Belly's Debut

Hey!
So I promised to show a photo of the belly. I don't care what anyone says, it is different and growing! It is just crazy how a small change can make you feel SO different. My clothes are starting to feel a little snug and I am so excited to buy my first piece of real maternity clothing! Any who knew that a baby in your belly required your arms, legs and ass to grow as well. I guess it is the whole larger foundation for the large belly that will be soon upon us. What we do for our babies. Oh, and I also wanted to get this up because when I am HUGE and 8 months preggers, I will look at this and think "what they hell were you thinking about your "large" belly?" I think that will be funny! So a message to future me from present me - "Sorry I took this bod for granted."
I have still be feeling great. Tired, but awesome. The not awesome thing that has been happening lately is I have been spotting a little - a very little, but enough to freak me out. I know it is normal, but when it happens to you it feels anything but. It is amazing how much you can love the little grape baby in you more than you can imagine before you even lay eyes or ears on baby. I CANNOT imagine how we will feel when we actually meet baby! Overwhelming feeling!!!! But it is gone for the most part now and I hope it stays away for good! Damn spotting. It will give a mom a heart attack!
Pat and I switched doctors also which is big. We are going to meet with the doc that Erin and Pat (my sister and brother in laws) went to. She is really great, I hear. And with that, VERY difficult to get into. But we are in through September, but they are kinda of "take what you can get" appointment times and I was given strict instructions to "not miss any appointments or you may not get back in for a while." Geez. I will keep you posted on that front. Next week we have an appointment on Thursday - 8/31. We really hope to hear the heartbeat!!!! That will just be the most amazing thing EVER! However, there is a chance we won't be able to, but I really really hope we can! The amazing power of positive thoughts, as Pat says :)
Ok - me and bebe have to head to Grandma's and go on a walk with Louis, Grandma and Charlie!
Love to all!
Bebe and B

How your baby's growing:

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain

Bebe Connell is 8 weeks old

Courtney gave me some fabulous advise today to start a blog so I can share this amazing experience with everyone that cannot be here on a daily basis! I am so excited to do this - it will help feel like everyone is here with me! Oh, if only you could all be here!
Anyway, here it is! I will do my best to share as much as I can throughout this crazy and exciting ride! Can you believe that in around 32 weeks we will be proud parents of a perfect baby!!!???!?!
I went to my 8 week appointment yesterday. I was very excited to go to my first official appointment to make this whole thing feel real! They tried to hear baby's heartbeat, but baby is still a little too little to hear it! Being the size of a blueberry makes it a little difficult to hear your little bitty heart! But we did get the due date - February 26th! Almost my birthday! This little baby may be the only person on the face of the earth that I would share my big day with! Just absolutely crazy that we have another February baby in the family! Well, unless baby stays in its little home until March...hmmmmm....
We made an appointment in about 2 weeks to go in again and try to hear the heartbeat! Pat and I cannot wait! Hearing baby's heartbeat will make this all feel so amazing and real! Not that my rounder, squishier tummy, big boobs and constant tiredness don't make it feel a little real. Oh, and the 5 pregnancy tests also help! But really, I cannot wait to hear baby and see baby! That will just be amazing! Until then, I will do all I can to make baby's home for the next 8ish months as comfortable and healthy as possible! :)
Below is what is happening with baby this week compliments of babycenter.com - how crazy is this!?!

New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

I will post some photos later on of my tummy so I can document baby's and mommy's growth!!!
Love to all!
Mommy and Bebe Connell