Pics

We had intentions of taking tons of pics along the way and doing a time-lapse sequence, however we haven't been very good at remembering to. Here's today's photo, into my 14th week. Finally getting a lil bump!

Sharing Secrets

We have started to tell our friends and family about our lil secret (that is now the size of a peach inside my belly). Its so much fun to break the news and really rewarding to hear how genuinely excited people are for us amidst their shock and awe. I really wasn't expecting so much love to be radiating through our phones when we decided to make The Calls, but telling people fills me with even more love than I thought possible. It feels like when we called our closest to announce our wedding, only this time it feels even more exciting and more on the brink of a whole new life direction ahead of us. It rules!

I'm still throwing up :( I hope this stops sooner or later. Really not the part of the fun, but the sacrifice is what makes everything worth it, going through these motions (ugh, please dont say motions, or motion sickness starts to kick in again), makes the day we get to finally meet our little one be that much more rewarding.

Tonight we are having some of our friends come over to watch the season three premiere of Game of Thrones, and now that I'm starting to show more of a bump, there will no longer be much of an option to hide our secret much longer. Also the pic of our ultrasound on the fridge will probably be a give-away.

Just a few more weeks and we will get to know if we have a He or a She. Really excited to find that out, but got to be patient, and either way we will be excited. I really don't know how people can wait and have their baby's gender be a surprise. I mean not that it makes much of a difference either way, (our boy will wear pink if he wants, and our girl will learn how to work on motorcycles if she wants), but there is so much suspense in pregnancy, so much waiting *(which is already going by so quickly - wow this time next year we will have a six-month old. WOW). Finding out the gender is a small milestone in the pregnancy we can't wait to get to! Also it helps (somewhat - my name is Tyler afterall) with name planning. We already have a few in mind, but my mom is sending some baby name books my way to help us figure it out.

Happy Zombie Jesus Day!

Hot Mama

I had the privilege and honor to be a model for my baby's God Mother this last weekend. Luckily it wasn't wearing swim apparel, because I'm starting to have a lil pooch! According to my ipad app, the lil pumpkin is now the size of a plum, and my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe  Clothes are finally starting to feel snug, even though I still haven't put on any weight. :/ Here's to the next 3 months for that, right?

The photoshoot was really fun, and is probably the last time in a long time when I will be strutting around with other cute vintage girls looking not-pregnant. I'm really excited about the idea of having a tan huge belly this summer, but I've read that pregnant moms need to stay out of hot tubs, and hot baths to keep their body temperatures below 100 degrees. Maybe I won't be allowed to sun bathe? :( I'll need to ask my midwife during my next visit, NEXT WEEK! So excited to see the lil one again, and hopefully hear their heart beat again too. That was really putting it into reality mode. 6 more months before we can breathe some air together! xoxoxo

Friday the 13th

Tomorrow marks my 13th week! Let's hope that this means I'll stop waking up and throwing up bile. I am also wondering if any other pregnant moms have the poop alarm clock? Meaning, I am regular. So regular, that I have to get out of bed every morning at 6:30 because my body is running like clockwork in the excrement department. My digestive track wakes me up and shouts, "I gotta POOP!" Apparently some women have the opposite problem, but I think being vegan and eating tons of veggies and fruits (all that sounds good right now anyway) helps me out. I really don't understand the fast food moms. There is nothing that looks, smells, and sounds more revolting than artificial foods, fast foods, junk food, or even sweets. My body is telling me to CHARGE UP with NUTRITION! So loud and clear, and I'm sort of obsessed with organic strawberries and fresh OJ right now - even better fresh Tangerine Juice. HOlla!

The Technicolor Yawns

I don't want to speak too soon and jinx myself, but as today marks my 11 week-mark, I'm feeling remarkably AMAZING.

I woke up and only gagged half a dozen times during my morning bathroom routine.

I ate a balanced breakfast without running to the bathroom to vom once.

I have not had to fight the fact that everything smells like impeding barf, and I don't have to worry about not eating enough to feed my new lil building bones in my belly. I'm not constantly nauseated!

This constant carsick queasy last few weeks has made me feel like I've been riding the dreaded sailboat from hell on choppy waters with a rookie captain drunkenly steering the vessel. Today my good friends, I am moving pasts those stormy waters, and bidding a farewell to the technicolor yawns of the first trimester.

What will make this feeling even better? FINALLY, finally! Sharing the news with my mom. Though its been a tough secret to keep, we have kept our lips zipped, and plan to tell everyone on my dad's birthday 4/2/13, as we found out the news on 2/2/13, it just seems like the right REVEAL! date. only two more weeks!

Reflections

I was thinking about this earlier this week. Starting off my 30s right, as a mama to be. And it occurred to me,  my twenties were for me.

I graduated college, traveled Europe, lived in England, and San Francisco (two places I always wanted to live), and I moved to someplace entirely new and unexplored (another one of my dreams) - Austin, TX. I bought a home, wrote a book, recorded an album that I wrote, and visited NYC for the first time. I explored careers, and found a field I'm naturally awesome at and enjoy doing. I learned how to put on and wear red lipstick (never thought that was possible), and learned how to use and read Tarot cards.

I rescued 2 cats, and 2 dogs, and swam in rivers, oceans, lakes, and pools (even one that I get to call my own!). I started a vegan food blog, and traversed the "new" wave of birthing an online social media presence with friendster/myspace/facebook/instagram and decided that less tech is sometimes more. I also wrote a research paper on the history of typing, got it published and was paid to do it. I bought a blank keyboard and can type 10-key and QWERTY at 100+ WPM.

I saw more live music than I could ever shake a stick at, including some of my favorite and all time monumental musical influences. I met Bruce Campbell, Jim Carey, and Henry Rollins. I lived my first entire decade of vegan living, and read so many books that have helped me learn and grow into the person I want to be, into the person I am, and aspire to become.

Most importantly, I fell in love, got married (never thought I would do that), and started my future. I feel so lucky to have found this love so early in my life (though there were SEVERAL very dry years before my 20s before I patiently awaited, and found this one). Getting married at 22, and waiting 8 years before starting a family was what we wanted, is what we WANT.

I'm so happy that I had my 20s to focus on me. And do all these things that I've wanted to do and explore, which would still be possible in my 30s, but will be less of a priority for me when I have a lil one on board. And I'm so looking forward to pouring my love, dedication, hard work, and intellect to good use with a lil bebe! I am going to try my darnedest to be the best parent, role model, friend, and support system for you, for your whole life as long as you live. Can't wait to meet you lil Pumpkin!

Heartbeat

I heard it! Lil Heart Beat!! This week. Its really something magical. We also got our first print out of a lil ultrasound photo that I put right up on our fridge. (s)he is the size of a grape, but you can see those lil Fosse arms and legs.

We confirmed our date, and are estimated due date is set for middle/end of October. Lil Pumpkin!!! Right now I am officially at the 11 weeks mark (morning sickness please end soon. this is miserable, but I did finally have somewhat of an appetite last night and made soft tacos that I ate ALL up!).

Been thinking a lot about names, and we having some good ones lined up. Looking forward to week 20 when we get to know the gender.

I've also signed up for a centering group at my birthing center. More info on that later, but basically its communal group monthly visits, where I'll have my private doctor's checkup, then we stay together with other expecting moms due in the same month and discuss together everything about the birthing and baby process. Its very woman-focused, and mama and baby focused. It also gives us a chance to really get to know other women in the same phase of their lives, and have more time with our midwives before the main event.

Also, did I mention my birthing center offers free (included in payment) mama yoga classes? Cloth diapering, nursing, and all these other AWESOME classes? yes. So excited for this next chapter.

I Carried a Watermelon?

I recently watched Dirty Dancing again for about the thousandth time. And when Baby gets up the steps and into her first dirty dancing party and says her famous line, all I could think was, "I'm going to Carry A Watermelon. And its going to come out my vagina."

And as a statement of who I am, I'm more worried about my husband during labor. Will he pass out? Will it be too much for him? A Watermelon.

Water Baby

After watching, "The Business of Being Born," and also reading, "What to Expect When You're Expecting (4th Addition)" I immediately knew that the only route for me was choosing a birthing center.

No hospitals for this lady! No thank you. Though I understand anything can happen, so I want to be in a place where they have some more medical equipment on hand if needed (rather than a home birth). With our dogs, I think a home birth would be too stressful for them as well. SO! Without further, ado, I'm glad to announce that Jason and I passed our interview and were invited to join the Austin Area Birthing Center community to have our new family member brought to us hospital free.

Next week we're going in for our "first" check up where we get to either hear our lil pumpkin's heartbeat, or see what the little pumpkin seed looks like. Maybe both. Its still really hard not to tell my mom, but somehow I feel like she already knows. Moms are like that.

What's so awesome about AABC, is not only that they have great reviews, a full staff of highly trained midwives, and are located up by our house, but they offer birthing rooms that feel more like a vacation rentals than a hospital room. There are spa tubs, large fluffy beds, room to walk around, large walk-in showers, birthing balls, privacy, a large communal kitchen and waiting area with plush couches, netflix and tons of room for as few or as many people I choose to be with us when we are going through labor. They encourage me to do what feels best. They also allow the mother to eat or drink during labor (not just eat ice chips like in hospitals). I really like the idea of having a water birth, and when you're in a lot of pain, soaking in a bath, moving around to feel comfortable makes so much more sense for the woman and not to be tense, and more stressed, causing more pain.

I don't want drugs, or IVs, or C-section, or any of that. I figure considering all the tattoos I have in beautiful but unfortunate places (for highly painful reasons), I will do this the way my body is made to do it. Naturally, and away from doctors opening my legs, smelling like hand sanitizer and trying to rush me, or knock me out as soon as possible. Just not for me.

What's also amazing about AABC is that they have a schedule full of all kinds of classes that are included in the cost of joining. Maternity Yoga, Breast-feeding, Cloth-Diapering. I'm so excited!

Best Diet Ever, for you BRA.

No one tells you this, but getting knocked up is the best diet ever. These first two months I've lost weight since everything either smells disgusting or makes me nauseated. Seriously, I've lost like 5 pounds (apparently normal for the first trimester- so I'm not supposed to worry).

Also, I can now understand why you're not supposed to tell anyone during these first three months. Because so far, I've seen my boobs get so big, basically over night. Its taken a lot of restraint to not proclaim my excitement to the world, as being a fairly tomboyish shaped lady, into having huge knockers. And that's just not classy. Hey! I'm pregnant! Check out my BOOBS! (boob instagram). So, i'll just keep my mouth and and shirt buttoned, and wait out this next month and hopefully these odd exhibitionist pangs (I'm the most modest person I know) calm themselves down.

Honestly though. Being a lady is rad. BOOBS!

Shark Tooth

I've been told a few things about my cervix over the course of my adult years of regular OBGYN visits.

1. I've been told that, "Everyone else has one right side up. YOURS is upside down." And,
2. I've been told that, "Everyone else has a cervix that looks like a doughnut, YOURS looks like a SHARK."

A shark. So regardless of my maternal instincts being more finely tuned towards the animals kingdom (including SHARKS), I guess I thought that my lady parts just might not work for making babies (can only make SHARKS). Because apparently all other women have candies and sweets awaiting swimming children in their bellies, whereas I have upside-down JAWS.

Here's hoping my little pumpkin doesn't come out with shark teeth, because I plan to be a hippy and breastfeed, and I really don't have a desire to pretend its 2001 again and re-pierce the nips.