7 weeks!

So today I'm technically 7 weeks and 1 day, but I was too busy yesterday to post.  Things have been fine, I don't have cravings yet, but I do have food aversions.  Some things just sound so NOT good to eat!  If I feel nausous it's in the evening.  I do get up to pee more at night.  It used to be once an night and now it's about 3-4 times a night :(

Sorry so short today, here is what is going on with our little bean and myself!

The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.

Your uterus has doubled in size in the past five weeks, and eating may feel like a chore — or worse — thanks to morning sickness, which by now may be in full swing. (If you're feeling fine, don't worry — you're lucky!)

You may need to pee more than usual, too, thanks to your increasing blood volume and the extra fluid being processed through your kidneys. (By now, you already have about 10 percent more blood than you did before you were pregnant. And by the end of your pregnancy, you'll have 40 to 45 percent more blood running through your veins to meet the demands of your full-term baby.) As your uterus grows, pressure on your bladder will send you to the bathroom as well.
About half of the women who feel nauseated during the first trimester will find complete relief by about 14 weeks. For most of the rest, it'll take another month or so for the queasiness to ease up. It's unlikely, though, that the need to pee more than usual will ease up. In fact, research shows that both the frequency and volume of urine tends to increase over the course of pregnancy.

First Ultrasound!

So today I went in for my first ultrasound today.  The doctor thought I was about 7 weeks and 5 days today, but I knew I wasn't that far since I was tracking my cycles.  So the technician did the ultrasound on my stomach first and saw this:


So this showed her where the sac was so that when she went in through the other way she knew where to go.

She measured the baby and it measures at 1/2 cm (pretty much a grain of rice!).  She also was sure we'd be able to hear the heartbeat because she could see it flickering on the screen.  She had me hold my breath and turned the volume on and there it was, beating away strong!  I knew that we were looking for at least 100 beats per minute this early on (I do my research!) and it was beating away at 123 beats per minute!  Dan kept on looking over the technicians shoulder and I asked him if he knew what he was looking at.  He said that it was kind of like watching Telamundo, he kind of knew what was going on, but not really. :) Below are some more pictures with some captions to let you know what you are looking at :)
This one shows the heartbeat (in the upper right hand corner you can see the 123 bpm)

Obviously in this one you can see baby as well as the one below.


We don't have a scanner anymore so I just took a picture of the ultrasound pics!
My next appointment is at 10 weeks on Feb 17th.  It's supposed to be a normal checkup but he said he's been known to do ultrasounds as well to relieve any stress :) Yeah!

impromptu doc appt tomorrow

So I called the doctor yesterday because I had a tiny bit of spotting over the weekend (one time and not much).  I did my research and saw that was normal but I was still slightly concerned in the back of my head.  I've also been crampy, which I've also read is COMPLETELY normal, but it's been all on one side lately, which starts to concern me.  I've never been much of a hypochodriac but when it comes to this, I just don't want there to be any chance anything is wrong.  So anyway I called yesterday and the head nurse got back to me and reassured me about the spotting.  Today is when I have had the majority of the cramping so I e-mailed her (it's a faster response) and asked if there was anything they could do to calm my fears.  She was so nice about it and reassured me that it's all normal but that she doesn't want me to worry...So she scheduled me for an impromptu sonogram tomorrow at 4pm!  I'm excited that I might see my little bean, but also terrified that something is really wrong...  I will definitely keep everyone posted and post pics when I get them.  Just praying that everything is ok, there is no way I could've held back these minor fears for the next week and a half (til the first sonogram they actually scheduled me for).  I don't think I've miscarried at all but with all the cramping in one area I'm concerned about ectopic pregnancy.  I know I go on the internet too much and this may have elevated this concern but I also know that if this is the case that it can cause permanent damage if not taken care of early on.  Just send all your prayers and well wishes my way!  I'm staying optomistic and I really just want to go to alleviate any fears (you know, being a first time mom after trying for 22 months!!  I don't want there to be any doubt that my little one is perfect!)

Sinus Cold

So Friday I got hit with a pretty nasty sinus cold. I tried to go as long as possible without meds, but it was just too rough. So I did my research online and found out what I'm able to take and have only been taking half doses. Seems to help, but hoping it will be gone by the time I go back to work on Tuesday.



Here is what is going on with me and out little bean this week (even though my ticker says I'm in the 7th week I'm pretty positive I'm only in the 6th week. So I'm posting info based on the 6th week).

The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute -- almost twice as fast as yours -- and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.
 
You may find yourself developing a bit of a split personality — feeling moody one day and joyful the next. Unsettling as this is (especially if you pride yourself on being in control), what you're going through is normal. Ricocheting emotions are caused partly by fluctuating hormones. But hormones aside, your life is about to change in a big way — and who wouldn't feel emotional about that?

Morning Sickness

So the ticker up there hit it on the money, I'm so sick today.  It's one of those days that if it wasn't because I'm pregnant I would've called in.  I'm not throwing up (yet) but very nausous and dizzy and feel weak.  I ate breakfast this morning and it only helped slightly, now snacking on rice cakes to make it through the day.  It's like my body knew that I hit 7 weeks today and BOOM Amanda feels like crap.  It's sad too, I was saying that I don't feel very pregnant because I haven't been really sick...guess I should have knocked on a lot of wood, because I think I jinxed myself!

So Tired

I haven't really had morning sickness but I have been really tired all the time.  I am one of those people who usually takes a half hour to an hour to fall asleep and lately I've been going to bed early and falling asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and not waking up until my alarm goes off (except for a pee break here and there).  When I get home from work, I swear I could go straight to bed and sleep all through the night. 

Dan's been great about everything, he's constantly doing things for me, offering to make dinner and everything.  On the days I'm less exhausted I help him out (like last night I helped with dinner) because I know my exhaustion is only going to get worse. 

I'm not going to take another belly picture until the day of our first ultrasound, that way I'll know exactly how far along I am and can post it with the correct amount of weeks.  The appointment is the 28th and I'm wondering how I'm going to make it that long!

Doctor's Appt today

So I went to the doctor today to get my results from my blood test on Monday.  My HCG number last Wednesday was 20, and it is supposed to at least double every 48 hours.  On Monday then my number should have been at least 120 and my actual HCG levels were 307!  That means my numbers have been doubling at a rate of about 30 hours.  All good signs!  The doctor said that everything looks great and he set us up for our first ultrasound in 3 weeks.  So we will get to see our little bean on January 28th at 4:00 pm!  Yeah!!

holy symptoms

So I woke up today pretty wide awake (probably helped that I went to bed around 8:30 last night). I got ready for work and got in my car and started feel extremely tired.  I just got to work and I feel tired, a bit dizzy and overall just not all here.  Kinda sucks on the day you have to teach kids how to find the Least Common Denominator of fractions... I guess hitting the 6 week mark did it.

By the way, if you look at the top there is a ticker showing how far along I am.  I don't type what is in there but I set it to humor, so there are some funny sayings.  It just changed, but for the 5 week one it said that my baby already has more brain cells than Paris Hilton!  Ha Ha!

Nervous

So... so far today I've felt ok.  I'm tired, but I had a restless night.  Little symptoms I had the past couples days are minimal to none today... just makes me nervous.  Waiting for the doctor's appointment tomorrow to get confirmation that everything is ok, just trying not to stress myself out over little things.  Still taking pregnancy tests here and there and the line is only getting darker, so that's a good sign.  Just nervous about our little bean being healthy in there.

Today's appointment

So I went in today and the doctor's test came out positive.  They decided to do more bloodwork and I'll be going back in on Thursday for the results and more info (including prenatal vitamins, next appointment and all that).  They gave me an estimated due date of September 2, 2010 which magically jumps me from the 4 weeks and 3 days I'm pretty sure I am to 5 weeks and 4 days.  I told him that I know it's going to be later since I've been keeping track of my cycles and all but he said that he's just going to wait until they can do an ultrasound and measure to be exact.

4 or 5 weeks

The reason I say 4 or 5 is because I'm not sure what the doctor is going to go by.  If he goes by my last month's period then I'm 5 weeks, but if he goes by the date I ovulated (which is always late) then I'm only 4 weeks. 

Below is a 'before' picture.  I contemplated even taking it because I didn't get down to my desired weight, but I've heard that it's nice to compare and now I have a good reason to put on any weight (just not too much!).  I've been weighing myself every Saturday for weight watchers, so I've decided to continue this so that I can make sure I don't put on the weight too fast.  When I did it yesterday I had actually lost a pound, so in my first week of knowing I was pregnant I lost 1 pound.  I've heard that I should only put on about 2-4 pounds in the first trimester as well, so I gotta keep that in mind.

The family knows

Well the immediate family knows anyway!  We had originally planned on waiting a bit longer but we just couldn't hold it in!  I called my parents and my sister, they were all very excited!  Dan told his parents and his sister who were just as excited (his parents even cried!).  We feel so much better now that they know, I just hope they can sit on it for a few more weeks.  We want to get to at least 8 weeks before we tell the rest of our family and friends.

On another note, we are pretty sure that Maggie (one of our dogs) knows.  She is normally kind of wired and crazy and she's been SO laid back the past week!  She's been following me everywhere and staying close.  She's also been sniffing me a lot more.  Maybe pregnancy has a smell?  I just hope it's not a bad smell!

I did start getting a bit of nausea today while we were at Target.  Not enough to be sick, but definitely a queasy feeling.  I've also found that I get hungry very suddenly and then fill up really quick, so may have to switch to smaller meals more often.  Just glad I lost those 15 pounds before this!

New Year's Eve Festivities

So we had already made plans to go to Sebastian, FL and stay at a hotel on the beach with a bunch of friends for New Years. We didn't want to cancel the plans (especially the day of) so we still went and had a great time. I knew a few of my friends would wonder why I wasn't drinking and assume that I was pregnant (since they know we've been trying for so long) and I just wasn't ready for EVERYONE to know yet. So I pulled aside one of my friends there that I'm close with and would also be the one to hound me the most about why I wasn't drinking and told her. She was completely excited but I told her she had to keep it in! I drank Sprite all night and if anyone asked me what I was drinking I told them Sprite and Malibu. Not to mention, I've been told that when I'm drinking no one can tell my level of drunkeness, so I was able to play it off ok I think.

On another note, we stopped at Babies R Us on the way back (I couldn't help myself!) and looked around. We agreed that we would by one outfit that we could remember as the first outfit we bought. However, they had these SUPER adorable footie pajamas 2/$16 or 1 for $12. So we had to get 2!! We got one in newborn size and one in 3 month size. Knowing us and our height, I really don't think our baby would be in newborns for long if at all, but you never know!

So about pregnancy symptoms... I have none! I know I'm SO early in and but I thought there would be more than this! My chest is sore from time to time and I have some cramping but nothing else. I guess I could say I have fatigue, but if you know me you know that's a symptom of my everyday life (I love naps!!).

Here is a brief summary of what our little embryo is doing right now (In this one they refer to the embryo as a "he," but they switch it up from week to week, so next week it will be refered to as a "she"):

Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point, he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.The neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.