Hello 2nd Trimester!!!

Today I enter into the 2nd trimester!! woohooo! 13 weeks! Everyone has been telling me that at 13 weeks it will be like a switch is flipped (or a flip is switched as I said earlier tonight haha) and whataya know, today is the first day of my pregnancy I haven't been nauseous at all!! Now granted it is only 7:15 as I type this so there are 3 more hours of potential nausea but lets stay positive and assume I won't be! I have felt great all day! Hallelujah!! I want to skip I'm so happy! I feel like I saw a glimpse of my pre-pregnancy self today with all the energy I had and lack of nausea. I'm thrilled to think that I'll actually be able to do things like I used to, like housework and cook and run, etc etc etc! Speaking of housework, I owe a huge THANK YOU to Cole Bowen, my brother-in-law. We had planned for him, Brittney and Corben to come over to our house for lunch today so they wouldn't have to drive all the way back home and back for Group Link (small group launch at church) tonight. Brittney and I told Cole we wanted to go to Harris Teeter (for free stuff, naturally) and that we would be back home to cook lunch. Well, we took a little longer than we thought (and got a lot more free stuff than we thought too!) and when we got back to my house, Cole had cleaned my kitchen, put away the dishes, and cooked lunch!! He made made-from-scratch mashed potatoes, corn and grilled chicken and steaks on the grill!! It was fabulous!! Then, Brittney folded the towels that I had neglected to fold since drying them and my house looked cleaner than it has in weeks!! THANK YOU Cole and Brittney! Honestly I have felt so tired and so ill the past few weeks I haven't lifted a finger and my house showed it. Brandon has done so much to pick up my slack but it really needs more attention than once a week cleaning... you know how it goes. I am so blessed to be surrounded by people who love me enough to help me when I need it most!

Today was also the launch of our small groups at church. Group Link went seamlessly tonight and I am SO proud of my husband! I don't think everyone knows just how hard he works behind the scenes to pull stuff like this off. He has worked on processes for small groups for months now and this week has worked well over a normal workweek to launch these groups (no day off Friday and hasn't been home since 7:15 this morning!!). I am so proud of how he has grown into the leader he is. People respect him and they don't even know the half of what he does! I want to applaud Brandon and take a minute to recognize just how hard he has worked to take our church to the next level. We are very excited about small groups and especially our small group! We will have our group meet at our house this semester and we are pumped about everyone who will be a part of our group! I think people are craving personal relationships with one another and this will be a huge part in accomplishing that.

Here is my survey on my pregnancy for this week =)

How far along? 13 weeks

Weight gain? at work this week there was an employee health fair and I weighed myself there... keep in mind that it was right after lunch and I had eaten SOOO much pasta and it is a different scale than the doctor's offices (I feel like there are always some discrepancies between scales) BUT by the number that popped up, it means that I have gained 4 pounds so far! I was allowed to gain up to 5 in the first trimester so I don't feel horrible about that weight gain but I am a little nervous that I gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks, hmmm...

Maternity clothes? Not yet... but I DID get to church this morning and realized while I was greeting people for the first service that I had forgotten to zip and button my jeans!! I apparently was much more comfortable with my jeans unzipped =)

Sleep? Still getting up to go to the bathroom once or twice a night and I've been having very vivid dreams. I will have to read up on this to see if that is a normal pregnancy thing but I have woken up thinking "wow, that was so real if I wasn't in my bed, I would believe it happened!"

Stretch Marks? None so far (hopefully none at all!)

Best Moment this week? Running for the first time since knowing I was pregnant! It's been two months since I last ran!!! Can you believe it? Thanksgiving day I ran a couple miles and did some sprints (and I seem to recall thinking that afterward I was extremely tired, maybe the fact that I was carrying a baby....??haha) but since then I have been too worn out and too nauseated to run. Yesterday I was determined to give it a go and I went out and walk/jogged a mile! Meaning, I jogged for a few minutes, walked for a few, jogged for a few, walked for a few... etc. I didn't want to overdo it but MAN I felt great when I got done!! When I got back inside I even walked around pumping my fist in the air, I felt so victorious! =)

Movement? None yet... I'm hoping I'll feel the baby move soon but I think I still have to wait a few weeks...

Food Cravings? Still cheeseburgers, scrambled eggs and cheese, any form of potatoes (mashed, baked, soup, fries, chips, tatertots... seriously all of those) and anything carbs... bad I know but I've been feeling so much better after I eat bread or crackers or potatoes...

Food Aversions? still coffee, it smells disgusting to me. And anything that smells too strongly, even my chapstick makes me gaggy

What I miss most? Coffee... I long for the day when I will crave a vanilla latte again...

What I'm looking forward to? Feeling good in this trimester!! Woot Woot!

Milestones... Going an entire day without feeling nauseous! (Like I said, the day's not over yet, but I still feel good so here's to hoping with my fingers crossed!) BabyCenter.com says the baby is now almost 3 inches long and weighs an ounce! My little peanut is just growing up so fast =)

I haven't taken a picture today but I will at some point this week and I'll post it after I do. There's not much change since last week so don't get too disappointed I slacked on the visual for this week =)

12 weeks

Today I am 12 weeks along. Yesterday Brandon and I went baby furniture shopping. Yes, baby furniture shopping! I can't believe our list of things to accomplish include "buy crib." We went to an adorable store that had a ton of things we fell in love with from a very modern crib set, to wall canvases that if we can't buy, I at least want to try my hand at making. We have an idea of how we want our nursery to look but of course its hard to completely dive in while we still don't know if we need to buy "pink" or "blue" =) We had a great day together even though we had a disgusting lunch at this bbq joint. I had such high hopes for a yummy lunch because this little restaurant had cars packed in the parking lot so we figured it must be good. Wrong. I couldn't even eat half of it. Brandon and I looked at each other and he said "You don't have to choke it down babe, I'll get you something else to eat." So thankfully, we tossed our nasty bbq plates and left to find lunch #2. I don't ever do that when I'm out to eat either. I am usually satisfied with whatever I choose to get, but this was just so raunchy, Brandon and I couldn't even finish it. Oh well, live and learn. Plus it just contributed to the day =)

Ok here's baby bump picture #1 and #2 then my little survey =)

This is me at 11 weeks:

This is me today at 12 weeks:

How far along? 12 weeks

Weight gain? well, at least 2 lbs so far but I haven't weighed myself since my doctor's visit so I don't know if I've gained any more or not...

Maternity clothes? Not yet, thankfully my boss is letting me wear scrubs to work during this in between stage...

Sleep? Not great, not terrible. I still get up at least once in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom but I feel ok during the day. Friday night I slept 9 hours and last night I slept 10 with an hour and a half nap today! Wow, cooking a baby is tiring!! ;o)

Stretch Marks? None... yet. Still interested in how to prevent em so if you've got a magic solution, let me know!

Best Moment this week? Shopping for baby furniture with the love of my life.

Movement? None yet...

Food Cravings? Still cheeseburgers, scrambled eggs and cheese, and now POTATO SOUP. I've cooked 5 times in the past month and 4 of those times I made potato soup... within a week! wow, poor brandon!

Food Aversions? still coffee, bigtime. I walked past Starbucks yesterday and gagged... how sad =(

What I miss most? My tastebuds. I don't know who this girl is now but she doesn't want anything sweet and I'm kind of missing that bowl of ice cream every night... not really missing it because I don't want it at all, but just weird that I don't even crave ice cream, candy, sweets... where did my tastebuds go?

What I'm looking forward to? Finding out what this little angel will be, boy or girl =)

Milestones... Shopping for and finding a crib! We didn't buy it because its a little pricey, but we at least know what we want now!

Give credit where credit is due...

I think somebody who hasn't gotten nearly enough attention the past few weeks is my husband. My dear sweet boy who has been so good to me through this whole pregnancy hasn't gotten nearly the credit he deserves. My best friend, my sweetheart has gone out of his way to accommodate me, his growing bride =) For about 8 and a half to 9 weeks now I have felt pretty crummy. Nauseous, exhausted, feeling fat, just plain gross and Brandon has endured all of that by my side, so attentive to my every need. Last Saturday morning I was so sick I couldn't get out of bed and I rolled around and flopped all over the bed moaning and groaning so much that poor Brandon couldn't possibly sleep in any longer. He tentatively asked what might possibly make me feel better, if anything, and I replied "probably an egg and cheese biscuit from Biscuitville" and he promptly got out of bed, put his sweats on, and went to Biscuitville and back before I even had time to flop around anymore. How sweet! I only hope that I can be so attentive to his needs. He is setting the bar so high, I'm a little worried about the next time he gets sick =oP. Plus, he has put up with all my complaining (about what I want or don't want to eat, how bad I feel, how tired I am, my clothes getting tight, the way my fridge smells when I open it, the way my pantry smells when I open it, etc, you get the picture right?) and my moments of sudden sickness. I think that its probably almost as hard to be the husband of a pregnant woman than it is to be the pregnant woman! Almost ;)

The reason I wrote this post is because not everyone sees or hears about how great Brandon has been to me since I've been pregnant and I thought he deserved a little praise. He truly has been my strength over the last few months and has helped out at home so much. He doesn't complain that his acheiver wife suddenly stopped doing housework and cooking (the closest he's come to this has been saying that I'm eating a black hole through his wallet with all my eating out!!). He understands when I don't feel good and I'm a party pooper and just want to crawl back in bed. He rubs my back when I'm miserable and stops just before the "I'm on a boat" feeling kicks in =) He prays for me and our baby every day and he encourages me all day long when I text and tell him I just don't think I could possibly work another minute.

Thank you Babe, for all you've done for me over the past 3 months. You truly deserve to be applauded. I wouldn't want anyone else by by side through this exciting adventure and I know you will be an amazing Daddy. Thank you for putting up with me and thank you for loving me despite my pronounced flaws. You mean more to me than I can put in words and I'm so grateful that God gave us each other. I promise to try to be not so annoying over the next 7 months.

I love you more than life.

Preggo brain

So I had my first real pregnancy brain moment tonight. For those of you who know me, know I have a terrible memory anyways, but since being pregnant, I think this has gotten worse. Brandon will mention something to me that he says he has told me previously and I just KNOW that he hasn't... but has he? Well tonight tops it all. Tonight I left an entire bag of groceries at the grocery store. I knew I had bought 4 frozen pizzas (I'm pregnant ok...) and when I got home there were only 3. Eh... I must have just gotten confused right? Wrong. At approximately 9:45pm, roughly 3 hours after I got home, I jumped up from the couch because I realized I had forgotten to put the sour cream in the fridge. I went to the kitchen... and no sour cream. No big deal, it must have fallen out of the bag in the car (maybe with the missing pizza) but no. NO SOUR CREAM AND NO FOURTH PIZZA. I left an entire bag of groceries at the grocery store. I don't even know if I left it at the register or in the buggy! I'm in shock that I could be that brainless!! Lord help me remember to remember to wear 2 of the same shoes and take my keys out of the ignition when I get out of the car. For the rest of you, the takeaway lesson here is always check to make sure you have all your groceries when you leave the store!!!

Baby Delk's first photo shoot =)

I know no one else besides Brandon and me (and our moms!) really cares about these pictures, because hey, all ultrasound pictures look the same, right? Buuuut, Baby Delk is just so cute curled up in Mommy's tummy that I haaaaad to post these pictures! I mean, if you look close enough, you can see his/her (???) head, rump (that one day I'll probably have to spank if he/she is anything like Mommy!!), arms, legs (which were kicking so that's why they are in different places on each of the pictures), and cutest little baby tummy!! Melt my heart. Ok, just had to show you pictures of my sweet little one =)

It's a.... BABY!!!

Yep! That's right! I'm pregnant! I, Bethany Delk, am going to be a mommy. I could not be happier! In fact, I have never been happier in my life, I know it. Today we heard the heartbeat for the first time and we got to see the baby for the first time too. I cried. Like a baby actually, no pun intended =) When the midwife found the heartbeat, it truly was the sweetest sound I had ever heard. I'm actually crying as I write this because I am just so overwhelmed that God has blessed me with a life to grow and then to nurture. A little pitter patter, the heartbeat sounded like it was trying to race itself, 172 beats per minute! Bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, sweet sweet music to my ears. I cried and I laughed and the midwife had to tell me to be still since my tummy was all over the place and she had trouble keeping the heartbeat while I was moving so much! The baby is about the size of your thumb, from the knuckle to the tip. Or a little bigger than the size of a grape. Imagine that... a little grape-sized baby... oh I am so in love already!! My little grape-baby is due August 1st so that makes me 10 weeks and 5 days along right now. They weren't exactly sure of my due date so it is possible it could change after my next few visits. We also won't get to know the sex of the baby until the middle of March... which feels like forever away, but I'm sure will end up flying by. Anyone got any strong feelings that it is a boy or a girl? I've had none. I keep wondering if I "feel" like it is one or the other, but I really don't know. I would be happy with either. I would love to dress a little girl is pretty dresses and bows for her hair but I also love my nephew to pieces and would love to see two boy cousins having fun together one day... To tell you a bit about my pregnancy I'm "borrowing" this cute survey from Becki's blog. (Thanks Becki!)

How far along? 10 weeks 5 days

Weight gain? 2 pounds so far! (I thought it would be so much more but I was very relieved to see the number on the scale today)

Maternity clothes? Not yet, but I am starting to have a little trouble with my dress pants for work. Don't tell anyone but I can't button one of my pairs of dress pants and as of 2 days ago, I officially cannot zip them up all the way anymore!! Holy Cow! My waist is disappearing!!

Sleep? I have never ever ever before in my life gotten up to pee in the middle of the night. I am a sleeper. I don't get up for anything, ask Susan, my college roommate, she remembers not even being able to wake me up for fire drills in the middle of the night! What can I say, I'm a sleepy person. Now, I get up at least once to pee. Before Christmas I had gotten up to getting up FOUR TIMES A NIGHT. FOUR. OMG. Ask me how frustrated I was. No words.

Stretch Marks? None... yet. Anyone have any stellar remedies for preventing these bad boys??

Best Moment this week? Hearing the baby's heartbeat and seeing him wave to Mommy today =)

Movement? Well I saw the baby moving during the ultrasound but I don't feel the baby yet.

Food Cravings? Cheeseburgers, mashed potatoes and gravy, scrambled eggs with cheese.

Food Aversions? COFFEE!!!! I used to LOVE coffee! This was clue number 1 that I was pregnant... I started weaning myself off caffeniated coffee for decaf when I knew we were going to start trying, then I found that I couldn't finish a whole cup of coffee in the morning. Then I didn't want coffee but I would still try to drink it, because, hey, I love coffee, I drink it every morning. THEN one day the smell made me gag and I COULD NOT drink even a sip. I threw the whole cup away. Please please please don't take me to Starbucks in the near future because I just might lose my lunch =( And, you can join in prayer with me that my love of coffee returns after the baby arrives =) Thanks!

What I miss most? Sleeping through the night.

What I'm looking forward to? Finding out what the sex of the baby is!!

Milestones... We had our first prenatal visit today. It went beautifully. I cried a lot and the ultrasound technician even complimented Brandon and I, saying that the staff thought I was beautiful and that we were the perfect couple! I was already having a fabulous day, this was just icing!!!

Other tidbits about my 10 weeks because, well, just because. It is my first pregnancy and I'm figuring out this Mommy bit as I go and I want to share it with you all! Morning sickness. I'd heard of it and even sympathized with women who endured it because if you know me at all, you know I HATE to throw up. HATE HATE HATE it. I am actually fearful of vomiting. Mostly because I don't really remember how but because ew! its gross and awful and no fun! I have been blessed with morning sickness that is actually morning, noon and night sickness, aka, I'm nauseous 90% of the day. I have even woken up in the middle of the night, sat straight up in bed and thought "oh, no! I'm going to vomit on the bed and I really don't want to!" Don't worry, I didn't throw up in bed. I clenched my throat muscles reallllll tight and prayed that God would understand just hoooow badly I didn't want to throw up. Getting up in the morning is a mean trick. I mean I wake up, open my eyes and think "hey, I feel good today." THEN, I sit up and realize, "oh crap, no I don't." Does everyone know what dry heaving is? Yeah, me too. My closet knows what it is, my shower knows, my sink knows... how? because I've introduced them. Yep, Dry heaves while getting ready for work. There's not a whole lot worse than knowing you've got to be in another town for work in an hour and you can't get up from sitting beside the toilet. PLUS the ironic and slightly unfair thing about the whole first trimester is that you don't normally tell people you are pregnant until the second trimester so you spend a miserable 12 weeks hiding a secret and hovering over the white trough. How unfair! I couldn't tell anyone at work because I wanted to make sure the baby was healthy and strong and yet I was holed up in my office (because oh yeah, they brew approximately 4 pots of coffee in my office suite a day!!!) with the door closed alternating between putting my head on the desk and laying down on the floor. Yeah, what a miserable couple of weeks. I so wanted someone to sympathize with me or pat my back or just tell me I would survive. Needless to say, I called Brandon a lot. I haven't told my coworkers yet (Monday's the big day!) but I know it will all make sense to them once I tell them because I have been acting so different the past few weeks. Just to summarize, I have walked out on lunch on more than one occasion the color of kermit the frog, I have gone from eating salads for lunch to burgers, macaroni and cheese, and french fries (totally out of character for calorie-counting-me!), and I've been working with my office door shut (remember, the coffee aversion?).

I guess this qualifies as my longest post ever but I also qualify for first baby ever so it turns out its ok. I will try to post on a regular basis and also put some pictures up! I have to battle the scanner to be able to post the ultrasound pictures from today but I am prepared to go to war =) I also can't wait to start posting belly bump pictures!

To close out here is how I've been praying for the baby each night (and actually every free moment in the car or walking down the hall!) so feel free to join me in praying up this little one who we will all get to meet in just 7 short months!

Dear Lord,

Thank you so much for this blessing. I am so unworthy, yet You trust me with a life to nurture and teach Your ways. Please place your hand on my womb and hold this baby safely to delivery. Lord, develop 10 healthy and strong little toes and 2 feet and 2 ankles and 2 shins and 2 calves and 2 knees and 2 femurs and 2 hips and pelvis and tummy and digestive system and lungs and heart and shoulders and arms and elbows and wrists and hands and 10 fingers and spine and neck and brain and head and ears and eyes and nose and mouth and tongue and lips and cheeks and hair and all the parts of the baby's body. Lord keep this little one safe from harm and healthy. Lord keep illness away from this house and keep us strong and healthy and safe. Develop Brandon and I into the parents you want us to be. Help us to make wise decisions.

Thank you thank you thank you for this little miracle growing inside me.

We love you Lord.

When all goes quiet... you should worry...

Brittney and I were working on the materials for our coupon class when we suddenly heard... nothing. The silence was almost louder than any sound we could have heard. Then pitter patter down the hall came Corben and he walked into the office with a big grin on his face, along with some chocolate. He said "I got some candies." So naturally, Brittney and I were curious as to just what that meant. He proceeded to take us upstairs and show us this...

Yep, he managed to climb on top of the kitchen counter by himself, get the container of m'n'ms down without spilling them, carry them upstairs and dump them all over the floor!

How can you not love this kid? I mean, look at that face... melt my heart. =)

Christmas 2009!

I've officially proved myself to be a bad blogger =/ I had my first long stent of no posting, boo. Well, I thought it was about time to get back at it and what better way to start than with Christmas! This was our third Christmas married and this year was my year to spend Christmas morning with my family. We started a tradition last year (our first year in our new house) and continued it this year with Christmas Eve brunch at our house with Brandon's family. Christmas Eve morning I was up early to start making yummy foods and I made zucchini bread, a ham and cheese breakfast casserole with crescent rolls for the crust, and apple pancakes with homemade apple cider syrup (yum!). While I was making the pancakes, everyone was arriving and Corben would periodically come over to the stove, point up and say "I need to see the pancakes." So, I would lift him up and show him how I flip the pancakes and he would giggle and ask when he could have one, then I'd have to put him down to put more apples on the griddle. When we finally sat down to brunch, every single pancake I'd made got gobbled up! Apparently they were a hit! When we were done eating we let Corben open his present from Brandon and I, a chalkboard/whiteboard easel from IKEA and some playdoh, a stuffed elephant, and of course, a ball. After brunch we packed up and headed over to Brandon's Dad's house to exchange gifts. After our stop there we went on to Joan's house to exchange gifts. She and Nana had made tons of yummy food and we let Corben start the gift opening. Corben's big gifts were coming in the morning from Santa so he got a bunch of clothes and other small gifts. Brittney and I got the same black boots (of course!) and I got a hair dryer (which has changed my world by the way). Brandon opened several boxes of money so he could go buy whatever he wanted, which was exactly what he wanted. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye and get on the road to Lynchburg to see my family. We went straight to the Christmas Eve service at TRBC and then went back to Mom's house afterward. She had made us a yummy dinner and then continued to bake yummy goodies all night! The next morning I was up first (for some reason, I always wake up before Josh) and was anxious to see what Santa had brought. Mom made homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and we opened gifts and then watched Christmas movies all day. We had a great Christmas. Then we spent the day after Christmas shopping in Richmond and then the next 2 days just hanging out at Mom's. It was a good trip home. I'll be honest, I love where we live, but there's just something about Lynchburg that calls to you every once in awhile. I love that town and I'm so glad I was blessed to grow up there.

I should be strung up because I didn't take a lot of pictures over the holidays but Kellie took some and so did Josh so I will try to get copies from them to put on here... Anyways, here are some pictures of our Christmas and New Years!

Corben helping Nana open her presents!!
I love this kid. And he loves taking pictures with me so he can look at them =)
Happy New Year's to my wonderful wonderful hubby!
Corben petting Kellie's bunny =)

Here's my cutiepie nephew picking up the bunny... sort of. =)