Finishing out the First Trimester

My trip to visit family in Utah was great. Not feeling well had made me miss family that much more. Unfortunately, I was unable to do a lot of the things I wanted to do. The tiredness seemed to take precedence and there was plenty going on to keep me pooped. I broke the news to my friends about the pregnancy while we were talking at the high school reunion. I found out my close friend, Courtney Winegar was also pregnant and two weeks behind myself. Chelsey told me she couldn't wait to see me 'get fat'. Kim was excited for me to be pregnant so I could know what it is like since our lives have been very much the same for so many years and she has already gone through the whole pregnancy gig twice.

We received some of our first baby gifts while I was in Utah. My Aunt Jenny gave us a collection of books that her son James absolutely loves and has memorized. Marty and Alex thought of us while they were vacationing in New York and bought Baby Bell a 'I heart NY' onesie. Chris said at least it wasn't a Yankees onesie (He's a big Red Sox fan).

The plane ride to and from Utah was a little uncomfortable due to my unusually keen sense of smell, which Chris calls my 'Spidey Sense'. On the way out I sat next to an older lady who smelled to me very strongly of a nursing home. The return flight put me next to a rather odiferous man who smelled like the armpit of an egyptian.

I was extremely glad to come home and see Chris after having been gone a week. That was the longest we had been apart from each other and I knew he missed me when there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me at our apartment. I know Baby Bell was missing Dad as well.

After learning that the obstetricians in the Kaiser hospital don't do a lot of ultrasounds and our next appointment not being for a few more weeks Chris and I decided it would be fun to take advantage of Chris' position as a doctor and do an ultrasound ourselves. I met Chris in his clinic at the end of a work day so he could do the sonogram himself. It was so amazing for me to see cute little Baby Bell actually looking like a person. The last ultrasound didn't show much so I was surprised when I saw an easily visible head and body with the arms and legs. I became a little emotional when I realized that there was actually a living being growing and thriving. We were able to take our time watching the baby move and turn. Chris used his long dormant OB skills to try and determine the sex of Baby Bell. His best guess was a girl due to the potential presence of the 'Hamburger Sign'. I realized then why parents don't want to leave their children. I felt like I could have sat there and watched Baby Bell all day.

The next couple of weeks were fairly uneventful as the first trimester came to a close. The nausea and fatigue started getting better. I found myself getting more done throughout the day. With my love of organization returning I started making sense of the apartment so it could better suit our use. I also began to be unable to tolerate heat and I felt like I was having mini hot flashes. I thought that maybe Baby Bell was a girl because the ovaries would be forming about now and that would explain the heat associated with hormone surges. Or, Baby Bell could be a boy that is a little furnace the same way Chris is always emanating heat. Either way I had a tough time holding Chris' hand or being close to him because his body heat would trigger my own body to heat up, which in turn would make me nauseas. And with the temperatures still hitting 100 degrees I would be looking forward to some cooler days.