Week 9 of Pregnancy Building Muscles...

Sunrise, sunset: Would you believe your baby is having his or her first graduation already? Yes, it's true: At 9 weeks pregnant, your scholar-to-be has ended his or her embryonic stage and is entering the fetal period now (good-bye embryo, hello fetus). Your fetus is now about one inch long, the size of a medium green olive (but no martinis, please). The head has straightened out and is more fully developed, the ears are much more prominent, and some new organs (the liver, spleen, and gallbladder) are forming. Your fetus is also making spontaneous movements of his or her arms and legs now that minuscule muscles are beginning to develop, though you won't feel your tiny dancer for at least another two months.

While it's way too early to feel anything, it's not too early to hear something (possibly). Your baby's heart is developed enough — and grown large enough — so that its beats can be heard with a Doppler, a handheld ultrasound device that amplifies the lub-dub sound the heart makes. But don't worry if your practitioner can't pick up the sound of your baby's heartbeat yet. It just means your shy guy or gal is hiding in the corner of your uterus, or has his or her back facing out, making it hard for the Doppler to find its target. In a few weeks (or at your next visit) the miraculous sound of your baby's heartbeat is certain to be audible for your listening pleasure.

Our First Ultrasound

We had the first ultrasound today at 1pm. I was more than a little nervous about it for fear of complications, or just not seeing a baby in there. This pregnancy has felt like a dream that anytime I could wake up from. We got there and were called into the room. We had a really nice ultrasound tech who explained everything she was going to do.

Long story very short... we saw our baby! She estimated him to be 8 weeks 5 days and to be due on Sept 4, 2010. (Which just so happens to be Eric's mom's birthday.) The baby looked good so, so far so good!

Oh the worries...

I am starting to get nervous/worried about the ultrasound. I am trying though to trust in the Lord that He has a plan for this and that by the grace of God, things will look fine on the ultrasound.

I've noticed the past couple of days I've been more emotional. Which could be a good sign. I've also been super tired, which could be good as well. It's just that the baby is going to only be 8 weeks and 2 days when I get the ultrasound. My last baby died at 8 weeks and 4 days. I just gotta hold on to the hope I have in Jesus and trust that this baby will be okay. We've told a few people so they can know to pray, because prayers are so important during this time.

My next doctor's appointment is the last week of february, in three weeks essentially. At that appointment I'll get to hear the heart beat and we'll go over lab results. I think I'll continue to be nervous until then. Because at 11 weeks there will be a significantly reduced chance of a miscarriage then. Praise the Lord!
We'll see what happens.

Week 8 of Pregnancy

How's your baby measuring up this week? At a length of about half an inch right now, your baby has graduated from blueberry-sized to raspberry-sized. But weekly growth is getting a bit hard to estimate, and here's why: Growth occurs at about the rate of one millimeter each day, but that growth isn't necessarily just in height. Spurts can occur in the arms, legs, back, and other parts of your baby's body. So, big changes will be occurring every which way in the coming months.

What else is changing at 8 weeks pregnant? A close-up view of your little embryo (say cheese!) would reveal a more baby-like appearance (and thankfully, a less reptilian one). You'd see an upper lip forming, the protruding tip of that cute button nose, and tiny (and very thin) eyelids. And check out those hands and feet! Your baby's webbed fingers and toes are differentiating now, so give your baby a round of applause.

All this growing is exciting for your baby too. How do you know? His or her heart is beating at the incredible rate of 150 times per minute. (That's twice as fast as your heart beats.) Your baby's digs are growing, too. Amniotic fluid increases at a rate of about two tablespoons per week to accommodate your womb's growing tenant.

Bloodwork day from....

Warning....don't read this if you are squeamish at hearing about needles. :)

So today I had to go back to get my blood drawn because the nurse could not get it yesterday. I drank TONS of water (and got sick in the morning cause I forgot to eat) and even bought a cheap hand warmer to put on my hand to help the veins to become more prominent. Unfortunately, this was all for nothing.

I got to the doctor's office and the nurse that tried to take my blood yesterday passed me off to another nurse. This nurse tried to stick me in the arm (much to my protestations because it usually only works in my hand) and what do you know.... she didn't get anything. She poked and prodded and nothing. She then passed me on to another nurse.

That nurse seemed more confident. She tried in my hand again, but didn't get anything. It hurt like hell because she was moving it all weird, but nothing. She then tried in the other arm. Nothing. She wasn't willing to try any further, and had the other nurse refer me to the hospital to get my blood drawn. By this time I had gauze in both arms and on one hand. I was kinda emotional feeling and managed to keep my tears of frustration back.

I went across the street to the hospital and got to the desk. By this time I had to go to the bathroom. When I got there they were working on the bathroom, but this nice older guy helped me find the other bathroom. I got back to the desk and they had to check me in. The nurse asked me all sorts of info about myself and where I worked since I'd never been to this hospital before. Then she put a bracelet on me with my name and sent me down the hall.

I traveled down the hall and forgot almost immediately where I was supposed to go. I headed towards the emergency room and ended up asking someone where to go. I got there gave them my info and she had me sit in a chair. I was nervous because I had already been poked a few times that day. I took off the gauze from the other times so she could see and check where to poke me.

She found a vein and got me the first time. She decided to get a huge tube so she could fill the little ones and it worked perfectly. THANK THE LORD. I wonder whether we'll get billed for the doctor office's failure or not or how much the hospital lab will cost us. :( I told my little one, "This is all for you baby, hope you appreciate it!".

First Doctor Visit

Today I had my first doctor's appointment for this pregnancy. My appointment was at 11:20am, but I had to wait around until 12:20pm until I could get a room cause the doctor was running late. I had to have gone to the bathroom three times in that hour.

The nurse came and got me and I did the whole pee in a cup thing so they could double-check that I was pregnant. Then I went into the room and waited. I read a magazine and waited some more. Finally the doc came in and said, "Congratulations you're pregnant!" I was so relieved! We talked about some details and decided to set a time for the next appointment and to get an ultrasound scheduled.

I am so excited and nervous, Eric is too. I think once we pass the first trimester we'll feel more comfortable and secure. This blog will be posted then too! :) We're excited about things to come.

At this stage in the game, I haven't had much or any morning sickness. Which has totally been a blessing. I've had some other symptoms, but it's been a much better pregnancy. NOTHING like the first, where I lost the baby. Praise God for that.

We're Pregnant!

Amazing...simply amazing. I am two or so weeks late for my period. I decided to secretly buy a pregnancy test since Eric wanted me to wait another week or two. When I got home I decided to cook food and then go into the bathroom to take the tests.

I did what I needed to do and waited. To give you some background, I took a test (the more expensive digital one) in November when I was close to a month late. That one took a while to figure things out and of course it was negative. I was worried that this test would turn out the same way....Almost immediately it turned up POSITIVE!!!! I am pregnant!

I called Eric into the bathroom to look at the test. He was excited and we hugged. This pregnancy means so much more to us now that we lost our first baby. I called the doctor's office and they said since the doctor was busy all week I'd have to wait another week to see her on 01/21/2010 at 11:20am.

On that visit they are going to confirm the pregnancy. I am pretty nervous about this but definitely hopeful.

New Year New Beginnings

Welcome to 2010! We hope that this will be a great year of new beginnings for us. We are actively trying to get pregnant again and hope to have news of a new little one in the next couple of months.

It's just nice to finally be back to normal physically and mentally! Praise God for that! We are starting to go to Bible Study Fellowship on Monday nights, trying to get more involved in church and getting a hold on our life.

We'll update this blog when we have news in the next couple of months. Maybe I'll post some stuff on baby items I've come across the past few years so I have record to remember! :)