The first encounter

Today I make 13 weeks, and it's a very joyous day for me, not only because it's one week further away from that dreadful first trimester, but also because I had my first encounter with the pregnancy question today. I went to Fresh Market to browse around, and I was staring longingly at the dessert counter when I noticed that the woman standing behind it was staring at me with this peculiar smile on her face. I said hello, to be nice, and then she said something I wasn't expecting to hear for at least another 6 weeks: "How far along are you?". I can't believe it, even now. In fact, when she asked me, I laughed and she said: "Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I just thought you were pregnant". I told her I was and that it just caught me off guard, and I walked away wondering how in the heck she noticed I was pregnant. After all, I didn't imagine that my stomach was all that big. I mean, I was wearing this maternity dress (which pretty much looks like all the other dresses you see nowadays, with the high waist and all), but I didn't think I was really showing. Then I got home and had H take a picture of me in the dress, and I have to say, I actually do look pregnant. The picture is right there, to the right, and OH MY GOODNESS, I really look pregnant!! Even now, looking at it, I'm surprised to see how much I've grown since just last week. And lately, over the last few days or so, I've been having these ligament/bone pains, and seeing that picture I'm starting to understand why: things are growing very quickly! Quite frankly, it scares me to think of what I might look like in two or three months...eek. Anyway, tonight I was planning on putting up the weekly belly picture anyway, and I did take that one as well, where you can see my actual stomach, but I had to take one in the dress too, just as a sort of "reference point". Below you can see the picture of my belly from today, at 13 weeks. Amazing, isn't it? Still sort of "beer belly-ish", but getting better I

guess. I've been very reluctant to engage in any sort of heavy physical activity, especially since I was bleeding up until about week nine, and believe me, it's totally cramping my style. So today I also went and bought a nice new two-piece athletic swimsuit that I can use for swimming all throughout the pregnancy, which, for now, is my activity of choice. I'm also hoping to start a prenatal yoga course, at least once a week, but for now, I just want to be doing SOMETHING. And now that I've got the swimsuit, I can finally start back with the exercise. I'm going to go tomorrow and I plan on taking it easy, just in case it makes all those ligaments start hurting again, but I'm hoping it might give me some flexibility and energy. Overall, though, I feel good, minus the ligament pains, and I'm waiting anxiously to get to the doctor's office next week and hear that little heart thump-thump-thumping away. Please keep praying for us, and for the baby, that we all stay safe, and that things keep progressing as wonderfully as they are now. Who knows, in the next few weeks there might be many more encounters. :)