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!