I have no shame

I can't even believe I'm posting this picture. (You better send me a thank-you email, Shell!)

I took this photo before church on Sunday. This was my second outfit of the morning. The one I'd had planned physically fit me (as in, I could zip the zipper), but I looked like one of those people who cares more about the number on the tag than about how the clothing actually looks. There is only one other pregnancy when I had this much of a belly this early on (Gabriel), but if I'm truly honest, that belly was more the result of bloating than pooching.

This one is officially pooching.

For belly comparison, go to this very bad picture I took at 15 weeks pregnant with Aubrey (3 weeks further along *cough, choke, sputter* than I am now).

According to the doctor's scale (which I had the oh-so-wonderful privilege of standing on this past Monday), I haven't gained anything yet. Which tells you that that's ALL bad stomach muscles and not one bit what I had for dinner the night before.

I'm okay with it, though. Last week when the pregnancy just felt like throwing up and somehow still getting a belly, I wasn't so thrilled with everything. But Monday I got to hear Baby's heartbeat for the first time and in an instant this pregnancy (which has seemed rather surreal and mostly like a medical challenge thus far) became very, very real to me. We're not just having a bigger family: we're having a baby.

There's a new life inside of me. Full of promise and potential. With little toes and little fingers. I wonder who he/she is. And already I can hardly wait for the smells and the sounds and the feelings.