Maternity Clothes

I am now at 15 weeks and my body is definitely beginning to change. I can still fit into my favorite pair of jeans, but my belly pushes at the fabric in a whole new way. After my last doctor's appointment I went to Target and purchased a pair of maternity jeans. The jeans are very comfortable, but they are not the most fashionable - looking a bit like the dreaded "mom jeans." I will still wear them, possibly with a long maternity top, since it's really just at the hips that the jeans don't quite look right.
It's really been too hot for jeans and I found myself uncomfortable in my shorts a few weekends ago, so B and I stopped into Target and I bought a pair of Liz Lange gaucho pants in black.


They are extremely comfortable, just like sweats, but with a better look for everyday wear. There are some complaints on the Target website about them and I agree with the color transfer complaint - don't wash anything light colored with them. I turned a white tank top brown. They aren't the greatest quality, but I'm quite fond of mine. In fact, I'm wearing them right now.
I wasn't going to purchase any more maternity clothes after that. I told myself to wait until I got bigger, but then I was emailed a coupon to the Gap. So off I went to a GapBaby that had GapMaternity in the back and I purchased a pair of Long and Lean jeans with a full belly panel.
These jeans are great looking and comfortable. They are a bit big on me, so I had to keep pulling them up, but everyone agreed that they wouldn't know that I was wearing maternity jeans if I hadn't told them.
I returned to the GapMaternity store to purchase these no panel cropped cargo pants because I needed light weight pants and they were on sale for $22. They are twice that much online for some reason. These are my new favorite pants and I might wear them every day if allowed.
I might not have purchased any of these items if I had heard about the BellaBand sooner. A friend told me about them and they sound amazing. I ordered two from Amazon.com and hope that they will keep me from having (or wanting) to purchase any more maternity pants for a while. Although, I have my eye on these beauties from Babystyle.com. I think I'll wait for a day in my sixth or seventh month where I'm much bigger and needing a pick me up.

13 Weeks

Had my first ultrasound that did not involve taking my underwear off - yay! I can't believe how much the baby has developed in this short amount of time. I was very relieved to see the baby and its heartbeat, since I found the lessening of symptoms to be a bit worrisome. I still tire easily, but I am much better than a few weeks ago and I am much less nauseous than before. After my appointment I bought my first pair of maternity jeans. The Dr. said I'd only gained 3 lbs, but that was since my 8 week appointment and I don't know how much total I've gained since becoming pregnant. I definitely feel my clothes getting tighter, but that may be because of my somewhat uncooperative digestive system. Some days I'm big, others not so much. So I went to Target and bought a pair of Liz Lange maternity jeans and I am kind of excited to wear them, once the weather gets cooler. It is freaking hot out!

Telling the Parents

So now all future grandparents know. We managed to tell everyone in a three day period and, happily, everyone is thrilled. We already have an offer to purchase a glider for us (I am thinking this one) and the baby has its first outfit and blanket.
Shopping for this outfit brought something to my attention - finding gender neutral clothes for infants is next to impossible and our society is still pretty sexist in how it assigns certain imagery to infants. Male babies have trucks, planes, sports, boats, space, and blue animals. Anything blue, for that matter, is for boys. Female babies have flowers and pink. It's maddening. I got a bit upset about it and voiced my unhappiness to my in laws. Unfortunately this lead to a lecture about gender roles and teaching your children who they are that came from such a conservative place that it truly boggled my mind.

Vancouver

We took a lovely trip to Vancouver. The weather was incredible, not too hot but still plenty of sunshine, the city is completely walkable and there is a lot of great food. We walked through Stanley Park, where I snapped a few photos of a raccoon wandering along the bank of a pond, across Robson Street and then hopped in a cab and headed over to Vij's Rangoli. It was so good! Then we walked back over the bridge to our hotel, The Sandman Suites on Davie. The room we booked had a kitchen and a washer/dryer, which was fantastic. It wasn't the most upscale hotel, but its location and price were perfect.

Good Deed for the Day

Coming home just now I saw a dog alone in my street. I slowed down to see if he was wearing a collar and he started running after my car once I'd passed. He followed me into my garage and waited for me to get out of the car. At first I was hesitant, seeing how it was a strange dog and all, but then I saw that he was wearing a color and was clearly lost. I got out of the car and started talking to the dog to calm it down. Once I was out of the car, the dog didn't seem so interested in me and headed next door. I debated whether or not I had the ability to keep this dog for his owner - I have a very anti social cat who would not appreciate a dog being in the apartment. But I do have a balcony and this dog seemed so sweet. I followed the dog calmly, making sure not to chase him off and finally managed to get a hold of his collar and called the number on it. No one answered, but just when I was going to leave a message a large white car pulled up and shouted out, "Do you have a dog?" The women in the car were so relieved to have their dog back, I was very happy for them and the dog.
This is why I don't have a dog. They can be so much trouble. At the same time, however, my cat is not without issues. Last night I was woken up by the sound of said cat eating a mouse very loudly. He eats them bones and all and apparently they are quite crunchy. This is the second mouse meal in a week.

Nothing New

I am about four days away from being ten weeks and continue to feel tired and nauseous. The nauseousness has calmed down a bit, but I am still not that interested in food until I have to put something into my stomach. I am convinced that I have a really fat stomach, but others tell me that I look the same and today my trainer asked it I had lost weight! Maybe next time at the Dr's I'll actually find out how much I weigh so I will be able to keep track of that on my own. I'm still fitting into my regular clothes.
I did, however, go out and buy four of these sport bras from the Gap because I had to start wearing a bra when I slept. I wore one for the first time last night and my comfort level was dramatically increased. It kept my poor breasts from hurting so much everytime I got up to use the bathroom.

All is Well

I didn't exercise for a week and I headed to my new obstetrician's office last Thursday. He is really great, I'll call him Dr. K. I asked him all of my questions and he answered thoroughly and kindly. He is open to anything I want, as long as the baby and I are healthy. He says he rarely does episiotomies, which is great, and I just liked him in general. So we are not going to interview any more and I've gotten over my midwife consideration. Same for the idea of a waterbirth. Maybe for the next one. Dr. K said that I probably don't even need a doula, which are quite popular here in Los Angeles.
I had an ultrasound and Dr. K said things looked excellent and that I had a little bleed area, which would explain the spotting, but which is completely normal. I am okay'd to exercise, which I did today and man, do I not have the same stamina as before!
I asked the doctor if it was ok to start telling people and he said that once you see the heart beat and all looks good, then your chance of miscarriage drops to 2%. I can't remember what the original risk percentage was. I told my sister and then we told some friend at a 4th of July BBQ. I'm going to slowly start telling people, but I don't really want to come right out with it until after I tell my mom, which will be in about three weeks.
Meanwhile, I am feeling fat, tired and nauseaus. I haven't thrown up at all, but I need to keep food in my stomach or I get really queasy. I cried a bit yesterday because I was feeling sorry for myself. It is hard to be sick and tired for a while and also not be able to tell anyone about it.