15 Weeks

My belly is getting bigger! I'm not sure it is as noticeable in this photo, but it's the best one we were able to get at 15 weeks.

I am definitely feeling more pregnant in the last few weeks. I have a sense of "fullness" in my lower abdomen, which is strange. It makes me happy though, to finally have a sense that there is something going on in there. : )

There have been two times in the last couple of days that I thought I felt the baby move. I now completely understand the whole "Was it the baby or was it gas?" question... I never understood that until now. Both times have been first thing in the morning when I've been very still before getting out of bed. I am really looking forward to feeling the baby move in the next few weeks. Hopefully it doesn't take longer than that. I am not known for being patient! ; )

How big?

I have spent a considerable amount of time over the last months on the internet reading about how our baby is growing and what he is doing now. It is fun to read things like this:

"Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably still can't feel the movements." (From http://www.thebump.com/)

Our baby has gone from about the size of a poppy seed to his current size of a Navel Orange, about 4 inches long, and about 2.5 ounces. What I find amusing is that the final weeks of pregnancy Bam Bam will be the size of a watermelon.

Um, EXCUSE ME?!?!?!

Could I bargain for a cantaloupe instead?

Gone Shopping...

I loathe shopping. I especially loathe doing it after work. But, yesterday I finally broke down and went. I was down to ONE pair of pants to wear to work. And much as I tried (yes dear,I really tried) to borrow maternity clothes from my girlfriends... well... they are just smaller than me. I'm not typically one to stand in front of my closet in the morning and ponder over what to wear. I usually just pick an outfit and go with it. However, the last several weeks have found me picking an outfit, then a different shirt, then different pants, then another shirt because it doesn't cover this pair of pants... you get the idea. Anyway, the moral of the story? I needed clothes that fit me. I needed clothes that I wasn't constantly tugging on or adjusting in some form or fashion. So much to Jeff's chagrin, I spent an hour... let me repeat that... an hour at the mall yesterday! And I got several nice items that should last me through most of this pregnancy. Now I am not naive enough to believe the three pairs of pants and four shirts that I bought will be all that I need. But I do believe it'll relieve the fashion stress for the time being. And that makes me a happy camper.

My First Trimester...

One down, two to go! This has gone so quickly. I am sure I'm going to wake up tomorrow and be attending Bam Bam's high school graduation. ; ) Okay, I guess that might be a bit dramatic, but it is going fast. Am I prepared for this? Only the good Lord knows!

Anyway, this is me at 13 weeks. I will to try and take pictures weekly so I can see how my belly grows over the months. I regret that we didn't start this project two months ago... cause I really can't remember what I looked like before! To me, I still look the same... just a little bloated.

We had our second appointment last Friday... and we heard the precious little heart beat! Praise God for the blessing that this is. In about 4 weeks we'll go back for the really fun appointment... where we find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Anyone want to make any guesses? I officially believe we are having a boy. Feel free to cast your vote and in four weeks you can look here for the verdict... because of course we are going to find out! Maybe after that we'll start taking recommendations for names! : )

Love,

Melissa

12 Weeks and counting...

I realized today that I really need to start documenting this pregnancy! I am already 12 weeks, and before I know it, it is going to be the first week in August and our world is going to be turned upside down!

Things are going very, very well so far. Too well for one of us (read “me”). It is unnerving that I don’t feel pregnant. It makes me worry. I have had no morning sickness, I have gained virtually no weight and all my clothes still fit… mostly. I figured out finally, that this is just not what I expected to feel like when I was pregnant! I expected that I would have a huge baby bump at 5 weeks. I expected that I would be getting sick morning, noon and night for the first trimester. And I expected that I would already have gained 20 pounds by now. I think it’s just taking me a minute to get my mind around the fact that I seem, so far, to have an easy pregnancy. Please don’t think that is a complaint! I know so many of you have struggled, and had varying issues. Somehow, it just feels too good to be true. This just is not what I expected… to feel so, normal.

Thanks to my friend Julie who is good to remind me that it is not the same for all of us, that we each have different experiences. (And you know that I will be calling with lots more questions!!!) : )

Anyway, that is the update for now. All is well and we trust that Bam Bam is happy, healthy and growing just like he should be. We have an appointment at the end of the month, and are looking forward to hearing that precious heart beat! We still covet your prayers that everything goes smoothly and that we will welcome a healthy happy baby in August!

Love,
Melissa

P.S. If you could pray for the Stamps Family... they gave birth to their first child, a girl, last Friday. But she has had serious complications and expected to be in the NICU for a few months. Kelly's blog is here: http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ , which outlines her whole pregnancy and tells a bit about their story over the last 7 days. This is dear to me on multiple levels... Thanks!

Thanks Mom!

Here is one of the cheeriest parts of our Christmas! My lovely mother made hats to put in our stockings... I think it's a MNFTM project at her church. Then, she had some extra fabric, so she made all the kids a matching hat too!!! I just think they are so cute... and so are the kids! : )

Thanks Mom for the wonderful gifts... Thanks Jen for sending us this picture. And thanks kids for being so warm and snuggly!

I love you all...

Trying to improve our readership...

Things have been rather slow at the Hamm household lately. Well, that's not really true but I have not had anything interesting to report on in awhile. Christmas was less than hoped for as we were unable to make our trip to Montana to see my family due to the Arctic Blast 2008. And even though we were in town, we even had an abbreviated Christmas with Jeff's family thanks to two feet of ice, snow and slush on our street. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Jeff and I perched in our front window and watched car after car get stuck. It didn't seem to matter if they had chains, four wheel drive or not... nobody was going anywhere. We did brave the treacherous conditions and make it to have dinner with the family for a couple hours Christmas Day. But, for me, it just was overshadowed by the extremely intense fear of wrecking our car and all the disappointment we had encountered over the previous week. I've never been so happy for Christmas to be over. Needless to say, I am NOT excited to see that it is snowing outside right now.

So rather than reporting these Bah Humbug type stories, it seems Jeff and I have come up with a shameless way to improve our blog readership. Maybe, just maybe, I can lure a few more readers (David) with this latest breaking news:

We're gonna have a baby!!!!! We'd like to introduce you to Bam Bam. He's 9 weeks in this picture and expected in early August. We are so very excited about this new development in our lives, and are equally as terrified at the thought of being solely responsible for this precious little passenger.

We have prayed long and hard for him, and give all glory and praise to God our Father for this blessing. We covet your prayers for a healthy pregnancy, a safe delivery and a healthy, happy baby. We of course, will continue to post updates as he grows.

Editors Note: No, Bam Bam is not the official name... it's just better than saying "it". Also, we do not yet know the gender... that won't come for a couple months. It is however a hunch that I have and a hope that Jeff has. And once again, I can't bring myself to call this precious little person "It"... so for now, it is "he". : )