19 Weeks

Today I'm officially 19 weeks - almost halfway there! I feel like I'm finally starting to feel and look pregnant, and not just fat, which is very exciting. From Sunday until today I'm noticing a big change in the way my stomach looks and feels. It's really starting to get hard, and it's definitely looking rounder as well. I took some new belly pictures which are posted below. I also weighed myself, and I think I've gained a total of 7 pounds since I found out I was pregnant, and I think most of that has been in the last 2 weeks or so. This weekend, I'm going through my closet and going to separate the things I can still wear from the things that just don't look good. I actually went to the mall today to look for some "looser fitting" tops, and tried on a bunch of things that just didn't look good. I don't think I'm used to having this "belly" yet. I didn't end up buying any clothes, however, I went to Sephora and bought some new makeup, which always fits!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

Great Race Weekend

This weekend was the Great Race in Pittsburgh, which is a 10K (6.2 miles.) Travis and I went over to Pittsburgh yesterday to stay with my sister Lindsey, and Kelsey who's also staying there. Lindsey and I went to the race expo yesterday, then visited Kelsey at the coffee shop where she was working. Afterwards, we picked up Travis and went to the Olive Garden for our pre-race pasta dinner!

The race was this morning, and I ran it with my both my sisters and Travis. For the record (since the dates are very confusing, even for me) I'm 18 weeks and 3 days pregnant today. The weather was perfect - about 60-65 and partly cloudy, which is slightly rare for this race (normally it rains.) I ran part of the race with my sisters, and part by myself. It was actually really nice not to have a time goal and just try to run the whole thing and finish (which I did.) Overall, I felt really good during the race, tried to watch my heartrate, and had a really great experience. Although I was proud of myself for doing it, I think I'll be sticking to 3 or 4 miles as my long runs from here on out.

4th Dr. Appointment

I had my 4th doctor appointment today, and I went in thinking I was 18 weeks and 2 days, only to find out I'm 17 weeks and 4 days, and my newest due date is February 23, 2012. It's getting hard to keep track of, even for me! Apparently, after looking at Sonogram I did last month, this is what my doctor decided, and the nurse was unaware of this when I called to find out last month.  So I get to be pregnant an extra 5 days (or maybe I'll go early now?) I feel like I'm going backwards...however my doctor did say that they won't change the date again unless they think it's off by more than 3 weeks (which is highly unlikely, but who knows.) The good thing is I'm getting closer and closer to having a leap year baby!

Anyway, the appointment itself went well, and the heartbeat was found immediately, and was around 140. Even though this seems low (which could indicate boy) Travis seems to think it will be a girl. I've also starting gaining real weight finally. I gained 6 lbs between the last appointment (almost 5 weeks ago) and this one, so that's why I'm showing now. We scheduled our 20-week Ultrasound for Monday, October 10th, so that's when we'll finally find out what we're having!

Acorn 5K - 18 weeks

I'm 18 weeks along today, and Travis and I ran in the first annual Acorn 5K this morning, sponsored by the Oak Clinic, which helped raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. It was a beatiful day for a run and it was in a park that's only about 15 minutes away from our house (which we'd never been to before.) The run went really well except that the course ended up being 3.6 miles instead of 3.1. That doesn't sound like a big difference, but it's interesting when you have no idea how much further you have! Travis came in about 5 minutes ahead of me, and I did well keeping an even pace and not running too hard. The best part was that Travis and I both won our age divisions (20-29 age group)!!! The announcer giving the awards said we won the "fittest family" award. It's funny because before I was pregnant, I was running lots of 5K's and never winning my age group, always just missing it, and today I wasn't racing and still won! Next Sunday we're running the Great Race in Pittsburgh with my sisters, and I'm looking forward to it.

RAV Fun Day

The doctor appointment that I was supposed to have today has been changed to this upcoming Monday (at 8:10 am), so now we have a few more days before we determine when my 20-week ultrasound will be scheduled.

On another note, we had our "RAV Fun Day" yesterday at work. This is one of my favorite days because our office gets the day off to do something fun. We went to a place called the "Gathering Kitchen" for a cooking class. Our office cooked a large array of Italian foods. We each got an assignment, and my (very, very pregnant) friend Marissa and I were in charge of "beef." It was kind of ironic for the two pregnant girls to be working with a large slab of beef tenderloin...we had to cut all the fat of in order to "prepare" it; then we learned how to butterfly cut it, and added some seasonings and spinach, then rolled it all up in order to cook it. The best part was that we got to eat all of the food that was cooked. After that, we went bowling, and I did better than I expected. However, the best part of the day was that several people acknowledged how "cute" I am so far, and how "cute" my little bump is. They seemed sincere, so it's kind of nice to finally have a little baby bump! It was also a good excuse to eat all of the foods at our Italian feast, and not feel guilty that my tummy was sticking out a little.

This weekend, Travis and I are signed up for a 5K to support Multiple Sclerosis, which is sponsored by one of the offices that Travis calls on. I won't be "racing," but I will be running! I'll give an update on Saturday after the run.

First Belly Pics

Well I finally decided to post some pictures. I'm finally feeling like I'm starting to look a little pregnant, or maybe just fat...I can't be sure. I wore my belly band for the first time on Friday with my jeans, which was kind of exciting. The rest of the weekend I stuck with wearing my windsuit pants or shorts, which are obviously very comfortable because they have a drawstring. I had Travis take some pictures of me today...they aren't super flattering because I'm about to go running, but I wanted to start documenting what I look like at some point...I think it will be easier to take pictures once I'm past the "fat" stage and really at the "pregnant" stage. Although when I get to that point, I may wish I was back to how I look now!

Anyway, I just hit 17 weeks on Saturday, and I have another doctor appointment on Wednesday. We should be scheduling my 20 week ultrasound (where I can find out the gender) at this appointment, so I'm looking forward to it. Enjoy the pictures.