Week 9: Olive

I was really tired here...I feel like this isn't the best picture :) oh well

Month three! And she’s no longer an embryo -- now she’s a fetus. Basically that means she’s becoming more and more baby-like. 

How big is baby: The size of an olive.  

See those little legs?? :)

Weight gain/loss:  0 lbs

Stretch marks: No.

Sleep:  Super tired...I sound like a broken record.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions:  Starting to feel worse.  I'm ok in the mornings (besides the whole teeth brushing thing).  But come the afternoon, I feel sick, I'm starving, I'm exhausted...can I complain anymore? :) 

Exercise:  I made it to the gym once last week.  I have also gone on a few walks.  I really need to do more.

Gender: We'll find out in October!

Movement: No.

The belly:  I feel like the bloat is getting worse by the end of the day.  The 9 week picture and the 8 week picture were taken at the same time of the day and I feel like my stomach is definitely a little poochier.   

What I'm spazzing about:  Well, as you can see, we had an unexpected u/s this week.  I had spotting again on Monday and my RE told me to come in just to ease my mind.  We saw our little shrimpy kicking her legs like crazy.  Again, I worry for nothing.  

What I'm loving:  Seeing the baby look more like a baby :)  

Symptoms:  Tired.  Minimal spotting every once in a while.   

What I'm looking forward to:  Same as last week :)  Our first OB appointment on April 4 at 10 weeks.  And telling our family on Easter.  

Best moment of the week:  Seeing the baby again!  And seeing those little feet kick away.  I really wish they made in home u/s machines... :)

Photo Shoot

As I've mentioned numerous times, I'm dying to let the cat out of the bag.  I have never in my life kept a secret from my mom or my BFF for this long.  Thankfully the weeks have been going by more quickly than I though.  In the meantime, we've been contemplating how to break the news.  I think I mentioned the iMovie in the last post.  Here are a few outtakes.  I'll try to remember to post the full video once Aaron has finished it.  His latest idea is to put in scary Halloween music at the end with a Halloween picture since baby is due either the day before Halloween.

We didn't want Wally to feel left out :)

+ 1 !!!!

Funny picture to show us freaking out...obviously it's a joke.  We are so excited!

And as of now, we've decided to nickname baby "Shrimp" because Aaron thinks that baby looks like a shrimp in the latest ultra sound.  The second nickname (which I find way more funny) is "Eva" after the movie Wall-e.  His friend in the movie is "Eeev-a" (my best attempt at writing how it's pronounced).  And well, this baby will be Wally's friend.  I do realize that we have no idea if the baby is a girl and we don't plan to find out until our due date...but it's just too cute.  Hopefully, if it's a boy, baby will forgive us :)

Week 8: Raspberry

How far along: 8 weeks.  You can't feel it yet, but she's moving those arms and legs like crazy!  Her fingers and toes are now slightly webbed, and her tail (yes, she had one) is gone.  Baby's taste buds are now forming.

How big is baby: The size of a raspberry.  Aaron said baby was the size of a little shrimpy.  I think she's a little smaller than the shrimp we normally eat, but I'll go with it :)

Shrimp aka Eva...looking more and more like a baby!

Weight gain/loss:  0 lbs

Stretch marks: No.

Sleep:  Still really, really tired.  I can usually push it to 10 on the weekends.  My in-laws are coming Saturday and I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to stay up so late!

Diet/Cravings/Aversions:  Still not sick to my stomach.  I crave pizza just about every day.  I have a hard time brushing my teeth in the morning now without gagging.  If I use the electric toothbrush, I'm good, but I really have to divert my attention if I use my regular one.  Seems very weird. 

Exercise:  I've been walking almost every day.  I think this week/weekend I'm finally going to venture back to the gym and do the elliptical.

Gender: We'll find out in October!

Movement: No.

The belly:  Normal size in the mornings and gets rounder at the end of the day.  I know this is just bloat at this point :) 

What I'm spazzing about:  Well, today was graduation day.  I'm excited but nervous at the same time.  It's the same time we'll see our little shrimp every week :(  We have a tentative u/s on April 4 at our first OB appointment, but I'm not getting my hopes up.  It was just so nice having that reassurance every week.

What I'm loving:  Seeing the baby get bigger and bigger!  And hearing the heartbeat :)  It was at 169 bpm today which is right on track.

Symptoms:  Tired.  Still minimal cramping (that's almost gone now) and spotting.   

What I'm looking forward to:  Our first OB appointment on April 4 at 10 weeks.  And telling our family on Easter.  This morning, I really really wanted to go home this weekend so we could share the news.  I have a hard time keeping secrets from certain people :)

Best moment of the week:  Seeing the baby again!  And we made a short iMovie on Sunday that we are going to use to tell our family.  Now if Easter were only sooner than 2.5 weeks away...

Fun Things

This weather has been AMAZING for March in Michigan.  I am loving it!  We already have our winter "cleanup" yard work done.  We've already had our first walk to get ice cream of the season.  I even had to roll my pants up on one of our walks because I was so hot.  This is crazy for the middle of March!

Wednesday I had a client meeting for most of the day and got done a little early so I decided to go home and enjoy the weather.  This is what my temperature gauge said.  And we're projected to have more of the same for the next week at least :)

A few years ago, my BFF introduced me to Lill.  At my first visit, I made a cute clutch which I have since taken to almost every wedding I've been to :)  When I went to visit her in the fall, we went again and I fell in love with their Lexi style.  You can wear it across your body or over your shoulder or as a backpack type purse.  I've been looking every where for a cute over my body purse.  Now I could design my own!  I soon got an e-mail for a coupon and then Aaron bought me a GC for my birthday.  I finally made the purse about a month ago and it arrived this week.  I love it!  It's perfect for spring/summer and it even goes with tomorrow's St. Patty's festivities as my BFF pointed out.  I can't wait to use it :)

Week 7: Blueberry

Our appointment went great again today.  My numbers are fabulous, baby is measuring at 7w and the HB is up to 132!  Yay!

I have a reminder on my phone to take a few photos of me this weekend to document my progress.  I think I have the starting of the bloat, at least towards the end of the day.

How far along: 7 weeks.  She's generating about one hundred new brain cells each minute.  Not only is her brain becoming more complex, but her heart is too.  Also important: She's developing a permanent set of kidneys.  Her arm and leg joints are now forming.


How big is baby: The size of a blueberry.  Baby measured 9.31 mm today to be exact :)

Length of baby measuring 9.31 mm.

Compared to last week...definitely bigger!

HB measuring at 132 bpm

Weight gain/loss:  Still haven't weighed myself...

Stretch marks: No.

Sleep:  Super tired!  I still go to bed at about 9 every night now (yes, even the weekends).  

Diet/Cravings/Aversions:  Still not really feeling sick.  Sometimes at night when I get up to go the bathroom I feel a little off.  But nothing too bad at all.  I find that one minute I have a huge craving for something, then I eat it and have no desire to be near it again.  We had Anita's on Friday and it was amazing, but wanted nothing to do with the leftovers.  We had Thai on Saturday and Sunday I couldn't even stand the smell of the leftovers.  Aaron is definitely benefiting from this since he gets to eat all of my leftovers :)  

Exercise:  Still not really :(  With the cramping and bleeding, I've been trying to take it easy.  I'm still just taking Wally for walks.  We ordered a heart rate monitor for me to use at the gym (the doctor said to keep my heart rate at or below 120).  I'm just patiently waiting for that to arrive.

Gender: Still leaning towards being surprised.

Movement: No.

The belly:  Nothing noticeable besides the bloat look at the end of the day.

What I'm spazzing about:  The cramping and bleeding are still the big ones.  I had a big scare Tuesday morning.  The doctor reassured me again that it's completely normal and the baby was perfectly fine.  However, I would really just like the bleeding to stop for my own peace of mind.

What I'm loving:  Seeing the baby and hearing the HB every week :)  And seeing how fast the baby is growing!

Symptoms:  Tired.  Minimal cramping and spotting now.  Hungry all of the time, but then I get full really fast once I actually eat something.  

What I'm looking forward to:  Graduating from the RE next week.  Although, I guess it's also something that I'm slightly not looking forward to since I won't get to see the baby as often then.

Best moment of the week:  Seeing the baby and the reassuring HB :)

Moms

I am very fortunate in that my mom is not only the best mom, but one of my best friends.  I can honestly say that I don't think I ever went through that common teenager phase of hating my mom either.  Don't get me wrong, we fought and we still get in arguments, but they never lasted more than a day (my mom may feel differently :) ).

Yesterday, I was driving home and singing to the radio and a song came on that just had me completely in tears.  I can't even remember what the song was.  I just started thinking that, "Oh my gosh.  My grandma (mom's mom), died when my mom was 18 and was very sick for quite a while before that."  My grandma never saw my mom graduate from nursing school, and later get her BS degree.  She never got to meet any of us grand kids.  Any time my mom just needed to vent to her mom, she couldn't.  Any time she wanted to share some amazing news, she couldn't. 

And I just thought how incredibly fortunate I am that my mom is still here.  My mom is always one of the first people I call whether it's good news or bad.  She always sets me straight and tells me how it is.  She has the biggest heart.  And she truly has sacrificed so much for all three of us (dad too - I don't want to leave him out).  And there is no one else who will play endless games of Skipbo with me :)

Not telling our family and close friends has been one of the hardest things about this pregnancy.  I know that it will come soon enough...Easter is just around the corner.  But it's so hard for me to grasp that my mom never got to see the joy on her mom's face when she found out she was pregnant.  But my mom is here and I know she's going to be so incredibly excited when she does finally find out.

She's going to be the best Babushka ever ;)  I think it should stick, right mom?? :)

Edited: My mom informed me that Babushka means scarf in Polish.  Apparently I meant "Busha" or something like that :)  Oops!

Week 6ish +

As you can see from the title, I'm a little confused how far along I actually am.  I thought the doctor had said one thing, but then the ultrasound picture said another.  I'm going to confirm next week when we go back.  I was too excited about the visit that I didn't even think to reconfirm.  So, I'm going to hold off on the true weekly posts until I get it straightened out exactly where I am.


My blood levels are holding strong.  My beta was close to 30,000 (!!!) and my progesterone is holding steady in the 20s.  Still some very light spotting and mild cramping.  The doctor said he wasn't concerned as long as the spotting is light.  He said to just listen to my body and take it easy if I notice it getting any worse.  


The BEST news of today...we heard the heartbeat!  It's holding strong at 105 (which is in the very normal range for how far along we are) and the fetal pole is measuring at 2.77 mm.  So everything is looking great!  We go back in again next week (I love these weekly ultrasounds).  I was having a lot of anxiety last night so I feel so much better today.  We both left the office all smiles :) :) :)


And for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of last week's and this week's ultrasound.  It's still so crazy to think that this is real and we are actually having a baby :)

This is from last week (February 29, 2012).  Everything looked exactly as it should.

This is from today (March 7, 2012).  It shows that the fetal pole is present.  Everything still looks great!

And the picture showing the heart rate.  We both agreed it kind of sounded like white noise to us, but I'm guessing it will become more obvious once we are further along :)

Scared....

I have a very anxious personality.  All of my friends know that I worry ALL.OF.THE.TIME.  And being pregnant is no different.  I often wonder if I'd worry so much if we didn't go through what we went through back in the late fall/early winter.  I'm sure I would still worry somewhat - it's my personality.  But I find myself going to the bathroom every 30 minutes just to make sure everything is ok.  I have to do relaxation techniques when I start to feel crampy or have a backache. All of the normal pregnancy symptoms make me feel like I might be miscarrying.  I am so thankful we see the specialist so often.  Going one week seems like an eternity.  I can't imagine having to wait several weeks.  Wednesday we go in again to hopefully see the heartbeat.  I know that everything at this point is out of my hands.  I have been trying to think positive thoughts and have been praying a lot.  I just wish I could stop worrying.  Only one more day until the appointment...let's hope it goes by fast.