Pop....goes the baby belly

Well everyone, the day has come....I look pregnant! There is no hiding it now, so I just sport the prego look just about everywhere I go with a big smile on my face. For some reason I am still a little shocked that I have popped at 18 weeks. I really thought that I would have had a few more weeks before it was this noticeable. I even have people wanting to rub my belly. Now I am getting a little impatient about waiting to feel the baby move. People often ask me if I have felt any butterflies or movements?? I keep rubbing my belly and telling the "bell pepper"-the baby's current size according to babycenter.com-to move around. So far, we have a naughty little child that is being stubborn and will not listen to mother!!

Snoogle!!

My dear husband spoiled me last night with the Best Gift Ever....a SNOOGLE!! As many of you (especially Bridger) have witnessed, my pregnancy has made me just the slightest bit more grumpy/crabby-particularly when I don't sleep well or am tired. I have been whining about wanting a body pillow for quite some time now, and maybe Bridger got to the point of desperity where he would try just about anything to help me sleep better at night. But, I would like to think the former, that he just loves me so much that he wants to make me comfortable and happy. He may have regretted his decision as the snoogle does take up quite a bit of space in the bed. Bridger already gets the shaft because he shares his half of our cozy little double bed with Linus. Just before falling asleep he exclaimed, "I wish the Bridger from five years ago could look down from the ceiling and see me right now-with my wife and her snoogle on one side and our 18 pound cat on the other." I think he may still be adjusting to the reality of our life right now. However, I must say, I did get a REALLY good night's sleep last night with my new Snoogle.

What's Bigger....Baby Belly or Beer Belly??

I think I'd have to say that the Beer Belly on Grandpa still wins by a landslide! Although, week 17 has taken away my privledge of wearing my old trusty jeans. I now must resort to the "Bella Band" at all times with any of my pre-pregnancy pants. Thank goodness that I wear scrubs to work :) For some reason I am resisting the transition to the maternity wardrobe....but I would guess that I only have another week or two....before it is inevitable. I think it just seems like once I take that step there will be no turning back and I will be stuck with the same small selection of clothes for a very long time. I must say that my husband does spoil me with destination maternity gift cards and maternity shopping sprees (he prefers the online variety) from time to time. Boy am I lucky-just wait to see how much worse it can get if we have a little girl...

In other news we have had a busy weekend with my parents. As you might have guessed from the photo grandma and pappie were here to visit this weekend and help us with some house projects. We are working hard to get our house ready to sell-what a daunting task. As always, my parents were an AMAZING help and we got TONS accomplished. I thought it was an appropriate week to have the "who has the bigger belly" contest with my dad while he can still be the winner! Although, I am a close second. Friends, co-workers, and strangers are calling me out left and right on being pregnant. It should be no surprise that I love responding with a resounding "YES I am Pregnant"!

Must be looking Pregnant

I have now officially received the first comment from a TOTALLY random stranger about looking pregnant. It must be WAY more obvious that I am aware of, or else these people are just really balls-y. I was working at Labor and Delivery the other night and I went into a patient's room to help one of my co-workers-when a visitor (a soon-to-be grandma-about my mom's age) shouts "oh look, she is going to have a baby too"! I must admit I was taken aback. Good thing I had told my co-workers earlier that night. What an awkward scenario for a stranger to call me out in front of a co-worker that was not aware of my pregnancy status?!?! I am thinking that it is almost time to make it public on Facebook-now that is another big step :)

The Bump is Growing

Today marked another milestone in my pregnancy in addition to being 16 weeks. One of our respiratory therapists at work approached me in the hospital and asked me if I was pregnant. Good thing the answer was "Yes"!! She then proceeded to tell me that she caught a side view of my belly and just had a feeling I was pregnant. Mind you-I even had a loose fitting zip up sweatshirt on over-top of this long sleeve shirt to try to hide the belly at work. So, I guess today would mark the day that strangers (or people other than my closest friends and family) can tell that there is a baby belly growing.

I hope you enjoy the personal portrait. I had to take my photo alone today because Bridger and I are working completely opposite schedules this weekend :( I hope everyone is doing well and staying warm.

Baby Heart Beat is a Wonderful Sound!!!

Hey Everyone! We had a great day complete with a perfect OB visit. The little love of a baby is measuring right on track for 15.5 weeks, and had a nice strong heart beat averaging 155 beats per minute. Some old wives tales say that a slower heart beat=girl??? We'll have to see in July....Our next visit is in mid-February and we will have the big anatomy scan ultrasound at that time. Here is a little video to share our joy of hearing the heart beat with all of you :)

Go Steelers!!!

Another good week for the Clarke family....topped off with the Steelers' win!! The major news from this week is that the pregnancy has been revealed to just about everyone. I even told my co-workers and my boss at UNC (pediatrics). I plan to tell everyone at REX (labor and delivery) when I work tomorrow night.

One big highlight of the week was my awesome pregnancy present-"tummy talk". It is a mixture of a journal/scrapbook and is right up my alley. I have spent lots of time documenting the past few weeks. As some of you may remember, I literally cried (in hindsight maybe it was because I was pregnant and hormonal??) when I had to put away my big wedding binder. Now my pregnancy book takes its place :) In other big news, we have an OB appointment on Wednesday, so stay tuned for another update mid-week.....

15 Week Belly Pic

14weeks(2days)

As promised, we started the tradition this week of doing some belly shots. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of these days I am going to wake up rockin a little baby belly bump. So, I took the opportunity to get a "baseline" photo at 14weeks. As you can see there is certainly a little bloat going on and maybe a little tiny baby bump if you use your imagination :) It is getting harder to pull off some of my favorite long sleeve shirts and sweaters these days. They just seem to be way tighter and shorter than they used to be a week or so ago. Luckily I have always been a low-rise kinda girl in the jeans/pants department so my pants still fit just fine. I did invest in the controversial "bella band" this week-apparently some people love it and others hate it?? For those of you that are thinking....what in the world is a bella band.....it is kinda like a very tight tube top (spandex-ish material) that you wear around the top of your pants/under the bottom of your shirt to hold up tight (unbuttoned) pre-pregnancy pants or loose maternity pants. I figure that special morning when I wake up and can no longer button my jeans, at least I will have some options. Stay tuned, I am thinking that day may be here sooner than we know it.......

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I hope you had a drink last night for me. Unfortunately, Bridger and I both had to ring in the new year at work. But, we viewed it as a small price to pay for having the Best Christmas in Pittsburgh.

Not too much is new in regard to our little Peach. We have another appointment in two weeks and we look very forward to hearing the precious little heartbeat again.

The life of the momma however has brought about some interesting changes this week. My life seems to revolve around eating, peeing, and sleeping. I am absolutely ravenous ALL the time-and chips seem to be the answer. I got so hungry in the grocery store yesterday that I had to run to the snack isle and open up a box of cheez-its. I really thought I might pass out from starvation (even though I had lunch within the hour), so I walked around the store with my hand in the cracker box. I apologized to the cashier as crackers spilled at her register and I think she just thought I was weird and felt bad for me. Even with all the eating there is really no belly bump yet-but stay tuned. We will likely start entertaining you with belly shots once there is something to actually display. I think I am still in the pleasantly plump-I've gained a few pounds, but don't really look pregnant-stage. The one constant reminder that I am actually pregnant is my bladder. I really think I pee non-stop, all day and NIGHT! Then on top of that, with all my OB experience....I never knew that pregnancy made you pee your pants!!! One of the glorious wonders that no one talks about I guess? Now don't get me wrong, I knew this happend AFTER you had lots of babies and were 50+ years old. But, at 29 years old and 13.5 weeks pregnant with your first baby?? Dribbling pee when you run water, sneeze, or are walking around the mall?? It is terrible.

But, despite all these little idiosyncrasies that I can complain about in the cyber world, I LOVE being pregnant. The world doesn't know that I am, but my baby and I do-and it is Awesome! I have wanted to be a mother for as long as I can ever remember and this year (2009) is going to be my opportunity! The best of wishes for a very happy, healthy, and blessed year to all of you :)