13+3 weeks

Sorry for being M.I.A.  It's been a long, busy couple of weeks.  Here's the belly pic for now...I'll update more (hopefully) tomorrow.

11 Weeks

**How Far Along:
11+4 weeks

**Size of baby:

**Random & Interesting Developmental Stuff:
You can't see it, but she's moving fluidly and gracefully in there.
Her skin is see-through, but she's on her way to looking more like a baby. 
Her fingers and toes aren't webbed anymore. 
Tooth buds, hair follicles and nail beds are forming.
She has distinct human characteristics by now, with hands and feet in front of her body, with ears nearly in their final shape, open nasal passages on the tip of her tiny nose, a tongue and palate in the mouth, and visible nipples.

**Total Weight Gain:
3 lbs (I was a little off on my guess @ 10 weeks :)

**Sleep:
Is getting better.  Up 3-4 times a night still, and learning to not sleep on my back

**Symptoms:
Still a bit of morning sickness.  Though I can usually rest (stay in bed) or eat it away.
Sore/sensitive nipples
Back pain
It seems as soon as I drink anything, I have to pee
My legs have started cramping at night, but I can stretch it out
And I passed out at the store the other day (it was VERY hot!)

**Cravings:
Still with Honey Nut Cherriors and fruit smoothies.
And I've learned I no longer LOVE it when SS makes fried eggs & potatoes, or teriyaki rice & veggies :(

**Gender:
Still a surprise...

**Movement:
I'm not feeling any, but s/he was doing twists and twirls on the U/S screen :)

**Maternity Clothes:
Stretch pants and workout shorts.  And I think it's time to go shopping

**Milestones:
Seeing our LO on Tuesday, just kicking and swimming around ...sadly no camera on the machine = no mommy pic :(
Dr. E was very impressed with both the size/movement of baby, and my bloodwork.  Great news!!
We scheduled our Anatomy scan (though not until 20weeks)

**What I'm looking forward to:
Continuting to watch my belly grow, getting some maternity/new clothes, starting to make announcements

**The belly:

10 Weeks

Here it goes... the start of my 'weekly rundown' posts. 

**How Far Along:
10+3 weeks

**Size of baby: 


**Random & Interesting Developmental Stuff:

Baby has working arm joints, and her cartilage and bones are forming.

Her vital organs are fully developed and they're starting to function.
Her fingernails and hair are starting to appear, too.
Plus, she's swallowing and kicking in there. (Can you believe it?!)
In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body.

**Total Weight Gain:
6-7lbs??  ...I'm not tracking...yet

**Sleep:
Better this week, still waking up 2-4 times/night to pee, but I'm falling back asleep easier

**Symptoms: 
Morning sickness (mostly just in the morning)
Tired!
Sore/sensitive nipples
I feel hungry ALL THE TIME!
I'm starting to see the veins in my legs/chest
Lower tummy/uterus cramping/stretching

**Cravings:
Cereal really hits the spot lately (Honey Nut Cherrios)
Fruit Smoothies (homemade, I love SS :)
Anything cold, if it's been refrigerated I'm more likely to eat it (and keep it down :)

**Gender:
...any guesses? :)

**Movement:
None (that I've been able to feel)

**Maternity Clothes:
I've mostly been in my workout shorts and tank tops.  And I have one pair of jeans and some stretchy denim capris that still fit.

**Milestones:
We've reached the fetal stage

**What I'm looking forward to:
Our Dr. appointment next Tuesday and getting to see our little one on the ultrasound.

**The belly: 
I had a bit of a pouch before getting pregnant, but there's definitely some bloaty/baby going on now.  Mostly I feel like I'm widening :)

 

                    (9+2 weeks)                                                                    (10+3 weeks)

 

 

The Stow Away

I spoke in my last post of our AMAZING move across the country to our new found home state of Kentucky, and I will go into travel details (once the computer is fully hooked up and I can transfer pictures).  For today, I have a nice and fun/interesting story to tell about a little stow away we found along the way.

Our second big (longer than a night) stop was Sioux Falls, SD.  While this was not quite the place we expected, I do believe we will always remember it.  I've had back problems ever since I can remember, much attributed to a car accident when I was 9 along with 10 years of dance/drill team.  Traveling will almost always send me into a spasm flare up which will require pharmaceutical intervention.  And this adventure was not an exception, actually it was more of the worst I've had in a while.  Being in a foreign city, I headed to the nearest ER in hopes of some help.  Nothing out of the ordinary, a medical history, when was your last period, might you be pregnant, etc...  Being on a TTC break, we were actually starting to look at other avenues and learning to accept, this was no longer going to be 'easy.'  I laughed when the nurse asked about being pregnant.  I was on cd41, which is not uncommon, my last cycle was 54 days.  "I doubt it!"  And she led me to the restroom for a urine sample to test my kidneys, after which I played on my cell phone while waiting for the doctor.
When he came in, he sat down and we chatted about previous treatments for my back.  After a moment, he sits back and says "Well, your pregnancy test came back positive."

My what?!?  Came back huh?!?

I just sat there in shock.  My back didn't hurt anymore, but I felt a little confused.  Did he have any idea how many months I'd spent peeing on stick after stick after stick, and never seeing two lines?  How much had gone into the emotional trip of the last few weeks while we weighed out our TTC options?  He didn't, and he just sat there all non-chalantly doctor like saying, "Congratulations!"

I waiting for the other tests to come back and got the heck out of there and as quickly to the car as I could where SS was waiting with our fur babies.  His face was sad and upset when I told him they didn't write me any prescriptions..."because, I'm pregnant!" I told him, turning to an instant smile.  We hugged and kissed, and went to the grocery store for a pregnancy test.  Though the paperwork I had left with stated "Pregnancy indicated as incidental finding."  LOL!  Ooops, we found out you were pregnant while we ran our tests.  Haha, it still sounds funny to me.

(6/5/2013 @ Sioux Falls, SD - Red Roof Inn...lol!)

 

We made an appointment as soon as we got to Kentucky, and had our much awaited first OB appointment June 28th, where we got to see our little bean (@ 7w5d) with a beautiful 150bpm heartbeat.

 

 

I can't get over the crazy story we get to tell our little one about finding out we were pregnant, but could not be more happy to have a story to tell! :-)

 

 



Furbabies

It's a girl!

My boys are too big to pick up, they do not fit on my lap (not and allow me to breathe), and they don't like to wear clothes.  The cats are so independent, I often wonder if they remember we exist.

So SS got me a baby girl.  Nell is a 12-week old Miniature Pinscher.  And I LOOOOOVE her! 

I can lift her when needed, she fits on my lap (along with the laptop :) and she loves her sweater.  But, I think that is more because she only weighs 5lbs and it is  less than 40 degrees outside.  She learned her name the first night, she's already sitting (for treats!) and she has the cutest little bark when she plays with her brothers.  She was exactly what I needed to keep me from going over the edge, the perfect distraction for the next 6 months, and for up to 15 years (nice lives these Min Pins live :) 

 My babies may have fur, but I am their mommy and without I love them.

There was also a badass drive to Reno in our new ride to get her!  And I mean badass...15 hours and 3 snow storms!  We are definately road warriors, its one of our favorite things to do :)

--------

A TTC note:  cd1 today, which means I get to go in for bloodwork on Thanksgiving Day!  Woo hoo! :)  At least it will give us some kind of answer, and hopefully a next move.

Tick Tock

I'm not sure when it started...wanting to have a baby.  I mean, SS and I decided we wanted a baby in May 2010, but I've always wanted kids, ever since I can remember.
I remember...my mom babysitting the son of a friend.  He was six weeks old and I was four, maybe five.  My mom was on the phone or doing something, so I took it upon myself to take the baby down the hall to my room and start changing his diaper.  I remember...being 11 or 12 and asking my mom to buy a box of on sale diapers for me so that I could "mother" my dolls correctly.  I remember...gladly taking over as caregiver when my friends with babies/children needed.  I remember...people always telling me how good I was with kids, what a great mom I would be, etc.  I remember ALWAYS wanting a baby of my own!  I never imagined my life without a child.  And I hardly pictured myself at 30 with no kids, not even real potential of being pregnant.
It's funny.  I never thought about it over the years, all the bad decisions/reckless nights, all the unplanned pregnancies around me.  Nothing ever clicked that someting might be wrong.  Not until now, now that I can look back and wonder all of the things I could have done different.  SS is great, he's got all of the answers (right things to say) when I start to get down about it.  He knows exactly how we'll have a baby, whichever way we have to do it.  "Next month is our month!" has become a regular statement in our house.
It's a hard place to be, not getting pregnant.  I sat staring at the computer screen today, SS asked what was up.  "I only want to look for baby stuff."  He's told me before that I will be the most prepared pregnant person because of all the searching and "screen shopping" that I do for our babies.  We even have a box of baby stuff that we've gotten over the years for when our baby does come.  SS told me it was better than "only wanting" heroin.  I feel like a crazy person, we seriously compared my wanting a baby and need to incesently look for baby stuff and 'how to get pregnant' online to a heroin addiction.  I love SS, in so many ways no one will ever understand :)  I suppose it's a coping mechanism of some sort (perhaps something else I can look up, Google is a great question answerer!), other times I just cry.  Sometimes I just don't know what else to do.  Meanwhile, that clock just ticks away, and I'm hoping for a baby before the alarm goes off.