12 Weeks

How far along: 12 weeks 

How big is baby: The size of a large plum!

Weight gain: 3 lbs, I'm at 128 lbs.

Maternity clothes: Yes, and leggings. I can't wait until it gets warmer so I can wear dresses 24/7 :)

Sleep: Getting better, the middle of the night waking up is becoming so routine that I practically sleep walk.

Best moment of the week: We got to hear baby's heartbeat! During our appointment the doctor said sometimes it's really hard to hear the heartbeat and to not be upset if we weren't able to hear it since it's early on but when she put the doppler below my belly button she didn't even have to move it around and there is was! A healthy 160 bpm. I can't wait for him/her to grow more!

Not so great moments of the week: The house we bid on didn't take our offer so we are house shopping again which we are totally fine with. We're prepared to put down at least 3 offers before we get "the one." I'm still considering building a house in Dacono because I'm so obsessed with them!

**I found out I'm part of 15% of pregnant women that have a negative blood type, A-negative. This translates to me being Rh-negative which means that if our baby has a positive blood type and mine and his/her blood were to mix, my body could produce antibodies causing my body to basically react to the baby as if I were allergic to him/her. "The antibodies that my body produces could cross the placenta and attack the baby's blood which breaks down the baby's blood cells and induces anemia. This could cause serious illness, brain damage, or even death to the baby." This was pretty scary to hear so knowing me, of course I've been doing crazy amounts of research on it. My doctor reassured me that at 28 weeks pregnant, I will be getting an Rh-immunoglobulin (RhoGAM) shot which will prevent anything from happening. My doctor also told me this does not make me a high risk pregnancy and that there should be nothing to worry about. Here are some links to more info: http://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/rhfactor-2.html

http://www.justmommies.com/articles/rh_negative.shtml

Food cravings: Fruit, fruit, & fruit. And Mexican food.

Food aversions: This is easing up somewhat but I still have nausea here and there so there are definitely things I avoid.

Symptoms: Headaches every day, nausea, exhaustion, back aches and pains.

Belly Button: Innie

Wedding Ring on or off: On, no swelling yet!

Happy or moody most of the time: I'm extremely happy the majority of the time and so excited to be pregnant! I'm a little worried about the Rh-factor problem but once I finally find out from Adam's doctor what blood type he is (hoping for negative) then hopefully I'll feel better.

Movement: Not that I can feel yet!

Gender: We'll get to find out in 8 weeks. (At 20 Weeks)

What I’m looking forward to: Making sure everything is healthy with me and baby.

What I miss: Not having anxiety, my anxiety levels get a higher for the smallest things! We could be watching a movie and I have to take a deep breath just to keep my anxiety levels down it's crazy. I also heard that's normal though too.

Next appt: March 24, 2014

11 Weeks

Week 11

How far along: 11 weeks 

How big is baby: The size of a lime! 

Weight gain: I didn't check...

Maternity clothes: Yes, love the long shirts!

Sleep: Definitely could use more. 

Best moment of the week: House hunting & getting to spend some time with Morgan and Mitch and my hubby too. Technically I'm on week 12 right now, writing this post a little late but we put an offer on a house today, our first offer but I'm hoping we get it! Fingers crossed :)

Food cravings: Comfort foods & still lots of fruit and some veggies. Today (11 weeks, 3 days) I have really been wanting this meal that my dad used to always cook for us when we were little: Mac & Cheese with cream of mushroom & tuna. It sounds weird but it's amazing! Also, vanilla bean ice cream in waffle cones. Mmmm!

Food aversions: Still awful. But might be starting to clear just a little! My symptoms are the worst at night so it's hard to tell at times.

Symptoms: Right now I'm battling a cold so I have a lot of congestion going on. Pregnancy wise I have achy boobs, some night time nausea and little nausea during the day when I need to eat something. Headaches! 

Belly Button: Innie

Wedding Ring on or off: On, no swelling yet!

Happy or moody most of the time: I'm extremely happy the majority of the time and so excited to be pregnant! But the tiredness and this cold + aches have been making me a little moody lately.

Movement: Not that I can feel yet!

Gender: We'll get to find out soon.

What I’m looking forward to: Finding out if this baby is a boy or girl!

What I miss: Actually...I kind of miss being able to have a spontaneous extra dirty martini with my girlfriends (momma, Bri, Libby, Tess, my sisters...missing them!) but I wouldn't trade a thing!

Next appt: February 24, 2014

Starting to show a little...but really just looking like a chunk. 

3 months preggo and wearing jeans!

I also wanted to share some pre-preggo pictures from this summer (2013).

10 Weeks

How far along: 10 weeks

How big is baby: The size of a prune! 

Weight gain: I haven't checked! Will update at 12 weeks.

Maternity clothes: I actually bought some of my first maternity shirts and some regular leggings this week. I should have always just bought maternity shirts! they're so comfortable and they're long so they aren't always rising up, I love them!

Sleep: I'm going to bed much earlier and waking up once in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I'm constantly tired though and short of breath. Other than that, I'm sleeping fine still on my sides, back, or stomach.

Best moment of the week: I got through the Wild West Tournament in Wyoming and the freezing cold! I had to sneak away to take a nap but it was definitely worth it. :)

Food cravings: Watermelon! & Fruits, lots of fruits. 

Food aversions: Still have aversions like crazy, my biggest one is the trash can - even the fresh bags that go in the trash can before there's any trash in it. Makes me gag!

Symptoms: Little to no cramping, nausea but no puking, headaches and backaches and I'm starting to feel the bladder pressure everyone talks about, lots and lots of bathroom trips! Ha.... I'm still wearing my Mama Sea Bands for the nausea and I refuse to take them off during the day. I've been wearing them since about week 5 or so. Plus preggie pops lollipops that help and I keep tart candy around like blow pops and caramel apple candies.

Belly Button: Innie

Movement: it's still too early to feel anything but I know our baby is doing summersaults and dancing in there like crazy.

Gender: We'll get to find out in a few more weeks!

What I’m looking forward to: We are actually looking at houses again and entertaining the idea of building a new home in Dacono since the market otherwise isn't all that great this time around. The distance is the only set back for that one. I'm looking forward to finally finding the one and settling in so that we can be ready for baby Gutierrez! Here's a virtual tour of the floor plan we fell in love with: http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=1075173&idx=1

What I miss: My jeans!

Next appt: February 3, 2014

This is a picture of an actual 10 week old baby I found online.

Fall/Winter Soups

During the cold seasons I love cooking. I am notorious for recreating recipes off of Pinterest, however, when it comes to soups and stews, I'd much rather be innovative and make up my own recipes.

The past two times I've done this, our tastebuds have been beyond satisfied.  

Here are two of my latest recipes:

Ami Mani Soup (Aka Chili Fiesta Bean & Chicken Soup or Autumn Soup)

Ingredients:

32 oz Chicken broth

25 oz Chicken, chopped

15 oz can Pinto Beans

15 oz can Black Bean Fiesta

A pinch of salt & pepper

Small pinch chicken bouillon 

Dash of dried Parsley

2 Tbsp Sour Cream

2 pinches flour - add more for thickness/stew

Cilantro

1/8 tsp Seasoning salt (optional)

1/8 tsp Celery salt (optional)

Garlic pepper (optional)

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients into a pot. Bring to boil until the broth thickens.
Let simmer for 5 minutes and serve. From start to finish the cooking
takes about 15 minutes.

Toppings for soup:

Cheese

Fritos (optional)

Sour Cream

Ami Mani Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

Egg Noodles

Water

1 can Cream of Mushroom

1 can Cream of Chicken

Chicken, chopped

Carrots

Onion, chopped

Dill  weed

Herbs de Provence

Garlic Pepper

Chives

Instructions:

Cook egg noodles about 2 minutes short of al dente time
(before they're completely soft). Drain half the water at this point.
Next, add both the cream of mushroom and the cream of chicken.
Stir. Add in the chicken. Add vegetables and seasonings to taste.
Start with 1/2 to 1 tsp of each seasoning if you really need to measure.
Once the chicken is cooked thoroughly then your soup is done!

The soups were so good we forgot to take a picture!

Week 9

How far along: 9 weeks 1 day

How big is baby: Our baby is the size of a green olive!

Weight gain: I gained back the 2 lbs that I had lost putting me at 125.5 lb.

Maternity clothes: I'm ready to start buying something like maternity clothes already. My jeans hardly fit my waist now and I'm running out of leggings & yoga pants to last all week long.

Sleep: I'm waking up once in the night, going to bed a lot earlier than I was used to and waking up early due to hunger. I'm still sleeping on my side - mostly left side because it's the most comfortable - and sometimes on my stomach. During the day, all I want to do is sleep.

Best moment of the week: We got to see our baby today! This was the absolute best feeling in the world. I literally wanted to cry. His/her heart is beating strong and we saw that during the ultrasound too. Baby also waved to us before going back to sucking their thumb while he/she is currently upside down in there. I am absolutely head over heels in love with this amazing gift of life.

Here's a picture of our ultrasound. Every time the nurse practitioner moved the camera, the baby wiggled and moved and it was literally the happiest thing I've ever seen. 

I tried labeling the picture so you can really see where baby is. Baby's legs and feet are tucked up by the belly so that's the bottom of the little bean. You can kind of see the feet as little dark circles on the bottom of the belly. And the arms are over his/her chest.

Food cravings: Fruits & V8 juice. That was just today though. It changes by the hour. I've also been able to eat most meals as long as it doesn't smell too strong. I've noticed that whenever I start to feel nauseous, the best thing to do is eat a snack. My momma said she was the same way with all 4 of her pregnancies.

Food Aversions: Gets worse and worse! Anything sweet smelling drives me crazy! Or sour, like food gone bad.

Symptoms: Nausea, constantly hungry, headaches, sore back, acne, and always so sleepy.

Belly Button: Innie

Movement: Well we saw baby wiggling and moving and dancing in there today but I can't feel any of that yet!

Gender: Unknown but we will find out in 10 weeks or so!

What I'm looking forward to: Seeing and feeling more of our baby!!

What I miss: Mostly nothing, but if there is one thing it's my health! I feel pretty healthy compared to what I've heard many women go through but still, I'm not 100% normal feeling which can be a bummer most days. I could easily curl up with a blanket and fall asleep just about anywhere, anytime of the day.

Next Appointment: February 24th