12-13 weeks!

Alas, another 2-in-1 week, but it's better than nothing, right? The top picture is 12 weeks, while the second is 13 :) As you can see, my tummy has grown enough that I look pudgy, but not enough that I looks pregnant...I'm definitely ready to get past the "pudgy" phase!

We have officially entered the second trimester! It's a relief knowing we made it this far, and that it's a third of the way over and done with!

On the bright side, that means that the fatigue and nausea are REALLY subsiding! On the down side, the heartburn is kicking with with a vengeance! I'm going to need to buy stock in Tums and Rolaids at the rate this heartburn is going...the kicker is that I'm fine all day long, but as soon as 5 rolls around, it hits. And of course it hits hard! I can take Zantac too, which helps on those really bad days.

In really exciting news, we went to the doctor's on Monday for another visit and ultrasound. She was really pleased with everything, and even told me I have a pretty placenta! I suppose that as far as placentas go, it's a nice one, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's pretty :)

They took the nuchal measurement, which is where they measure the thickness of the back of the neck to check for chromosomal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome. It's not 100% or anything, but can be an indicator. It looked fine, though, so at least that's one less thing to worry about! They'll most likely still do a blood test to rule out some other possible complications as well.

The ultrasound was amazing, as usual! Alex got very excited about the "monster". I suppose that when you see the baby face first, they do all look a little bit like monsters and aliens! We told him that no, that wasn't a monster, it was the baby and he nodded understandingly, got up, walked over, poked me in the belly, and said, "oh, baby!"

Peanut was napping at first, but woke up after a few minutes and started dancing and jumping all around! I pointed it out and Alex started dancing and jumping around as well :)

Perhaps the most exciting part was realizing that I've actually been feeling Peanut dance! I'd been having little flutters and thumps here and there, but not really anything super significant...not enough to make me think it was anything other than my insides squirming around. However, I saw Peanut jump at the exact time I felt one of the little flutter thumps, so that at least pinpointed what I was feeling :) Ever since, Peanut has been incredibly active! It's such an awesome feeling - feeling Alex move around was definitely my favorite part of being pregnant with him, and I'm looking forward to those "real" thumps with Peanut as well!

The ultrasound technician had a student with her, so she got to play around while the tech wrote up her report, and Alex and I got to see Peanut a little bit longer.

The heartbeat is a healthy 162 beats per minute - according to old wives tales, a heartbeat over 150 means that it's a girl...but Alex's was in the 150s and he is most certainly not a girl :)

A front view of the alien baby!

Here's a side view, complete with crossed ankles! Peanut was waving at us as well :)

By now, Peanut has a well defined chin and a nose, as well as fingerprints, toenails, and fingernails! Bone is starting to replace cartilage, and she is about 3" long and 1 ounce. She'll quadruple in size in the next month or so!