Growing

Greetings friends,

This has been a wonderful week. Sharing our pregnancy news has brought a flood of well wishes from friends and relatives in over half a dozen countries. While it certainly has its drawbacks, technology does have its advantages as well! We now have small established communities of friends and coworkers in San Diego, for which we are very grateful, but there's nothing like the familiar voices of friends and family that we are currently still far from. It's a nice reminder too that the well wishes aren't just for Brent and I, but that they represent a lot of people our baby will meet during her or his lifetime, and that these people are already wishing her (or him) health and love as she or he grows.

And speaking of growing... While in many ways I feel that we just started this crazy journey, supposedly I'm already down to the last two weeks of my first trimester. • According to the "experts" our baby is now 2 to 3 inches long (though they failed to give us a fruit analogy this week)! More importantly, it has graduated from being tadpole-esque to finally looking like a miniature person. The baby's face has formed, and it now has fingers, toes, toenails, and tooth buds, and its mouth can actually suck and swallow.

As for my growth, that's continuing as well! Apparently I won't "pop" (i.e. the bump that you can no longer suck in) for a few more weeks yet, but some rearranging of my organs and water retention has contributed to giving me a more rounded belly than I am used to! I already find myself gravitating towards my stretch or low rider jeans and longer, looser tops. I purchased a few maternity clothes items when my mom was here visiting, but I'm realizing that really, not much of my current wardrobe is going to fit me in a couple months!

Quite a few of you had asked about how I have been feeling (very sweet of you), with encouraging words that the morning sickness of the first trimester would soon end. Actually, I'm very relieved to report that I have not been sick once (knock on wood)! That's not to say I've been feeling fabulous the whole time, but luckily my queasiness has only been in relation to strong smells (such as the women I ride to work with's perfume), and some meals that suddenly seem completely unappetizing. Brent has taken to suggesting dinner, and then being wonderfully flexible with my humming and hawing until I figure out what my body is telling me I can/should eat.

The past couple of months has also involved a very steep learning curve to learn about what I should be putting on and in my body, and what I should be avoiding. These include the stricter rules about substances known to cause birth defects, but Brent and I are also trying to include the much larger list of "questionable" substances that are banned or discouraged due to studies and regulations in other countries.

So for those of you that are looking to get pregnant in the future, here's a glimpse of what you can choose to/not to alter:

Food - No booze, second-hand cigarette smoke, unpasteurized cheese (goat's cheese, many delicious soft cheeses, and all smelly cheese), sushi (unless cooked), deli meats (don't mind that one), caffeine, and even some herbal teas. I'm also cutting back on processed and packaged foods and trying to at least eat organic dairy (suppossedly the most important food group to go organic in, health-wise).

Beauty - In short, I had to scrap all my cleansers and creams. Some of this was doctor's warnings (Retinal, a vitamin A compound in anti-wrinkle products and some food is known to cause birth defects), and some was European studies suggesting a link between parabens and lauryl/laureth sulphates and cancer. Salicylic acid, an acne treatment found even in Aveda products is also a no-no for little embryos.
•
Exercise - I'm still trying to figure this one out. Many books/doctors seem to be advising slightly different things. Walking and swimming (at a lower intensity) seem to be encouraged all around. After that many folks suggest not engaging in impact activities (ie jumping up and down, running, racket ball) during weeks 6-10 especially, and possibly up to week 18, as there is an increase in the rate of miscarriage. Others say it's fine. Not wanting to take any chances, I've switched from running to walking for trimester 1 (and I'm trying to get to the pool), and then will get back into jogging (but only 2 miles at a time?!) for trimesters 2 and 3. Sit-ups and most other ab exercises seem to be off-limits due to having to lie on your back, or invert yourself in some way, both of which are supposedly bad for you (though I'm trying to figure out if this is only during later trimesters). I think I can still do the plank though...

Well I could go on for a while, but you get the idea. I'm sure there are a few women reading this going, what? I did such-and-such through my whole pregnancy! That seems to be the good part... babies seem to come out just fine 95% of the time, nearly regardless of what their parents partake in :-)

For now it's back to a weekend of work as I prepare for my second assignment deadline on Monday (procrastination from my job's increasing workload may bring about most of the blog entries over the next month). I hope you're all doing well, and thanks again for all your congratulatory e-mails, they've been so nice to read.

Anyone have a suggestion for a new 2-3 inch fruit analogy?

xoxo J,B & jumbo strawberry?

p.s. sorry we don't have any photos to post, most of our recent ones were lost when my laptop was stolen :-(