16 Weeks

I want to wear a sign for the general public that says, "I'm not just getting fat - there is a baby in there!"  Still in the awkward lumpy beer gut phase, but we're getting closer. 

Size: Avocado / 4.5 inches / 3.5 ounces


Interesting fact: The baby's eyes have moved closer to the front of the head and the ears are close to their final position.

Symptoms: Still pretty tired, headaches, and heartburn.  All of this is better than it was in the beginning, so I'll deal.

Maternity clothes:  I wore one maternity shirt last week.  Luckily now that it is warmer in Pittsburgh(re: not snowing), I can wear more flowy summer tops and dresses, which make it much easier.

Cravings: Last night it was buttery popcorn.  Last week it was Ben & Jerry's new frozen greek yogurt.

Aversions: Meat! When my parents came this weekend, everyone had steaks, but I was more than fine feasting on my bread, salad and mashed potatoes. 

Fun things: Parents being here for the first time since I found out I was pregnant, name discussions, enjoying the last 5 months of loud music in the car and leisurely dining out.

Looking forward to: The obvious: 16 days until the big reveal!!

What I miss: The same - wine and coffee. 

Misc: I went out to an impromptu dinner on Sunday with Lisamarie and Aaron, and as we sat outside and just enjoyed he sunshine, I thought about how drastically different our lives will be in 4-5 months.  We will both have babies, and things to focus on other than enjoying our own delicious meals.  Being a mom is something I almost always thought about in the abstract future, and now it is actually HERE.  At the Pirates game a few weekends ago, we were tailgaiting with my Jeep and Billy noted that he should upgrade my sound system.  I reminded him that it was not necessary, because soon, we will be listening to Disney tunes at a reasonable volume.

Most Hated Baby Names

Yahoo posted the most hated baby names - I'm not sure how this list was formulated, but I enjoyed it and I mostly agree with it.  Especially because my brother told me that I better not name my baby Aiden, or anything that rhymed with it.  Done and done.  He was kind enough to offer up his name, though.  Such a giver, he is.  But Kaitlyn being a made up spelling?  I would not have thought that. 

Nevaeh ("heaven" spelled backward and one of the most divisive names around, according to Wattenberg)
Destiny (people dislike names that confer a virtue onto a child, Wattenberg said -- and many associated this name with exotic dancers)
Madison
Mackenzie
McKenna
Addison (an example of a masculine named turned feminine, which many people dislike, Wattenberg said)
Gertrude (people said this name is "ugly")
Kaitlyn (for its "made-up" spelling)
Makayla
Bertha (author's note: duh!)

Jayden
Brayden
Aiden
Kaden (these rhyming names struck many as overdone, Wattenberg reported)
Hunter (too much like a last name or "too violent")
Hayden
Bentley (people dislike brand-name names, Wattenberg found, calling them "trashy")
Tristan
Michael (too boring, according to some)
Jackson

Some names I would add to the list include Harper, Sophia, Olivia, Isabella - simply because they are so overly popular lately.  Billy and I have tabled the baby name conversation until we know the gender. He likes names that sound a little outlandish, while I prefer more traditional names.  Melissa made a good point about picturing it on a resume.  I know I internally judge resumes based on names, and I don't want anyone throwing my kid into the reject pile!


**On another note, I hope the Alpha Phis out there caught the interview with the Colorado sister who spilled yogurt on the president.  She kindly corrected Matt Lauer when he mispronounced our Phi.  

15 Weeks

Size: Navel Orange / 4 inches / 2.5 ounces

Symptoms: Fatigue, heartburn, occasional nausea-but not nearly as bad as it was for the first 3 months, increased sense of smell. 

Maternity clothes:  Not really, but my regular clothes are getting tight.  I'm still not big enough to wear maternity clothes.  Hair ties and safety pins are used on most of my pants.  I still feel more fat than pregnant...it's just an awkward stage.

Cravings: This weekend it was vegetarian sushi.

Aversions: Meat!  Billy tries to force it on me every few days, but I will not have it.  For protein, I eat almonds, protein bars and Greek yogurt.  Unfortunately, he discovered how good my yogurt was and is now trying to steal it, and it's not cheap!

Fun things: Spending time with Lisamarie and maternity shopping this weekend. It's awesome having someone else close by who is also going through this for the first time.

Looking forward to: Summer so I can wear easy dresses.  I hate wearing pants - pregnant or not!   Also of course looking forward to the gender reveal in 3 weeks!

What I miss: Wine, Coffee - but I do occasionally have a cup.  I've eased up on a lot of the "rules" since this first started.  I mean, avoiding feta because of the chance of listeria?  Please - if I have not been sick because of it on the past 29 years, chances are slim that it will happen now.

Misc: Every week seems like a little victory.  I was always confused when women talked about how far along they were in week increments instead of months, but now I get it.  A lot changes from week to week, and every week makes a difference to me now.  I'm also excited because I just switched to the midwife group at Magee hospital instead of seeing an OB.  I had been seeing a midwife at the practice I was at, but she does not deliver anymore. 

Something has changed in the ten years since I started college, and it's the parents. The amount of phone calls and emails I get from parents is unreal. This week was registration for freshmen, and I am shocked at the number of parents that are actually doing the registration for their students, or trying to fight their battles for them. I had one very angry mom call me this morning about her daughter not getting into a summer class, which is now full. My parents would have NEVER called the university on my behalf unless I seriously needed help with something and was not able to resolve it on my own. But the majority of the time, I don't hear from the students first. I'm not a scary person, or unapproachable, so I don't see why this is happening. I'm sure the helicopter parent issue will only get worse with time, and I hope that I instill a sense of responsibility in my own kids to take care of problems on their own. Especially after the age of 18!

In other work related topics...
-University of Pittsburgh just a couple miles down the road has had 100+ bomb threats in in the past two months. Now I bet THEY have some angry parents!
-A students left my office the other day, and her friend that works our front desk said she tweeted, "just met with my advisor and now I feel like a failure." Yes, people. That is my mission.
-Another student told me he would never want my job. Thank you, sir.

Aaannnnd I'm back. I just haven't really been able to think of anything interesting to say since February because my mind has been pretty consumed with the whole 'we're having a baby' thing. But I've been keeping a little log along the way and I'll be better with updates from here on out!

Feb 11

I had a sneaking suspicion that I might be pregnant, so I woke up and tested with a cheapo HCG tester. I saw a faint line. So I paced around for a while, stared at Billy while he was sleeping, willing him to wake up. Since the line on the test was so faint, I decided to test one with water, to see the difference. There was definitely a difference. When Billy finally woke up, I showed him the difference, and made him pee on one too, so I could have another comparison. Thank goodness, his did not show up with the pregnant line. Around lunch, I tested again and got the same faint positive line. After lying around for most of the very snowy day, we went out to return a movie, buy a powerball ticket (oh yeah), and buy a digital test for tomorrow. We bought a CBE digital test, because I didn’t want to leave room for interpretation. Since it came with three tests, I tested again after dinner and the digital window almost immediately popped up: pregnant. We are still in a little bit of a state of disbelief, but decided that it must be true, and started calling all of our close family.

Feb 14 – 4.5 weeks

What a fun Valentine’s Day for us! We had our first appointment with the OB and they confirmed that I am, indeed pregnant. She went over the ways to stay healthy, what not to eat, and what to expect for the first trimester. The hardest thing so far is giving up caffeine, but that just gives me something to look forward to in 8 more months! There is some confusion on the due date, so we have the target dates between October 17 and October 20. Billy would just like to tell everyone the date is October 19 since that is his birthday.

Feb 19 -5 weeks

We have known that baby Hudgins is growing for a whole week now, and I think it is all either of us can think about. I can’t imagine how long these next 8 months are going to be, because we are so anxious and excited! We have already received some cute socks and a baby book this week, and I am thinking I’m going to need a find a place to store all things baby-related since we do not plan on living here when the baby arrives. We told a few friends this week over the phone, email and I got to tell Melissa in person. This is such a fun time for us and I will be counting down the weeks of this first trimester, for when we can share the news with everyone - and work – eek! So far no morning sickness or terrible symptoms. Let’s keep it that way!

Feb 28 – 6.5 weeks

This weekend we found out some very exciting news – one of my best friends, Lisamarie is expecting a baby a month before us! We have been friends since we were 15 years old and were bridesmaids in each other’s weddings. It is going to be a fun experience going through this together – well, actually her going through it first and then telling me what to expect is more like it. I also got a phone call from my sister in law, who has a 6 month old and she is not planning on any other kids, so she is giving all of her baby items to us! What a gift! I was a little bit worried before this, because we have nothing in the baby department, but this is going to give us a huge start! Very thankful! And about those pregnancy symptoms…I’m not so lucky. This week, I have started feeling some morning sickness and some nausea. No food seems appealing to me, but I’m fine when I’m eating. And then after I eat, I feel a little sick again. Let’s hope this is short lived! Also this week, the OB got my blood work back and I’m low on iron, so I’ll need to start taking some supplements. I hear this is pretty common, so nothing to worry about.

March 17 – 9 weeks

We’re moving right along. We went to see the doctor for our scheduled monthly appointment this week. They tried to find the heartbeat with the Doppler machine, but were only able to find the combined heartbeat, with mine + baby’s, which was about 210 beats per minute. We also heard the blood being pumped through the umbilical cord. It was pretty neat. We talked to the nurse for a while about my aversion to meat. I can’t even stand to look at it on a commercial. Much less smell it, or eat it! Billy bought a grill this week, so thankfully, all the meat cooking is outside and I don’t feel so bad anymore about not cooking! At the appointment, they also decided that they didn’t know for sure about how far along I was, and we need to know for further testing that can only happen between 11 & 13 weeks. This means that we were prescribed an ultrasound for next week! We were both very excited about this because originally, we were not supposed to have one until 20 weeks along, which is in June! So on March 23^rd, my 29^th birthday – we will be getting our first look!

March 23 – 10 weeks and 3 days

Bright and early on this Friday, we went to Mercy Hospital – right next to Duquesne for our first ultrasound. We needed it for dating purposes, so we could then get the first trimester screening. We got SO VERY lost in the hospital, but finally, a nice nurse unlocked a shortcut door for us. We were the only ones in the ultrasound dept. at 7:30am, so we went right in. The u/s tech got to work pretty quickly and we saw the baby on the television in front of us almost immediately. She had to point out the beating heart to us, because it was mostly blurry, but it was so neat for us to see! And it’s the first time it really felt REAL. Like this is really happening! There is a living, moving creature inside! We got pictures to take home, which I immediately scanned and emailed out to family once I got in to work. It really was a fun start to year 29!

April 2 – 11 weeks and 6 days

We got another look at the baby this morning for our first trimester screening. The screening it so measure the space in the baby’s spine and also to have blood work done to check hormone levels. I’ll go ahead and tell the Dr. that they are high! The baby was moving a lot more this morning, and the ultrasound tech kept having me cough, so it would move to the spot she needed it to be to take the measurements. We’re almost to the 2^nd trimester and I can’t wait! Rumor has it that energy levels return, and the nausea subsides. Yes, please!!!

April 13 – 13.5 weeks

I realized that this is probably the only time in our lives that we will look forward to doctor’s appointments. The provider I have been seeing is a certified nurse midwife and she is fantastic! We did conclude at today’s appointment that I lost a few pounds, but she didn’t seem too worried. I just need to force myself to eat a little bit more than I have been. We listened to the baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler machine and it sounded so fast, but right on track. She gave us the prescription to schedule the anatomy scan in the 18-20 week period, so I got on the calendar as soon as I could. May 17^th can’t get here soon enough! And finally...the long awaited bump picture. I think this is the first time that there is actually something visible. And as you can see, Patton looks very concerned!

I promise to be back soon. In the mean time - Happy Easter!