Week #10

I spotted again Wednesday night, but because it stopped that night I didn't call the doctor's office this time.  I'll mention it at my next prenatal appointment though.

By the end of this week, my baby will be 3.1 cm long and 4 grams and will have graduated from embryo to fetus.  Its head will be double the size of its body, so think of Brain:

only with a rounder head.  The body will also start to straighten out as it grows.  Fingernails, toe nails and hair follicles will start to develop and grow, and the baby's eyelids now completely cover its eyes (or very nearly).  The tongue will be fully formed in the middle of the week.  Weight gain should be steady (I know I have lost weight lately, due to stress).  Interesting pregnancy symptom: melasma, AKA pregnancy mask.  Usually found in women with darker skin, it is a skin discolouration due to the progesterone to estrogen levels found in the body.

How am I feeling?  Exhausted.  All the time.  I'm feeling nauseous at night more often than not, which I suppose is a good thing.

Any weird cravings?  Nothing too crazy, but once I get it in my head, I like to satisfy that craving.  For example, a few days ago I craved chocolate covered strawberries, so I hit up DQ for a chocolate covered strawberry waffle bowl.  It was awesome!

Mood swings?  Not really.  I nearly cried a few times the other day.  I was at the Cafe and one of my (ex?) staff members pulled all the staff out and announced that I was leaving.  And one of the others said that he thought I was a really good boss.  It's my understanding that mood swings hit harder after the first trimester.

Any body changes?  I've lost the war against my belt, having to buckle it one hole looser than before.  Which is funny because I know I've lost weight since becoming pregnant!  But, that might be in my legs (which look awesome, btw) and not in my tummy area.

We bought a stroller today!  Our first big purchase for our baby, its a blue and grey stroller & infant car seat in one.  We got it from Sears and it was on sale ($120 off!).  Considering how most of the combo stroller/car seats were over $200, and we bought this one for $250, we figured we were getting a deal!

Ultrasound #1

For today, the baby is ok.  We saw the heart beating and the little arm buds move.  We also saw it kicking its stumpy legs.  If you use your imagination, the big blob on the right is its head...and its staring right at you!

The radiologist is going to study the pictures that the ultrasound tech took to figure out why I was bleeding, But right now, everything is fine.  

It was incredible to see the little thing moving already!  According to the tech, I'm actually 9 weeks and 1 day (not 4), but already it moves!  Amazing!  Despite what the picture shows, it is only 2.5 cm long from crown to rump.  And I'm in love already.  This has really hit me, well us, that there's a living being inside of me.  I think Kevin was a little more distanced from the baby because he hasn't been feeling the sickness or the changes like I have.  But he got to see his baby today too and I'm so glad he was able to experience it.

After all the stress and the frustration, I had hoped but did not expect to see the heart beat.  I honestly did not expect to feel as emotional as I did when I saw it moving its little body.  I guess I should get used to that feeling, since I'll be a mom in less than 7 months. :)

Week #9 + 4 days

So, I did blood tests on both Friday and Monday, with a follow-up Dr's appointment this morning to see what was going on.  And?  They don't know.  My results were up slightly higher on Monday than Friday, but still lower than average (while still being in the normal range).

The Doctor (Dr. Cosio) then decided to feel my uterus - but it turns out that it tilts backwards, so she was unable to feel it to see if it was the normal size for how far along I am.

Out of hope, we tried to find the fetal heartbeat, but were unable - which is common for under 12 weeks pregnant since the uterus sits behind the pelvis until then. 

Dr. Cosio managed to pull some strings so I could get an ultrasound this afternoon - at 1:30 pm - so I guess we'll know more definitely then.  In the meanwhile, I'm going to have to pretty much drown myself so that I'll be hydrated enough (while not going to the bathroom) to see the baby - and hopefully its heartbeat.

Last night I was asked to step down as manager, which I did willingly since I was going to step down anyway.  He said that he could see how stressed I was and when I explained that I was pregnant, he said that I definitely shouldn't be so stressed.  I'll be paid out till the end of the month, regardless of how much I work, plus I have a ton of vacation pay coming my way.  In the meanwhile, I'll try to relax and find another job.  On the plus side, I'm completely freed up to go to my Dr's appointments as needed, especially the ultrasound this afternoon!  And if we find no sound where there should be a heartbeat, I'm going to need a few days to recover.

I'll just re-iterate that Dr. Cosio is optimistic because my levels did go up, so I'm hoping for the best, while preparing for the worst.

Week #9 & Doctor Appointment #3

So, I know I'm a day late posting this, but I had a really good reason.  Having said that, I'll go over the reason after I'm done talking about the development.

This week the baby has doubled in weight from 1 gram to 2 grams and has grown to 2.3 cm (about the size of a medium green olive).  The flippers look like arms now, complete with long fingers that nearly touch over the waist.  The legs and toes are still developing and the neck is more erect.  External ears are developed and the eyelids are almost finished forming.  The baby has even started moving around now!  Another bonus?  It even looks more human than last week.

My uterus is about the size of a grapefruit, which explains why I can't sit forward as well as I used to.  And my weight gain should be increasing.  I already think I have a little bump, but that could just be mainly me, lol.  As it is, my waist line will be going up along with the numbers on the scale.

Vitamin C is very important and aids in tissue development, iron absorption and may prevent pre-eclampsia (with eclampsia being seizures and convulsions).  In other words, vitamin C is good, but only as long as you don't exceed the 85 mg daily dosage.

How am I feeling?  Right now?  Better than yesterday.  However, work has been so stressful for me lately, and between dancing and work I barely have time to eat.  I'm exhausted more often than not (I even fell asleep twice on a 3 hour car ride!) and I find it uncomfortable to sit upright or even leaning forward.

Any weird cravings?  I'd say cookies, but that isn't weird for me!  I find that I get very spontaneous cravings and I nearly obsess about it until it is satisfied.  Luckily for me, I'm able to get it myself since I'm usually out and about.  And if not that day, then the next.

Mood swings?  Still weepy, but that could be caused by stress too.

Any body changes?  I do feel like I have a little bump, since it is firmer than it was a couple weeks ago (unfortunately!).  However, I do think that it's my own ponch forced outwards by my growing uterus.

Now on to the news.  On Thursday night before I went to bed I noticed blood on my underwear - and immediately burst into tears.  I did read in my Mother of All Pregnancy Books book that bleeding, coupled with cramping, could be a symptom of miscarriage.  Which is why I freaked out.  However, it did also say that it could just be bleeding, so the next morning I called the clinic and made an appointment for that morning.  I was fortunate that Kevin was also able to take some time off and support me through this.  I called in sick and let my friend know (who also knew I was pregnant) that I wasn't going to be coming in that morning.

At the clinic the doctor did a cervical exam and noted that the blood was coming from my cervix; however, the cervix, while slightly open, wasn't completely open, which is another sign of miscarriage.  Her suggestion was to move on to the next step, which was tracking the pregnancy hormone Bhcg through blood work.  If I was still pregnant, the hormone should double daily.  Since it was Friday, we did the blood work then and will do it again on Monday, with the results discussed on Tuesday. 

I am optimistic though; I was only ever spotting, I didn't pass any tissues and the bleeding has since stopped.  Plus, the cramping never occurred, so I'm hoping that it was just first trimester bleeding.

This was definitely the scariest moment of my entire pregnancy and made me realize how much I wanted the baby to survive.  There have been times when I didn't think I could handle it and that maybe it would be best to miscarry so we could have more time for this or that, but now I'm convinced that I want this baby.  I've also decided to step down as manager of my Cafe - even though I took the job so I could have the baby!  I think I need to put myself first and a pay cut with 1/4 the stress is so worth it.  I've already told the previous manager that I'm ready and she's fine with stepping up now instead of April.  I just need to tell my own boss! 

Even since I found out I was pregnant I've been ready to move on and I'm convinced that the stress that I've been under for the past month and a half has not been beneficial to my growing baby.  I need time for myself, and I especially need time to relax!  I plan to find another job and work part-time, which would free me up for online schooling. 

I also want to thank my fabulous friends for being so supportive!  You're awesome!

Week #8 & Doctor Appointment #2

My baby looks like Barney.  W. T. H.?

By the end of this week my baby will be around 1.6 cm and weigh around 1 gram.  By now my baby has eyelid folds, nerve cells and will just start to develop the retina.  The nose is starting to poke out and both the internal and external parts of the ears are growing.  And the arms have elbows!

How am I feeling?  It depends on the day, but severe morning sickness seems to make an appearance about every other day, it seems.  I'm not sure if it helps to eat a lot at night, but that happened last night and I've felt fine all day.  I've also been under a lot of stress lately, so I don't know if that made it worse.  For example, yesterday I didn't sleep well, plus I had to do the baking shift; maybe I would've been fine with one or the other, but both?

Any weird cravings?  Greasy food, like nachos and burgers.  Mmmm.  And still the spicy food.  Apparently the healthy food cravings only lasted a couple weeks.  However, due to my lack of time to eat properly, it could be simply my body needing food fast and not caring how it gets it.

Mood swings?  Still the same as before.

Any body changes?  Still the same: bigger breasts, bigger uterus. 

Oh and I had my second doctor's appointment today: so I had a breast exam, pap test and thyroid exam.  Everything checked out fine, but I guess I'll know if there's anything unusual next week.  Apparently, at 12 weeks we'll be able to hear the heartbeat, so we're aiming for that in the next visit!! :D

Blood Work

I hate needles.  With a passion.

I went in today to get some bloodwork done - the standard stuff.  And I was already anxious about it, so when the nurse told me that she needed to do both arms, it figured.  It really did.  She looked at the vein in the right arm and said she should've started with that arm, but it hurt!  I could feel it the entire time and I guess I should be glad I didn't hyperventilate.  So, now I have two sore arms and they'll probably bruise, that's how awesome it felt.

How often do I have to get this done? 

Doctor's appointment on Friday for the physical.  What an awesome week.

Week #7

Oh, look!  My baby looks more like a salamander than a hairless rat!

Ho-lee!  During this week my baby will nearly triple in size from 4-5 mm to 11-13 mm and will weigh as much as an eyelash!  The armbuds are visible but haven't yet developed in to arm and hand sections.  An ultrasound will make it possible to hear the beating heart, which has already developed in to right and left chambers.  Lung and brain development are moving along, and certain internal organs are bulging in to the umbilical cord.  This week its important to increase my calcium uptake to 1200 mg daily; however, coffee, tea, salt, protein and unleavened bread can interfere with the calcium.

How am I feeling?  Well, I learned that morning sickness can be alleviated by eating.  Imagine that!  It still feels nasty, though I've been fortunate enough to not throw up.

Any weird cravings?  I really like spicy food right now.  I still don't care for the looks (or smells!) of some food, but I think my eating habits are getting back to normal.

Mood swings?  I had a really stressful week at work last week and this week started out ok.  I'm still highly likely to get teary-eyed at sweet moments, but this week seems ok.

Any body changes?  Here's a funny one: while I'm still not too sure of my baseline for my body, my breasts have grown 2-3 inches!  I still think I've lost a little weight and am definitely going to end up more toned once I start dancing.

In case you wonder where I get my info about my week-to-week pregnancy changes, click here!