14w2d - 25w5d to go!

I've officially become a sappy mom-to-be. I ordered this ornament (customized with our names, of course) earlier this week. A woman on one of the baby message boards I've been frequenting, and my pregnancy hormones just kicked in and got all sorts of sentimental. I'm expecting that it should be arriving within the next few days.

I don't know if I've mentioned anything about this earlier, but I discovered that I am most definitely starting to look pregnant. At this point, it's hard to distinguish whether or not I've gained weight (I haven't) or if it's baby...and at this point, it's safe to say that it's baby! Kind of exciting.

Also, I started feeling a couple of little tiny flutters a few days ago. They usually hit shortly after lunch, or once I'm settling in to sleep. It only lasts a second, but it's a really cool feeling. It kind of tickles!

Next baby appointment is: December 13. I can't believe it's almost here!!

13w4d - 26w2d to go!

Happy happy, joy joy, we have more pictures! I will get to those momentarily.

We went for the NT (nuchal translucency) scan today. This is the ultrasound that measures the nasal bone and nuchal fold to determine risk of Down's Syndrome and trisomy 18 (Edward's Syndrome). Everything so far has measured normal. The nuchal fold measured 1.25mm, which is well within the normal range, and the tech did not seem concerned at all about the nasal bone. She said everything looked good and healthy.

I have to tell you, though, this kid has already got a sense of humor and a fighting spirit. He (or she - I'll just say "he" for sake of simplicity) had worked himself into a very awkward position. Imagine standing on your neck....inverted, with your feet up against the wall. That was the position he had worked himself into for a good portion of the exam! The tech kept pushing on him with the camera, trying to work him into a good position, and every time she pushed down to get him to move, he pushed back with his little hands! It was like he was saying, "Hey crazy lady, stop pushing on me!" It was so cute, I was dying trying to avoid laughing because he was just moving around like crazy and I wanted him to calm down and get into a good position for the scan! Eventually he worked his way flat again, and she jumped in and got the scan as quick as she could!

The tech also commented on how active he is - he was bouncing, squirming, shaking his fist, kicking his legs, even did a little backflip and switched positions (you'll notice that he's facing one way in one picture, and another in the other two!) He was ALL OVER the place. I'm growing a miniature athlete!

She also had trouble getting the nasal bone because he kept sticking his thumb in his mouth...which I thought was adorable.

It was just amazing to see that what was just a 2mm dot on my first ultrasound at 5 weeks is now person-shaped (and 7.48 centimeters!) and even has little hands...at one point he stretched his fingers out and I saw a definite "hand" - he's got long fingers! He's still measuring right on time - according to my due date, I should be 13 weeks, 4 days today, and sure enough, he measured 13 weeks, 4 days. So we are right on par for a May 29th due date.

The heartbeat was still good today. 158 beats per minute. Still sounds like a boy to me!

Speaking of that - we have said all along that we DO NOT want to know the sex of the baby, but the tech took a moment today to examine his legs and showed me where both of them were. He (or she!) would have been in a good position to see "it" but there was nothing to see yet. Not that I want to see it. But now I know the baby has two perfectly formed legs and I can look away.

So, now the pictures you've been waiting for! We got three of them today:

12w1d - 27w6d to go

Today's appointment went well.

A couple of disappointing things from the appointment:

1. No ultrasound today! I was sure they were going to do one, and SO looking forward to it. But they didn't.

2. Found out that my doctor's office doesn't deliver at Winnie Palmer...where I had really hoped I would be delivering.

3. I had to have SIX VIALS OF BLOOD taken. I'm still a tad woozy. The nurse also said that the blood took a long time to come out, so it took about 15 minutes to get the six vials of blood.

4. My blood pressure was a little high. They took it twice just to be sure. It was 149/90 the first time, then an hour later it was 139/88. (The first time I was upset because Scott got lost and he kinda got snippy with me on the phone when I was trying to help him...so that probably contributed.) Either way, it's a tad high, so it's time to start working out more and eating better to get it to come down.

5. They lost my pap smear results from June, so I had to go through the unpleasant procedure of having it done again. (The nurse said I only had a pelvic exam with no pap, but I KNOW they did it for sure, 100% without a doubt.)

Good things this appointment:

1. They used the Doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat. 150 bpm! If the old wives tale about gender and heart rate is correct (low for boy, high for girl), we're definitely looking at a boy! (HR at 12 weeks is between 140 and 170...150 puts it at the lower end)

2. The nurse practitioner (Diane) is REALLY nice. If it weren't for how wonderful everyone in this group is, I would consider switching so that I could deliver at Winnie Palmer...but you can't beat getting excellent medical care.

3. I asked about natural childbirth, because Stefanie mentioned that some doctors won't work with you if you don't have get pain medication. Diane said they actually encourage it and that she had five babies without medication. So that was really a checkmark in the positive column for me.

4. She told me to stop watching baby shows (more a plus for Scott than me! haha) and that I don't need to take the extra folic acid I have been...there's enough in my prenatal. Yay for taking one less pill every night!

5. They deliver at Winter Park Hospital, which is 5 minutes from work (yay waiting til I go into labor to stop working!) and has facilities that are comparable to Winnie Palmer...so it's not such a let down (Scott will just have to sleep on a couch instead of a murphy bed...hehe)

6. They gave me a free baby calendar, which is nice because I kinda messed up the one I bought back in September. :)

7. Diane directed me to her email address and said I can send her any questions by email and she gets back to you really quickly. (Apparently Dr. Wilson and Dr. Cascio aren't real good about email follow up, but she promised that she is).

Aside from all these pros/cons for today, I got a lot of information about tests and screenings. I have the NT scan scheduled for November 26 - that's definitely another ultrasound, plus it will be the reassurance that I need that the baby is healthy and doesn't have down's syndrome or trisomy 18 (both extremely rare for babies of moms my age, but still worth testing for in my opinion...especially since UHC picks up the bill!) So, November 26, we will see a baby again!

The next appointment with my regular doctor will be on December 14...not sure what that one will entail (hopefully an ultrasound!) other than more screening tests (cystic fibrosis, AFP, blood type for RH status, and so on). Then at about 20 weeks, we'll have the level 2 ultrasound, where I'll have to not look the whole time so I don't see what gender the baby is!

So, that's the eager update for this week! I'm really, really psyched about the NT scan...what a great post-Thanksgiving appointment!

10w5d - 30w1d to go!

Today I learned a valuable lesson.

When you're pregnant, you get HUNGRY. During my non-pregnant days, I could get hungry and put it on hold until it was convenient for me to go eat. It DOES NOT WORK THIS WAY WHEN YOU'RE PREGNANT.

I got hungry for lunch around 12 today, but decided to put it off, get a head start on my afternoon work, and wait until Danielle (my work friend) was ready to go. At about 12:45 we were both ready, and we headed to Whole Foods to hit the soup/salad bar.

Mind you, I had a fairly substantial breakfast. I had a nice big bowl of Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal with a cup of milk, and some apple juice. I also drank a nice big glass of water with a slice of lemon (my new "thing" this week). By all rights, I had covered my bases - carbs, protein, maybe a little high on the sugar (apple juice) but it should have stuck with me for awhile (I ate breakfast at 10 am).

So we go to Whole Foods, and get our food - I got a salad, some arroz con pollo (it was cooked in curry and smelled AMAZING), a couple cajun potatoes, a half piece of turkey lasagna, a half cup of chicken soup, and a small baguette (it sounds like a lot, but the hot foods were really just a "taste" - I filled 3/4 of that box with salad!).

Then we pay, and get in the car and I get to feeling downright nauseous. Not to the point where I thought I'd puke (I would have hated doing that in Danielle's truck!) but I just felt icky. When we got back to work, I cracked open the soup and unwrapped the baguette.

And that's when I noticed that I COULDN'T hold my hands still. I guess I waited way too long to eat and my blood sugar PLUMMETED. I dipped the bread in the soup and it was just splattering everywhere because my hands were so shaky.

So, I took it slow, and thankfully that bread (and it's yummy yummy carbs) brought my blood sugar back to a normal level.

Lesson learned here: PREGNANT LADIES MUST NOT WAIT TO EAT WHEN THEY FEEL HUNGRY.

Having said that - it's time to cook dinner before I re-live this lunch experience all over again.