12 weeks: Baby Lime

Our baby is the size of a lime this week! Baby Lime's biggest develop- ment @ 12 weeks is reflexes. Baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and it's mouth will make sucking movements (aww!). Supposedly if I poke my belly, the baby will squirm around but of course I still can't feel it. Baby Lime's intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into the abdominal cavity about now, and the kidneys will begin excreting urine into the bladder. Yep, that's right....Baby Lime is already peeing on....or in this case in it's momma! Yuck! I guess it's a little too early to think about potty training.

Baby Lime's brain has established it's form and structures and will now spend the rest of the time in the oven developing mass. Nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in our baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. Baby Lime's face is now supposed to look distinctly human. Baby is getting less 'wall-eyed' as it's eyes have moved from the sides to the front of the head, and the ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump (apparently the standard measurement for fetuses), our baby-to-be is just over two inches long and weighs half an ounce.

Meanwhile back at the uterus........low in my abdomen, just above my pubic bone, my doc should now be able to feel my womb. All the literature says I won't need maternity clothes for a few more weeks which is fine w/ me because I'm not looking forward to the giant stretchy belly pants. I have a feeling that even when I can't wear my normal clothes, those stretchy belly pants will still seem big and weird at first. The tops on the other hand look cute.....and that will be a perfect excuse to shop. But not yet.....

Also, supposedly fatigue and morning sickness are fading now.....hmmph. Overall, I am feeling loads better. While I had a week long hiatus from 'productive' morning sickness, last night I gave up ALL my dinner and then some. The fatigue has lessened but not left me. I still hit an afternoon/evening lull that is worse if I don't have a little snack. I am officially up 2 lbs. Not bad for 3 months. Average or ideal is 3-5 lbs.....but since I was already "ahead of the game" in that dept, I'm sure the doc will be fine w/ that. Papa Bear (Brad) is hanging in there too!

10 weeks: Baby Kumquat

First of all, sorry I'm late w/ the update for 10 weeks. Thursday (the 10 week mark) I came home after working, getting my hair trimmed, and doing some pet care for an out of town friend and crashed, clothes and all, in our bed. I got up only to brush my teeth, take my prenatal vitamin, and change into PJ's. Friday after working we packed up the car, dog included, and headed towards Memphis to visit Brad's family. I am writing this now at a "pet-friendly" hotel in Nashville where we will soon depart for the last leg of the trip to Memphis. As I mentioned, they are pet-friendly...their human-friendliness leaves a little to be desired. But I digress.....

Though baby is 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, our baby has now completed the most critical portion of it's 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.

Baby Kumquat is swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including it's 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 my pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside my 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: our baby's limbs can bend now. Baby Kumquat's hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over the heart, and feet may be long enough to meet in front of the body. The outline of Baby Kumquat's spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from the spinal cord. Our baby's forehead temporarily bulges with it's developing brain and sits very high on baby's head, which measures half the length of its body. From crown to rump, Baby Kumquat is about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, our baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

As previously mentioned in my last post, we got to hear the heart beat for the first time at our first regular OB appt. I say it sounded like a tiny drum.......Brad says it sounded like road noise when you are on driving on concrete w/ lots of cracks in it. What can I say, he has a way w/ words. LOL! :)

Before I got pregnant, my uterus was the size of a small pear. By this week, it's as big as a grapefruit. Though I'm not ready for maternity clothes, I am finding that my regular clothes aren't fitting quite right especially my scrubs @ work. I can still wear them (and will be able to for a long while because scrubs are very forgiving) but they have to come up over my belly button to feel comfortable. From what I've read, the thickening in my midsection is most likely due to slight weight gain (2-3 lbs) and bloating at this point. In these transitional weeks between regular and maternity clothes, I will be seeking out my elastic waist band bottoms as often as possible! As previously mentioned, I am still TIRED.....which the OB said will go away in about 20 years or so...I think he's being optimistic! And despite the initially thought to be miraculous qualities of the ginger root pill, I am still hugging the toilet though not daily. I have learned to keep small snacks w/ me at all times. My daily ritual at work is a little box of raisins @ 11 am...if I don't eat them then I am so hungry at lunch that I get sick. Lesson learned! :) With all the fruit I am eating, I wouldn't be surprised if the baby actually does come out looking like one them.... pumpkin?? Mmmm...pumpkin...LOL!

There is a big push in all my pregnancy books to be active during this time. I honestly haven't felt like going to the gym except my first couple of weeks, and I wasn't allowed to then (because of IVF)! The most activity I've been getting is walking the dog (but it is a mile around the lake), using very light hand weights w/ my patients at work, and doing some yoga to stretch sore body parts from all the napping! Ha! I won't give up taking the stairs at work until I physically can't do it and I have to park about a half mile from the hospital everyday at work so I'm counting that too...pathetic I know. :) Hopefully I will get a little more pep in my step soon. Rumors are than the second trimester is the period of pregnancy that you feel the best in and have the most energy. That's less than 2 weeks away so I've got my fingers crossed that I get a burst soon!

In your heart, keep one still secret spot where dreams
may go and be sheltered so they may thrive and grow.
-- Louise Driscoll.

9 weeks: Grape

Our little one is nearly an inch long, about the size of a grape, and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. The baby is starting to look more and more human. The essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: our baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Our 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. Baby's eyes are fully formed, but the eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. Our baby has tiny earlobes, and the 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 our baby's basic physiology is in place, it's poised for rapid weight gain. For me this week, I am supposed to expect my waist to have thickened a little as well as morning sickness, and mood swings. I would say I'm right on track w/ all those. Tissues and crackers are staples at our house right now. (BTW, technically I'm not 9 weeks until tomorrow 5/15).

This is a goofy self portrait of Brad and I (above) in the car after our appt. He calls this my Ralphy face, as in from the movie 'The Christmas Story'. He claims I had this same face when the doctor asked me how things were going at our appt today and I said, "Um. Ok I guess." He says its like when Ralphy goes to see Santa and can't remember what he wants to ask for and Santa says, "Do you want a football?", and Ralphy says, "Football. Yeah I want a football". Brad had to pipe up and tell the doc that I am actually throwing up.. a lot. He told me to drink extra fluids and call my new doc if it doesn't slow down or if it worsens so that they can give me anti-nausea meds to prevent dehydration (he offered them to me at this appt but I don't want to take meds if I can avoid them). We didn't get to hear the HB! Dr. S claims that seeing the HB is more significant than hearing it because at this point the sound may be blood flow to my uterus instead of the baby's HB.

This is a self-portrait (above) w/ the aid of the powder room mirror. I now understand why Van Gogh cut off his ear. Very frustrating. I was nice and bloaty (we had Mexican food after our appt.....I gave most of mine back.....so to speak...yuck.) and you can definitely tell I'm thickening in the middle. Baby bump + pre-existing "padding" courtesy of 2.5 years of infertility treatments! :)

Here's a close-up of the developing 'bump'.

BTW, I didn't post the u/s pic because 1. it stinks--you can't really see anything, and 2. it is in the car and I am in the bedroom! LOL! Maybe tomorrow!

Hope is not the conviction that something
will turn out well,but the certainty that
something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.
-- Vaclav Havel.

Bun still in oven......

OK. Mini-update. I am still alive. Still exhausted. Still puking. Still haven't landed an OB. Will summons energy for OB phone calls tomorrow. Still overjoyed to be pregnant! Yawn. Time for bed!

The road that is built in hope is more pleasant

to the traveler than the road built in despair,

even though they both lead to the same destination.

---Marion Zimmer Bradley

Green and Loving it!

Kermit always said, "It ain't easy being green!", but I don't mind so much. I'm happy that the morning sickness symptoms have started. Makes me feel more pregnant. Of course, Brad will soon tire of not being allowed to eat foods with strong smells or to discuss those foods! LOL! Today was better than yesterday; this afternoon I actually choked down my prenatal vitamins without tossing them a moment later. Yesterday I was pretty green all day. I'm enjoying feeling tangible evidence of this pregnancy. Dare I say, the life growing inside me (warning the cheese factor is a little high). Tomorrow, I have an early morning doctor's appt to check my hormone levels (HcG and progesterone). I will find out by early afternoon if I'm in the clear (for now) on those levels. Hopefully, I will get to decrease my progesterone supplement from 3x/day to 2x/day. Then in about 2 weeks I will get an u/s to see the heartbeat(s). These are very exciting, but nerve-racking, times. I am keeping my optimistic outlook; it has served me well so far!

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.
Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
-- Helen Keller.