14 weeks: Officially "Pudgy" :-)

How exciting! We've completed 14 weeks now, although there still isn't much to show for it. I think I've truly entered the "pudgy" stage, as my belly has definitely become larger, but I doubt it looks truly pregnant to anyone yet! I try not to mind, though. I imagine it's becoming a soft, billowy home for our little babe! LOL!!

I haven't felt any nausea for a solid week now, and my pre-pregnancy appetite has returned! The new struggle is to get back into some of the healthier habits that have lapsed since the nausea of the first trimester. As I gain weight, I want to feel confident that it is healthy, needed weight, rather than sluggish pounds put on by naughty eating habits. Josh has been giving me plenty of needed encouragement (and flowers)!

I'm also feeling my energy levels rise up again, and I'm sooooo glad for that! The apartment is being thoroughly cleaned by me again (Josh has been a huge help when I was too tired to do anything but sleep), and exercising is coming alot easier now. I still get winded, though, more quickly than I used to before being pregnant. I recently read that blood-oxygen levels are out of whack beginning in early pregnancy, and do not return to "normal" (although they're not really normal, they just mimic a normal state) around midway through pregnancy (20 weeks). Later in pregnancy, many women actually feel more energized because the blood-oxygen levels become super-efficient. Exercising women also find that by that point their heart rate is surprisingly controlled during running at that later stage. I'm looking forward to that! Trying to run these last few months has been pretty humorous! My heart rate sky-rockets very quickly, so I've been careful to monitor it closely and slow down as often as I need to. I'm hoping that I can get back to a more normal routine soon, though.