13 weeks... and time for a VACATION

Heading into the second trimester.... according to What to Expect When You're Expecting, it will be next week, but according to thebump.com, it's in this week.... either way, I am getting bigger while Baby continues to grow : D

I have been reading both babycenter.com, and thebump.com, and they say baby is about the size of a medium shrimp, or a small peach.... about 2.9 inches, and almost an ounce.

Instead of quoting from the website, I will just compile some info from both sites- neither have a whole lot, so I will combine the two. Baby has finger prints now! And vocal chords are beginning to form. Baby is really working on getting bigger at this point- right now the head is about 1/3 the size if the body, almost to normal proportions. And the intestines are moving from the umbilical chord into baby's tummy. I am so excited to find out if it's a boy or a girl, so I can start using a name, and saying he or she!! I feel weird slipping with one or the other, like I feel bad if our baby is a boy and I accidently call him "she," etc.

As far as Mom goes, I have been going to my PT, which I think is helping. I still have sciatic pains, but it is more bearable now, and the exercises they are having me do are good for my already weakened lower back anyway, to prepare as I am getting larger. I still haven't gained too much weight, I don't think. Between weeks 5 and 9, I gained 2-3 lbs, which the doctor said is perfect. I have been checking my weight, since I am growing so fast and getting bigger than I expected at this time, to make sure it isn't me just pigging out and getting fat because I can- if my scale is right, then I have still only gained about 2-3 lbs since 9 weeks, and my next appointment is this Thursday, so I should be good. It has been tricky, because I was lucky enough to never have morning sickness, and I have been crazy hungry, so I have really been trying to eat healthy so as not to gain too much weight- with low back problems and too-weak abdominal muscles, gaining too much weight would be worse for me than beneficial. What's tricky about it isn't eating too much- it's the fact that I crave cookies and ice cream and greasy french fries and burgers and pizza. It's ok, I have also been craving meat and fruit, so I have been going with that- healthier meat options (chicken and homemade meals with hamburger meat rather than McDonalds) and tons of fruit- I usually have an apple, peach, grapes, strawberries, plum, blueberries... all in one day!

So enough about my food options- this week is vacation week!! I don't go back to work until August 17th, whoopee!! I was planning on heading to Austin this morning with Buddy to relax and spend some time with Angelia, but of course (the story of my life) Mike wrote me online this morning to say he will be home today, which is unexpected. We were pretty sure he would be working on the job he was at for at least another week. So of course I didn't want to drive 6 hours by myself that way at 11 am, just to have Mike come home at 7 pm and miss him. As of now, not sure still when he will be here, but it should be sometime tonight, and we will leave for Austin tonight or tomorrow morning. I have my appointment on Thursday, so I was planning on heading back home on Wednesday but we will see... I am off all week, so maybe they won't mind if I reschedule and take my time getting back home.

I am just so excited to finally relax this week! Work has been a little tricky, with changing managers and all, and I am trying to be motivated at work to actually perform well- I went through a bit of a slump, when I was just getting up and going there because I had to, and didn't want to try at all. Now I am trying to do my best while I am there- it makes it easier to go there everyday, when I have a goal to do my job well, rather than my goal just being getting home at night.

Buddy is crying... apparently it is time to take him outside! Stayed tuned for week 14!