My fitness kick was going amazingly well (sans the whole treadmill incident) until Jeff and I discovered that our first child will be arriving in January. Now, I didn't abruptly drop the gym routine in order to embrace the whole "eating for two and who cares how much weight I gain" mentality; rather, the gym kind of dropped me. I will be 12 weeks along tomorrow and while I can't say I've been throwing up like a champ (that only happened once, thankfully), I have been enduring what I can only describe to the average non-pregnant person as a constant 4 week hangover: the lightheadedness, nausea, extreme fatigue, wanting-to-sink-into-the-couch-and-never-leave-it feeling that rarely lets up. I had always heard that pregnant women have the tendency to feel "tired" but that word doesn't even begin to describe the exhaustion and the effort it takes to literally grow another person. While I go from day to day and it seems like I'm not physically doing ANYthing, I end the day with the sense that I just completed a triathalon. I haven't felt like myself in weeks--I have no energy, and sometimes it takes everything I have in me just to drive to work, sit there all day, and drive home. Then at home I make dinner, watch TV or read for maybe 3 hours and fall asleep. A riveting life!! (which makes me wonder--why the hell am I so tired?!)

But enough whining...I just had to bring you all into the world I've been experiencing since May 9th (the day before Mother's Day, how appropriate) when I found out that next year at that same time, I would be a mom myself. Jeff and I are beyond excited (when I have the energy to muster up the excitement) and luckily since we've been together for 9 years, we have been discussing name choices for at least a few years now and have condensed the list into a short one we both finally approve of. There were many names we did not agree on (for example, Jeff kept bringing up the name "Miles" as a "cool middle name" and all I could think of was good old Miles Standish so I told him to "Keep on thinking." I know there were plenty of names that I threw out there that caused him to throw me a look of equal distaste, but of course I can't remember which ones they were because obviously I felt they were perfect.)

We are definitely going to find out what we're having, most likely by mid to late August, and that will be another extremely fun time. For the record, I believe we're having a boy since nearly all my friends (except Heather) have had boys in the past two years. Jeff says he keeps picturing a blonde-haired, brown-eyed girl in his head, so we'll see. Maybe we'll make a bet and the winner will have to take the loser out for lunch on the day of the ultrasound. No matter what, we will be happy with the outcome. We're planning on having two kids, and would love one of each, but whatever happens is most likely what's right for us, and we know that.

Today I woke up for the first time with a little more energy, so I'm thinking I'm turning the corner on the whole morning sickness business. I am going to make it my goal to get outside and walk more (if this rain will ever let up!!) and also to really strive to eat well...I have to say I've given into a few cravings already including Tostitos queso dip (no nutritional value whatsoever), pizza, a vanilla milkshake, and chicken tikka masala (mmmm love Indian food!)...and the only real aversions I've experienced so far are coffee which I never crave anymore (amazing) and sometimes veggie burgers and Fiber One bars. Totally weird, I know.

So my first ultrasound is scheduled for Thursday and I am really looking forward to seeing the baby for the first time (to me, seeing is believing) because I need to connect all of these symptoms to something tangible. While it is real in a sense to me now, I know that everything will fall into place once I can see and understand what's truly going on inside of me. I'm sure I'll have an update once I experience that, so stay tuned.