Ultrasound

We went in today for the fist part of the QUAD Screening (down syndrome test). First part is an ultrasound and 5 vials worth of blood work.

The ultrasound of course is the fun part. Brad and my mom came and got to see little Gummie Bear wiggling around.

When they first started the baby seemed asleep and wasn't moving around much. Just the heart beat was going (heart rate was 161). Then the technician pushed around some on my belly to get the baby to move and he/she did! Bounced all around waving the little arms. So cute.

Weekly Update - 11 Weeks

from babycenter.com


Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig, is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden.She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

How am I feeling? Well I do think I'm starting to feel better but still not 100% yet. And some days are better then others.

Constipation and Headaches (WARNING: To Much Information Post!)

If you can't tell by the title this post is about poop... or lack there of. So if you are easily grossed out or don't want to think about such thinks... skip this one.

Aside from the nausea and fatigue and just over all blah feeling I have every afternoon and evening I have also been very constipated. Which is a pain in the... well you can guess.

Monday, nothing. Tuesday, nothing. Wednesday I decided to try my only resource for relief... a ton of fruit and a Jamba Juice. I've been trying to stay away from those since, while good in vitamins and fiber... its a lot of sugar too. But come on.. I need to poop! And it isn't like I can take a pill for it.

Well it did the trick... Thursday I finally went. Not to be gross but good lord I felt 10 pounds lighter!

We'll see how things go from here on out but I might have to have a Jamba Juice a week to at least uh... cleanse the ole pipes. Kinda like drain-o for the pregnant lady.

The other problem has been headaches. Now I get migraines sometimes normally so I am use to them to some degree... but normally I can also dope up with tons of drugs when I get one. With Belle she actually temporarily cured my headaches. But this baby is just the opposite so far. Apparently the pregnancy hormones are not setting well with my head. Several days now I've been getting massive headaches that make me even more qweezy and miserable. Tylenol does zip for them too. I've tried an ice pack with little help. Heat helps a tiny bit but not enough.

I use to take a B complex to help with my head and it worked great! So I called my doctor and talked to a nurse about it. She said to bring in my B Complex vitamins Monday when I'm there for a blood draw and they would look at what all was in it and make sure it is all safe. In the meantime I can take up too 200 mg of B-6 a day. So I got some B-6 vitamins that are 50 mg and am starting by only taking one a day to see if that helps.

So far it might be doing the trick. I've not had a bad headache the last few days. A couple times I've had a tiny one or a start of one but nothing like I was having. So here is hoping that the B-6 is doing the job. The nurse also said B-6 helps with nausea... to that I say "HA!"

Weekly Update - 10 Weeks

from babycenter.com

How your baby's growing:Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

How am I feeling? I don't have morning sickness I have evening sickness. Mornings and the first half of the day are actually okay now. But by afternoon I start getting very fatigued and by evening I start getting very nauseous. By night I want to curl up in a little ball and cry. Plus side is I fall right asleep I'm so tired by then. I am thrilled to be pregnant but am SO ready to move past the bleck part.

Telling Belle

We debated about when to tell Belle. On one hand I wanted to tell her right away. She's our best friend and that alone made it really hard not tell her. She also is very smart and I think has bee suspecting something is up. I didn't want her to feel like we were keeping something from her.

Our hesitation was out of concern for her. What if something happens with this pregnancy? How do we explain mommy suddenly NOT being pregnant? She's so sensitive about such things I didn't want to risk her later being heart broken.

So we were playing it by ear. But after our last doctor appointment with everything still seeming fine we figured we should just get it out there with her.

We decided to tell her on Father's Day. So we were at lunch at Desert Fire (a southwestern restaurant we all like) and I asked Belle, "So honey do you know when January is?" We counted through the months and hit the highlights to come between now and then; summer, fall, possibly Disneyland trip, the holidays, new years. I then told her "Well, sometime shortly after New Years you're going to be a big sister." Brad added that Mommy has a baby in her tummy.

Her reaction was priceless, she looked at us and said, "For real?!" I laughed and said "yes, for real." Then she narrowed her eyes and cocked her head and asked very suspiciously, "How do you know?" We about died laughing and I said "Because I went to the doctor silly!"

So Belle then got instantly excited. She jumped up and asked if she could kiss the belly and if the baby could hear her. I decided not to try and explain to her that no the baby couldn't hear her until sometime in August, and instead said that yes it could. So she kissed my belly and said "hi baby!"

Then the waitress came with our food and Belle got very protective and told the waitress to only bring me good food because I've got a baby in me and to bring me another glass of water to pour down my belly for the baby to drink.

We talked with her about how this is her baby too and she's going to get to help raise it and teach it. That it's a very important job. She seemed excited.

When we got home she ran and got a book (Goldilocks and the Three Bears) and read it to my belly.

That night however she did have a momentary worry about sharing us with the baby. I reassured her that all would be fine. I told her that this baby would not take us away from her. That this was another person to love her too. I reminded her of Noah's arrival into our family and how his being born didn't mean less time and love with Melissa and Jeremy, but rather another cute little family member to love as well.

I fretted a little that night over her concerns but by the next morning it was back to being excited about the baby and not a word of worry. I'm sure we will have more moments like that but I think for the most part Belle is really happy.

Weekly Update - 9 Weeks

from babycenter.com

How your baby's growing: Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.


How am I feeling? Same... really tired all the time, and hungry and qweezy all the time. I really want to be eating right and working out some while pregnant but right now my goal is just to not vomit and stay awake. :)

First "Official" Appointment

We had our first official appointment today. It started with meeting with the nurse and going over our history and giving us the handouts and info we need for the coming months.

We then met with Dr. Johannsen and got caught up. She did a pap and then an ultrasound where we saw our little baby again. Little heart beat going strong. The baby looked just so cute! Like a little gummy bear with a big ole head, cute round belly and little nubby arms and legs.

Doc said everything is looking just great! We're right at 8 weeks 5 days. Expected due date is still January 17, 2009!

Our next instructions are to set up the first step of the down syndrome screening. We have a ultrasound between 10 1/2 and 13 weeks along with some blood work.

Our next appointment with the doctor is on July 18th a 9:50am.

Weekly Update - 8 Weeks

from babycenter.com

How your baby's growing: New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

How am I feeling? Mornings are okay except for being tired. But come noonish I start feeling really qweezy. I am also hungry a lot which is a duality with the nausea. And come evening I'm so qweezy and SOO amazingly fatigued and tired its nuts.