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!!