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!