Week 18: Our Hippy Baby Is A GIRL!!!

YAY for girls!!!  We had our 'big' ultrasound on the 21st and suspicions of our hippy baby being a girl were confirmed - I am *so* excited.  I wanted to have my daughter first - and son second - so this is totally playing into my 'ultimate plan' hahahaha..  but seriously - we can't wait to meet our daughter.

I'm still not feeling much movement but the u/s tech told me that I have an anterior placenta - which doesn't mean much except that's the side that the little brat implanted on.  It shouldn't cause any problems for delivery like a full placental previa would - where it covers the cervix.  Right now it just means that instetad of feeling little movements and kicks, the placenta acts essentially as a pillow between me and baby and cushions her movements from the nerve-filled uterine wall.  I'll still feel her eventually though - just later than I was hoping. 

So getting down to it - here are some good shots from the anatomy scan at 17 weeks 6 days.  There's a whole slew of pictures/measurements etc that the tech is supposed to get at this scan and there are a few she wasn't able to get because baby wasn't in a good position, so I'm going back for a repeat ultrasound on Jan 6th to try again.  Yay for seeing our little girl again so soon though!

When we started the ultrasound she was sitting essentially indian style with her legs crossed under her bum.  DEFINITELY didn't seem to want to play along with our 'hey show us the goods' game one bit!!

  hahaha..  It took some doing but she did eventually turn and move so that we were able to get a good look at her bum (second picture here).  I was holding my breath because the tech wanted to look multiple times and get the baby to move some while she looked to make sure nothing 'popped out' while the legs were kicking around that wasn't visible before..  But sure enough nothing did and you can see the three little lines that they look for in girls at this stage.  Eventually those lines will actually turn into totally recognizable girl parts, but for now just look like lines.

This third picture I refer to as 'baby raptor' because it's taken head-on.  It's really amazing to see the difference between the profile shots where baby looks like a 'normal' baby and then you get straight-on and they turn into little skeletors..  hahaha..  My mom pointed out that in this picture it looks like she has a little leaf stamped on her forehead.  Probably sinus cavities - but I like to think of it as a leaf.  A tree-hugger from fetus-hood.  lol.

The last picture shows how, even though I can't feel it so much yet, that this little girl's definitely a mover and a shaker!  She was kicking her arms and legs up and

down like crazy - the tech was like oh do you feel that??  And I'm like - uhhhh, no???  Oh well.  Soon enough I'm sure she'll be keeping me up at night with all her moving!

So it was fun to be able to tell everyone for Christmas that we were having a girl.  We got some cute baby books from people - "mommy" books and "daddy" books and other little things for baby.  And now that we know gender, we can truly start planning out the nursery and thinking about various baby gear that we'll want and finally start our registries.  I know some people can't believe we haven't started them yet!

As far as appointments, I have the repeat ultrasound now on Jan 6th and then the next midwife appointment is 2 weeks after that on I think the 14th.  I'll be past the halfway point by then.  It's already so soon - I can't believe how quickly time flies!!

17 Weeks - First Stranger Comment!

17 weeks and baby is about 5 inches from head to bum now.  About the size of my stretched out hand.  I'm definitely showing now and even had my first 'stranger' comment - one of the guys down in the shipping department at work that I see from time to time asked me how I was feeling.  And since I wasn't sick nor have been sick - it was pretty obvious that he was referring to my growing tum.  :-)  I got a big ol' goofy smile on my face after that.  I guess I like knowing that other people can tell.  Granted the recruiting agency *still* hadn't gotten in touch with HR to officially 'tell' them at that point so it also let me know that people were obviously figuring it out on their own.  Which is fine - I have many doubts that they'll wind up hiring me in the end anyway so what difference does it make?  I'm not a real 'employee' there so technically don't really owe them any explanation or anything anyway.

One of the best things I have to report is that I haven't gotten sick once since my last update.  It's been more than 2 weeks at this point which is fantastic.  I almost don't even struggle with it at all in the mornings now - just once in a great while I'll feel a bit icky but have been able to get past it even then.  Other mornings I don't even think about it anymore.  WOO!!  hahaha.

One thing that I've noticed though is other people's insistence on telling you their horror stories when they find out you're pregnant.  Apparently a lot of people hate being pregnant.  Despite getting sick for a while - and also knowing I was not as sick as many others are for sure - I have to say that so far, I love being pregnant.  I miss things (like a glass of wine after a frustrating day at work!!) that I don't have anymore - but really it's not a big deal.  And then there are all the people that tell you how they wound up being induced and/or wound up with emergency c-sections etc etc or were in labor for like 30+ hours.. The stories go on and on.  My mom always likes to tell pregnant women how she gave birth 2 hours after getting to the hospital - and only that long because they had to turn me - because she knows that people like to share the horror stories.  Now THAT is a story I like to hear!

Updates on what's going on with baby right now are pretty slim.  Baby starts developing fat stores this week - which means that baby will start getting cuter to the outside world and less skeletal.  Always nice.  :-)  I had my AFP blood draw as planned - it was totally just a come in, get on the scale, and let us stick you with a needle type appt so nothing exciting to report there.  We find out genders on Monday 12/21 at the 18 week scan.  Can.Not.Wait!!!!  Sooooo excited for the big gender reveal.  Then we'll really be able to start planning things like the nursery and bedding and I'll be able to stop buying gender neutral diapers (WOOO!! hahaha) and actually pick up things now and again when I see a good deal or something too cute to pass up.  :-)

So next week's update should have u/s pictures and more interesting things to reveal.  Sit tight till then and I'll be over here incubating.  :-)

16 Weeks Already!

16 weeks and Christmas is coming sooner than I can comprehend.  We got our Christmas tree last weekend - which was an ordeal as the tree farms we use are all hilly and I get out of breath a lot faster these days.  But we have a beautiful tree and even though baby won't see it, I'm hoping she gets the warm fuzzies that mommy gets when looking at it.

Not a huge change in the belly picture from last week.  Still definitely a baby belly.  And I'm definitely feeling some kind of movement from baby.  I can't make it happen (though I keep trying) and it's still totally sporadic and only a quick second or two at a time but there has definitely been something going on in there.  At 16 weeks baby can somersault in there, maybe that's what I'm feeling!  Mommy's little acrobatic fetus.  hahaha..

The cats still think it's a good time to jump on mommy and knead mommy's growing belly which depending on the state of my bladder is not always a good thing for sure!  I wonder what they'll think as I get ginormous.  I can hear the cat gossip (wow mommy's really letting herself go, huh?  lol!).  It's funny - the last two weeks as we take my weekly pictures Jeff keeps saying how pregnant I look in the pictures but swears I don't look 'that big' in life.  Uh huh.  He's just hoping work has somehow not noticed my growing belly!

Speaking of work - it's snowing to beat the band today so I'm waiting it out and basically doing a half-day today.  It's not that my faith in the 'big green monster' is waning, I just would rather my first car accident ever not be when I'm carrying a child so am just staying out of it.  Hence an update way earlier than usual for you!

Can anyone believe I have this inside me right now?  I see these pictures and despite having the morning sickness (which has definitely taken its leave thankfully!) and the ultrasounds and hearing the heartbeat and even feeling the little flutters and twitches in my belly - I still have a hard time looking at those pictures and believing that's inside me right now.  Crazy.  You can see that the baby is now holding its head more erect now - less and less bean-like and more and more baby-like each week!  And I believe the fruit correlation this week is an avocado.  :-)  4.5-5" long.  Still so tiny.

AFP test is Friday - not sure how long it takes to get results back from that.  I'm definitely interested in seeing what my weight is at now though because I'm definitely showing more than I was at my last appointment 2 weeks ago at which point I was only up 2lbs from my first appt, so I'm expecting more of a weight gain this time around.  But who knows.  :-D

Week 15: First Full Week Without Morning Sickness!

Week 15.  Hello baby bump.  How do people at work not know yet?  Don't ask me!  Hahahaha..  It's funny - when I was younger I used to worry about having to get a "big fat belly" when I got pregnant.  But I love my growing tummy.  And I'm not fat, I'm growing a baby, and each little change is so awesome.

I've also begun feeling itty bitty twitches and flutters from the baby.  I think I've been feeling them for over a week now and didn't believe they could be the baby yet, but have been assured that they can and probably are.  Nothing consistent yet, and not even every day.  But I've definitely felt little 'somethings' that are not normal going on down there.  :-)

So to get to the post title - I've officially gone 7 whole days IN A ROW without getting sick.  It's some kind of miracle.  But (jumping ahead slightly because this was yesterday so halfway through week 15 already) on day 8 the trend was broken so I guess I'm not out of the woods entirely yet.  Too bad, but I'm sure that would have been too good to be true.  Oh well, hahaha..

I've also finished knitting my first baby project!  These are newborn sized knitted wool longies - essentially wool pants.  Longies, shorties (shorts), and soakers (covers) can be used as a diaper cover because of the properties of wool.  When properly lanolized wool is essentially waterproof and can hold up to 30% of its weight before feeling wet.  Wool is pretty miraculous when you think about it.  It's also a breathable natural fiber as opposed to PUL which is what most diaper covers are.  The contrast is like wrapping your baby's bum in saran wrap - doesn't sound all that comfy, right?  So one of the benefits of wool is also aiding in the prevention of diaper rash.  Used in both winter and summer months in the seasonally appropriate lengths, wool is a great aid to cloth diaper users!  The added bonus?  It's sooooo cute!  Look at the little bum!!  :-D  They are definitely far from being perfect - but for a first attempt they are more than functional and I definitely learned some things to do (and not to do!) for the next pair.  I will be making a variety of lengths since we'll have a late May/early June baby.  And here in New England - who knows what the weather will be!!

We also got our results from the ERA testing we had done a week and change ago.  This wasn't a diagnostic testing so you don't get a 'yes/no' answer - it's a risk assessment.  They base the initial risk level off the mother's age, then use the data gathered from the measurements at the ultrasound with the results of the bloodwork to make a final risk determination.  For Down's Syndrome, our risk was assessed at 1 in >10,000 and so was our risk for the two Trisomy chromosomal defects they're assessing for.  This brought my risk down from what it was based purely on my age and she said was a result they'd see in a 20 year old woman so it was very excellent news!  Next Friday I'm having MORE blood drawn at my regular midwife office where they check a protein level - alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) - and depending on the level of the protein they can gather information that points to possible chromosomal or neural tube defects.  Then our next regular appointment will include the 'big' ultrasound on the 21st!  Woohoo!!  Can't wait to find out gender 'for sure'!

Baby is getting bigger!  The size of a naval orange or softball now.  Fingernails and toenails are growing, and baby is now able to make a fist!  Mommy hopes that baby doesn't use this new-found ability on her insides too often!!  hahaha..  The middle-ear is also developing this week, but the auditory sensors in the brain are not yet, so baby won't really 'understand' what its hearing, but the hearing capabilities are growing.  Soon baby will be able to hear all the crazy little songs I sing to the cats and hear mommy and daddy planning our lives once baby arrives.  :-)  We still have plenty to do to prepare for baby's arrival, but still have plenty of time to do it.  Once we're sure on gender we'll begin looking at nursery furniture and bedding, thinking about nursery colors and paint, and planning out how the room will actually look.  Fun stuff!! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 14 Weeks and First Doppler Heartbeat!

Not the greatest picture but Jeff starts to get cranky after taking so many one after another so this is what you get.  :-)

14 weeks!  First full week of 2nd trimester.  And I'm still sick most mornings.  Hoping this will end soon.  We had a midwife appointment on Monday and she seemed surprised that I was still getting sick and said it usually lets up for most people between 12-16 weeks.  So hopefully soon.  I've been saying that for a few weeks now though, lol.  But I am having more days here and there that I don't get sick rather than literally every.single.day so that's....something, right?  A step in the right direction anyway.

At this midwife appointment they listened for the heartbeat with the doppler for the first time.  SOOOO cool - whoosh whoosh whoosh.  It was kinda a crappy machine with tons of static which was annoying, but when she got the right spot there was definitely no mistaking it!

At 14 weeks baby is now the size of a large lemon or the size of an average fist!!  Close to 4 inches at this point - give or take.  Soft cartilage is turning into solid bone (as evidenced by the bright white spots shown in the u/s pictures from last week).  This week a fine hair begins to develop all over baby's body called lanugo.  This helps protect the delicate baby skin in all that water for so long but is shed (usually) before birth and replaced by thicker, coarser - more normal hairs.  Perhaps this is why I had that dream that I had a little girl and then she turned into a furry little kitten!!  Hahaha..  Another random interesting fact is that at this point baby has eyebrows but no eyelashes yet. 

So our next appointment is in 2 weeks - which is just a basic lab appointment.  They'll take blood (again) and test for proteins secreted by the baby that will indicate Downs, Spina Biffida, or other neural tube defects.  Then 4 weeks from now - on 12/21 we have our next real midwife appointment and most importantly the "big ultrasound"!  This is the 18 week one where they can definitively tell gender and do an anatomy scan to make sure all the bits are there and where they should be and there aren't any obvious problems.  Though we got a 'guess' at gender at the NT scan, this is where we'll find out if her guess was right or not.  What a wonderful Christmas present that will be!!  :-D

13 Weeks, 2nd Tri, and NT Ultrasound!

  I know I've totally gotten of schedule this time.  Trying to play catch-up here.  I normally post on weekends but was dealing with repercussions of my lovely tummy upset and didn't get to it, then Monday blogger wasn't letting me upload pictures.  So here we are.  A week late.  lol.  oh well.  I'm busy growin a baby over here, what do you want!  :-)

So 13 weeks - my itty bitty bump is growing.  This week was 'peach sized baby' week.  Still getting sick most mornings - but am skipping more days here and there which is something.  At 13w3d - last Friday - we had our Early Risk Assessment Test - ERA.  That included the NT Ultrasound scan where they measure the fluid at the base of the baby's neck to assess risk levels for Down's and two other chromosomal irregularities.  Our measurements looked great - nice and small which is good.  And the difference between the 13 week u/s and the 10 week u/s was huge!  It looked like a baby-ish critter before but it really looks like a baby now!  And the tech even felt that she could give us an 'early guess' at gender though she made us promise not to go shopping till our 18 week scan.  :-)  But the guess was that it's a girl!!

We got some great zoomed in facial profile pics.  You can see the jaw bone is developing, the nose, the spine, even all the itty bitty ribs were visible during the ultrasound.  So amazing.  I still can't feel any movement - I'm dying to feel something.  It's so crazy to watch the baby flip flop all over the place and not be able to feel it at all!

The first picture you can see baby sucking her thumb!!  Already!!  Little thumb sucker..  The last picture you can see the hand coming towards the face a bit.  DEFINITELY a mover and a shaker, this one!  :-D  But my mom actually was the one that noticed the thumb sucking in the last picture - I thought it was just a good full profile picture, ya know?  But it's doubly cool that you can see the thumb sucking too.

You can see all five fingers on the little hand in the second picture.  It was the very first picture the tech took - it was totally awesome.  Like baby was saying "hi mommy hi daddy!!!" as soon as we started looking!  So at least we have all 5 fingers on one hand accounted for!  Gotta get the other hand now.. lol.

The day of the scan was also my last day in the first trimester!  Being offically out of 1st tri is a huuuuge relief.  I have had more energy the last few weeks already - I think after the basic blueprints are laid down you get more energy back which is nice.  I'm only half a zombie now instead of a full-on zombie!  Woohoo!!  I'm still falling asleep on the couch most nights but function much better through the day now.

So that's the last week of 1st tri.  Updates on week one of 2nd tri to come along with the 14 week belly picture - sooner than a week from now I promise!

12 Weeks, Maternity Pants, and First Cloth Diapers!

So 12 weeks has come and gone.  I'm just starting to get a little bitty bump - more noticeable if my shirt is tight or my belly is bare, but it's definitely there.  :-D  I also gave in last weekend and got myself some maternity pants.  I wavered between the idea of getting a belly band - stretchy fabric made to go over your pants to basically hide the fact that you're not buttoning them, etc and keep you in them a bit longer - but really that just wasn't something i'm comfortable with and honestly i think since they're visible it's really more of a giveaway in the case of work.  I mean who's gonna think I'm just wearing the SAME black tank every day ya know?  lol..  and the other option was buying pants in a larger size, but really the probably was with my expanding belly area just being an uncomfortable place for pants to cut into.  I was able to get maternity pants that will fit me now, and barring a huge body weight gain in legs and butt, should fit me through the rest of my pregnancy and after as well.  This seemed like the better investment to me.  I was admittedly a bit uncertain about the panels in maternity pants at first, but after trying some on in the store I was completely convinced.  All 3 pairs I got are infinitely more comfy than any of my other pants at this point.  So there you have it.  Some of my other pants I couldn't wear at all, others I could squeeze into but they were varying stages of uncomfortable - particularly as most of my day at work is spent sitting.  One thing about the maternity pants is that they allow my belly to buldge more than my other pants did - which kind of 'muffin-topped' things more.  I'm wearing the mat pants in this picture and I think it adds to the belly you see because it's just kinda doing its thing rather than being all constricted/confined etc.

So what's up with baby this week you're wondering?  Now that all the major organs are formed, there isn't much left to form.  Both liver and pancreas have started to function, pituitary gland has started creating hormones, and baby develops reflexes!  Vocal cords are also developing and the brain is now fully developed.  Baby can be seen (sort of) in this picture here sucking its itty bitty thumb even!  Eyelids are now fully formed and eyes will remain closed until the 7th month to protect the developing optic...bits.  lol.

We scheduled our ERA - Early Risk Assessment test - for this coming Friday November 20th.  It will involve meeting with a genetic counselor, some (MORE) bloodwork, and an NT scan which is I believe a higher resolution ultrasound that will allow the specially trained techs to measure the nuchal translucency at the back of the neck which can be a tip-off to genetic abnormalities or things like Down's, etc.  Hopefully this assessment will show that everything is as it should be with our little bean and will be a nice chance for us to get to see him or her again!  I've heard there is a chance that the tech might be able to make a guess at gender at this point - at the appointment I'll be 13w3d (last day of 1st tri!!!).  I'm hoping this is the case.  I'd love a guess by someone who has something they're going on.  I had a dream last night that I had a little girl and she looked just like me...but then at some point in the dream she turned into a kitten...so I doubt that's anything to go on.. lol.  I'm trying not to get my hopes up for a good guess though because I know it's not as reliable for another month or so.  Fingers crossed all the same.  :-)  The following Monday, November 23rd, we have our next midwife appointment where we should get to actually HEAR the heartbeat with the dopplar (which we weren't able to do at our last appt because of my tipped uterus).  And that will be super exciting.

This week we also received our first order of "fluffy mail"!  I scored a great deal on some gently used Kissaluv Size 0 fitted diapers (KL0's) from a mama on Craigslist and they arrived yesterday.  They are *so* cute and soft and cuddly.  These diapers (fitteds) will require a cover as they do not include a waterproofed outer.  Pictures of those to come when they arrive.  I can't stop looking at these little squishy diapers and thinking how tiny they are and what it will be like to put our own little baby's bum in them.  Jeff is still skeptical on the whole cloth diapering thing, but especially with the deals that I've scored so far, he seems, at the very least, to be coming around to seeing the cost savings involved.  I know many many mamas that cloth diaper (CD) and promise me that they would not continue if they didn't love doing it for their babies and if it was truly an immense amount of work.  I am looking forward to joining them and being able to help show other new mothers that it's definitely doable.  When I started to think about HOW MANY disposable diapers go on a baby, and then into landfills where they will stay forever leaching chemicals into our planet...it's just SO MANY.  It's always more work to wash something rather than throw it away and get a new one, but I believe that the extra work will be minimal, and that it will be more than worth it to us both financially and personally in the end.  :-)

11 Week Belly Picture

These posts are getting more 'delayed' but we're still taking belly pictures at the 'one week' marks on schedule at least.  This was the 11 week belly picture.  My bloat (which peaked for sure in week 8) is minimal now.  I still can't see much of a baby bump - sometimes I think I might, but it's really probably just my organs piled on top of my uterus or something - or my stomach for example since my tummy is much flatter when the belly is empty lol..  But it's said that at this point the uterus is pretty much filling the pelvic cavity so I should start showing at least to us fairly soon which will be exciting.

Yesterday (Friday) - at about 11 and a half weeks - I had my first day without getting sick in over 5 weeks.  That's a long time!!!  This morning, not so lucky, but at least I know the little one is still bopping around in there.  It's kind of funny how reassuring the sickness is, and even knowing full well that I'm reaching the point where it's normal for me to start feeling better, it still makes me a little nervous all the same.  Once I start feeling movement at least I will have that, but for now there really isn't much!

At 11 weeks baby is now the size of a lime!!  Of course the fruit correlations are subjective and are different depending on the source you're using.  But baby is 1.75-2.5 inches crown to rump now, approximately 7 grams, and can swallow and pee!  The urinary system is functioning and baby swallows and pees into the amniotic fluid which is refreshed throughout the day (hence mama's need to get up in the middle of the night to pee even with such a tiny baby!!).  The fingernails appear this week as well.  Itty bitty fingernails on itty bitty fingers!  Hair starts to grow this week as well.  I will be shocked if our little one does not come out with a bunch of dark brown hair!  :-)  All of the organ systems are formed and beginning to function.  Miscarriage risk is down - and we may finally start to tell the world our news!!  Finally staring down the end of the first trimester feels *really* good.  I'm sure the worrying will not go away entirely - probably ever at this point!! - but the reason for the worry will be greatly reduced and we can relax and enjoy the pregnancy!

10 weeks and First Ultrasound!

Ten weeks down and finally my bloat is down too!  I've taken bare belly pics that I haven't posted in the last few weeks and the progression of my bloat is truly amazing.  Still no real baby bump to speak of, but at least my pants are fitting better again - I was afraid I was going to have to move into maternity pants at 10 weeks!

Baby is the size of a small plum now, and has graduated from 'embryo' to 'fetus' status.  All the basics of the body and organs are laid out now.  I've been a busy little baby-grower!!  I'm still getting sick every.single.morning unfortunately - and still am sooo ready for that to end.  I feel slightly less tired than I had been though - not anything remotely like 'energetic' mind you - just 'less dead to the world' more than anything.  Baby also lost its tail!  So sad - I liked that my baby had a lil' lizard tail, but Jeff is happy to know it is gone.  hahaha.  Eye color is also determined by this week, though we are expecting a brown eyed baby as that is what we both have.

We also had our first ultrasound this week and midwife appointment!  It was seriously the most amazing thing ever.  Of course I was terrified they'd look with the u/s probe and there would be no baby there or no heartbeat, etc etc any number of terrible circumstances flashed through my mind.  But other than discovering I have a tipped uterus and thus the baby is further back from my tummy right now and thus giving us lower quality pics than we otherwise would have gotten, everything was great!!  Heartbeat was measured at 176bpm which is on the 'higher' end of normal and the old wives tale is that girl babies have a faster heartbeat.  I know one person who's having a boy and hers was lower, but someone else whose was close to mine and is also supposed to be having a boy though so you never know.  I wish we could know now though!

It's a little hard to see in the pictures - the first one is the best profile shot we got - you may be able to click the pictures to enlarge them to full-size which will help.  The second picture I think was taking when we were watching our little bean flippity floppitying all around in my uterus.  You can see the little leg sticking out on one end and I think next to the profile is an arm.  I couldn't believe how it could move and flop around in there all while i have no idea.  I think there's another month left till I'll feel any movement though when the arms and legs are longer and stronger.  The last one shows a good shot of the little foot.  The tech marked it but it was pretty foot-like.  We were both shocked at how human-like our little one is already.

They did measure for growth and I'm right on target - measuring one day ahead actually of my due date based on my ovulation but right on target with the due date calculated on LMP so we're using 5/25/10 now.  They'll continue to keep track of growth through u/s and potentially change my due date accordingly as necessary.

Right after the ultrasound, we met with the midwife who I absolutely loved.  I will see the rest of the midwives in the practice so that they are familiar with me and I with them as you get whichever one is on when you go into labor, but I really really liked the one we saw.  She was goofy and fun and was thrilled that I came in with a huge list of questions for her and even better than that, the answers she gave to the questions were almost all what I wanted to hear.  We didn't get to listen to the heartbeat with the doppler because of my tilted uterus - the larger distance can make it harder to get a heartbeat for a few more weeks, but by our next appointment on November 23rd we should be all set to hear it.  I can't wait.  Seeing that little flicker on the u/s screen was amazing but I know actually hearing it will be even moreso!

Hospital Tour and 9 Week Belly Picture!

At exactly 9 weeks for us, Anna Jaques had their quarterly birth center tour.  While leaving the house after getting home from work to be somewhere at 7pm (gasp!) seemed like a monumental task to me at the time, it wound up not being too too bad and as we weaseled our way into the first tour group, we managed to be done in just over an hour which was good.

Our tour group was actually led by my regular OB who I've always liked even though I'll be transferring into their midwife practice instead for pregnancy and birth.  It was good to be led by one of the docs though because my fears of being forced into things I don't want or docs that want you to do things just because it's easier for them kinda make me crazy and she was able to more or less put those fears (or most of them) to rest for me which was very nice.

The facility itself is still more 'hospitally' than I would prefer personally, but less so than I was expecting and enough that I felt okay there which I think was a relief to Jeff who I know had doubts about home or birth center birth.  He, like most people who are not me, is comforted by the presence of doctors and bright lights and sterile looking environments.  So I think the tour was a relief to both of us - me feeling like I won't die having to go there, and him grateful for this fact.  :-)

They have a 'tub room' with this big tub with jets that you're allowed to labor in as long as you want though they no longer do water births which is disappointing to me.  I asked if the tub was basically first come first serve and she said they average 2-3 births a day there and so it's not usually an issue which is definitely awesome.  Each room has a rocking chair and a 'sleep chair' that folds out into a cot for daddy (or grandma if daddy doesn't want to sleep on the cot hahaha), and each room has a private bathroom with shower which is also nice.  Oh and the rooms are all single - they don't double you up which I know used to be how it was back in the day and for which I am super grateful.  They also staff lactation consultants to aid with breast feeding which will come in super handy I'm sure.  The one thing I've heard resoundingly from mothers is they were shocked at how difficult something as seemingly as natural as breastfeeding can be until mother and baby get a routine and get the hang of it.

So in week 9 you can see baby has cute little fingers, has grown to the size of a medium green olive, and while the fingers are still webbed for the time being, baby already has fingerprints!  That seems colossally amazing to me.  Slowly but surely we are chugging along to the end of the first trimester..just a month left to go now and I can't wait.  Baby is still making me sick each morning at least once and ocassionally throughout the day as well.  I am still super tired most of the time.  I am ready to have energy and stop being sick!

Next Wednesday is our first ultrasound appointment, and while it will be too early to determine gender, we should be able to check growth to make sure baby is growing on track and get a positive heartbeat which I'm sure will be a nerve-wracking few seconds until we see it.  Right after the u/s, we have our first midwife appointment.  Since our first appointment was with a nurse, I am definitely looking forward to meeting the midwife.  I saw her at the open house but did not actually meet her at that time with things being as crazy as they were but from a distance she seemed nice enough and hopefully we will connect at the appointment.

First Appointment and 8 week belly picture!

So I haven't had a lot of time to update - I started working on Monday of this week and between working and being completely and totally exhausted when I come home, coupled with our very needy kitties and a shower to take and dinner to make and eat - well you get the picture.  Work has been good though - it's really phenomenal to work for a company - and a person for that matter - who treats you really well.  I really hope they decide to keep me permanently sooner rather than later!

So - Tuesday 10/13 was the first appointment.  It was about an hour and fifteen-ish mins.  Height, weight, pee in a cup, 1 hour GD (gestational diabetes) test - which was pretty early for most places and i suspect will be repeated in 20 weeks or so - and they also took 6, count them SIX vials of blood.  I was not pleased.  Aside from that it was taking a history of the two of us, family diseases, talk about genetic testing, do this and don't do that, etc etc etc.  Very un-exciting and anti-climactic - and I got the joy of throwing up the orange glucola drink when I got home - also lovely.  The nurse also kinda got on my nerves with the fact that she ignored the bbt chart I brought with me to show when I ovulated so they could set my due date accordingly (and NOT according to the LMP that assumes you ovulated on day 14 which I didn't).  She asked if I plan to breastfeed or use formula and when I said we were going to breastfeed she said "oh you're going to try that" which just sort of irked me.  She also informed me they no longer do water births at Anna Jaques - so I'm interested to see on the tour next week if they actually have tubs because on their website tubs are one of the two pictures they show on the birth center page so.....???  Yeah.  Unimpressed.  I will go to the tour and my second appt for my u/s and meet the midwife, but I'm def also going to check out my other options in the area and ask a LOT of questions.

So that's quite a bit about me - what about what's up with baby?! Well the end of week 8 will be offically 2 months pregnant which is awesome - come on end of first tri!!  :-)  This week is 'raspberry baby' week if you're following the baby-to-foodstuff ratios.  Eyelids, tongues, earlobes and the tip of the nose are forming!  Cartilage and bones will begin to form this week, and  Baby can move those tiny little arms and legs as well now, though I still can't feel it and won't be able to for several more weeks (unfortunately!).  I'm really looking forward to being able to feel movement.  It will also be a relief to feel the movement as right now I only have my constant yarking and super sore boobs as a sort of check to make sure things are 'okay' in there.  It will be nice not to have to yark to know things are still fine.  Lol..

This is actually a fun picture that labels the little bits and pieces of baby at this stage.  My little alien baby.. hehehe..  Sometimes I wonder if our cinema 'image' of alien beings came from u/s images of babies.  There's definitely some correlation I think!

So in case you can't tell, I'm still getting sick most every morning - today was the first day I got sick at work which was fantastic.  I sit reeeeally far from the bathroom which is seriously unfortunate.  They're renovating the bathrooms and the closest ones to me have been closed and the next closest ones only have two stalls and are NOT close at all.  I'm hoping that I definitely don't start making a habit out of that in any case.  They called in a script for Reglan at my appointment, but I haven't taken it yet.  I don't know that I can take it soon enough in the morning to have it keep me from getting sick right away and that's the worst of my troubles.  I may try it soon though.. we shall see.

The nursing line actually called and left me a message today that just said to call them back as soon as I could.  Which of course then sent me into some kind of panic - sure that somehow (despite getting sick this morning) the blood pregnancy test they took must have come back negative, or some other massively bad thing showed up.  Then I called back right away and of course they're at lunch and apparently don't do a rolling lunch schedule so someone always covers the phones or anything so I had to call back in an hour.  Apparently I have a UTI I didn't know about and they called in a script for me.  That's all.  They really ought to work on their message leaving skills.  Oiy.  It was after that that I wound up getting sick at work so I probably upset myself during the course of eating lunch and it unsettled my stomach.  Boo on them.

7 Weeks: It's Not Easy Being Green

And no not in the eco-friendly sense.  The green I'm referring to is the stomach wrenching, nausea producing variety.  At the 7 week mark the nausea and sickness has definitely kicked things up a notch and is more regular much to my dismay.  And here I thought I would be spared!  HA!  Wishful thinking on my part.

Oh well.  I've still managed to smile for the camera here for my 7 week belly picture.  After all, each weekly belly picture puts me one week closer to the end of 1st tri and that is my goal right now.  Less danger, less nausea, more energy - I'm all for that!

Things besides nausea picking up have been pretty status quo as far as symptoms go.  My belly is still pretty much the same though depending on the day is in various stages of bloat.  Jeff still doesn't understand why we're doing belly pics this early but as soon as there's the slightest difference I want to catch it - and in the meantime I'll just track the bloat.  Actually it's starting to feel like tracking my expanding boobage at the moment.  Good grief.  And that reminds me - anyone have any ideas how to convince the cats that walking on my fire boobs in the middle of the night is NOT really the best thing to do at this point in life?  Cuz so far I've been unsuccessful and I don't know if I just notice because it hurts so bad or if they're doing it more frequently on purpose but I'm decidedly NOT a fan regardless.  Little monsters.

In other news, I start working on Monday.  This should be interesting with the increase in sickness I'm having each morning and off-and-on nausea throughout the day.  My first appt is Tuesday (finally) but is mostly just a history and probably some labs.  I'm hoping they do *something* that would give me some sense of relief in checking the little bean is okay but I'm thinking I'll have to wait until our 10 week ultrasound for that.  Sigh.

So at 7 weeks it now looks like I'm growing a little alien being instead of a salamander (sorry sally salamander!) though baby still has a tail (hehe).  Apparently week 7 is a very busy week for baby and involves a growth spurt that will cause the size to double over the next week.  On the baby-size-to-food chart, week 7 is a blueberry.  Aww blueberry baby.  :-)

One of the neatest things I've found on this growth spurt is a series of pictures that show the development of the hands this week.  It's really amazing how quickly some of these things happen.  This first picture is of the hands at 48 days (7 weeks).

You can see there's a 'hand plate' where fingers will be but it's still not really formed into fingers yet.  But another picture taken only 3 days after this (which for those who are counting would be Saturday for me!) baby has recognizable fingers!  How cool is that?!  I also think it's weird that

arms develop before legs and hands develop before feet.  I wonder if the logistics have to do with proximity to the heart and blood flow and all that but I definitely think it's interesting.  Look at those little fingers!  :-D

Those who didn't know me in school probably are wondering if I was a science nerd or something - and while I always enjoyed my science classes (apart from physics that is) I can't claim science nerd status.  This stuff just seems so neat though.  I love looking up what baby looks like at different stages since it's not like these sorts of ultrasound images are even remotely common at this point.

But all in all the 7th week is shaping up to be a busy one for baby and for me.  Back to work after 3 months off will be quite an adjustment for me - especially with this newfound lack of energy.  It will be good to make a bit more money though and my unemployment is set to run out in the next week or two anyway.  Soon we will want to begin shopping for baby and that of course requires money!  And to anyone wondering - no I haven't allowed anything other than book purchases at this point, though both Jeff and I are very eager to start picking things up.  There's just so much uncertainty with 1st tri that it's really just too soon I think.  Perhaps after the first ultrasound when we see everything is fine in there we will feel more comfortable telling the world and letting ourselves prepare more.

And speaking of books - new books this week: Healthy Child Healthy World: Creating a Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home by Christopher Gavigan; The Pregnancy Book by William and Martha Sears; and The Birth Book by William and Martha Sears.  Jeff is convinced with the arrival of each new book that I'm planning on an 18 month gestation period or like 5 babies.. hahaha.

6 Weeks = Sweet Pea Baby!

It's hard to believe we're at 6 weeks already but there you have it!  Of course it helps the first 'two weeks' of pregnancy are before you've actually conceived which is pretty messed up, but that's the way it goes.  From this week's belly pic you can see I am officially over my cold!  WOO!  It's a massive massive relief to feel like a human being again - albeit a very tired one.  But yes, still bloated!

Tiredness is my main symptom right now though right on schedule the nausea is picking up as well.  The morning of exactly six weeks marked my second cookie tossing episode and the evening marked the first time that I almost got sick WHILE eating (typically my ickies are brought on by waiting too long between foodings).  We had chicken parm for dinner.  It was good.  I got about halfway through it and all of a sudden started feeling green and I'm pretty sure Jeff was concerned I was gonna yark on him or the table or something and asked if I needed to be excused.  haha..  Sadly I was not able to finish my meal - though I did keep all my previously eaten food on the inside anyway and felt better once I was away from the food/table/etc.  Alas.  I also had a job interview earlier this week and oddly enough my biggest concern was getting sick before/during the interview!  lol.  Unsurprisingly though, I did manage to get through it with all parties unscathed.  :-)

One thing that I've been thrilled about that's gone away is the cramping.  From implantation on through maybe halfway through the 5th week I had some pretty consistent cramping.  It would get better with drinking water and rest but even though I knew it was normal, it was pretty unnerving nevertheless.  Thankfully never any bleeding, just cramping.  But I'm glad it seems to be away for now.  Aside from the tiredness, I've been referring to my boobs as my 'fireballs' because that's what they feel like.  Seriously.  I can't even describe it any other way.  Fire.Balls.  Mmhm.

So this week our spawn is looking less and less like a lil' lizard and more and more like a lil' baby!  Arms and legs (ish), outlines for ears, primitive eyes.  So awesome.  Still only 2-4mm big (the size of a sweet pea!), but already looking more and more people-like and less animal-like.  Maybe I'm not going to give birth to a salamander after all!!  Imagine that!  hahaha..  

It still feels like the first appointment is really far away, though at least we're in October now so I see it on the calendar.  I still have to make an appointment to tour the birth center in Stratham, NH - which incidentally shares the same town as the place I interviewed at earlier this week which would be hugely convenient - for me if not for Jeff anyway who the day before my interview, interviewed himself for an internal position out in the Worcester area.  lol.  Go figure, right?  Though I've gotta say that if someone's gotta work, I'd rather it not be me so I'll go wherever we can make that possible - I miss Western Mass  more as time passes anyway.

But all in all I'm excited that things are progressing so well.  So far so good.  So good so far.  :-)  Jeff's been puttering down in the office/basement trying to figure out how we can turn it into a makeshift guest room once we turn our second bedroom into a nursery.  I try to tell him we have 9 months to figure it out so stop stressing but it turns out he may be even more of a planner than me!  Most of all I think we both can't wait until our appointments so that we can feel safer about the pregnancy and start feeling okay about buying stuff.  I can't wait to start building a diaper stash (have I mentioned we're going to be cloth diapering?  I may save that for a later post) and starting to knit little bitty baby things.  I can't wait till we can tell the world, till the world can tell without us having to tell, and until i can feel my little bean moving around in there.  :-)

Books collected so far: Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care;  Your Pregnancy Week by Week;  Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide;  Wise Woman Herbal: The Childbearing Years;  and My Pregnancy Journal.   (Hey, I never said Jeff was the only planner in this house, did I???  hahaha)

5 weeks and first belly picture!

On 9/23 I was exactly 5 weeks pregnant (for those who don't know they count from your last period not conception!) and wanted to get on the ball with taking weekly belly pictures.

I'm now sorry that I didn't take a picture at 4 weeks or even the day I found out to more accurately document my 'pre-pregnancy belly' - I thought I had plenty of time!  But at 5 weeks I have most noticeably grown a pot belly of bloat.

Yes ladies and gentlemen that is NOT a baby belly you see there that is most decidely bloat.  I'd also like to note that in this picture I have a cold and could really have lived without having my beautiful face puff documented in the bowels of history but I'll consider it one among the many sacrifices I'm sure I'll be making for our growing spawn - aka the lizard baby.

Lizard baby because this is what our little bean looks like at this stage of development - salamander-like in my opinion!  Actually this pic may still be in the 4 week development range but you get the picture.  I am growing us a lil' lizard!!  :-D

Symptoms so far haven't been too crazy.  Only one cookie tossing episode so far and some moderate queasy moments.  I've definitely had cramping though, and a ton of gas (even for me!) and massively sore and expanding boobage.  For some reason my cats seem to think now is the most excellent time to walk on said boobage despite my numerous attempts to explain that in reality it most decidely is not!  Dang critters!

Also of note - the first appt was scheduled for 10/13 which will mostly be a 'history and labs' appt, and the first u/s is scheduled for 10/28 at which time I will be 10 weeks.  Our little bean's first picture!!  Squee!  Immediately following the u/s we will have our first meeting with the midwife as the first appt is run by a nurse coordinator.  It is insanely nerve-wracking to wait for these appointments to ascertain that everything is going along as it should be - so many things can go wrong in 1st tri..  But with every cramp (without bleeding) and every moment of queasiness or sore boobage I remind myself that this is a sign that our little lizard is growing strong and hanging in there.  But for this reason we've optted not to share the news with extended family until the end of the 1st tri (or at least after our u/s if we can't wait!).

We will also be able to tour the Anna Jaques birth center in Newburyport on 10/21 - one week before the first u/s and midwife meeting.  I like this because it will allow me to see the facility and meet the practitioners.  I am not 100% set on where we will give birth and want to fully explore all of our options to ensure the best fit, however I had already had care established with Women's Health Care which operates out of Anna Jaques so have set up my initial appts with them.  I also would like to tour the North Shore Birth Center in Beverly as well as the Coastal Family Birth Retreat in Stratham, NH as free-standing birth center alternatives, and plan to interview a few homebirth midwives as well.  This is an exciting time full of big decisions but it's good to have some dates set and things set into motion already!

September 13, 2009

First Positive Pregnancy Test Day!!

We spent a week around Labor Day on Cape Cod, and it was our last day of vacation that we found out we were having a baby.  While trying to conceive, I was charting basal body temperatures to track ovulation and stay on top of my cycles.  When I took my temp on the 13th, it had jumped high when it normally would have dipped low as a signal of my period coming the next day.  Knowing this was typical of pregnancy I jumped up to head to the bathroom and test.

Here is a picture of my final chart resulting in pregnancy:

I took two tests before bringing them to Jeff who was still in bed.  They were light positives because I was only 11 days past ovulation, but they were clearly positive.  We were going to be parents!!  Jeff was in slight disbelief - not sure whether to trust the test, not wanting us to get excited and disappointed.  I took another test to be sure - still positive.  Still pregnant.  All smiles, we told our parents the good news.  Due date 5/26/10.

First positive test:

 

And the first digital test (there really is something in seeing it spelled out for you - I think this is really when Jeff finally started to believe it as well):

Welcome!

Welcome to Our Hippy Baby!

Jeff and I hope you enjoy your stay as we make our path through the forest of parenthood.  We both may do some rambling here as we try to make sense of it all, but promise to also update with all the 'important' info as well such as weekly belly pictures, dr visits, and all the signs and symptoms the mommy-to-be experiences (some you may or may not have wanted to know!!).