9 Weeks

How far along:
9 Weeks

How big is the baby:
The size of a grape. (yum)
image via babycenter


Weight gain/Maternity clothes:
 Still -5.5 lbs despite polishing off a footlong sub for lunch yesterday. No maternity clothes yet, but I'm thinking about them.


Movement?
Little Nerd is moving around in there, I just can't feel it yet.


Food cravings/aversions?
Subway chipotle southwest sauce on a turkey sandwich with pepper jack cheese and almost all of the veggies subway offers (minus pickles and cucumbers and olives, yuck.) I ate that twice this week. And I could probably eat it again today. In fact, I might.


Gender?
We're about haf-way to finding out! I not-so-secretly think it'll be a girl. Not sure why, maybe because I want a girl so bad. (Obviously, I'll be ecstatic either way, I've just always wanted a baby girl.)


Symptoms?
Fatigue. Nausea. Constipation. Mood swings. These seem to be pretty constant. I've also started sneezing a lot. Not sure if it's a cold or a pregnancy thing.


What do I miss?
Regular bathroom happenings. (Trying to keep it clean, since my mother-in-law may read this.)


What am I looking forward to?
The next ultrasound, of course! Also, I meet with Dr. Houserman on Tuesday and we'll discuss moving to my regular Ob-Gyn.


Milestones:
Seeing my sweet little Nerd moving around at our ultrasound! J got to be there for that and it makes my heart swell.


This Week:
Little Nerd's heart finishes dividing into 4 chambers. Teeth are starting to form. The tail is gone (yay for being a human!). The external sex organs are in place, but won't be distinguishable for a few more weeks. My Nerd has tiny ear lobes. The placenta has developed enough to take over producing the hormones. Looks like there is an end in sight for all of my progesterone supplements. Basically, Little Nerd's organs are in place and it just needs to grow! (From babycenter.com)

Dear Baby

Dear Baby Nerd,

It seems like I've lived a lifetime of elation and worry in this one month of knowing about you. You are so so loved already and you're not even on the outside yet! Your Daddy and I are making plans for you and beginning to buy the things you'll need when you finally get here. I am already so proud of all the growing you're doing. Keep it up, Little Nerd! We can't wait to meet you and hold you and sing to you and hug you and kiss you and love you.

8 Weeks

How far along:
8 Weeks

How big is the baby:
The size of a kidney bean.
image via babycenter

Thebump.com says it's the size of a raspberry, which I think is cuter. So I'm saying raspberry.


Weight gain/Maternity clothes:
 Still no gain. Still no maternity clothes, although regular pants continue to be tight. I usually stick with dresses/leggings or have to resort to using the rubberband trick for my pants. My belly does seem to stick out more to me. Probably just bloat, and no one else notices it.
Edit: I've lost 5.5 lbs total since we found out. I'm not too worried about losing this much, but I am planning to discuss it with the nurse at my next appointment.

Movement?
Little Nerd is moving around in there, I just can't feel it yet.


Food cravings/aversions?
Nothing really grosses me out & I haven't had any real serious cravings this week. I still tend to stick with fruits, goldfish crackers, milk, and cereal. So healthy.


Gender?
We're about haf-way to finding out!


Symptoms?
Fatigue. Nausea. Constipation. Mood swings.


What do I miss?
Staying awake past 7:30. But I know the first tri is almost over & it'll be worth it in September!


What am I looking forward to?
The next ultrasound, of course! Also, it's nice to know there's only one month left before the second trimester honeymoon begins.


Milestones:
Mimsy got to see Baby Nerd on the ultrasound screen last week. Baby is looking more and more like a human. The face is starting to form and arms and legs continue to develop. Little Nerd has it's own blood type and blood cells are produced by the liver now.

Snow

It snowed last week on Self Lane. In this small Southern town snow is a big deal! Roads were too icy to drive Friday morning (everything delayed opening until 10am), so J got out early and took pictures.

All of the pictures were taken on our family property. Isn't God's handiwork beautiful?

7 Weeks

How far along:
7 Weeks

How big is the baby:
The size of a blueberry.
image via babycenter


Weight gain/Maternity clothes:
-2.5 lbs
Still no maternity clothes.



Movement?
Nope.


Food cravings/aversions?
Still like fruit. Also smoothies. And lately grilled cheese and other dairy products. I drank a half a gallon of milk one night without even realizing it!


Gender?
Still a long way off.


Symptoms?
Fatigue. Nausea. Constipation. Headaches. Some cramping.


What do I miss?
While I love growing this baby, I miss not being too tired to do anything. Seriously I can barely get off the couch in the evenings. Some nights I'm too tired to get up and move from the couch to the bed so I've just been staying wherever I fall asleep. J likes having the bed to himself.


What am I looking forward to?
Next ultrasound tomorrow. We get to hear the heartbeat!

Milestones:
Hands and feet are developing and the brain is growing! Go Baby Nerd!

Heartbeat

Had to change the ultrasound date because I have a meeting at work this morning. Got to move it up a day to yesterday. Josh couldn't come, so I invited his mom. We got to see the sweet little heartbeat flickering away! Go baby go! I know I said this last time (& I'll probably say it again next time), but it really feels real. I think every time I see my sweet baby it feels more and more real. I also read that once the heartbeat is detected the chance of miscarriage drops pretty significantly (like below 10%). My doc also backs this up, although I don't believe they gave me exact numbers. It feels like September will never get here! I can't wait to meet my sweet little guy or girl.

6 weeks

How far along:
6 weeks

How big is the baby:
The size of a lentil or green pea.
image via babycenter


Weight gain/Maternity clothes:
-2.5 lbs
Still no maternity clothes.



Movement?
Nope.


Food cravings/aversions?
Baby likes fruit. Mostly melons.


Gender?
Still a long way off.


Symptoms?
Fatigue. Insomnia. Vivid Dreams. Back aches (not sure if this is a symptom or not...). Constipation (lovely).


What do I miss?
Not worrying every minute of every day.


What am I looking forward to?
Our next ultrasound on tuesday 1/15. Little Nerd measured a few days behind so we weren't able to see the heart beat at the last ultrasound. We should be able to see it next time.


Milestones:
Seeing Baby for the first time! And our family of 3 is facebook official!

Beta 3 & Ultrasound

Yesterday we had our third beta test and our first ultrasound.
My hcg levels were 8958. Which is a doubling time of 45.36 hours & that's appropriate. My progesterone levels were still lower than they'd like. It was 20.2 & they want it at 25. Because I don't seem to be responding to the supplements they're prescribing me, they decided to go a different route and now I get to take progesterone in oil intramuscular shots every night. The shots don't bother me so much, but the fact that J refuses to give them to me does. Technically I can give the shots to myself every night, but that really limits the area in which I can give the shots. I've heard that these shots will over time make your backside sore. I can only imagine getting them in the same place will make it that much more painful.

We had our first ultrasound too! We finally got to see sweet Little Nerd! The clinic says I was 5w6d. But I disagree and think I was more like 5w5d or even 5w4d based on the day they gave my the trigger shot. Either way I am measuring a little behind at 5w1d so we weren't able to see the heartbeat yet. The ultrasound tech says it's normal to measure up to 1 week behind and said everything looks completely normal. I am so so happy to hear that. (Seriously, there has been so much anxiety and fear with this pregnancy. But I just have to trust in the Lord and know that He know what He's doing.)

It really feels real now...  J kept staring at the pictures on the way home yesterday. Be still my heart! He is going to be such a good daddy!

Facebook Announcement

This is how we told people on facebook.

Beta 2 & 5 Weeks

Yesterday I had my second round of beta testing. My levels were at 999.2. Last week they were at 56.4. That's a doubling time of 39.93 hours! Baby Nerd is looking good in there. I also get to schedule my third beta and first ultrasound for next week!!!! So excited!
Unfortunately, my results weren't all this good.  The nurse told me that my progesterone is still too low. On CD21 it was at 6 (& should be around 15) so they prescribed me a supplement. Then on Dec 26, my progesterone was at 12 (& with my pregnancy they want it at least 25), so they doubled my dosage. Yesterday it was only at 18 which means it's going up, but they still want it to be at least 25, so now I'm doing progesterone supplements 3x/day. It's not fun, but as long as it works, I'll be happy.


Now for the weekly check in:




How far along:
5 weeks



How big is the baby:
The size of a sesame seed/apple seed.
image via babycenter


Weight gain/Maternity clothes:
-2.5 lbs
Still no maternity clothes.



Movement?
Nope.


Food cravings/aversions?
No real cravings where I have to have something or it'll be the end of the world... Most food doesn't sound great except for meat and fruit. I guess Baby Nerd needs those vitamins & protein.


Gender?
Still a long way off.


Symptoms?
Fatigue. Some food aversion, although I'm not super nauseated all the time anymore. Vivid crazy dreams.


What do I miss?
Nothing! I love being pregnant!


What am I looking forward to?
Baby Nerd's heart starts beating this week!!!!
First ultrasound on Tuesday 1/8/13. Also, J is ready to announce on facebook, so we'll probably do that sometime after the third beta & first ultrasound.


Milestones:
Telling our families and close friends. Video to follow.

(Obviously I had to hold off on publishing this until our news was public. This was originally written on January 3, 2013)

4 weeks

How far along:
4 weeks & a few days



How big is the baby:
The size of a poppy seed.
image via babycenter


Weight gain/Maternity clothes:
No gain.  Because I am so overweight I shouldn't gain too much during the course of this pregnancy... everything I read says 11-20 lbs is the appropriate range. No maternity clothes yet. My pants are tight (& have been for a long time, so I can't blame that on the baby). I am keeping my eyes peeled for clearance summer clothes to use my Christmas giftcards on.


Movement?
No real movement. Just cramps as my uterus expands.


Food cravings/aversions?
It's less about cravings and more about aversions right now. Pretty much the thought of any foods makes me a little nauseous, which is strange since I've always had an iron stomach. Yesterday I had fruit and it was delicious & didn't make me sick at all.


Gender?
Won't find out until sometime in April.


Symptoms?
Fatigue. That started before my test results. I was falling asleep on the couch almost every night around 7:30 or 8:00. Since going back to work after the holidays I've been taking naps after work from about 5-7 and then going to sleep for real from around 10- 4 or 5. I wake super early because I'm nauseated.


What do I miss?
Nothing! I love being pregnant! (Although I do find myself googling what's safe during pregnancy all the time.)


What am I looking forward to?
Telling our families and close friends this weekend and next week. My second beta is scheduled on Wednesday 1/2/13, so I'm excited to see where the numbers are & to schedule my first ultrasound.


Milestones:
Getting the phone call saying we're pregnant!

(Obviously, I had to hold off on publishing these until the news was public. This was originally written in December 2012.)

Christmas

We had Christmas on Self Lane this week. It was nice, but a little too quiet without J's whole family crammed into his parent house (they are in different countries). I enjoyed being able to spend more time than we usually get with my parents on Christmas morning. I also got to spend the Saturday before baking with my mother, mother-in-law, and a lot of my aunts. That was quite an experience. My poor kitchen is still recovering... so I've made sure not to cook anything since then. ;) We also got to go out to dinner with my grandmother and her husband. They only live about 30 minutes away, but we haven't seen them since the summer. So, it was nice to catch up with them.

I also had two appointments since the last update. Last week they measured my progesterone. It was around 6 and they want it around 15. So, they prescribed me a progesterone supplement. I'm taking it twice daily... And I don't even want to share HOW I have to take it.

And around 2:00 on a snowy December 26, I got a phone call from my doctor saying that my betas were positive. WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!!!! J & I are beyond thrilled. We are so happy and thankful and surprised. What a beautiful Christmas gift! I am still kind of in shock and just keep thanking God for this precious gift. I am thankful that we were able to get pregnant quickly (and relatively easily), but most of all I am so thankful that God has given us this precious gift.

(Obviously I am waiting to publish this until after we tell family and close friends. But we can't hide this news for very long, so we plan to tell our families this weekend and close friends as soon as possible after that.)

The Crud, Weight Loss, & Good Choices

I made it my goal to lose 10 lbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I did manage to lose 10 lbs, but it wasn't until New Years. Either way, I'm marking that in the "win" column. Actually, today two coworkers said I looked like I am losing weight. Win.

Also, the crud has hit Self Lane. J was sick all New Years Eve weekend and I woke up with a sore throat, lots of coughing (which probably caused the sore throat.), and the chills, but no fever yet. J has been sick almost every single New Years Eve since we started dating. I pretty much don't even make plans anymore because I know we'll be at home.

In other news, it's a new year which pretty much means I'm buckling down on spending and eating... two things we do in excess in November and December. My goal is to pay off two smaller debts by April. I would also love to build a savings account of about $1,000-$2,000, which is something we should've had from the beginning. But we don't.
I'm not making any specific weight loss goals this year like "lose x amount of pounds"but am going to try to focus more on making healthy choices. Lately I've been toying with the idea of cutting out sugar, but I don't know if I can do it cold turkey, so this week I've just been trying to limit it. I've also been concentrating on cutting out caffeine and sodas and only drinking water.

Hopefully making good choices will become a habit, in both eating and spending.