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)