10 week update

From BabyCenter: Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

How far along: 10 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Down 5 lbs
Maternity clothes: Not yet! My mom bought me a pair of jeans and some long-sleeve tops, but I'm not needing them yet!
Stretch marks: Nope! Hoping I can keep the marks down to a minimum. :-)
Sleeping: Exhausted doesn't cut how I feel! Most days, I take a nap in the afternoon when I get home from work, and then still go to bed at 9:00! But, I'm up 2-3 times to pee.
Best moment last week: Seeing the baby on u/s again, AND being released from the specialist!
Symptoms: Sore breasts, exhausted, crabby, nausea
Food cravings: Depends on the day, but anything Mexican is definitely on my mind most of the time! Oh, and baby seems to like toaster waffles with peanut butter!
Gender: Way too early to tell, but I don't want to find out! David does, so we'll have to see what happens... The Chinese gender predictor says boy. I say boy because what girl would take away Mommy's sweet tooth?
What I am looking forward to: today is Thanksgiving. All our family knows, but I am so looking forward to spending the day with them pregnant!!! I'm also excited for my "first" OB appointment December 8 - only 2 weeks away!

Graduation Day!

We had our almost-10 week appointment today. I promise the new ultrasound picture soon -- David has a couple days off work, so no access to a scanner.

Everything looked great. When the ultrasound started, Squishy was moving around like s/he was saying "Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!" Then he settled down and behaved for the rest of the scan. All my bloodwork came back good, so I get to stop the Progesterone today!

They offered me the appointment to check the risk for chromosomal problems with the baby. Basically, it's blood work and another ultrasound. David and I decided to opt out of the testing - it IS covered by insurance, BUT there are so many false positives AND false negatives that I'm not willing to take that chance for a scare that turns out to be nothing....

So, since we opted out, I was released to my regular OB! I called today and set my first appointment up for December 8 - I'll be 12 weeks on the 9th, so it's perfect timing! Happy Graduation Day to me!!!!

Growth spurt?

I've been tired since about 6 days after our IUI. I take evening naps 2-3 times a week, stay awake for another hour, maybe 2, and go back to bed.

Yesterday, I reached an all-time low. Friday night, I went to bed "late" (read: 10:30 instead of 9:00). Saturday morning, David called me because he was getting off work on time and wanted to go to breakfast (he NEVER gets off on time, so this was a reason to celebrate and he knew I've been craving Village Inn's multigrain pancakes!).

So, I had to work at the shop all day yesterday. I did okay when I was busy - I was tired, but functioning. It quieted down, and after lunch, I started getting some heartburn. I *think* I fell asleep for a few minutes during one of the bridal appointments when I was the only one in the design room!

David's mom had planned dinner because there was a football game on. I went to her house, ate dinner, and went to lay down for a few minutes. I laid down a little before 7:00. I woke up at 9:00 to go to the bathroom. David came to give me a kiss and tell me he was going to work a little before 10:00. I was planning on getting up and going home when he went to work.

Um, yeah... I went back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 11:30! EEK! Sad part... I drove home and went right back to bed! The poor dogs were locked up from 5:30 until I woke up this morning. I didn't wake up until 8:30!

I couldn't believe it! I'm not as tired today, but feel like I could lay down and probably take another nap - and I haven't even been up for 2 hrs yet! The "rumor" is my energy will come back during 2nd trimester, and to just listen to my body and if I need to rest, I need to rest. But, I kinda feel lazy. Like, I have no energy. I feel like I physically can't do anything, but sometimes I don't feel like I could sleep if I tried.

We get to see the baby again on Wednesday. I'll be 10 weeks on Thursday! I can't wait to see if my baby looks like a baby yet!!! Until then... tata for now!

Almost 8 weeks!

We had our 2nd ultrasound this morning! By my count, I am 7 wks 6 days. By the specialist's count, I am 7 wks 4 days. She didn't say what baby measured at, but they said everything looked great! We even heard the heart beat, measuring at 164 bpm.



I also expressed my concern about the CONSTANT nausea. She asked if I've tried eating smaller meals - yep, that was the first thing I tried! She said to stop taking the prenatal they put me on, and switch to Flinstones chewables. I've also been on 1 tablet of Folic Acid every day, and now I'm increasing to 2 tablets. I'm praying this helps the stomach! I know that nausea is part of having a baby, but when I can't be an effective teacher, we have to change something!

My next ultrasound is November 24th - the day before Thanksgiving. We definitely have SO much to be thankful for this year, something we were both starting to believe would never happen. I will be almost 10 weeks, so hopefully I will get to go off the Progesterone. Not that I mind sticking my finger up my hoo-haa twice a day, but David thinks that might be part of my tummy issues also!

The background story

I know the old fashioned people say "only one person is pregnant." But, I'm not old fashioned. David and I are expecting our first baby!

It's been a long, challenging journey to parenthood for us. David and I started trying to get pregnant shortly after getting married June 1, 2007. I went off the pill in July, and we started actively trying in August.

Over the next 3 years, we've both had a couple surgeries that slowed things down. We both lost weight using Weight Watchers. I spent 6 months in physical therapy for a knee issue. On the fertility front, we ran all the tests and figured out what we needed to do.

We spent 5 months with my OB using Clomid and a procedure called an IUI. My term for this is "turkey baster." It's a little more scientific than that, but that's basically what it is. After month 5, we decided to go back to the specialist that had run the tests... I allowed myself to be a pin cushion for 10 days, and we did injectible hormones. Every morning, David gave me a shot in my butt. Every 3 days, I had to have an ultrasound and more blood work. And then we tried the IUI one more time... The specialist also put me on Progesterone, which helps the quality of my uterine lining. Luckily, she didn't have me do the shots of oil, but rather than suppository. Two times a day, I have to insert the pill that will help prevent miscarriage!

September 14th was my test date. I woke up early and took the test. At first, I didn't see the 2nd line. I went and texted David, who was working, and told him it didn't work again. Something told me to look again, and when I went back to the bathroom, I saw the line!

It was faint, but it was there! In the pic, it almost looks like a grey shadow. But in the bedroom light, it was pink and definitely there!

I rushed to the specialist's clinic for blood work. They changed up my prenatal to a prescription and added extra folic acid. When they called me later that morning with my blood work, I KNEW IT WAS REAL! My first beta, at 14 days after the procedure, was 72! For reference, anything above 5 is considered "pregnant." My progesterone level was also amazing -- 50!

We told our families and our closest friends that day. We took a couple weeks to get to extended family, coworkers, and other "important people." Saturday was my second blood test and it came back at 136, again very good increase!!!

Our first ultrasound - which I referred to as a head count - was scheduled for September 28th. David had to work the night before, so we met at the clinic at 7:00 am. More blood work, and then we got to meet our little squishy for the first time. We saw all the important parts and pieces -- gestational sac, yolk sac, fetal pole... and HEART BEAT! If I moved at all (even my head a tiny bit), we'd lose the angle, so we couldn't get a count. But the tech said it looked awesome.

Because we are with the specialist, we get an ultrasound every 2 weeks until I'm 12 weeks pregnant. Then, I will be released to my OB. I've already called him and told him I'm pregnant - I could hear his nurse tear up when I told her the news!

So, there ya have it! We are pregnant and on cloud 9! My goal is to update with weekly belly pics (even though I'm not showing yet), current ultrasound pictures, and what's going on with my body!