Magic Stick Tell Future

So, if you think about it, it's pretty strange how we test for pregnancy. It sort of sounds like some sort of ancient tribal ritual....like a really unhygienic crystal ball. "Pee on magic stick. Magic stick see future. Tell if baby grow in belly".

To all of my friends who aren't mothers, I remember thinking it was weird how people would post pictures of their baby "bumps", ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, etc, And here I am....posting pictures of aforementioned subject matter on the internet for the whole world to see. I guess when you get pregnant, you just have to surrender a tiny bit of your sanity. (Did I mention that the other day, I calmly walked over to the bin, lifted the lid and dumped Murphy's dog food into said bin rather than into her dog bowl?) I think it's worth it though, because we're having a baby...and it's pretty exciting! I can handle surrendering a bit of sanity for that.

So, for those who want to catch up on what's been going on, here's a little bit about my pregnancy experience so far:

We found out about the pregnancy the day before our 3rd anniversary. I was going to try to wait to surprise Jim, but I couldn't contain myself. I cooked him a nice dinner and said we were going to celebrate our anniversary early. After dinner he opened my gift to him:
Apparently, the magic stick method was a little too sophisticated for this cave man, because it took him a minute to figure out the meaning of this tiny shirt (which would obviously be way too small...and frankly, kind of embarrassing to wear in public) and the pregnancy test. I had to explain that the test said "Pregnant". This means we were having a baby. Then again, maybe it was just the shock of the revelation, and in an instinctual form of self preservation, his brain refused to process the situation... In spite of his initial shock, and once the news had a chance to sink in, neither of us could stop smiling!

After experiencing certain trouble symptoms that no woman wants to have in the first trimester (or any trimester really), I ended up having an early ultrasound at about 8.5 weeks pregnant. Thankfully, everything was fine, and we got the first glimpse of our little one.
For a week or so after this, the baby was endearingly referred to as "Nubs". The name didn't really stick, though. I guess it was alright at the time, while the baby actually had nubs, but as the baby grew, I guess the name just became irrelevant.

I had another, routine ultrasound at about 10.5 weeks. We were happy to see our active little baby wiggling around, and that the nubs had grown to look more like arms and legs. Phew. I was given an "official" due date based on the baby's measurements: July 1st. One day after my birthday! (Though, I'm really hoping baby decides to make a grand appearance on July 4th know...staying in touch with those American roots. Plus, everyone in America would be able to celebrate with fireworks. ;-)

We headed to America for Christmas, at which time we were able to share the news with my extended family. For those who were present, we caught their reactions on video by pretending that we were going to take a family photo. My dad, the photographer, said something along the lines of "On the count of three....everybody say 'Beth's pregnant!'" They were shocked...it was funny. It was exciting to be able to finally share the news with some of the most important people in our lives.

Since then, things have been pretty uneventful until this past week when I felt the baby moving for the first time. The most I've felt the baby moving was this past Saturday after we had some homemade taquitos for lunch...and dinner. What? I love Mexican food. Apparently, so does Baby Wightman, because there was lots of wiggling going on in there. (And before anyone asks...it was not just indigestion :-).

In a couple of weeks, we will be able to find out whether the baby is a Boy Wightman or Girl Wightman! I'll do my best to keep you all updated, though motivation and energy to....well...to do anything really seem to be in short supply these days!
Last but not least, here's my one and only bump picture (at about 16 weeks) so far: