BrianandLibby.com

• …decided to dress nicely since the weather is a little nicer. You know, the wide leg pants with the button down shirt tucked in, so nice because it really makes your waist look small. Very businessy and classy. Except that I found what’s begun hiding under my sweaters in the last couple of weeks. Those pants with the cute little waist? Yeah, the waistband just made a nice indentation between what I now see as my two stomachs. It was not so classy. I kept my coat on all day so I could unbutton the pants. And when I got home, I put the shirt at the back of my closet - I hope to wear it next spring. Anybody who wears an Express XS top is free to have it until then.
• …had some cramping and called the Dr’s office. Guess what? We had our first ultrasound! I really was over it after hearing the heartbeat and ready to wait a couple months to see Baby Howe. But I’m so glad we got one! It was the coolest thing ever. The baby was moving all around, I swear SHE was waving at us (no, we couldn’t tell the sex, I’m just guessing). She has two arms, two legs, two eyes, a nose and a mouth and a brain! She is perfect and she is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Also, the second most beautiful thing I have ever seen is her daddy beaming while watching the screen and asking the tech about 1,000 questions. It was a lovely afternoon with my family.

Or hear it, actually, is what we’re looking forward to doing today! For some strange reason I hesitate to even write this because deep down I have this lingering fear that something will be wrong, but Brian and I are headed out the door to our 12 week appt, where we should be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat! This will be a huge milestone - letting me know I’m officially through the first trimester, and that the risk of bad things happening is, statistically, very low at this point.

I’m also looking forward to this because, strangely enough, I still need to know that this is real. I guess the constant headaches, month and a half of nausea, tightness around the waist of my pants, and getting up to pee in the middle of the night hasn’t convinced me yet haha.

In other news, so as not to completely neglect Posh (yet), she got a haircut and it looks like we have a different dog. Or half of the dog we had before. With all that weight lifted, she has a lot more energy. Maybe that’s just from being cooped up at the groomers all day yesterday. I think we need to be a little more consistent with her haircuts! We have much to learn about parenting…

• When someone tells you that you should gain 30 pounds over the next 7 months, it’s really hard to be disciplined about healthy eating
• If my current intake is any indication, our baby is going to be born as a Dunkin Donuts plain bagel, or a Chicken Frontega sandwich (Panera, of course)
• When you tell people you are pregnant, they don’t look at your belly, which is good, because I have reached the point where I can’t suck mine in anymore.
• When you tell people you are pregnant, one of the first things they ask you is whether you’re going to find out the sex or not (the answer is yes, for those of you who are wondering)
• Transitioning out of the “sickness” phase into the “hungry all the time” phase is a recipe for disaster. You go from eating anything that you can hold down, regardless of nutritional content, to being hungry every 2.5 hours…and you’re supposed to be good? Come on!
• I have been doing pretty well, considering. I have only had 2 baked goods, and both were small. Today I ate soup and salad - a meal in which bread was not a headliner. Big progress. I compensated by having grilled cheese for dinner. It’s all about balance, right?
• This whole post (almost) is about food…hence the latter half of the title (which I just added)
• This pregnancy seemed to drag at the beginning. Couldn’t go to the doctor, couldn’t tell anyone, couldn’t get an ultrasound. Now all of a sudden I am a third of the way through it…a third of the way through the last 9 months of my life that I won’t be a mommy
• I am totally not ready to be referred to as a “mommy.” That still scares the crap out of me. I am very uncomfortable with the entire concept.
• Brian and I are at a stalemate for boy names. We went to dinner and tried to use it as a brainstorming session. By the end, Brian was throwing out ideas like London, Brooklyn, and Trenton (as in New Jersey). I walked out.