Week #25

Almost two thirds of the way to the finish line!! Whoo Hooo! The good news is that I'm still feeling pretty darn good. I'm not feeling anymore sickness for the most part, aside from a random bit of nausea here and there. I'm not super tired, and for the most part I can still do everything that I did before, which is nice!


Everyone keeps asking about crazy cravings, and I haven't really had any honestly. This I'm thankful for as I have developed Gestational Diabetes, which has worsened to Insulin Dependent Diabetes in Pregnancy, and have to watch what I eat fairly closely. It's amazing all the food I'm expected to eat during the day, and mostly just have to watch the amount of carbohydrates that I eat. This means very little of my beloved chocolate is allowed. I have found that occasionally I can eat a regular dessert with no consequences to my sugar levels, so this is a nice bonus here and there.


I also had my first odd comment just this past Friday. Andre and I were at his work Christmas dinner/dance, and one of his co-workers asked me if I was carrying triplets because I was so big! I just laughed and reassured her that there was only one baby in there. It was an odd comment especially since I'm told multiple times a week that I'm carrying small.


Now onto Peanut!


Peanut has now grown to be the size of...

An Eggplant!!

She is now just over 1 1/2 pounds in weight! She is definitely a mover and a shaker (just like her Daddy!) and her equilibrium has kicked in as well, and she's starting to figure out right side up from upside down! This is definitely true in her case as I feel her starting to roll and flip a lot more. I can differentiate from her kicks and the more fluid rolling movements that she does during the day. The best part is that now her kicks are stronger so I can share the fun with family and friends that want to feel the movements too.

Week #24!

And an entire month since I last blogged about little Peanuts progress! In my defense there has been a ton of stuff going on around here, so I hope you're ready for today!


Up until now there has been so much development going on with our little peanut that every week she has grown so much that there is a new piece of produce to represent her size. Now that growth has slowed down a little bit, it will be one piece of produce a month. So for this month (month 5 according to http://www.thebump.com/ and month 6 according to What to Expect When You're Expecting) Peanut is approximately the size of a Papaya!

If you were to actually get a really good look at Peanut she would look like a perfect little baby already, a small baby, but a perfect little baby. Her skin is slowly becoming less see-through thanks to all that baby fat forming, and little capillaries (blood vessels) are forming giving her a nice pink colour.

I've actually been incredibly blessed by how good I've been feeling so far this pregnancy. I've actually found that I'm feeling just like my old self for the most part. The only negative is that I have been diagnosed with Insulin Dependent Diabetes in Pregnancy. Not exactly something that was part of my overall plan, but something that I have to deal with. I am being closely monitored at the Gestational Diabetes Clinic at the hospital where I am delivering, and meet with a Registered Dietitian every other week. The diet isn't horrible, and aside from the first week of carb withdrawl I am feeling really good. Thankfully I do not have any problems with needles, so the Insulin injections are going well so far.

I am being referred now to an Obstetrician (OB) since with the addition of Insulin I can no longer be treated by my Midwife. Although until I can get an appointment with an OB she will continue to be my primary caregiver, and will continue to stay on in a supportive role once I am transferred to the OB as well.

In good news though, there has been some definite movement over the last month! I am feeling Peanut moving daily, and just this weekend Andre and my mom got to feel her kick for the first time too! That was a wonderful thing to be able to share that with them.

The countdown is also on until my next ultrasound the week before Christmas! With Gestational Diabetes there is a risk of Peanut being a bigger baby, so I will be getting a few more ultrasounds to monitor her progress and make sure she stays a nice healthy size. They say there is a silver lining with everything right? Well I think the extra ultrasounds are the silver lining in this situation. Who could ask for a better early Christmas present then to see our little girl again?

The Big Reveal Part 2

I was going through pictures on our camera the other day, and totally realized that I hadn't watched the video from the morning we found out our little Peanut was a girl! So there I was reliving the moment in our livingroom, crying just as I did that morning. So I decided to do something for all of you friends and family out there, and share that moment with all of you.

It was an absolutely beautiful day that day, and here are a couple pictures that we shot before we realized that were were freezing our butts off and booted it back to the car.

The same place that Andre proposed!

Peanut is halfbaked!

Other than reaching the half way point of the pregnancy (yeah!!) this milestone also means the time for the "big" ultrasound (double yeah!!!). We decided early on in the pregnancy that we really wanted to know whether it was going to be a sausage party or a taco party around here. From the word go I thought that peanut was a boy, I had dreams about it, so it had to be true right? Well you're just going to have to wait to find out sheesh!

So the big day arrived. Andre had decided that instead of having the big reveal in the ultrasound room at the hospital, he wanted the technician to write down whether it was a boy or girl on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope. Then we would take the envelope and do the big reveal in the same place where this all began... (get your minds out of the gutter people!) the place that he proposed (awwwwwww). Thank you to his cousin for suggesting this! So armed with our camera, some kleenex and our winter coats since we had a surprise cold snap that morning we headed to the hospital for 8:10 am!

We arrived on time and I went in for the first part of the ultrasound. After what seemed like forever (the sudden reappearance of some random nausea that week made it seem that much longer) they let Andre come into the room for the fun part of the morning, seeing peanut! Apparently peanut is a mover and shaker (again taking after Andre) and was moving the entire time. We got to see everything (minus the money shot). The technician triple checked the anatomy and wrote it down for us. We left the hospital and headed to Bayfront Park!

After a very cold morning walk we arrived at the spot where Andre popped the question 5 years ago. We opened the envelope and saw:

"Congratulations it's a GIRL!!!"

Our little peanut is a girl! We couldn't believe it. After some tears of joy and lots of hugs, we called my mom at work to share the good news. We then booted it back to the car to warm up! When we got home we made another call, this time to Andre's parents to share the news.

The other great part of the day is another picture of peanut!

Here it is for all of you:

Isn't she beautiful?

Now the big wait begins! March seems like so far away until we meet our little girl.

Week #20!

I have been a horrible blogger I know! But to make up for the horrible lack of blogging I promise that before I leave this computer tonight you will have two blog entries!

I knew it had been a little bit since I last wrote about little peanut, but didn't realize that it has been a whole month! So to start off little peanut has been growing. At week 16 peanut was about the size of an avacado, this week peanut is as big as:

Holy cantaloupe! Hard to believe isn't it?

Peanut has been busy practicing, by gulping down the amniotic fluid for nutrition and to get used to eating later on. If peanut is like Andre, they'll need a lot of practice!

I've been feeling pretty good lately. Long gone are my regular clothing. I can actually still fit into most of my regular pants, but they just aren't comfortable anymore, so elastic waist bands it is! The fatigue is still present, along with the nausea with brushing my teeth and cooked veggies for some reason. Hopefully one day I'll be able to eat cooked broccoli again! Other than that I'm feeling like my old self, along with the occassional mood swing thrown in for a little excitement!

Oh I forgot, "Pregnancy Brain" has also set in. I have decided that the bigger that peanut grows the less memory I have. This drives Andre crazy!

Week #16!

Well I guess updates every other week are better than nothing right?

This week I am 16 weeks, or about halfway through the fourth month! Peanut is now about the size of an avocado:

I laughed when I saw this one because I have joked with Andre that little peanut might come out green because I devour avocados in a flash whenever they are in the house, this goes for any food that is Mexican-influenced.

Also exciting is that the little bones in peanuts ears are forming meaning that he/she can now hear me telling Andre that he's driving me crazy! Needless to say the hormonal surges on my end are still going strong!

I've been feeling a lot better lately, almost like my old self again, well my old self in maternity clothes. I had to give up my regular clothes this week and move into the wonderful world of elasticized pants. I am now feeling 100% comfortable in pants again.

Week #14!

And just under the wire too!

So this week peanut is about the size of my clenched fist, or if you want a visual, about the size of a peach.

Peanut is making more fluid movements (as we were able to witness at the last ultrasound!), the roof of his mouth is forming, and his (or her) little intestines are developing Meconium (AKA baby's first poop). A thin layer of downy hair known as Lanugo is developing on peanut to keep him or her warm until the baby fat takes over. So peanut I guess would kind of feel just the same as that peach!

In other good news I'm starting to feel more like myself. I'm slowly weaning myself off the Diclectin, and the nausea is staying away for the most part. I still get the gags and heaving from certain smells though, so I still have to be careful. Brushing my teeth is still a chore, and I gross Andre out with my gagging most days. Our dentist appointments later this week should be interesting!

We had our second appointment with our Midwife this morning where we met the secondary Midwife Shannon. The primary Midwife's name is Karen. This appointment was great b/c Andre and I got to hear Peanut's heartbeat for the very first time! Shannon found it in no time, and it was nice and strong and even at 160 beats per minute. It was an amazing sound, and I'm so glad that Andre was there with me so we could share that milestone together.

Welcome Everyone!

Hello everyone and welcome to Our Little One!

Since so many of our friends and family live far and wide we wanted a way to keep everyone informed that was easy and not too hard to keep updated. A blog seemed like the perfect idea.

Since this is a public blog, so you all won't have to sign in with a user name and password, I ask that you please not use our last name please, in any comments that you may leave!

Enjoy the blog, and don't be afraid to leave us a comment!

Ultrasound time!

This week has been a busy one! Yesterday we had the first part of our IPS testing completed which consisted of an ultrasound and some bloodwork. We got a picture, but honestly it was horrible, so we haven't bothered to scan it. Today we had an appointment with our specialist. This was a special day since we officially "graduated" just into the care of our Midwife. They weren't going to do another ultrasound because we had one the previous day, but we told them we got a crappy picture, so they said that they would do one so we could get a good picture.

You should have seen peanut! Arms and legs were moving like crazy, doing flips back and forth from tummy side up to bottom side up! As the tech was doing the measurements she couldn't help from smiling, and I could hear Andre laughing as he watched the screen, and he told me that peanut was exercising. Finally after all the measurements were complete the tech turned the screen so I could see little peanut, and so many changes since the ultrasound at 9 weeks! Peanut looks like a baby now!

Here is the best picture that they gave to us today:

I love this picture since it shows the whole entire body!

Week #12!

I know, I know, I'm slacking on the updates again. Since I can I'm going to use Peanut as my excuse. The fatigue has increased with a vengeance over the last two weeks, and some nights it's all I can do to stay up until 9pm before I'm falling asleep on the couch.

In week #10, Peanut was the size of a prune, in week #11 they had grown to the size of a lime, and now Peanut is the size of a large plum!

It's hard to believe that I can have some little person the size of a plum growing inside of me and I don't feel a thing! It's amazing really. By now most of the bodily systems are all in place and some are already starting to work, even though they still have another 6 more months of maturing left to do.

Aside from the increasing fatigue there have been a few other changes with my symptoms over the last few weeks:

-By about week 9-10 the bloat had really begun to set in. In order to prolong the life of my regular clothes I purchased a Tummy Sleeve on the advice of a friend. It helps by allowing you to wear your regular pants undone without them well falling to your ankles!

-One day last week (11wks) I woke up and suddenly I could do up some of my pants again because the bloat has disappeared! This could be caused by Peanut moving therefore moving some of my internal organs

-The all day fatigue that had started to get better started to kick my butt again last week. Not fun.

-Nausea (what I like to call all-day crappiness) has gotten worse especially in the morning. Every week I try and decrease my dosage of Diclectin, but my body wants nothing to do with that and the next day I'm back on my regular dosing schedule. The gagging and retching are so bad that every night at dinner and before I go to bed Andre asks me if I've taken "all my pills".

-The good news is that for the past week and a half I've only had to get up once/night for my nightly bathroom run. Yeah for more sleep!

This week is going to be a busy one with our IPS screening scheduled for Wednesday morning, and then another visit (and another ultrasound) with my specialist on Thursday morning. Andre has meetings at work all day on Wednesday so my mom will get to see Peanut (or as she calls him/her "Cashew") on the big screen. Andre will be with me on Thursday morning though.

Stay tuned everyone for another couple ultrasound pictures this week, and hopefully not too soon afterwards the "Global Announcement", after we get a chance to share the news with my grandparents that live locally.

Second ultrasound!

Andre and I are incredibly lucky because we were blessed to see our little peanut again! We were at the specialists office this morning for another visit, and another ultrasound to make sure peanut is developing normally. The ultrasound tech is absolutely wonderful and as she was checking out the umbilical cord and placenta she had Andre come over to the screen so he could see everything.

Peanut is measuring on schedule, and the little heart was beating at 145 beats per minute. We also found out that peanut could be arriving a little sooner than we originally expected since our official due date is March 9th!

Our first ultrasound I was only 6wks3days pregnant, so this time at 9wks5days pregnant there was so much more to see this time. It was miraculous to see. Both Andre and I both had tears in our eyes this time. Peanut is no longer a little blob on the screen, but actually looks like a little person! A person with a really big head, but a little person! Peanut was even moving! There are no words to describe what we were feeling when we saw the little arms and legs moving, and body wiggling. It was amazing.

Seeing everything today makes all the nausea, gagging and dry heaves more than worth it.

We were given a few pictures, but I think this one shows the head, arms and legs the best. Here is peanut:

Week #9

I'm realizing that I'm really slacking with the whole week-by-week updates, but I have a really good excuse because Andre and I were on vacation for a week and a half, and a week of that was in sunny Aruba! We had a great time on vacation, but we're happy to be back home.

So on to peanut! So much has happened since week #6, and peanut has been doing some serious growing! Peanut is now the size of...

I'm not a big fan of olives, but at least we have a visual!

In week 7 peanut was the size of a medium blueberry, and last week the size of a raspberry, to give you an idea of the rate of growth that is going on. In week 7 little leg and arm buds were forming, and by week 8 is looking a little less alien like everyday! The best part is that by week 9, our little peanut has officially graduated from embryo to fetus! Little muscles are beginning to develop as well, so on an ultrasound we could actually see our little peanut swimming around! Later on this month we could also be lucky enough to hear the beautiful sound of little peanut's heartbeat!

So much is happening!

I mentioned in our last update that the nausea train had arrived, and that I had tried Ginger Gravol. Well the nausea continued to worsen, so after a call into my specialist I was starting a prescription nausea medication named Diclectin. This medication has worked it's wonders for the most part making me feel (almost) normal most days. One side effect of this drug can be fatigue at the start, so thankfully I was on vacation and could nap under a hut on the beach every morning. This has been replaced by normal first trimester fatigue now.

I'm still feeling:

-bloat, mostly at night, but happens all day

-aversion to scents

-constant feeling like I'm going to gag, often for no reason at all. This drives Andre crazy!

-fatigue

Thankfully my daily heartburn has eased up, and I'm only getting up twice a night to a full bladder which is a big improvement to 4 times a night! This means more sleep for me.

Things are going well overall though, and Andre and I are so excited for another appointment at the clinic on Thursday when we will hopefully get another opportunity to see peanut on a second ultrasound!

Introducing...

Peanut! (or Cashew as my mother has named our little one)

Some of you very lucky readers received this picture via e-mail earlier in the week, but the rest of you I'm sorry, but you had to wait till today to see.

For those out there here is the technical mumbo jumbo: the black blob? that's called the gestational sac, the little circle up and to the left? that is the yolk sac, this is what is currently feeding our little peanut. Further to the left, between the two +'s is our little peanut.

That day peanut measured 5mm! The best part of this whole experience was seeing that little tiny heart actually beating. There are no words to describe how wonderful it was to be holding Andre's hand and seeing this little heart beating inside of ME! Let's just say there were some tears. Andre still can't stop talking about how cool it was to see that heartbeat. Truly amazing.

The specialist reviewed everything, and said that everything was progressing normally and I am due back on August 12th. I hope we get another picture because that will be an awesome present for my dad who will be celebrating a birthday on that very day!

Week #6!

Better late than never! I officially only have 2 days left of being in week 6 so I thought I better get a move on it!

So to give you an idea of how big our little peanut (or cashew, it all depends on whether you're asking my sisters or my mom!) is look no further than:

No, not the whole thing, but one of those little sweet peas equals the size of our little sweet pea, oh I mean peanut! In fact, our little peanut is 5mm in size, so about half a centimeter, but that's for another post altogether!

This week in peanut development:

I think the most important thing is that our little one's heart is beating! It's truly amazing to think that something so small already has a beating heart! The kidneys, lungs, and liver are also developing. Little peanuts eyes, ears, jaw, cheeks and chin are also forming (destined to be a looker our little peanut...).

I've been feeling good overall so far. The biggest thing that has popped up this week has been morning sickness, or the correct name for it "Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, or NVP". The "sour stomach" that I had been experiencing earlier on, has been replaced but full on nausea. I haven't experienced vomiting (I'm knocking on some wood right now), but have experienced some gagging and dry heaves. Equally as unpleasant I'm sure. Today it was so bad that I had to call in sick. Then as luck would have it ran into one of those cancelled clients in Shoppers Drugmart as I was purchasing some Ginger Gravol. That was definitely an "Oh Crap!" moment for sure! I felt too crappy to devise some clever excuse, so I just spilled the beans, and since she is herself a mother of 2 she was very sympathetic.

Some other things I am experiencing are:

-fatigue (O.M.G. I am so tired all the time!)

-heartburn (daily, cannot live without my Tums)

-frequent urination (I'm slowly turning into my mother, God help me!)

-aversion to certain scents (scents/odours that were before just unpleasant have me running from the room)

-bloat, bloat and more bloat

All in all though, I am feeling pretty good, and I will take each experience for the blessing that this truly is.

Week #5!

See that orange seed on the right? That is how big the baby is this week! Although resembles a tiny tadpole in shape more than the seed. This week still might be a little early to see the heart beating on an ultrasound, but hopefully by next week when we have our first ultrasound we'll be able to see that little flicker on the screen. The most important thing developmentally that is happening right now is the neural tube. This is very important, because as this closes it forms the brain and spinal cord of the baby. All that folic acid that I've been taking for months and months now comes into play, making sure that the neural tube closes properly and prevents any defects such as Spina Bifida.

Symptom-wise I am still feeling really good. The odd morning I have a bit of a sour stomach though, but over the last few days I've been feeling pretty normal in the mornings. I'm still making more frequent trips to the washroom, and getting those hunger/nausea pangs though. As long as I remember to stock the kitchen at work with lots of snacks I'm able to keep it under control.

I am starting to feel the odd little bit of pressure and odd crampy sensations throughout the day as well in my abdomen. I just have to remind myself that this is normal, and that this is just my uterus stretching to accommodate our little miracle.

Busy day in Baby Land

Today I had a few baby related items on the agenda. First things first I had to call my family doctors office.

I had already spoke to my pharmacist about my asthma medication and if it was safe to take during pregnancy, and they had said that the one medication was fine, but the other medication (the steroid medication) was a Category C medication. He told me that the risk of not taking this medication (ie having an asthma attack and being hospitalized while pregnant outweighed the risk of taking the medication) but that I should talk to my family doctor.

So after talking to the nurse, she assured me that the medication was fine, and that I should continue taking it. So all is well with that. Now to try and keep my asthma as controlled as possible especially since the majority of the time that I will be "really pregnant" will be during the dreaded cold and flu season.

Second on the list was the call to a local clinic of Midwives. Having my prenatal care through a midwife is something that I have always felt very strongly about, and I decided that this was very important to me. I was unsure about whether or not I had to wait until I was discharged with the specialist first, so I called the midwife clinic to ask them. They told me that it was definitely a good time to call and it was not necessary to be discharged from the specialist first. I had my telephone intake and they should call me tomorrow with the date of my appointment!

So many things crossed off the list!

Week #4!

Okay, let me start this by saying I totally don't understand how they date pregnancies, at all. According the medical profession I am already just over 4 weeks pregnant! I don't get it, but we'll go with it. I'm going to (try) to at least do one update a week telling you how big the baby is at that point, fetal development, and how I've been feeling.

This week the baby is approximately the size of a poppy seed!


All I think is "holy crap that's small!". Followed by "how can that little thing be making me feel all these symptoms!". Overall I have been feeling pretty good, and most of the time I feel just like my old self. I have noticed over the last two days though that there has been a little bit of a "blah" feeling in the mornings. If I do not have a little snack mid-morning I go from hmmm, I'm a little hungry, to I am going to puke. So I eat a snack. Seems pretty simple to me. I've found that for some reason after lunch that feeling stays away as long as I remember to have a little snack mid-afternoon too.

There's nothing too huge development wise going on this week. Right now the baby is just settling into his or her little spot for the next 9 months. Next week is when all the cool stuff starts to happen. Stay tuned!!

Repeat Beta today!

For those of you out there that are not familiar with some of the baby lingo out there a "Beta" refers to the beta HCG levels in my blood. HCG is the hormone that home pregnancy tests detect to determine whether or not you are pregnant. Doctors sometimes don't just take your word for it that you are pregnant, they order some blood work to check on these hormone levels, and continue checking them at a regular basis until they are satisfied that they are doubling at a normal rate.

Soooo, I had my repeat blood work this morning and everything is progressing wonderfully! We also found out some pretty exciting news: the date of our first ultrasound! On Tuesday July 20th we will see our little "bean" (because that will be about what the baby will look like!) for the first time. I am really hoping that we will be able to see the little flicker of the heartbeat by that point too. Andre and I will also get a chance to have a follow up visit with our specialist to find out the next steps, and find out when we "graduate" to an OB or a midwife.

Exciting times ahead!

How it all began!

Well technically it isn't how it all began, but this is the moment that we knew that there was a little one in there. This picture was actually taken at 5am since I just couldn't sleep anymore. (Well I just couldn't hold it anymore!)

We would love to shout from the rooftops that we are having a baby, but since our journey wasn't a conventional one, and we know what can happen (not that it will!) Aside from our immediate families, and a handful of amazing people that have been cheering us on every step of the way, this blog will be a secret until the fall. It's not that we wouldn't love each and every one of you out there, but, what you don't know, well, you don't know!