paid maternity leave...can't be throwing up in interviews!!

Speck - Week 10

Speck is now in Week 10. I'm very excited for next week's doctor's appointment, where I think we will be doing another ultrasound and listening for a heartbeat! Click here for more details on how speck is growing.

I'm still feeling relatively symptom free. I did have a couple of "oh I think I'm gonna puke" moments last week (right after I bragged in my last post about not having any morning sickness), but they were brief and uneventful. I was so bloated earlier this weekend that I did get a preview into what I'll look like in a month, but it was good timing because nobody asked me if I wanted any tequilla when we went on the Jose Cuervo tour.

I'm sleeping a ton, and I am really glad that I had these five weeks free of work. Since I'm not ready to make an announcement to an employer, I don't know how I would have suffered through all of the fatigue at work. And from everything I have read, I should be getting some of my energy back during the second trimester---just in time to start a new job!

Speck - Week 9

I've signed up for about 10 different web services that send me weekly updates on how Speck is growing. Apparently, this week he/she graduates from an embryo to a fetus...yeah Speck! Keep up the good work.

The symptom of the week this week is fatigue. I'm glad that I don't have a job at the moment, because I'm not sure how I would be doing right now. According to my weekly updates, the fatigue should fade in a couple more weeks...at least for a while.

The good news is, still no puking and my oily face has yet to yield a pimple!

Pregnancy & Mexican Food

One of the more challenging parts of the last 3 weeks of pregnancy has been life in Mexico. I do like Mexican food. I thought my problems here would be limited to pinto beans and corn tortillas.

What I was not prepared for was the strong reaction that speck & my stomach have had to smells and things that just don't look good. I've always been a picky eater, but now instead of just being grossed out I am finding myself nauseous. I am so tired of onions, chicken with bones, fresh tortillas that smell like dog food, and the other assorted wierd things that they eat here!

In the last week, I've resorted to exaggerating food cravings: Pizza, Mac & Cheese, Cheerio's, etc. I feel bad, because Olivia is trying so hard to make sure I'm eating...but sometimes I can barely enter the kitchen! This weekend Erik & I have the house to ourselves. In a few minutes, we're going to walk to the store and find the ingredients to make REAL spaghetti for dinner. YUM!!

7 Weeks & Counting

It has been 3 weeks since I learned that "Speck" is on the way. Somewhere between quiting my job (read: giving up my insurance) and departing for a 4 week trip to Guadalajara, I realized that I'd missed something. After waking up in a panic, taking the HPT, and listening to my best friend tell me that there are no false positive pregnancy tests, I broke the news to Erik.

Surprisingly, all is well. And much to my relief, we still went to Mexico.Week 7 Symptoms: Lets just say, prunes are my new favorite food. And I can smell onions from a mile away. Heavy meals with lots of flavor aren't very appealing. And my bladder is on a once every 2 hour schedule. Perhaps my mood is a little out of whack, but who am I to say?

We've been referring to the baby as "Speck" (or "Motito" in Spanish) because in the very preliminary ultra-sound taken at week 5, he/she/it was about 5mm long.

We've broken the news to our family and everyone is very excited. And we've told everyone we've met in Mexico (I feel like I have to explain why I don't want Cervezas or Tequilla). I'm hoping to get a job before I spill the beans to the world in full, so for now this blog is by invitation only.

I decided to start a blog on the whole process, because I'm pretty much obsessed with it right now anyway and I might as well do something somewhat productive with all of that energy!