12 weeks

Ok, so I didn't post anything about 11 weeks... to be honest I was pretty grumpy all last week, with our A/C still being out, and physical therapy being more expensive than I had anticipated, among the regular drag of the work week, I honestly didn't feel like blogging.This week however I am in a much better mood- they came and installed our new air conditioner on Thursday- they were here for about 12 hours, can you believe that? Apparently it is an all day job. But it is up and running now, and doing a lovely job of cooling our entire house. Mike and I will be paying for it until our baby becomes a 4 year old, but what other choice did we have? After 2 weeks in a 90+ degree house, we did what we had to. We are trying to see if it is something our insurance will cover, but I am not keeping my hopes up for that.

As for the 11 week marker that I missed, the only things important to know is our baby was more than 1.5 inches, about the size of a fig, and that baby is starting to kick and stretch and hiccup, although it's still much too small for me to feel yet.

For 12 weeks, here is my regular synopsis from babycenter.com....

The most dramatic development this month is reflexes. Baby's fingers will soon be able to open and close, toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and its mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. Intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into the abdominal cavity about now, and the kidneys will begin excreting urine into the bladder. Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. Baby's face now looks unquestionable human: eyes have

moved from the sides of the head to the front, and ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, Baby is just over 2 inches long, about the size of a lime and weighs a half an ounce.

I am feeling pretty good still... A lot of my symptoms are mellowing out. I have more energy that I did before (most of the time!) and I don't notice the sense of smell thingy anymore. I have been going to PT for my lower back/sciatica, and it seems to be helping. I am going to find a good pregnant pilates or yoga DVD this weekend. And I have been trying to take my omega 3 supplement with my prenatals, but it makes me taste bad fish about an hours after I take it, and it doesn't go away for several hours. I am thinking about trying to take it with my last meal of the day, or with a snack before bed, so I am sleeping during the gross-tasting part, but we will see. The only things I have been taking regularly so far have been my prenatals and calcium, but the omega 3/DHA is supposed to be really good for the growing baby's brain and eyes, and I honestly don't eat much fish, so a supplement is one of the only things you can find that in.

Here is my belly at 11 weeks.... a non preggo shirt, so unfortunately it just makes me look chunky

And here I am today, at 12 weeks : D

I had to take this one by myself because Mike went back to work (along with the other 2 divers we live with) and Josh is in WA, so I have the whole house to myself this week! I am kind of enjoying it a little. I miss Mike, of course, but I am making the most out of it- I have been turning my music up loud and not worrying about if I am in my underwear or not, it's kind of freeing : D

Well, it's off to do housework before going to my friend Annie's bridal shower and bachelorette party tonight (I'm DD, isn't that nice?) I cleaned quite a bit last weekend, so I shouldn't have too much to do today except laundry, kitchen, etc. Have a nice weekend!!

Week 10

Update for week 10! We went to the doctor on Thursday for our second appointment, and we got to listen to our baby's heartbeat! How amazing... that little sound brought tears to both of our eyes. Our doctor says it's very strong for 10 weeks, nothing to worry about at this time. And all of my blood work and labs came back normal, so we are good to go for now : D

And to give you an idea of what baby is doing this week, here is my update from babycenter.com....

Though baby is barely the size of a kumquat- a little over an inch crown to bottom- and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical part of its development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissue and organs will rapidly mature.

Baby is swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs- including kidneys, intestines, brain and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac)- are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

Pregnancy is treating me pretty well at 10 weeks- still no morning sickness (yey!), but I am having some pretty bad back pain/sciatica. I told my doctor, so he did refer me to a physical therapist that works with pregnant women. I have to do exercises to strengthen my back everyday, and he has been working to rotate my hips/pelvis to where they belong to relieve some of the pain. Apparently sciatica is very common in pregnancy, due to your pelvis adjusting to make room for a growing uterus- a normal uterus is about the size of a pear, and at 10 weeks it's grown to the size of a grapefruit. So I'd imagine my body is adjusting to that change as well.

Not a whole lot else going on in our lives, aside from the pregnancy updates. Mike and I have both been working hard, and when we are both home on the weekends we have been trying to spruce up our yard a bit. Most of what we want to do will take some more supplies than what we can afford right now, so we have been enjoying (is that the right word?) our new weed-eater and trimming up a lot of the bushes and shrubs around the house. Our little vegetable and herb garden has kind of overgrown a bit, but we will be making it bigger and better when we have a little extra money! Right now, anything extra we have is going towards saving for the baby, and also to replace our A/C- it has acted up on us 4 or 5 times in the last month, and it's getting frustrating. It's much too hot here in Louisiana to be dealing with an unreliable A/C! But they are incredibly expensive to replace, so we are weighing our options at the moment, and trying to keep it running in the meantime.

That's it for now! It's off to the daily grind again for me!

Week 9

Update for week 9! And my pic for week 8 - apparently if you read my blog on blogger, but are not on facebook, you missed my pic last week of my growing belly. I am a bit baffled, I feel like my belly is bigger than it should be, considering I am only 9 weeks along, and baby is really not very big. I figure it can be one of several things- One is, I have tummy flab to begin with, so growing baby is just pushing that and my insides out further, making me look further along in the pregnancy than I am. Two, my abdomen muscles are not strong at all- every time I've had my problems with my back, they always tell me that my core is too weak, and I need to strengthen it to protect my back. And I read that if your abdomen muscles are weaker, you will tend to show earlier than someone with stronger ab muscles, because the muscles tend to hold everything in. Third, I am either further along in my pregnancy than the doctor says, or we have twins. LOL can you imagine? I don't think I am ready to think about two babies yet LOL.

Well here is a pic for week 8....

Sorry, I didn't get to a blog post that week. Baby was the size of a raspberry though : D

And as for week 9, courtesy of babycenter.com again.....

Your new resident is nearly an inch long- about the size of a grape, and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. Baby is starting to look more and more human. Essential body parts are accounted for, though they will go through plenty of fine tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound- your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and valves start to form- as do the tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Baby's organs, muscles and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Eyes are fully formed, but the eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. Baby has tiny earlobes, and the mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job or producing hormones. Now that your baby's physiology is in place, its poised for rapid weight gain.

And here is the pic of the belly....

Bought maternity clothes last weekend, they make sitting at a desk all day much more bearable than the whole hair-tye around the button on my old jeans thing. I bought enough jeans and capris that they should last through my pregnancy, I think I will just need to buy some more shirts at some point- I am preferring the longer shirts that I own now, the shorter ones aren't doing it for me. But I do have a few shirts that I wore before I was pregnant that are working out well for me, like the one in this pic.

Well that's about it for now. Can't think of much else to say. I gotta go into work this Saturday, bleh.

7 weeks update

We are 7 weeks and 1 day pregnant today : D Just wanted to give you an update on what's happening as far as baby growth goes... this info is from babycenter.com.

Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs- although they look more like paddles at this point that the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of the tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering its peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of the nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and its liver is churning out red blood cells until bone marrow forms and takes over this role. Baby also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into the umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from its tiny body.

Not much of a tummy yet, although I sure do feel like it! I can feel a lot of stretching down there, and I have to pee about every hour or so! Sometimes my jeans don't fit quite right, so I have been wearing a lot of stretchy pants and skirts, and keeping my jeans up with a hair tie. From what I understand that's more bloat than baby, but oh well. No morning sickness yet (thank God!) but the nausea is there sometimes... especially when I smell things like vinegar, bbq sauce, worcestershire, alcohol, etc. I have been feeling much better the past week than I was before- the last 2 weeks my hormones were in overdrive and I wasn't sleeping well, so I was crying everyday for no good reason. My only excuse was because I'm pregnant lol! This week I don't feel quite as exhausted, which is nice. Probably thanks to the wonderful vacation I had last weekend.

Anyways, there's the update! I am crossing my fingers for a sticky baby- I know it is still early in the pregnancy, but I am still allowed to be excited!!

A weekend in Austin

Mike and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary yesterday : ) We left for Austin with Buddy on Saturday around 11 am- we stopped at McCallister's for lunch, and got on the road! It was about 100 degrees on Friday, so it was quite an ordeal traveling with the dog- he gets car sick with the A/C on (he threw up twice before we figured that out) and whenever we stopped, there was no shade, so one of us always had to stay with him in the car with the A/C on, or walk around in the sun while the other was going to the bathroom, getting food, etc. But we enjoy bringing him with us- he loves Grandma Angie's backyard : ) On Saturday night we went to eat at McCormick and Scmick's, I got to eat my one serving of ocean fish for the week. Boy was it incredible! Then we went to bed about 9:30 or so to get ready for the next day.

On Sunday I took Buddy for an early morning walk with Angelia, and then we went to breakfast at Guerro's to meet up with Mike's brother Brent. Mike's mom had to go into work for a few hours, so we went back to her house to relax. I took and hour nap (I am appreciating afternoon naps more and more lately!) and read my book, and watched some of "Six Feet Under" with Mike. Then we went to the Alamo Drafthouse (a movie theater in Austin that serves meals during the movie) and saw Disney's "Up" in 3D- that movie was great! Then we went to bed early again (are you seeing a pattern here? I like to sleep).

Monday Mike and I went to breakfast at Cafe Java, and then out to find Barnes and Noble- there were a few books that Mike wanted to look for in particular, and we have their membership discount. We entertained ourselves by getting lost for a little while, then after we finally found it we spent some time shopping around there. There was a nice salon in the same shopping center, and having mentioned before that I was hoping that someone professional would fix my hair for me so I didn't have to dye it more than necessary over the next nine months, Mike gave me the okay to get it done while he waited for me. Two hours later (sorry Mike!) my hair is a beautiful chestnut color. She had to strip it and then color it, and she deep conditioned it for me too. I had gotten the okay from my doctor to dye my hair already, but I told her because it's a lot of chemicals, I wanted it to be done in a way that would need little touch ups over the next few months.

After the salon, we grabbed a quick bite and then went and saw "Year One," which was pretty funny, but you have to already appreciate Jack Black style humor to have enjoyed it. After the movie, we went back to Angie's and read for a while, then went to dinner at P.F. Chang's. I couldn't remember the last time I had good chinese food : D

On Tuesday the plan was to take off around noon to head home. It was our actual anniversary day, so neither of us were looking forward to spending it in the car in 103 degree weather with Buddy. But we packed up and got Schlotsky's for lunch and met up with Angie at her office before we were leaving. After talking about how hot and uncomfortable it was outside, we decided to hang out for the day- Mike said he would be fine driving late at night and I could sleep in the car. After taking a few moments to watch the wild deer we saw at Angie's office, we went back to the house to read and relax and enjoy the day! We hung out at the pool for a bit, but there were too many teenagers there to our liking, so we ended up going back and reading some more. I think Mike went through 2 books while we were in Austin! Then we went to dinner at a mexican restaurant called Abuela's- it was delicious!! And we went over to the mall so Angie could pick up some knives that were on sale- she works at Williams- Sonoma on the weekends, so she gets an incredible discount! Also she gets a discount at Pottery Barn, so we went and looked at Baby Pottery Barn and thought about what we can get the baby for 40% off : D

We ended up leaving Austin about 9 PM. I slept most of the way home, waking up every time Mike stopped of course, and we got home about 4 AM. I went straight to bed, but Mike was too wound up on energy drinks to go to bed. He ended up going to bed about 7 AM- the same time I was waking up. Poor guy- I hope he gets some sleep today while I am at work.

So that was our weekend. I enjoyed the lack of planning, and abundance of relaxation. It was pure peace and quiet : D

Exciting News!

I dropped Mike off at the shop at 2 AM Wednesday night/Thursday Morning June 3rd. Went to bed, woke up at 10 AM and took a preggo test.... positive! I knew it would be- I felt a little off, and I was late. Bummer part is, Mike and I had already discussed what to do if I found out I was pregnant while he was out at work- wait until he gets home to tell him. I can understand that- he didn't want to be overly distracted at work, it could mean someone else's life. Also, he wanted to be with me when he found out, that way we can be excited together : ) So for one week, I had to keep my mouth shut... it's not fair for me to tell everyone else and have Mike be the last to find out! I did slip a bit though, I was too excited to not tell anyone! So for that week I was trying to figure out the best way to tell Mike. My friend Tiff (one of the only people I slipped to lol) told me to give him a gift- that way when he came home from offshore, he could open the gift after he got settled in. So I bought Mike a book and a onesie, and put them in a box with the test.

It worked out well : ) He was just as excited as I was, and this way I was able to tell him without just screaming it out at him.

I went to the doctor yesterday for my first appointment. Didn't really find out a whole lot- my thyroid is a little enlarged, so he took some blood, but said that it's not uncommon to be related to the pregnancy. Our estimated due date is February 13th, 2010 just based on my cycle. I am 6 weeks tomorrow, and I am going back to the doctor in 4 weeks. He said we will probably do an ultrasound at 16 weeks, I am guessing they will have a more accurate due date by then. I am trying not to be too excited- 6 weeks is not very far along, but I figure of if I try not to be too excited by reminding myself how easily I could miscarry in the first trimester, I will only make things worse. Now I am just excited to know that I am pregnant! And I am hoping things work out best : D

Being pregnant kind of sucks though. I have not had bad morning sickness yet- although I have a pretty tough stomach, I hardly ever through up normally. I am a little sick to my stomach in the mornings, and I have been crying almost every day over the stupidest things, and I am just uncomfortable. Not to mention I am so so tired! I have been sleeping 8 hours give or take every night, but I am always so exhausted! I pretty much had a temper tantrum last night from being so tired. It's terrible, I feel like a giant four year old.

But I am excited, I am off work for the next 4 days- Mike and I are celebrating our 3 year wedding anniversary on Tuesday. We have pretty much decided we are going to Austin tomorrow to stay with Mike's mom. So I am looking forward to that- a nice break from work, to spend time with my honey and recoup from my exhausting week.

Sorry it's been so long

I just haven't been in the mood to write. Not a whole lot has been going on anyways, but I figured now was as good of time as any to give you guys an update.

I dyed my hair, for fun. Mike helped me. I know, you probably hate it. But I think it's fun. And it's just hair- it grows.

And no, at&t doesn't mind. LOL

I have been busy at work this month. Don't know if you heard, but Apple announced the new iphone to be released on 6/19/09. So needless to say work has been busy. It's tiring, but it also makes the day go by quicker so I don't mind.

Mike went back offshore too. He went out once or twice in May for about a week or so. He left last Wednesday the 3rd, I haven't heard from him since. Which is normal, I'm not worried. Just a little bummed- he hasn't been working in so long, and when he has worked in the last 7 months or so, he was able to call once or twice a week. 

Also, my friends cat had kittens. I asked Mike if we could have one and he said no : ( Other than that, I'm not sure what else to update on. I'll post some more when there are more interesting things in life going on other than dying my hair!!