Feeling good!

I have been playing with the thought of documenting my journey to motherhood through a blog, mostly because a lot of my family is in Norway and are unable to follow the development of the baby & me as we grow together. Through a blog like this, I guess it would be a good way to document how we are progressing and how I'm feeling ... also, one day, years from now, it may be fun to look back & see what I went through while "Jellybean" was developing... you know... cravings, feelings, emotions ... that kind of stuff plus I can post pictures ... ultrasound...belly photos... that kind of stuff.

Anyway... today, I have officially entered the 2nd trimester. I'm on week 13. So far I've had a good journey. I've been blessed enough to avoid morning sickness. I've been nauseous but haven't been kneeling at the porcelain throne every morning. That's a good thing!

My life has been evolving around doctor's appointments. Besides the regular appointments with my ob-gyn office, they also sent me to a perinatal center because I have a history of high blood pressure, and also because of my age, which is 36 at this moment. They wanted to make sure that my baby is growing as it should, because women with high blood pressure often have small & malnourished babies as it's harder for the nutrition to reach the baby. Concerning my age, they wanted to do specific tests for Down's Syndrome, as the risk of having a baby with Down's increases with age. So my past couple of months have been very busy. I've been bouncing between doctor's offices & laboratories every week, but yesterday was my final test for a few weeks. They did an ultrasound to measure the baby, which size was normal, and my test results from the lab had also come back regarding hypertension & down's syndrome, everything is normal! Phew! I'm SO relieved!

I really didn't know how much these doubts & worries were weighing me down. Now that all the tests and ultrasounds have come back normal, I feel so much better.
(Despite the fact that this morning I found 1 pair of jeans that no longer fits due to tight constraint around the waistline.... I COULD probably wear it, but it was very uncomfortable so I decided not to. AFter all, I want to give jellybean som breathing room :)

Cravings? Yes. Pineapples & Mango. And side salads with ranch. Baby Carrots. Klondike Bars.

Yesterday, I was making meat sauce, which I had been craving for some time now. I am talking real, home made meat sauce made from real ground beef, fat & all.
When I tore the plastic from the ground beef that I was about to put in the pan, the smell of the raw meat & the blood from the beef was sooo enticing, I've never smelled anything like it. It smelled sweet like candy, I kept sticking my nose in it (not literally...it was an inch or two from the meat) and I just wanted to lick the blood from the container it was in. Of course, I know raw meat & blood is probably not recommended ... so I did end up cooking the meat before eating it ;-)

Anti-cravings? Yes! Onions. (Unless incorporated into a dish, like the meat sauce). Strong flavors like mint. And frozen yogurt! This last one is the worst one which I've been trying to overcome but I can't. A trip to our local frozen yogurt shop was a weekly, sometimes bi-weekly ordeal. It's a store called 21 choices, they have the best frozen yogurt, several different flavors every day. Since I got pregnant, I have not had a craving, in fact, I don't want it at all. I've tried a couple of times but it leaves me feeling uncomfortably full and very gassy. It's unfortunate. Hopefully my frozen yogurt days will return some day soon!

I think Jellybean is saying "give me the fatty real ice cream! enough with this healthy fro-yo stuff!" :)

Well, I'll end this blog, it was a little long today, it being the first one and all, so hopefully I haven't blabbed on too much & put you all to sleep. I'll try to post frequently & post photos. I have some already that are ready to go up, I just need them scanned :)

Take care all. Until next time .... !