My belly's a changin'

It's been 16 weeks since we found out we were going to have a baby. And 16wks since we've been meaning to get this website up and running. So here we go!

The first trimester was a little rough. Starting at 7wks, I became nauseated and really tired. This lasted until about 14wks and then I started feeling better. I worried a lot if everything would turn out okay. I think it's an occupational hazard. This picture was taken the day we took the pregnancy test. I was about 5 weeks here. All baby of course. :)

This was right at 16wks when we really started noticing it pop! Good thing I had tons of maternity clothes from Anna and Kari

cause I was starting to really need them to be comfortable!

The second trimester has been really great! No more morning sickness and I feel like I have energy again. We're worrying less now about miscarriage since we've made it this far. Each stage comes with worries and now I think about all the weird anomalies that we see at work.

The ultrasound yesterday put to rest some of those worries. The measurements of the baby looked good -- right on for 20wk gestation. We were shown the ventricles in the brain, the 4 chamber heart, the kidneys, the bladder, the humerus and the femur were measured, the cord, the placenta and they even took measurements of my cervix. All clear! :) The picture on the left is the profile of the baby. The picture below is the bottom of the foot. Daniel and his parents both think the baby has his feet.

The only thing they didn't examine too closely was the baby's boy or girl parts because we want to be surprised when the baby comes out. It was a little difficult to stick to that decision as they were doing the ultrasound, but there were so many other interesting things to look at!

I thought I felt the baby moving early on, like 14 weeks, but now I think I'm really feeling it. The placenta is sitting in between my belly and the baby so it's cushioning the

baby's movements from me right now. But every now and then lately I feel a little something. Daniel thinks it's cause I eat beans, which I do think is what I felt early on. But this feels ever so slightly different than beans. :)

We just took this picture of my belly yesterday before we left for our ultrasound. So now we're 20wks and I can hardly believe that half of the pregnancy is already over. We have so many things to look forward to: a shower in St. Louis in March, Daniel and I going to New York City in March, a quick trip with Justin and pregnant Laura in Madison, WI in April, a trip to Waukon to see Daniel's family sometime soon, a visit from my mom in May, and hopefully a June baby! :)

We'll try to update this at least every week. It'll be a good way to keep the family and friends that are so far away updated and in the loop! Hopefully this will be the first of a very long line of O'Hara family blog posts. :)

Love, Julie and Daniel