11th Week

Hooray!  Someone finally chiseled those concrete boots off my feet.  I have so much more energy!!

Well, Baby Bean is the size of a Lime now.  Wow, it seems like only yesterday that he/she was a Blueberry. They grow up so fast! lol  I will have to take another photo but I look pretty much the same. (Bloated!) They say by the end of this week, my uterus will have moved out of my pelvis (not literally-gross) and be sitting front and centre which will make my pants even tighter!! (But apparently that will give me temporary relief from having to pee all the time!)  TMI?  Speaking of pictures, I was wondering if I'm even going to be able to find a Watermelon in December for my last photo.  But do I  even really want to be reminded of the baby size to exit ratio at that stage of the game?!?  Ugh!

I've been having lots of food cravings lately but not for anything odd.  Last night for example, I decided that I wanted banana muffins -with a nice cinnamon/brown sugar crumble sprinkled on top!  So there I was at the grocery store at 9pm buying butter etc. It was worth it though.Yum!!  (and my co-workers were more than happy to help me eat the extras today!)  And then tonight, I had a craving for coleslaw so I made a huge bowl to only eat a few bites.  (Bobby Flay's recipe-delish BTW!!)

I've been trying to listen to Baby Bean's heartbeat with my stethoscope...even though I've read it's not audible till ~22 weeks.  I've even gone so far as to look at Fetal Doppler rentals, just so I can put my mind at ease.  These early weeks of pregnancy are torture not knowing if BB is O.K. everyday and still growing etc.  But if my expanding waistline is any indication of the health of this pregnancy, then things are moving right along.  (Or it really could just be the pie and mufins!)

What's developing this week? "The baby has an upper lip, toes and ears and twenty little teeth are now forming. The brain is growing rapidly and producing more than 250,000 nerve cells a minute. The heart is almost completely developed and very much resembles that of a newborn baby. The eyelids have fused shut and will not open again until around week 27. The wrists and ankles have formed and the fingers and toes are clearly visible. Genitals have begun to form, but it is too early to tell the sex of the fetus. By this week of the pregnancy the placenta has developed enough to support most of the critical job of producing hormones."

 My next ultrasound is in 6 days and I look forward to posting Baby's first photo!

10th Week

Baby is the size of a prune!  (And I just happen to have a lot of prunes in the house for comparison-ugh!) I’m actually starting to feel much better.  I haven’t  experienced significant nausea in about 2 days, which I hope isn’t a bad sign! 

 

Looking forward to June 6^th and our next ultrasound. Baby should look more like a baby this scan.  Apparently his/her head is still ½ the size of the body but at least the tail has disappeared!! According to “What to Expect when you’re expecting”, Baby bean is growing hair follicles, and nail beds this week.

Without the nausea, I find myself eating more.  Gulp!  That will surely be a fast train to extra weight gain.  I read that a pregnant woman only needs to consume 250 extra calories/day!  So ½ a key lime pie is probably a bit excessive!  Speaking of food, I haven’t had any strange cravings….except I really went to town the other day on bread n’ butter pickles.  Yum! (Although eating half a pie might be considered a craving...or just gluttony!)

I started taking belly pics with the associated “weekly fruit”.  It will be a neat collage at the end of this journey. 

Bring on Week 11 - time is ticking by so  s  l  o  w  l  y…..

9th Week

Have I mentioned that I can't believe I'm pregnant??   Praying for sticky baby dust as I still have 3 weeks in the dreaded "1st Trimester danger zone"!

I have been feeling pretty well. The all consuming fatigue I felt the last couple of weeks seems to be better.  I still yawn ALL day but can at least function without a mid-day nap.  The nausea however, has increased which I hear is common around this time.  A girl at work (mother of 3) suggested ginger candies and they actually worked!  They are very strong tasting...not my favourite....but they certainly took the edge off.

The scale says I've gained 3 pounds, and none of my clothes fit!  (Which makes getting dressed to face the world an ordeal to say the least)  I know it's just pregnancy bloat, thanks to the progesterone slowing everything down! Everyone is a little different but I don't expect to have a real "baby bump" till around 4 months!  (Even though they say my uterus is approaching the size of a melon - eek!)

I've been on google looking at 9 week ultrasound pics/videos.  (Just to get an idea of what our baby bean looks like)  They actually move around a lot at this stage....swimming in their little bubble.  So cute!  Our next ultrasound is scheduled for between 11-13 weeks where they will do the first "nuchal scan" to assess our risk for Down Syndrome.   (This time we'll get a picture) A follow up ultrasound is done at 16 weeks I think, then another at 20.  If the nuchal measurement comes back high, there is an option for Amnio which carries a high risk of miscarriage.  A bridge we'll cross only if necessary.

So Baby Bean has now graduated to Olive status....Baby olive?  Some sites say by the end of this week, he/she will be closer to a prune!  Baby prune?  Doesn't have the same ring as Baby Bean!  Anyways, we know he/she should be about an inch and weighs roughly the same as a penny.  Doesn't sound like much, but considering he/she started out the size of a tiny dot....there have been considerable gains!

8th Week

Hello,

I decided to start a blog to keep family and friends in the loop during my much anticipated 1st pregnancy.  This week has been a little difficult as not only have I been extremely fatigued, but also dealing with a head cold.  Despite this, I feel very blessed to not be plagued by morning sickness. 

On an emotional front, I still find it hard to believe I'm actually pregnant! I waited my whole adult life...eventually thinking it would NEVER happen.  I can't wait till I get a baby belly so that I have a constant little (or big) reminder of  my impending arrival!!

Our first ultrasound was April 27th and our baby was "dated" at 6 weeks 4 days.  He/she was only 7mm at the time but had a strong heartbeat of 120bpm.  It was absolutely surreal to see a fluttering little heart inside me...especially since we were still a little shell shocked.  Not in a bad way! Just really, really surprised  that Baby Bean had beat the odds to even exist!  (And there were a LOT of odds!) I didn't even believe 3 home pregnancy test, kinda believed the blood test, and might have still been in a wee bit of denial until I actually saw the ultrasound! :)