1st Trimester is over!

Everything seems to be progressing nicely so far! Nothing really new or exciting to report.

We had our first ultrasound on May 6. We were able to meet our doctor and see Baby Carter for the first time. Baby Carter had a terrific heartbeat of 174 beats per minute. His/Her Aunt Nicole says that means it's a she. We'll see if she's right...

Baby Carter basically looked like a beautiful little blob when we saw his/her picture. Our doctor also gave us a new due date of December 17, 2011. That puts his/her due date right around my parents 30th wedding anniversary! I think that would be a special anniversary gift!

I started feeling nauseous/sick about a week after our doctor appointment. It got progressively worse, with last week (week 12) being the worst of it. I discovered that I could tolerate Cheerios most of the time, and also discovered that I don't like to brush my teeth. It makes me gag. And once I gag...well, you know.

We were also given an at home doppler that lets us listen to the baby's heartbeat whenever we want. We've been able to find it easily and it's pumping away at a healthy rate. But, the baby doesn't appear to enjoy it, because it will only last for a couple seconds and then moves away. I can't feel the movements yet, but the sound moves all around in one area. We think the baby just wants to be left alone. Or maybe he/she is shy!

There's no real development as far as a baby bump is concerned. I can feel my abdominal muscles tightening up and even though the scale says I've lost 10 pounds during the first 12 weeks of my pregnancy (totally normal), my pre-pregnancy jeans are too uncomfortable. Luckily, a friend donated a BUNCH of super cute maternity clothes and I'm loving wearing those. So comfy! They're a little big, but they're much more comfortable than my "regular" pants at this point. And after all, I deserve to be comfortable while I grow a person, right?

This is what I look like so far...

Nothing to see here!

We are both so excited to be moving closer to meeting our little bundle of joy! Please continue to pray for us as we prepare for the biggest and most important job of our lives!