16 weeks!

Today I am officially 16 weeks pregnant. My belly is, in my opinion, sticking out a lot more, and I have started getting comments from people when I am out and about. I have also had more people starting to touch my belly, which so far hasn't bothered me. I am feeling really good most days. The worst symptoms are when I get bloated and when I get cramps/soreness in my legs at night or when I'm sitting for really long periods of time. I also notice that sometimes I get low blood sugar and have had to be consistent about eating snacks or not getting too many carbs all at once. People are also starting to ask if I have felt the baby move yet. I can't feel anything typically, but if I put my hand near the bottom of my belly sometimes I can feel some movement going on. It kind of feels like a vibration against my belly, so it's pretty cool.

15 week check-up

Just got back from another doctor's appointment today. Since I'm not quite 16 weeks yet, I will wait until Sunday to post new belly pics. I think those of you (Kristy) who were disappointed by the last pictures will be happy to see the progress of my belly this time around. Anyways, the doctor's appointment went very well, even though I had some concerns going into it. I gained about 3-4 pounds since my last appointment, which is right where I expected to be. I also had to have some blood taken to do my triple screen test, which tests for risk of down's syndrome and some other birth defects. My blood pressure was very good- 100/72! The baby's heartbeat was also good- 160. At first she had trouble finding the heartbeat, which made me nervous. Then when she found it it was very faint, because the baby was hiding in the back of my uterus. As she counted the beats, the baby swam right up to the front and the heartbeat got loud and clear! She said, "Baby has lots of room to swim around in there." Haha, I guess that shows that my belly is getting big! I did have a few concerns this time, because I've been getting what I call "heart flutters" several times this week. I've had them for several years now, but this week they kept happening almost once a day. The doctor listened to my heart and said he didn't hear anything abnormal and that he didn't think I needed to worry about it. I was also a little nervous, because this morning after breakfast I got really dizzy and almost felt like I was going to pass out. I had to sit down for a while and drink lots of water and eat a banana. The nurse told me that I probably had a blood sugar spike due to too many carbs with breakfast. I guess I need more protein in the morning and need to get plenty of water when I first wake up. So, even though I was a little worried, everything turned out okay.

Belly pictures coming soon, and in 4 weeks we learn if Baby Osterman is a girl or a boy! Yay!

Second Trimester & Garage Sale Finds

Now that I'm officially into the second trimester I'm feeling really good. I have almost no nausea (except for the nasty Subway guacamole or chicken salad commercials), and I seem to have my (almost) normal energy back. I have even made a few trips to the gym and done some workout dvds that I got at the library. That has been really nice, especially since this is the trimester when the baby is really growing. I want to make sure I don't put on unneccessary weight by just slacking off and pigging out on the sofa every day. My belly is continuing to grow and changing a little each day. Below are some pictures from yesterday. It's hard to give you a good image of my belly, because it changes day to day and hour to hour. I might not look pregnant one day, but the next day I have a good sized tummy popping out. I am also continuing to struggle with sleeping well. I did invest in a body pillow (not a pregnancy one, but a regular full sized pillow), so that I can wrap my arms and legs around it. That has helped me stay on my side as I sleep. I still wake up often though to go to the bathroom and sometimes get leg cramps/soreness in the morning. This makes it really hard to stay asleep, because I have to move back and forth from one side to another.

Those are some symptom updates for now. I'll leave you with some pictures of my belly and some garage sale finds I bought a few weeks ago.

travel bottle warmer and onesie

baby swing that can also be a bouncy seat


My belly at 14 weeks!