Pregnant and Still Pluggin' Along

Just in case anyone missed it, Paul and I are expecting, and the baby's due date is in August! We couldn't be more excited.  This blog may alternate between being somewhat of a pregnancy tracker for the time being mixed with all the other things we do - but this is probably one of the most exciting things we have going on right now.

Happy Valentine's day, baby's the size of a pea pod!

I must say, this pregnancy gig hasn't been too bad yet. I only had nausea during the first trimester if I went more than 2 hours without having eaten something, so I never got so nauseous that I threw up or anything.

We had a little bit of a scare - and trip to the emergency room - in the second month, and after an ultrasound where they established the baby was looking good and there weren't any major problems, the doctor said I likely had a minor subchorionic hemorrhage, which is apparently relatively harmless if it doesn't continue to grow. I went to the OBGYN the next day, and thankfully he said that he couldn't even see where the hemorrhage would have been on the ultrasound, so it must have been in the process of simply bleeding itself completely out (which is what you want to have happen.) Since then, there haven't been any problems, and at our most recent appointment the baby's heartbeat was going strong.

Here's the only ultrasound we have, from pretty early on so it's not very high quality nor easy to see. But there's definitely a little one in there!

Over the past week or so, I've been feeling some tiny but definite kicks and wiggles. That's been fun, and of course they're still too small for Paul to feel, but it's nice to know our little tyke is feeling at home. We won't know the gender at least until our next appointment in 5 weeks, which may or may not tell, us, but we're going to be excited no matter what happens. It might be a bit easier if it's a boy, though, because we'll already have a name picked  out.  Perhaps not everyone knows (although probably most do who know him well) but Paul's full name is actually Paul Herald Risk III. The second is his grandpa, and the first was his great-grandpa. So for a boy, we'd like to name him - you guessed it - the fourth. For a girl, we're still a little more unsure, so that would require a good deal more thought.

Not too much else to report, and I'm not showing *that* much yet which is awkward because I kind of just look fat right now as opposed to pregnant, but apparently my weight gain will be escalated now since the baby should be doubling its own weight about every week now.

Here's to hoping Paul feels some baby kicks soon or himself!

In other news, Paul is really smart (no news there), and has been doing well on the many tests he's been taking for hard business classes. I've been taking photos for a photojournalism class, and doing about 6 interviews a week for my reporting class and then writing up two articles a week for BYU's newspaper. That's been eye-opening for me, and so far no one's slapped me across the face for any question I've asked them so I assume it's been going well.

We're about halfway through the semester, and we both have a strong hankering for springtime and summer. We're going to miss Virginia this summer (the prettiest place on earth, really, it is) but we feel it's best to stay out here for the actual birth, and we'll make getting back to VA our first priority for next Christmas most likely. It's starting to look more like spring every day here in Utah, and Paul even spotted some buds on a tree recently!  After 2 weeks or so of straight snow, all we want is the warmth right now, and we've been getting some this week which is a HUGE relief.

Bring on the shorts! Bring on the flowers! Bring on the warmth!  We're ready and waiting.