Itsy Bitsy, Teen Weeny.. No, it's not a bikini: It's a BABY BELLY!

We're 11 Weeks Pregnant! Almost time to come out of the Closet!

Your Baby in Week 11 of Pregnancy 
Your baby (now about two inches long) has been pretty busy this week, growing hair follicles, fingernails, and ovaries (if she's a girl). She has distinct human characteristics by now, with hands and feet in front of her body, with ears nearly in their final shape, open nasal passages on the tip of her tiny nose, a tongue and palate in the mouth, and visible nipples. What else makes her look human? Those hands and feet have individual fingers and toes (meaning good-bye to those froglike webbed hands and feet). Hooray!
HOW FREAKIN' COOL IS THAT :) No more FROGGY BABY, Our little one has individual fingers and individual toes!


Round Ligament Pain This is something you NEVER hear pregnant women talk about, this is something your girlfriends who have kids never share with you, this is COMPLETELY NORMAL. I've been experiencing this frequently at sometimes, and then not at all at others.. Really just depends. 
If you're experiencing mild, intermittent cramping along the lower part of your abdomen, this may be a sign of your stretching uterus. As your uterus stretches to make room for your growing baby, the round ligaments that support the uterus also stretch, hitting certain nerves as it does, and this can give you mild cramps. Called "round ligament pain," this cramping is a common pregnancy symptom that often occurs in the second and third trimester, though some women do experience it early in pregnancy, even at 11 weeks of pregnancy.To relieve round ligament pain, try bending toward it to relieve the pain. You can prevent these pains by changing positions more slowly. Slower movements let your round ligaments stretch slower, minimizing your discomfort. After researching I am going to attempt to make slower movements going fwd. I'll be sure to post whether or not this helps with the pain. It will be interesting to see. 

Don't judge me because I drive a MOM car!

Christmas came early in the Miller household. Husband surprised me with my very own MOM CAR! It's perfect: It's a 2007 Honda CRV in a beautiful Burgundy color ( Pictures to Come Soon ) Brett came to the mall the other day to have lunch with me and as we were walking out of the store I asked where he'd like to eat. He cutely replied " Anywhere you want, would you like to drive your new car?" and then pulled out a set of car keys to my now pimpin' ride.

I absolutely love it.. It's not too big not too small.. Plenty of trunk space and GREAT on gas. Brett Miller, YOU ARE THE BOMB.COM

The car I had previous to this beauty was an older Acura ( That did the job, I'm not complaining. I thank my parents for giving it to me in a time of need.) had dark tinted windows.. We had nicknamed it "SupaFly" as it was rather ghetto fab due to the dark windows. When I would drive around daily I would go unnoticed due to the fact that no one could see inside my car.. I enjoyed it.. It gave me the opportunity to avoid all the perv's and creepers on I26 that want to make obscene gestures while driving by me.. The first day I had the opportunity to drive my new baby to work I was stopped at a red light when two gentlemen in a green mercedes beside me took it upon themselves to wink wave and blow kisses.. Awkward and uncomfortable I raised my left hand, showed them my wedding ring and drove off.. Not only is Mama's car hot, but she's looking HOT in her MOM CAR... Yeah man, life is good. Pregnant and HOT - Watch out everybody!

Baby Meeellooorrr

I know it's sideways, but heck, who can really tell what is what anyway! 

Regardless, here's my kid's first photo shoot. He/She is a natural already!

I guess that's why they call it the blues...

Hormones are finally kicking in.

I'm kind of a crazy woman.

Whether it's work making me want to cry, movies making want to cry, a red light making me want to cry, my friends making me want to cry, whatever it may be - I cry. If I'm not crying I feel sad. If I'm not sad I'm mad. If I'm not mad I am over the top happy. It seems the only time I'm normal is when I'm sleeping and when I sleep I get up about 2 to 3 times to pee. Had a nervous breakdown at work on Wednesday, which was AWESOME (not). I never cry at work, and when I say never I mean NEVER. Normally I keep my composure while other people cry. Wednesday was just a recipe for disaster and I caved in. 

My Baby Daddy ( hahaha, that sounds so funny..) Excuse me, my husband read to where I've read upto in my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book. He seems much more present with what's going on with me now that he's read and realizes I'm not making it all up! I assured him from the jump that things were getting weird with me, but he assumed I was just being an over dramatic girl ( there's some fact to that ) but now he's all informed and makes comments like " Yeah honey, I read in the book that this would happen.." or " The book says you should ... " Nice work honey, thanks for hopping on board. Love you!

I've got a couple of girlfriends that already have kids. When their kids were born I was in my hard partying stage and wasn't really concerned with their lives changing. They would constantly say how their friends no longer had time for them or never wanted to do things that were pregnant friendly or mom friendly for that matter.. I brushed it all off and hit the bar like a champ, would ignore their calls in the early morning hours when I was hung over and would make excuses as to why I couldn't make it for dinner ( normally because I wanted to go to Happy Hour ). 

Now the tables have turned....

I will admit to kind of secluding myself since meeting my now husband. Over the last year or so I have realized that my priorities have shifted and I don't have as much in common with my friends here in Charleston as I once did. Do I love them any less: NO! Do I still enjoy their company: YES! The dynamic has just changed. Before baby I would see my group of friends at least every other week, maybe every 2 weeks at the most. We'd hit the bars, or get together for some holiday, or would do something booze related. Normally during the week I don't really talk to anyone other than Brittany (my sister from another mister) or Sara who I've become close with after she dated a friend of mine. So not having contact with the rest of the "crew, if you will" is not a huge surprise. Like mentioned above the dynamic of many friendships have changed over the last year. What was once a large group of beer guzzling party people has kind of split up and gone different ways, some in my direction of domestication, some have moved, some still remain, some haven't changed at all. It just depends... So here comes the turmoil: I feel like I need people now more than I have in the past year.. I have this overwhelming sense of loneliness. My husband is fantastic at keeping me company and occupied and happy but as we all know sometimes we just need an outlet. Someone on the outside. I was really excited around Halloween. I got myself a cute little Ladybug Outfit and hit the bar scene with my girlfriends so I could get out of the house and feel "normal" so to speak. I snacked on fried food and drank sprite while the rest of them carried on our normal routine. Cocktails and giggles, late nights and hangovers. I on the other hand was home by midnight, and exhausted the next day because my body is used to going to bed early at this point. I have not seen any of my girlfriends since.. Oh wait.. I take that back, Brittany came over for dinner one night last week. Which I don't think she realized how much a.) that meant to me and b.) how much I enjoyed it. We've made plans that have fallen through since and haven't had a time together as of yet. I was really looking for some girl time today.. I called around.. Everyone was busy.. So Brett being the best husband he is, took me to lunch and shopping at the outlet mall just as I had wanted to do with a gal-pal. 

Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed this day with my husband, I enjoy ANY time I spend with him... BUT ... I would have come home so refreshed if I had spent time with someone that shares the same sexual reproductive organs as I. Will my friends get better about spending time with me in my new "condition" or will I just be a lonely bird for the next 7 mths? Should I care, or should I just continue on rolling solo? Who knows, time will tell.. But needless to say: I've got a case of the blues.

I BAKED 3 DOZEN HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES THOUGH. Yum!

I HAD A DREAM, not Quite like MLK Jr.

Throughout the past 8 weeks I have been having the most vivid dreams. With a husband that works in sleep medicine you'd think that the reason for all this crazy dreaming would be explained to me but he has yet to research in to whether or not the sleep patterns of the pregnant are any different than the sleep patterns of the not. To be quite honest, I haven't really even asked him to look into it because the last thing he probably wants to hear is about my wild and crazy dreamworld. He has to deal with my dreamlike reality, I figure I'll spare the man a little bit :0)

Anywho, I took a killer afternoon nap today.. ( naps are a beautiful thing, everyone should take them.. I'm currently training hubby in the nap dept. ) During my 2 hour escape from reality *football, to be honest* I dreamed about things that you'd think would take all night to conjure up. The moments that stood out most from this dream were obviously the scariest miscarriage and lab work, other pregnant women surrounding me, amongst a variety of other things. I wake up all upset because of the miscarriage portion of my dream. As soon as I've wiped the sleep from my eye I jumped online and immediately started googling and blogging..

Survey says that the following events in dreams mean these things: Courtesy of Dreammoods.com
Miscarriage: To dream that you have a miscarriage, suggests that some idea or plan did not go as expected. The dream may also serve as a warning against your continued course of action. You need to alter your path or risk losing something of significance and value to you. Alternatively, the dream indicates that you have been wronged in some way. If you are currently pregnant, then dreams of miscarriages are common in the second trimester of pregnancy. (( UM WTF? ))
Lab Work: To dream that you are in a laboratory, suggests that you are experimenting with your inner feelings, beliefs, or fears. You are testing yourself or some relationship. Alternatively, being in a laboratory means you are going through some sort of transformation. (( I can deal with this ))
Pregnancy: Well.. I couldn't find anything about dreams about OTHER pregnant people. Which I found interesting. Does that mean that dreaming of OTHER pregnant women is some sort of omen that no one in the online dream dictionary world wants to talk about? I mean, throw me a freakin' bone here: I want to know what's going on in my melon when I sleep!

In conclusion: The jury is still out on this pregnant dreamer thing.. Be on the look out for further info!

Patience - A Useless Virtue!

I have about 4 weeks until I have made it successfully through my 1st trimester. Until the 1st trimester has  passed my little bun in the oven is a hush hush amongst only close friends and family. Those who do know our precious little secret are in an elite club, a special society made only for those who have tight lips, a group for only the grown who understand just how delicate of a time this is for parents to be.

I am itching to get on facebook and update my status to: WE'RE PREGNANT! That's one of the beauties of facebook. All I have to do is hop on, plug in a status and then the whole world will know about our little bundle of joy. Some people will respond with congratulatory comments, some wont do anything or think anything of it, some will chat about it with friends after they've seen it,  like "Oh my god, did you see that Marlowe's pregnant?" and then there will be the people that will just click "Like". Hey, to each their own. I don't really care how people want to respond to it but the one thing I do care about is letting it be known that the world is going to be graced with something pretty damn special and everyone really should 

BRACE FOR IMPACT!

Chitter Chatter before the Pitter Patter Part 1

Brett and I got married on Sept 18th. The evening of the 18th or the evening of the 20th Brett and I conceived what will be our first child. A child of love, a child of friendship, a child of laughter a perfect child that will be born unto two of the most excited and absolutely mortified individuals.

Brett and I's romance has been whirlwind to say the least. Nothing in the way of A Lady Gaga "Bad Romance", more of a Monkee's "I'm a Believer" love story. From the moment I met the man I knew he would be the one to move mountains, he would be my partner, my soul mate and most of all my best friend. Now, I sit here and think that I am going to add the father of my children to the list of his duties, butterflies grow in my stomach.. Along with my little wonder. My 7cm from head to butt wonder.

So fun facts: I am 8 weeks a couple days pregnant, in the pregnancy world this means the following ( and I bring you this information courtesy of multiple websites with tons of preggo info ) This week, my little tadpole is starting to look a little bit more human. Other exciting developments include: My baby's eyelids, ears, upper lip and the tip of his soon-to-be adorable button nose are forming. Junior will also sprout webbed fingers and toes this week—which I'll be well aware of in a few months, as baby starts early gymnastics classes inside of me. Baby's tiny heart has separated into four distinct chambers and is really ticking now—at a rate of 150 beats per minute. That's more than twice your resting heart rate (even when Brad Pitt is on the screen).

Let's talk about MOM: My boobs hurt, everything makes me want to cry and I have far more crazy moments than I normally do. Although my chest hurts like hell I have to admit that the growing size of my lady lumps is quite appealing to not only myself but to my better half. Too bad for him though, anytime they are touched I want to scream and go back when I didn't even know what a training bra was.. Let's say circa 1995? 

Morning sickness, now let's talk about that in depth.. I would LOVE to know when that stuff will come with it's full blown fury. Every little move my stomach/bowels make I automatically assume that it has finally come to haunt me. Then to my surprise it ends up just being whatever I ate for lunch that day.. I cross my fingers and my toes that I will completely avoid this mythical sickness. ( comments? suggestions? experiences?, oh wait to jinx me - keep it to yourself )

Sense of smell is quite intense, had to take the trash out today at work. I went outside with my scarf wrapped around my face like a Talibani, I was prepared to avoid any stench that poured from the Giant Dumpster.. Mid heave-ho my gas mask fell and in a desperate attempt to stay alive I had to take one deep breathe. After doing so the smell breached my nasal walls and I was done son.. Moments later I threw up in a bush, wiped my mouth and went back to work. 

Let's see what else.. Oh, constipation! No one ever mentions to you that in the early stages of pregnancy bowel movements are close to nonexistent. Well LADIES HERE'S THE TRUTH: Constipation HAPPENS, and it happens BAD! This is glamorous I tell you, a day at the Ritz. I double up my prenatal vitamin with a double shot of Fiber in hopes to spare my brown eye. If that's TMI then perhaps this blog isn't for you, move on my friend: It will only get worse from here. 

Other than these minor difficulties I am absolutely glowing ( behind the pizza face outbreaks im having, also normal) I read all my books and they say all these things happen and then it comforts me. I am not going through anything abnormal, these are the facts of life and this is a beautiful thing. I am truly a lucky lady, two lives together are growing inside of me.. I am knitting a quilt of life.. And I want a taco,  but I'm just saying :)