Valentine’s is only a few days away, but the husband and I got the best gift of all a little early: we heard our baby’s heartbeat for the first time! Much better than chocolates or flowers, don’t you say? And I was so amazed to see that the little ball we had just seen 3 weeks before today actually looks like a person now — complete with teeny hands and feet. I’m so in love! We don’t have a scanner, but I took a picture of our ultrasound photo so baby could make his or her debut on the blog:

Sweetness. I have a strong feeling baby is a boy!

We also got another surprise: our due date was changed again! The doctor said I’m 12 weeks, not 10. So the little one will be here Aug. 25, which was our original due date. Funny, huh? I’m so close to trimester 2, and can’t wait to be there next week! (My doctor says second trimester starts at week 13, and while some Internet sites say 14, I’m going with the week earlier.) I’ve had some really scary moments throughout my pregnancy, and knowing my chances of miscarriage greatly reduce after the first trimester gives me such a feeling of relief. Not to mention a lot of the nausea is subsiding (yay!), but unfortunately the sleepiness has decided to stick around for awhile. Ha Ha!

Another thing that is sticking around? Pounds! I’ll be honest here…it’s not pretty. I weighed at the doctor today, and since my first appointment in December, I’ve gained 10 pounds. T-E-N. I was a little freaked out by that, and confused, considering I can still fit in my clothes (a little tighter, but they still fit!) and don’t feel like I look like I’ve gained anywhere other than my tummy. (Ok, “up top” too, but we won’t go there.) I’m also careful most of the time — with a few slip-ups here and there — about what I eat, and I’m exercising at least 4 times a week. I still haven’t made it yet to 5 times a week, but I think it will be easier now that I’m not so queasy all the time.

I talked to the doctor about it, and he wasn’t concerned about my seemingly large amount of weight gain. He said all women are different — some put on a lot in the beginning, and then taper off to a slower weight gain in the later trimesters — and vice versa. As long as I keep up with what I’m doing, he said I shouldn’t worry about it. I will say it is hard to work so hard at losing, and gaining it all back plus some in such a short amount of time, but I know it will all be worth it in the end.

So my game plan is to be a little more careful in the calorie department (eating the suggested 2,000-2,300 calories a day), and up my workouts to 5-6 days a week. I’ll confess that I haven’t been tracking my calories in Babyfit.com for a couple of weeks now, and I know I need a slap on the wrist for that. But with all the sickness, sleepiness, mood swings, etc., I just felt like it was another thing on my plate to worry over. I’m bad about underestimating how much I eat, so I know tracking is important in keeping my goal of only gaining 25 pounds or so during my pregnancy. If it’s a little more than that, so be it, but I want to do everything I can to be the healthiest I can be!

I’m sorry this post is a bit wordy — I’m so giddy after today’s appointment. I think I’ll celebrate with some time on the elliptical…maybe I’ll make it to 5 days this week after all.

I hope you all are having a fantastic week — almost the weekend!!

Tags: 12 weeks pregnant, gaining weight during first trimester, pregnancy, staying healthy during pregnancy

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010 at 7:31 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, pregnancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.