11 weeks! Errrr... 12 weeks?

So I had my second NT scan today. I had one on Thursday but they were unable to get the measurements they needed.

Thursday Todd came with, and it was so much fun. Baby was wide awake and jumping around like a monkey in there. I was great to see.

Today, mom came which was also awesome! As soon as the u/s started mom saw a very clear hand (I missed it!). It was a bit more detailed today, it's amazing how much things change in just a couple of days. While baby wasn't as active as Thursday, there was still some movement, a few arms flying up for questions and all that.

CRL was 55mm, BPD was 19mm and NT was 1.4mm. The tech didn't explain any of that to me (they are sending everything to the doctors) but google tells me anything under 3mm for the NT is good, so that's cool.

Now as far as the CRL of 55mm... that would put me at exactly 12 weeks! So, am I 12 weeks? Not sure, I guess when I go back to the doctors he'll go over all that with me.

In the meantime, I'll post both of these. According to www.thebump.com:



Baby's now the size of a lime!
Your fetus currently enjoys a 1:1 ratio between body and head, and has skin so transparent that blood vessels show right through it. But fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and hair follicles, tooth buds, and nail beds are forming -- setting up a significantly more attractive future.







Baby's now the size of a plum!
As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of her systems are fully formed.

The shift.

This week has been a big one for me. Several things have happened, and all of them good.

Firstly, as of today, I am officially more pregnant than I ever have been! We passed the dreaded date of 10 weeks 4 days, and everything is still looking good. Now, I'm not naive enough to think that I'm out of the woods just yet. Plus there's that whole low-laying placenta thing... But never the less, I'm feeling good about this.

Obviously seeing baby's heartbeat was a big big deal. It kinda drove home the fact that there is a little living growing person inside me. I have another Ultrasound today at the hospital, for an official dating, and I'm really looking forward to seeing baby again.

Also, I'm officially in maternity jeans! OK, maybe I don't really NEED them yet, but dammit, they're comfy. So there.

Lastly, my nausea seems to be subsiding. This is big. It's really hard to completely comprehend how draining it is to be nauseous and throwing up all the time. Even though the Diclectin GREATLY improved things for me, I still didn't really feel "well". It's hard to be really excited about being pregnant when all you can think about is not losing your last meal.

All of these things this week have started a shift for me. A shift from worry to excitement. From fear to love. I'm feeling less like the girl who had a miscarriage, and more like the girl who is pregnant. And that's a really nice feeling.

Breathing a little easier!

Yesterday we had our first OB appointment. Todd and I were surprisingly calm about the whole thing.

We got there a couple of minutes early. I peed in a cup, got weighed, had my blood pressure taken, sat in a private room and answered a bunch of questions, was given an armload of free baby things (Yay for corporate sponsors?) and sat back down. When the doc called us in and he told me to hop up on the ultrasound table, my heart started beating really fast. It was the moment of truth.

It took him some time to find the heartbeat. When he first started looking, he said "Well, there is definitely a pregnancy..." followed by lots of silence. I started to get nervous. "Are you sure you didn't have ANY bleeding?" he asked. I started to shake. "Positive" I managed to spit out. More silence. I was [ ] that close to having a full blown panic attack. "OK, there's the heartbeat!" he said. The tech must have been holding her breath, or sensed my panic, because I'm pretty sure she "squee!"ed out loud. I looked at the screen, and didn't see anything discernible, so I asked him to point it out to me. And sure enough, like a little blip on the radar, was our baby's little beating heart.
























I was immediately overcome with a mix of relief (for myself and Todd) and love for the little person on the screen, and I started crying. The doctor showed us where the head was, and where the legs were, and told us that baby was measuring 11 weeks and a day, almost a week ahead of schedule.

So, with all that said and done, everything looks good! Apparently my placenta looks like it's attached a bit low, hence why he was asking about the bleeding. Bad timing doc, bad timing. My research tells me that tis is fairly common in early pregnancy (20-30% of pregnancies) and that 99% of the time the placenta migrates into a better location by week 20, and out of the remaining 1% only one in four will have a placenta that covers the cervix and causes complications with labour. (Thanks google!) Anyhow, I'm to take it easy for a few weeks (till 14 weeks) but other than that, so far so good!

Ten weeks

I can't beleive the dreaded week ten is already here!

I should be a mess, I suppose. But for some reason I'm not. Hopefully that reason is instinct that everything is OK.

It's a big week this week.

A side from being the week I lost the baby last time, we also have our first OB appt on Tuesday, and come Thursday, I will officially be more pregnant than I ever have been.

I'm actually more nervous about the OB appointment that I am about spontaneously miscarrying. I've heard of far too many people who go for that first ultrasound positive that they're going to see a little heartbeat, and instead they find out that they have essentially become a tomb. I'm going to be a nervous wreck on Tuesday.

That's the thing about being PAL. You have a very real understanding that these little fetuses are very fragile, and that even if you do everything right things can still go very very wrong.

The good news is, I'm still puking, I'm still having very vivid dreams, and my boobs are still killing me.

So, about baby this week! (From thebump.com)

Baby's now the size of a prune!
With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will start working too.)

I'm not very good at waiting.

Just ask my parents :)

I am horrible about waiting for things I'm looking forward to. Waiting actually creates some kind of very real anxiety in me. I've been working on it for a long time, but even though I've gotten better, I'm still no good at it.

This week has CRAWLED by. Because I'm waiting for next week. Today is Thursday. Tomorrow I have class, then it's the weekend (which always goes fast, right?) then one day and then it's my appointment.

I don't know yet if I'm going to have an ultrasound, but I think I'm going to beg for one if they don't offer. I'll be pretty disappointed if I don't get one.

In other news, last night despite having taken my Diclectin, I was violently ill. So I guess the hormones are still going up :) Today I'm doubling my dose of Diclectin.

By this time next week if all goes well I will officially be more pregnant than I ever have been.

I can't wait.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This weekend seemed to be just what I needed to get out of my funk :)

Mom came up, and we went shopping. Kevin came up, and Chris and Esther came, Esther made us an awesome Chinese New Year supper, and of course my two nephews never fail to put a smile on my face. Baby Thomas is three months old, and just a smiley, giggly little monkey. He also recently learned to roll over, which is so funny that Todd even video taped it. Leave it to a baby to make rolling-over cute :)

Mom bought me what I suppose I can consider my first maternity shirt. It's not a maternity shirt per say, but it will be comfy when I have a belly, and perfect for Disney at the end of May. We also browsed (but didn't buy!) the baby clothes section at Winners. All I can say is if we have a girl, I'm in trouble. SOOOOO much adorable stuff. So much. If it's a girl, I'm totally screwed :P

Last night I was really nauseous even with the Diclectin. I'm only taking one a day, even though I'm technically allowed up to four... As the hormones increase I may have to end up increasing my dosage as well. I suppose I am a wuss... back in the day, before Diclectin, women had to suffer through this nonsense. I'm not sure if I'd have it in me. The three weeks of constant sickness drained me so much, I can't imagine going through it for nine months!

Our OB appointment is just over a week away. It's going to be long week... I am simultaneously beyond excited at seeing our little one and getting confirmation that everything is OK, and petrified of the small chance that it might not be.

Sigh.

"Today I am pregnant, and I love my baby"

Nine Weeks

Every Saturday marks the beginning of a new week in my pregnancy. Today is the beginning of week 9!

I'm feeling a little bit better (mood wise) than I was yesterday. Apparently mood swings are to be expected, so I'll try not to get after myself to much for being down once in awhile.

Today feels like a positive day! My mom and little bro are coming up to visit, which is always nice.

So here's what's in store for baby this week (From thebump.com):

Baby's now the size of a green olive!
Your little embryo has now officially graduated to fetus-hood. Adding to the excitement, a Doppler ultrasound device might be able to pick up the beating heart. With basic physical structures in place and increasingly distinct facial features, baby is kind of starting to look like...well...a baby!