14 weeks

How far along: 14 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a lemon; 3.4 inches and 1.5 ounces

Total Weight Gain/Loss: still down from pre-pregnancy weight about 5-6 pounds

How I'm Changing: feeling somewhat better these days... a lot less nausea and definitely not as tired

Maternity Clothes:  maternity pants and have busted out a couple maternity tops to supplement my ever shrinking wardrobe

Gender: unknown

Movements: none yet

Sleep: still waking up some at night and definitely having some weird dreams

Symptoms:  headaches - started midway through week 13 and haven't been going away without sleeping them off; also having some round ligament pain

How I'm feeling: Pretty good :-)  Looking forward to that baby bump showing up

What I Miss: red wine, other adult beverages, sushi, and being close to our families

Cravings: nothing specific this week - just thankful food sounds relatively good again

Best Moment(s) of the Week: B and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary this week so that was really fun.  Hard to believe it has been a year already and that in 6 short months we will be welcoming a little one to our family :-)

What I am Looking Forward To: feeling our little one move and learning the gender of baby Parchem

13 weeks

How far along: 13 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a peach; 2.9 inches and 0.81 ounces

Total Weight Gain/Loss: down about 6 pounds from week 4 weight and 8 pounds from my heaviest at week 5... I actually feel pretty ok about this because I definitely had some extra weight to lose.  I think some of it has come from not being able to eat much at times but I think some is also from trying to eat better now that I'm growing a little person :-)

How I'm Changing: no real bump yet... still just blump and pre-preg belly fat... looking forward to busting out some of my shirts with the scrunchy sides :-)

Maternity Clothes:  maternity pants but no real need for maternity tops yet

Gender: unknown

Movements: none yet

Sleep: I've been having a lot of trouble staying asleep at night.  I feel like I wake up about a hundred times every night.  Not helping me to wake up feeling rested.

Symptoms:  Acne, gas, bloating, heartburn - nausea made a come back last week and seems to just be hanging around sporadically

How I'm feeling: Overall not bad.  I am really hoping the burst of energy I'm supposed to get with the second trimester becomes a reality -- I could use some energy.

What I Miss: red wine, sushi, and being able to make it through rounds without 1-2 bathroom breaks -- I think I will miss these things my whole pregnancy

Cravings: colby jack cheese, mango sorbet

Best Moment(s) of the Week: getting the nursery furniture and some bedding - so exciting to see the room starting to look like a baby haven

What I am Looking Forward To: learning the gender of baby Parchem

12 weeks

How far along: 12 weeks

Size of baby: About the size of a plum; 2.1 inches and 0.49 ounces

Total Weight Gain/Loss: down about 6 pounds from pre-pregnancy weight

How I'm Changing: Very little bump if any... definitely feel different though.  I'm already noticing a feeling of fullness and I am looking forward to having more than just "blump" as I'm referring to the bloat that I am experiencing 

Maternity Clothes: wearing maternity pants for comfort due to bloat but just wearing looser shirts for now

Gender: unknown

Movements: none yet

Sleep: No real sleep issues yet aside from waking up in the early morning to go to the bathroom

Symptoms:  Acne, gas, bloating, heartburn - fortunately the nausea seems to have subsided and food sounds better than in past weeks

How I'm feeling: Overall not too bad - still a little tired but feeling better now that I'm heading out of the first trimester

What I Miss: red wine, sushi, and being able to make it through rounds without 1-2 bathroom breaks

Cravings: nothing specific yet

Best Moment(s) of the Week: hearing the heart beat of our little baby - it was amazing

What I am Looking Forward To: learning the gender of baby Parchem

why I'm not drinking as much diet dr. pepper these days...

To begin, again, I apologize for being such a terrible blogger.  I really do mean to post more and then life just gets in the way.

That said, I suppose life may be getting in the way even more in the coming months but hopefully I can do better at keeping up with the blog because there will definitely be things I want to remember and share as B and I are expecting!  Yup you heard that correctly, baby Parchem is gestating away and due to grace us with his/her presence in a little over 6 months :-)  The family pharm is about to expand and we couldn't be more excited!

Our little blob at around 7 weeks - so cute and getting cuter :-)

I have been feeling pretty good overall -- some nausea but really nothing too terrible.  On the plus side I have lost 7 lbs since I found out I was pregnant - even without nausea food just hasn't sounded that good.  I have been trying diligently to get enough protein and good stuff though so our little peanut can grow appropriately.  Also, as the title states, I've been limiting my ddp habit to 1-2 cans a day max.  It hasn't been as challenging as I thought it would be but I do miss it sometimes.  Other than the nausea the only other symptom I've had is serious fatigue.  Growing a baby is hard work!  Apparently this will subside once I get to the second trimester.  I hope that is true because getting up to go to work has been quite challenging, especially on the weeks that we round at 6:30...

Today we had our first official OB appointment.  The MD is very nice and seems like a decent match for B and I.  He made jokes with us during the exam and overall made things relatively easy.  The best part of the whole thing was that we got to hear the heart beat which was pretty much the most amazing thing ever. I am looking forward to the next several weeks including our anatomy scan around 18 weeks (when we will find out the baby's gender) and hopefully feeling some little baby flutters in the not too distant future :-)

Well that is about all for now.  I suppose this blog will probably be primarily pregnancy focused in the coming months so if you aren't into that sort of thing check back next May -- Life is good :-)

well looks like it is time to post again...

Since it has been almost 3 months since my last post I feel like I should write something.  

Kyley and I selfie-ing when she came to visit in April

 This is a cool picture of a church near an Italian restaurant B and I went to in the North End... it was super cool and the restaurant was really good

In mid June my friend CBH came to visit and she and K and I all went to RI - C's childhood dream vacay!  We stayed at a B&B and walked on the cliff walk and overall had a great time.

 At the B&B we even went totally girly and did facials... we are pretty :-)















Also while in RI we took a trip on the rumrunner which was super fun although K's face doesn't necessarily make it seem like it was :-)

After our RI adventure we went into Boston for a comedy show and dinner in the North End (can you tell I like that place?)  Below is the DELICIOUS gnocchi I had at La Galleria 33 (which incidentally was on Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay but no worries, they have really stepped up post show)

Us at the comedy show

Sadly at the end of June my dear friend K left me here in Boston to take a job in KS... in total NE style we used her last day here to go to the beach... there is just something about the ocean - so fun even if it is 50 degrees in the water :-)

So that's what has been happening with me lately... maybe I'll have more exciting things to post soon... when it rains it pours you know

finally feeling almost like spring

Yes, you read correctly -- we have had a few days this week that have been sunny and in the 50s and I am absolutely loving it!  Leaving work and not needing my coat on has been quite the special treat.  I hold no hope that this will continue but I'm going to celebrate it as long as it lasts.

Truly, spring is a marvelous thing -- I just love when winter goes away and in addition this year I have lots of fun things happening.  Next week is my birthday which is not particularly exciting but hey, it is something.  On the 17th my sister is coming to Boston -- now THAT is something to get excited about!  I haven't seen her since we were home for Christmas so I am SUPER excited to get to hang out with her for a few days.  I am even taking Friday off so we have more time.  Now comes the part where we didn't plan so well -- 4 days after she leaves Boston I am flying back to Indiana to for my cousin's wedding in Illinois... so K and I won't have seen each other in 4 months and then we will be spending back to back 3 days weekends together... now this is awesome but spreading it out might have been more ideal.  Anyway, Sunday of my weekend in IN I am planning to meet up with a bunch of my college friends for lunch so that will be awesome :-)  Basically, April is going to be a good month.  Then, when April is over it is May which is truly when winter just has to die and spring comes rolling in.  I am very excited to be able to shut off the heat in the house and open some windows (although I have done that a few times this year already, not-exactly-warm weather be damned -- I need fresh air!)

So, things are looking up -- lots of fun on the horizon and I'm a happy lady (and B is doing pretty well too...)

Until later folks :-)

still terrible

Maybe someday when I have adorable kids then I will be better at posting all of their cute pictures... Doubtful, but maybe...

Anyway, it is just exactly the way I remember every February being for as long as I have lived... cold, gray, miserable... I think there really is something to that SAD thing... I want the sun back and all this white crap to go away...

this was before the last dumping of snow that mother nature felt we needed... now the snow on the chairs is like a foot deep... winter is a cruel mistress

Anyway, since I haven't posted in about a month I thought I would post some photos to describe what has been happening since 2014 started -- Enjoy :-)

 This is Amy at the airport in San Fran - they had a big toy display with lots of older type toys... pretty cool

 This is a group of us at a winery in Sonoma -- I really enjoyed San Fran -- the weather was great and there was a lot to do and see.  I would like to go back with B one of these days.

 After I got back from CA, B and I went up to Chicago for a 4 day weekend with his family -- the weekend started with breakfast at this amazing place in Chicago where I had the red velvet french toast seen here ------------------>

It was quite possibly one of the best things I have ever eaten.

Later that weekend we went to a Blackhawks game. It was SO much fun.  I did flinch several times when the pucks hit the glass while the teams were warming up but I soon got used to it and watching hockey so close up was a super fun experience.

Although I don't have any photos, we also went to the theatre and saw Phantom while in Chicago -- it was AMAZING!  I absolutely love musicals/stage productions and I had an absolute blast :-)

 Now, in the mean time while I was out galavanting all over the country one of our PGY1 residents had started on rotation with me in the SICU... the picture here was me trying to explain the difference between all the different tubes the team refers to during rounds... I kind of think this guys insides resemble the set ups we used to do in organic chemistry lab...

 Ok, so the super bowl happened too -- B and I just had a nice day in at our place and I made crockpot meatballs and crap puffs... both were delicious

 In other cooking news, for Christmas B got us into a cooking class at Sur la Table -- we made pork with a balsamic reduction and home made gnocchi -- it was so freaking good and not actually that hard to make -- this trip also resulted in our purchase of new cutting boards, a ricer (amazing for mashed potatoes), and an apron for me :-)

 To continue on the food trend, for Valentine's day B made me dinner -- he made rack of lamb and mozzarella/parmesean mashed potatoes (ricer showing its usefulness) -- the food was excellent -- B is quite the chef.

 Not to be outdone, I made him dessert for V-day -- his favorite cookies, snickerdoodles :-)  I am getting to be quite good at making these -- I almost don't have to look at the recipe...

 He was very pleased :-)


















Also for V-day, B got me a beautiful boquet of roses and star-gazer lillies... he florist messed up so I got them on Saturday actually but that just means I got to celebrate a little longer :-)







Ok, well that's about it... Life is good for the family pharm :-)  until next time...