Best News to Ever Grace this Blog

Now that the cat is out of the bag at my work, I feel at liberty to post news that I've been itching to share for quite some time now. Many of our friends and family already know, but in case you haven't heard....

Above is our little one at just 10 weeks, 5 days old on October 16. This ultrasound was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. If I ever want to make myself smile, I just think of the precious memory of seeing the image pop up on the screen, of a tiny little human, flailing its little limbs about, and the awe that this little person was inside of me. I was absolutely enthralled. I wish I could've pulled my eyes away to look at Jeremy's face to see his reaction. I remember that we were both giggling as we watched our baby move around like crazy. My MD was surprised at the extent of its mobility and teased me that I had eaten too much halloween candy in the waiting room. She had to wait a long time for the baby to settle down enough to facilitate a good measurement. It was 3.8 cm long, crown to rump, finally measured after it settled into above pictured "plank position." Based on this measurement, the due date established was May 8. This implies a conception date range that we don't see as likely...our little one is probably just a little small for age.
So that's the big news--we're really excited and amazed...and here is where you can stop reading unless you are interested in the tedious pregnancy journaling you would expect from only a first-time mom.

Now to return to the beginning of the story....well, how about 2 weeks into the story, which is a little more appropriate for sharing.
On August 24th, in Venice CA at my aunt Lynda's house.

Oh yes, a faint line, but you can't deny it is there:

And just to be sure, a repeat test 3 days later. Much more clear thanks to my exponentially rising levels of Hcg!

Thus begins the profile photo journaling. I have to say, the slowness with which my "bump" has developed has been a little disappointing.
August 27, 4 weeks--"baseline". Symptoms: zits (nature's way of saying: "you don't need to be attractive any more", sore boobs, night sweats. Baby should be the size of a poppy seed.

September 11, 5 weeks, 5 days. An early ultrasound because of my post-recent miscarriage paranoia about some right-sided abdominal pain (rule out ectopic pregnancy). I got to see the flickering heart beat for the first time. Jeremy didn't get to be there because the MD office had me come right in after I called. Turns out, not only was the baby in the right place and thriving, I also had a nickel-sized ovarian cyst or "corpus luteum" causing the pain. The baby was just 5 mm long.

Sept 14, ~6 weeks. Symptoms: bloated abdomen, HUNGRY, tired, occasional nausea before I got some lunch in me. I definitely had problems with moodiness the first trimester. The baby should be the size of a lentil bean.

Sept 19, ~7 weeks (originally scheduled first prenatal appointment). Little critter doubled in size in just a week! It was 10 mm or 1 cm, crown to rump. Jeremy got to be there, and was awed to see that flickering little heart.

Sept 28, ~8 weeks. Definitely bigger compared to baseline. The baby should be the size of a kidney bean.

Oct. 20, ~11 weeks: Why aren't you pooching more? Would be worried, but ultrasound just days before showed baby had quadrupled its size in 4 weeks (3.8 cm)...and was already swimming around. Symptoms: tired, nausea and dry-heaving if >1.5-2 hours without food. Still with the cyst pain. Threw up a few times when eating at odd hours (middle of the night, VERY early morning).

October 30, ~13 weeks. Here we go...I was happy to see some progress! The baby should be the size of a prawn (3 inches, crown to rump).


Nov. 12, almost 15 weeks: We had another appointment and got to hear the heartbeat through doppler ultrasound--it was beating at 140-160 beats per minute. We got another sonogram ultrasound too, mainly so the NP could check out my cyst. She didn't take a photo of the baby, but we got to see it, much bigger this time. It wasn't moving so the NP said it was probably asleep. It looked so peaceful in there with its hands balled up into fists, arms floating out to its side.

Still had nausea, dry heaving and cyst pain through 15-16 weeks (baby grew from size of large apple to size of large avocado). I also started to feel the baby moving around. The first time I was certain, I swear I could even feel tiny little jabs of the feet vs bigger rolling movement of the head. Movement was easiest to feel when I was lying on my back.

This brings us to this week, # 17+. I'm not feeling nauseated very often any more, although I really can't complain because it was never too bad, or often. Jeremy got to feel the baby move for the first time on Thanksgiving Day--he was totally thrilled. Once when we were watching a movie, I was routinely monitoring for movement and I felt a distinct, small, very hard spot in my abdomen. I rubbed it a few times and then it went away. I think I might have tickled my baby's feet while it was stretching its legs out! In general, I feel it moving pretty much every day now. In fact, the little slugger is at it right now. It is an awesome feeling.

My main issue is that I'm not sleeping well and I feel like I need a nap all day. I'm trying to sleep on my side, but my back starts hurting so I wake up several times each night and it usually takes a while to fall back asleep. Another thing I don't like very much is that when I go running I have to pee every 15 minutes, even if there is hardly anything in there! In general I'm running less, and slower. My doctor encouraged me to continue running as I had been, but just to make sure it was a moderate intensity. I stopped racing and doing speed workouts when we wanted to get pregnant anyway. I do miss it, but this is definitely worth it.

I was startled to see that my bump still isn't that much more distinct after a month since the last photo. I do know I'm growing because this past Tuesday I could button a certain pair of jeans, and the next day I couldn't button the same pair. Still...a girl at work is due 2 days before me and she has a fun, round belly from which you can clearly tell she's pregnant! Yes, I'm jealous...I just want to feel and look pregnant, because I'm so excited about this time in my life. When I tell people I'm pregnant they are totally surprised, especially when they find out I'm almost 4.5 months along. I guess when you compare it to baseline, I am significantly thicker-bellied. Only one person at work wondered if I was pregnant before I told her...she said one time an outfit I wore made her wonder, but her initial curiosity started when she saw me eating saltines with a look of desperation during rounds. That made me laugh.

November 28, ~ 17 weeks pregnant (4 months, 1 week). The baby should be about 5 inches long now (at least I hope it is still growing well).

So far, I haven't had any distinct food cravings but in general, I've been eating more meat, eggs, milk and cheese. My most prominent taste change is that I now hate most vegetables. They taste disgusting. But I've been choking them down, for the baby.

Our "fetal survey" ultrasound is scheduled Dec. 5. I'm crossing my fingers that little one gives us a nice spread eagle shot so I can stop referring to the baby as "it." We can hardly wait. Stay tuned...