11 1/2 Week Checkup

Yesterday's appointment was quick and *mostly* painless.

I started off by peeing in a cup (I hear I will be doing a lot of that for the next several months!). Then I met with the nurse, and she weighed me and checked my blood pressure. I was sure I would have gained weight by now, but NO - I LOST weight again!!! I am down to 134 now. I have been trying to lose weight for years, and to no avail. And now that I'm actually supposed to gain weight, the pounds keep falling off! At this point, I think I'm just losing muscle since it's been a few weeks since I've been in the gym. It's looking like I won't be gaining any weight in the first trimester!

After chatting with the nurse, I met with my doctor. I asked him all of my questions. He said that if I decide to use self-tanning lotion, I should wait until the 2nd trimester. He also recommended that I DO get the flu shot (both seasonal and H1N1), but I can't get either one until the 2nd trimester. I also asked him if the 20-week ultrasound was a routine procedure, and he said that yes, it is! After I finished asking questions, he checked for the baby's heartbeat. He said that at first it can be hard to find the heart beat, but he found it right away! It was beating at a strong 140-150 (that seems like a wide range to me, but he said it sounded perfectly normal.) He said that I look great, and everything seems to be going well.

After talking to the doctor, I went back with the nurse and she took my blood for the first of the prenatal screening tests. Here is where the not-so-painless part comes in. I HATE having my blood drawn. When she stuck me at first, it hurt! and so I cringed, and apparently twisted my arm a bit. She had to start over!!!! I got all teary-eyed, and she kept telling me how I needed to relax and not twist. The second time worked fine, but by that point, I had tears about to spill over. I was so embarrassed to walk out of there after obviously crying, but I think I pulled it off okay. I blame the hormones!!! She also said that they were all out of the flu shot, but since I can't get it for a couple more weeks anyway, I didn't mind. (She did call me later in the afternoon to tell me that they got it in, but I'm sure it'll be gone by the time I can get it!)

So, next Tuesday is my Nuchal Translucency ultrasound, and then my next regular appointment is November 24th. I can't believe that I'll be in my second trimester so soon!!! My birthday is coming up, and I'll hit the 2nd trimester right around that time. Yay! We are going on vacation a week later, so I think I'll try to get the flu vaccine a few days before we leave.

11 Weeks

Today I am 11 weeks pregnant! I am getting closer and closer to the 2nd trimester - I can hardly wait! :)

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Now back to blogging as usual. :) Baby is now the size of a lime or a fig. That seems so big, considering that little he or she was only the size of a prune last week! No wonder I am starting to see a bit of a bulge at my waistline - this kid is practically doubling in size every week!
I can't feel it yet, but baby is doing all sorts of acrobatics in my belly now. It will be a couple more months before I start feeling little flutters! Baby's bones are beginning to harden, and little teeth buds are forming under the gums. The little tiny hands will soon be able to open and close into fists.

As I mentioned the other day, this week has been a rough one. Between having the flu last week and the stress of moving, having morning sickness and headaches on top of it has been rough. Today hasn't been too bad though, so hopefully I'll start feeling better soon!

Here are a couple of new belly pics. It's still not really recognizable as a pregnant belly, but there's definitely a belly goin' on!

Bump Envy

I admit it, I have bump envy, and I have it bad.

I realize that I'm still in my first trimester, and since this is my first baby, it will take me even longer to show. I know I should be happy that I'm still fitting in all my clothes, because I'm sure I'll be sick of maternity clothes by May! And I know that little by little, my body is changing, and it's becoming more and more noticeable.

But I see all these adorable pregnant women with their cute little bellies, and I just wish that mine was visible too. I wish people would see my cute belly and smile the way I smile at other bellies. I wish that other people knew that I too have a little bun in the oven.

Sigh.

Waiting is so hard sometimes!

Feeling like barf.

Okay, so I'm not actually barfing, but I sure feel like I could. This week has been rough! I had the flu (or something like it) on Friday and Saturday, and I've been trying to get over it all week. The headaches have been plaguing me, and now the morning sickness is back. I thought I was in the clear at this point! My boobs aren't quite as sore as they have been, but otherwise, all my original symptoms are back - nausea, exhaustion, shortness of breath, headaches, and constipation. I'm trying to look on the bright side and remind myself that the fact that I am having all these symptoms means that baby is thriving and doing well. But I sure can't wait until baby and my system can get along a little better!

We decided to go ahead and do the prenatal screening tests - just the blood tests and the nuchal translucency ultrasound. I'm not really too concerned about Down's Syndrome, but I suppose it would be nice to ease my mind about an extra concern. I'm really just very excited to have another ultrasound! It is scheduled for November 3rd, when baby will be 12 1/2 weeks. I can't wait to see how much he or she has grown! My next regular appointment is this coming Wednesday.

I still don't feel like my belly is showing much from the side, but when I look down, I can really see a bit of a bump. Mike can really notice a difference as well. No one else would ever guess I'm pregnant, but the changes are definitely there now!

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On another note, we did get the house! We did our final walk through yesterday, and everything looks great. Unfortunately, our moving schedule has gotten screwed up. We had been planning to move over this weekend, since we are supposed to be out of our rental house on Sunday.

Well, our lender is a major slacker, so all our escrow documents were not ready for us to sign yesterday! Even if we were able to sign them today, the transfer of ownership would not be processed until Monday. So now we are out of a house for a couple days! We are hoping our landlord will be nice and give us two extra days. If not, we'll be living out of a truck until we get keys to the new house!

This weekend will still be a weekend of packing, and the moving itself will probably take place on Tuesday.

Talk about major stress on top of being pregnant!

It's all for a good reason though, so I'm trying to stay positive!

10 Weeks

Baby is now the size of a prune! Kind of ironic, since lately I have been thinking of nothing but prunes. I tried prune juice for the first time last night, and I think I will be purchasing some prunes. Oh, the joys of pregnancy!

My "bump" seems to have just been a lot of extra bloating, because this morning I woke up, and my belly was back to normal. Oh well! I guess I'll have to wait a couple more weeks for my belly to really "pop."























Baby's liver is now producing red blood cells. Tiny nails are forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair is beginning to grow. The legs and feet are big enough now that they can meet in the front of the body. From crown to rump, baby is about 1 1/4 inches long.
This picture is cool...you can actually see that there's a baby in my uterus now, and not just a little tiny something in there.
My main symptoms this week are headaches and the ever-present breast tenderness (or pain and agony, whatever you want to call it!). I came down with the flu or something like it on Friday, and have been sick in bed all weekend. That has NOT been fun!

We are still waiting to find out if we are moving next week. Escrow is NOT a fun thing to deal with! It looks like thing will probably go through okay, but we don't know for sure yet. Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow. And then we'll start moving on Wednesday. Yikes! It's exciting though!

The Bump!!!

It's starting!!!! It's been 3 days now and it's not going away, so I'm pretty sure that my belly is starting and it's not just gas anymore! I don't just have the flabby gut now - my entire pelvic area is expanding outwards now. It's all firm down there, and no matter how much I try to suck in, the bump stays. I am so excited! I know I totally don't look pregnant yet - I just look like I am kind of chubby. I'm not a fan of looking chubby, but at the same time I am loving it, because I know that my baby is growing!

What do you think - can you see the bump starting?!?!? I can definitely feel it!


Even after I suck in!


Just to compare the difference...












October 4 October 13

Okay, so it's a small difference, but it's definitely there!

9 Weeks

Today I am 9 weeks pregnant! Baby is almost an inch long now, and is continually growing. The heart is finishing dividing into 4 chambers, and the embryonic "tail" is now completely gone. The sex organs are there, but won't be distinguishable for a few more weeks. The eyes are fully formed, but the eyelids are fused shut, and will stay that way for several more months. The placenta is just about ready to take over producing most of the hormones for baby now. Baby should start gaining weight rapidly now!


This week has been a bit rougher than the last. I have had several days this week where I've felt really nauseous and more tired than usual. It's been difficult at times to get M to understand that all my symptoms aren't just in my head. I definitely have my emotional days when every little thing makes me want to cry. Thankfully that only happens once or twice a week though, and it's not a daily thing!

M had a baby dream last night. He dreamed that our baby was born part cat! I haven't had any dreams about the baby yet, but it will be interesting to see what my brain puts together. Last night I dreamed about my friend's baby, so at least my dreams are starting to be more about babies. :)

I still have no baby bump. The gas and bloating sure can be bad lately, but the bloating comes and goes. I'm getting excited to go out and buy new bras and clothes, but I'm going to wait until at least next month, once we know for sure if we are getting this house or not!

First Ultrasound Appointment!

This morning I finally had my first prenatal appointment and ultrasound. So exciting! M came with me so he could see the baby and ask any questions he might have.

We started out with the ultrasound. I know it's silly, but I was SOOO paranoid that when she started the ultrasound, we wouldn't see a baby, and it would all have been a mistake. But no, as soon as she got started, I noticed a little flash of something, and thought to myself that I must have seen a baby. She started out slow, measuring my cervix, and then FINALLY came around to the little light flash I had seen. She showed us the yolk sac, which wasn't very exciting. Then, she moved around, and there was my baby!!! We could see the head and the body, as well as the start of the spine. We could also see the little arms beginning to form. The best part was being able to see the heartbeat. It was beating so fast! She played it out loud for us too so we could hear it. It's so amazing to me now that I have actually seen this little life growing in me. I can't wait for the next ultrasound!


Right now baby is just under 2cm long. Still very small, but he or she has been doubling in size almost every week. I'll be showing before you know it! Everything looks good for now. Today I saw the nurse/midwife at the clinic, and I really liked her a lot! I actually think I like her better than the OB, so hopefully I'll be able to see her often too. My next appointment is in a few weeks!

8 Weeks

Today I am 8 weeks pregnant! This week has been pretty good. I haven't been so fatigued, and I only had nausea for about 5 minutes. I've been taking 15-minute catnaps most days this week, so that has helped.

Baby now has elbows and knees, and webbed fingers and toes. He or she is moving around all the time now, although I can't feel it yet. I am so excited to see the baby tomorrow morning! I'm so excited that it's finally been 8 weeks. It feels like this has been a long time coming! I'll post another update tomorrow after my ultrasound.

I still am not showing at all, but I feel like the bloating is really getting bad. I felt so incredibly fat yesterday! I'm dreading the phase where I just look fat, but not pregnant. I can't wait until I definitely have the baby bump going on!

8 Weeks
The belly looks so much better in the morning than in the evening!

Quick Update

Just an update on my pee test yesterday. The doctor has confirmed that I am, in fact, pregnant. Shocking, no? LOL

I will be going in to see my other doctor on Wednesday to find out what the healthcare options are. Next week will be an exciting week!!!