Pregnancy Week by Week: 12

Week 12
Baby size: A plum
How I feel about being pregnant: This is getting more fun! I'm starting to feel better, I have a cute little tummy, and I got to see my baby this week!
Symptoms: Unfortunately my pregnancy symptoms have been overtaken with sinus infection symptoms. Yuck. And on Thursday, I felt like someone slapped me with a sleepy sick.
Food Cravings: I'm not over my fruit thing, but one day this week I was DYING to have a hamburger for lunch. Since I haven't eaten much meat in the last few weeks, I'm not surprised.
What I'm most excited about: Our 12-week ultrasound appointment. It was AMAZING to see the baby looking, well, like a baby!
Something sweet your daddy did for me: I received a very special gift this week - a Valentine's and early baby present: a three-row band to represent me, Chad and the baby, that I wear between our wedding band and my engagement ring. It is absolutely beautiful and so very special. We had a long road to go through to start our family, and it is nice to have a token of that journey.
Something I've done to prepare for baby: I've been talking to the baby more this week. I think since it looked SO much more like a little person at my ultrasound, it feels more natural to talk to it. Seeing that sweet baby face this week definitely did a lot to make me feel more bonded to the baby already... it was a big moment. Even Chad agreed, after seeing our little bean jumping around in there, the whole thing just felt so much more real.
Funny moment: So this week, we got to meet the other doctor in the practice that could potentially deliver our baby. I've had my one guy since i started seeing him as my GYN 10 years ago. This was my first time with the other doctor. He came into the room, asked me if I had any questions about the baby... which I had a few. Then about 5 minutes later, he noticed the work badge Chad was wearing. And once Chad told him he worked on the nuclear-side of the business, I KNEW that the rest of the conversation would be dominated with that. I don't know WHY people are so interested in the nuclear industry, but people always have a billion questions to ask. So there I am, sitting on the examination table in the doctor's office, listening to our OB playing 20 questions with Chad about clean energy. Kill me. If I was an uptight person it would have driven me crazy, but I just had to laugh at it. I'm glad the doctor didn't just rush in and rush out after he answered my questions... he spent time getting to know us a little bit. And to all you wanting to know the answer to the #1 question that Chad ALWAYS gets: "HECK NO WE DON'T GET A DISCOUNT ON OUR POWER BILL!"
Special moment: I got to see my grandparents for the first time since being pregnant. I'm very close with my grandparents - especially my gma. She was SO excited to rub my stomach and talk about the baby. It just meant a lot to me that I could see them, even if it was only for a few hours (they stopped in Raleigh on their way from Annapolis, MD, to Florida.) It was also funny listening to my gma talking about weight gain during her pregnancies. Let me preface this with the fact my gma was a VERY slender young woman... like we remember laughing that her waist in her wedding dress looked like it was 4 inches wide. She told us the most she ever gained in any of her pregnancies was... get this... TEN POUNDS. She said that the doctors used to be very strict on how much you gained. So whenever my gma would deliver the baby, she would have actually LOST weight. Seems like quite the backward diet. ;)

Note: Not bad but disappointing news. Common misconception - 12 weeks = start of second trimester. Unfortunately, I learned from my doctor this week that lots of doctors calculate it differently. Some do 12 weeks, some do 13, some do 13.5, but they (and most, he said) - of course - count 14 weeks as the end of the first trimester. By the end of 14 weeks, your placenta is done forming... which is a huge milestone. So I'm only about a week away from that. But at the same time, my biggest reason for wanting my first trimester to be over is that the risk of miscarriage reduces dramatically. However, at my appointment this week, the doctor said that between my ultrasound, activity of the baby, and all the other stuff they look at - I am in great shape. He's only had two patients he can remember in the years he's been doing this that have experienced a miscarriage past this point where I am... so that was a huge relief!