Baby Bump and Not-so-"lovely-lady-lump" Pics

Dear Soybean,

Mercy, yesterday was a bit rough.  A lot of stressors going on with trying to coordinate family plans on getting to your Uncle Kivini's graduation, figuring out what the buy-out of Praxair to Apria (which was finalized yesterday) will mean to me, trying to keep the ever-present nausea at bay, etc.   I know that at least in the last weeks of pregnancy, if the mother is stressed, it speeds up the baby's development.  I jokingly thought to myself that if I keep up all this stress you'll be born full-grown, haha.  

Another big disappointment was that I am eating too much.  In part, I think I eat in desperate attempts to find the silver bullet to the nausea.  The other is that your dad has been gone a lot taking care of your grandpa's animals and visiting him in the hospital.  That, and my having to work late several nights this past week, meant there hasn't been any groceries in the house, leaving me to pick up fast-food on the way home.  That, and when I'm stressed (like

 with this job change) I crave comfort foods, which are all too often handy (for example, the two donuts I ate from a Shipley's box a coworker brought yesterday).  Anyway, I know I've been getting fat (and I'm not just talking baby weight.. I mean, good grief, you're only an inch long!  But I guess it makes more sense if you're made of pure gold, which you are!!).  I read that I'm only supposed to gain 1-3 pounds in the first trimester.  Well yesterday I figured it was a good time to get honest with myself and see how much I had gained in excess of the guidelines.  Well, I have gained 6 pounds and I still have almost a month left of my first trimester!  And taking in account that I still weighed my 121.5 when I had my first OB appt, that means I gained that 5 pounds in one month!  I felt disgusted with myself.   Kadi called last night and gave us some pointers on how she has lost her weight just by eating well.  It was some motivation to start trying to eat better again.  Your dad said he will go to the store tomorrow and hook us up with some good groceries. 

Today has been a much needed break though... got to spend somequality time with your dad and we had some time to take our first "baby bump" pics.  Together, we visited your Grandpa Nall in the hospital and helped him write out checks for his bills, stopped by his house to feed and play with his dogs, and then we stopped by CC's Cafe for dinner.  Dinner was chicken fried steak, fried okra, and, for dessert--banana pudding.  Yeah, as you can tell the healthy eating has not yet began, but I swear the fried okra was the best I have ever had.  My eyes were rolling around in my head, they were so good.   I'll say it again, your dad is the best man to me and he is super excited about you.  He talks often about how he can't wait to take you to NASCAR races and hunting/fishing trips, whether you are a boy or girl. 

We're not any closer to names, though we talk about possibilities all the time.  So for now, and until we find out your gender, you will remain my little soybean.   Love, ~A.