Helllooooo Second Trimester

Wahoo!! We made it everyone! I'm officially in the second trimester, I'm 13 weeks along today!

Baby this week is the size of a peach (approx 3" and over an ounce in weight!)!  I bought some peaches at the grocery store and I couldn't believe that there was a little baby inside of me that big already! This week baby's vocal cords are in the making! I won't be able to hear baby cry of course until after the birth. Most babies up until this point grow at about the same rate but from here on out babies grow at all different rates. Also this week, fingerprints have formed on baby's fingers! The head makes up 1/3 of the total body, but the body will begin to catch up in the up and coming weeks.  If we are having a girl she already has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries!

I heard and read online that when you're pregnant with a boy you crave more greasy/meaty foods and when you're pregnant with a girl you crave more fruits and veggies. I thought this entire time we were having a boy but I might be changing my mind! I couldn't even stand the thought of meat earlier and not until just this last week had I really eaten any chicken, hamburger, etc... I had to eat protein bars to get an appropriate amount of protein intake.

Today I signed up for WIC. It's a nutritional program for pregnant moms and moms of young children. You get these food checks at your appointments for you to purchase fruits and veggies, milk, cheese, eggs, bread, cereal, and juices. They're really particular in what you can buy, only whole grain, only low fat milk, etc... I got over $24 in groceries for free today so I can't complain. The only thing is that I had to buy a gallon and a half of milk today and there's no way I can drink all of that before it expires! haha! And once baby is born I'll get checks to purchase baby food.


So far I've lost 6 lbs since before I was pregnant. At my ultrasound appointment on May 31 I was only down 4 lbs, but they weighed me today at my WIC appointment. My midwife didn't seem concerned at all with my weight loss but the WIC nutritionist did. I have to go back next month to make sure I've gained some weight. They say starting in the second trimester I'm supposed to gain about 1 pound per week. Since my nausea was never really bad I think I lost the weight because I've just been eating super healthy. I'm trying to take care of my body the best I can right now. Besides, living with Jake we'd have meat everyday of the week (he's such a carnivore!) and since I haven't eaten much meat so far in this pregnancy and focused more on whole grain, and fresh, organic foods I feel as if that's why I've lost weight. Baby was measuring big at my ultrasound and my belly is growing so I'm sure everything is okay. I'll ask my midwife when I see her June 23.

Speaking of June 23 I have a group meeting with my midwife. It's something called "Centering Pregnancy" where it's a group of about 20 women with due dates all within a couple weeks of each other. We get together once a month with a midwife and we discuss something different each time. For example, breastfeeding, nutrition, exercising, etc... The naval hospital here provides this service and I think it's a great way to ask questions and learn more information about my pregnancy.

As far as Jake and I's plan to come back home in August, it is looking like Friday, August 12 as the potential day we'll be back. We have our gender ultrasound scheduled for August 9 and we didn't want to wait long after that so Jake didn't have to keep it a secret for too long!  ;)  We aren't sure how long we'll be home. It stinks that driving from CA to MO and back takes up 4 days of Jake's leave, but as soon as we know we'll let you guys know. But as always, dates can change so just be on the lookout for updated info. I forgot to tell you guys also that I have changed my mind about finding out the sex at our gender ultrasound. Only Jake will find out at the appointment and I'm going to be surprised along with the rest of you all about whether we're having a boy or girl and we'll find out at the baby shower!

EDIT:I bought a fetal heart doppler from Ebay and received it in the mail today. I found baby's heartbeat after about 10 minutes of searching and it's still a good pace of 150 beats per minute.

And oh my goodness, if you read all of this, give yourself a round of applause. I feel like I have more I could write about but I'll stop here. I'll close it out with my belly picture from this morning.  :)

I think my belly has finally "popped" You can really tell if you click on the picture; which enlarges it. I don't think it's bloating anymore, I'm finally starting to show!!! Yay!!!!!

Love you all,

Mommy, Daddy, Baby L