12 wks (2ds)

It's 12 weeks!! Well, and two days, but I've been on the road for the past three days so you have to forgive me the tardiness. This week is a big one because Jason and I decided that we were going to go public with Bebe this Friday (yesterday) and we did! So hello everyone who is reading this blog for the first time and welcome to my pregnancy accounts! It's still another 5 days until I'm out of my first trimester and breathing becomes easier and I stop jumping and freaking out at every cramp (and I had a couple really uncomfortable ones while showering and getting dressed and am just repeating my mantras of "it is just round ligament pain. it is just round ligament pain. you have not jinxed yourself by not waiting until thursday. it is just round ligament pain" because I am overanalyzing everything). 12 weeks also means I FINALLY get to stop taking my progesterone pills!!! I have a about 4 left though which I'm saving for just in cases. It's a little scary being off the progesterone, to be perfectly honest. I've been on it since week 5, so I've had 7 weeks of that sort of safety net and now I feel as if I'm walking without one. But now that the placenta is developed it's producing enough progesterone so my body doesn't have to do it (since it sucked at it). But I am not going to be paranoid! I am on vacation and have fresh air and am just going to relax and enjoy being pregnant. Or I will try to, at any rate.

This week Bebe is a little over 2 inches long (the size of a plum!) and weighs half an ounce. I feel like Bebe is ahead of the development game because according to the various website authorities, reflexes are the name of the game this week - such as sucking thumbs, which last weeks ultrasound showed Bebe was already very capable at. But toes are curling, eyes are clenching, and if I poke my abdomen Bebe will squirm and swim away. You can bet I've been poking and prodding Bebe since I read that!! Nerve cells are developing in the brain and synapses are forming rapidly! The face is now definitely human and eyes have shifted from the side of the head to the front where they should be and the ears are also in their correct place. There was a rapid growth of intestines and right now they've protruded into the umbilical cord, but should now start easing back into the abdominal cavity. The kidneys have even started secreting urine into the bladder!! I just won't have to change those diapers for another 6 months.

As for me, I'm doing all right. I've noticed this week that my taste buds are off when it comes to salt. I had some French Onion soup for dinner one night and felt like I was eating pure salt while my husband assured me it was fine. Then the next day I had Wendy's fries for lunch an I couldn't taste any salt and felt like it was cardboard. Once again, Jason assured me they were plenty salty. But could I taste it? Nope. The smell and thought of fish still turns my stomach. Today Jason got up at 7am to go fishing in a canoe and caught a fish. Then he brought it back around 9 and cleaned it up and cooked it for breakfast. I'm sure it was delicious but I breathed through my mouth until he was done. But my father-in-law then made me pancakes and I was very delighted and I forgot all about the fish. I actually slept through the night so I don't feel exhausted today which is an awesome change!