Welcome!

Welcome to the pregnant version of The Echols blog. I thought it might just be easier to blog somewhere else because, let's face it, there's going to be a whole lotta pregnant talk on this blog for the next 6 months!

On the other blog, I gave a quick week 13 update but in case you missed it, here is what we know so far:

1. We had an at-home positive pregnancy test on Friday, December 16, 2011, my Dad's birthday.

2. Baby Echols will arrive somewhere around August 20, 2012. I say "somewhere" because I just read that according to the American College of Obstreticians and Gynecologists, only 5% of babies are born on their exact due date. Isn't that crazy? On the other side of the spectrum, only 10% of babies are not born after 42 weeks, which is referred to as a "post-term pregnancy".

3. We first saw Baby Echols' heartbeat (167 bpm) on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. We also got a souvenir from that appointment.

Crazy, isn't it? This was week 8 of my pregnancy and Baby E was only the size of a kidney bean. Amazing.

4. We first heard Baby Echols' heartbeat (160 bpm) at our second appointment with our doctor, on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. We didn't know if we would get to hear it because I was shy of 12 weeks when they listen for it, but Baby E was in there, ticking away!

5. So far, Baby E does not like sweets (especially on Valentine's Day), cherry or grape tomatoes, chewing gum, and LOTS of other things. Baby E, however, loves vitamin water zero, sobe life water 0, cheese (cream cheese, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, queso), luna bars, subway sandwiches, potatoes, and pizza...especially pepperoni pizza, which I can't remember when I last had it pre-pregnancy.

6. Baby E, like his/her mama LOVES water. I figured out early on in my pregnancy that I was drinking approximately 100 ounces of just water every day.

7. Baby E, this one makes me proud, is happiest with mama when I'm working out. I'm incredibly grateful for such a great pregnancy so far. Sure, I have nights where I'm pretty tired and not much fun for poor Aaron. And I was really tired the first few weeks (like weeks 4-6, I'd say). But, I haven't been sick and I've been able to get through my day pretty easily. We wake up at about 6am, I work out while Aaron is on puppy duty, go to work from 8 til 5, walk Scout/eat dinner/play with Scout some more, and then we're in bed by 10pm. I'm planning to do an entire post on pregnancy exercise but I can't get enough of yoga and running. I'm so happy with the 6 days or so a week of workouts I've been able to maintain.

8. And lastly, for now, we know that Baby E is already very very loved! Baby E will be the first grandchild for both my parents and my "bonus parents", my in-laws. He/she will be the first niece/nephew for both of our brothers. And of course, we are already proud parents of this amazing blessing. All glory be to God!

A Week 13 picture: where, oh where, is that elusive bump?

Thanks for joining us on this journey!