13 Weeks

Wow, I can't believe I've missed the last few weeks. Life has been crazy busy, with studying for the bar exam and going out of town the last two weekends for out-of-state celebrations--one wedding and one big graduation party. But this week, we hit a major milestone. I am now 13 weeks pregnant which is the official beginning of the second trimester!

How Big is Baby?: The size of a peach

Total weight gain/loss: Still holding strong at 0. Occasionally I will be up a pound or so, but I chalk that up to constipation or fluid retention or something like that because it's typically gone the next day. I'm rather impressed with myself since I've had some very specific cravings, and have had zero morning sickness (which is what usually helps people keep the weight off during first trimester).

Next Appointment: Just had an appointment yesterday, which was when I was officially 13 weeks. Next one will be around 16 weeks, just before I leave for California to get ready for the bar exam.

Maternity clothes? Nope. My bigger jeans still fit and now that we've had a heat wave the last few days, I've been living in maxi dresses.

Stretch marks: None from this baby, at least!

Sleep: I've been much better with sleeping. I don't seem to need like 10 hours per day anymore. And I don't need a daily nap, though it does seem I need one about every other day.

Best moment this week: Any week where I get to see our cute little baby is usually my best moment. Yesterday I saw him/her wiggling around like crazy and it just brings such a big smile to my face. I can't believe how much I love this baby already. The other best moment (that I wasn't there to see) was that Spyro told his parents about the baby yesterday. He waited until he saw them in person for the first time since we found out, and gave them a card about being grandparents. On the inside, he taped a picture of the ultrasound picture we got from our NT scan. His parents are SO EXCITED because it's their first grandchild. True to form, my mother in law told someone about my pregnancy that very night (who doesn't even know me). So, he was also glad he waited until second trimester because my MIL would have blown our cover otherwise :)

Miscellaneous info: In my last weekly update, I mentioned that I was a CF carrier. We found out a week ago that Spyro is not, so the baby should be OK. We also had the NT scan which showed a decreased risk of Down Syndrome and the Trisomies, which was also a relief. 

Movement: Not yet. Hopefully soon!

Food cravings: I find that I'm very suggestive. If someone from my birth month group talks about something I think sounds good, I'll think about it for a while. I was loving the new steak salad at Panera this past week though.

Food aversions: Not really much anymore. 

Gender: We will find out on July 30!!! So excited!

Belly Button in or out: In. 

What I miss: Being able to take Excedrin or Advil or something for bad headaches. I had a headache the past two days and the nurse practitioner refused to prescribe me Fioricet without a consult with a neurologist. WHAT?! It's basically Tylenol with caffeine and another med and totally safe for pregnancy. I just called the after hours doc and he was willing, so thank goodness for that.

What I am looking forward to: Getting to hear the baby's heartbeat on the Doppler at our next appointment.

Contractions: No! Very unwanted until full term :)

Milestones: Our little gummy bear is forming the vocal cords that will annoy us with screams and cries, make us smile when he or she says his/her first word, annoy us again when this baby becomes a teenager, etc. :)

10 Weeks!

Wow, we're 10 weeks along. Time flies! We are officially 25 percent done with this pregnancy. I feel like we're kind of plodding along without much activity these days. I don't have any doctors' appointments for another couple of weeks and my life is officially just consumed with bar prep. I'm trying to work around my constant fatigue to manage my bar study schedule, so the latest schedule try is as follows: I go to class in the morning, come home around 1:30pm and eat lunch, take a nap for 2-3 hours, then have a snack and start studying. This schedule is working for me so far, so we'll keep it up as long as necessary.

How Big is Baby?: The size of a prune

Total weight gain/loss: Still holding strong at 0. Occasionally I will be up a pound or so, but I chalk that up to constipation or fluid retention or something like that because it's typically gone the next day.

Next Appointment: Waiting to hear from the hospital where my OB is located for my NT scan appointment. It will probably be in about 2 weeks. One week prior, I go for my blood testing, then I can get my results on the day of the scan.

Maternity clothes? Nope. Which also helps keep the pregnancy a secret from classmates. All good!

Stretch marks: None from this baby, at least!

Sleep: ALL THE TIME. Still. This baby is just like her mama and wants sleep all the time.

Best moment this week: I told my UCLA friends this week. I have friends from undergrad who live in the Boston area, so we get together once a month for dinner to make sure we get a chance to hang out. I knew I wanted to tell them this month, especially because this was probably the last dinner we'd have with our dear Stevie Lee for a bit (she is about 3 weeks away from her due date). When I told them about the baby, Stevie just looked at me with her mouth agape and didn't know how to respond. Then she burst into tears immediately. It was the most adorable thing how excited she was--and how excited all my friends were. My friend's boyfriend Mark said he was suspicious because I wasn't drinking alcohol and I had no good reason why I wouldn't since I'm done with finals. I think that actually may be an indictment of me and my normal drinking habits. But hands down, they had the best reaction to the news and I was so happy to share my news with them in person. I was just kind of friends with them from student groups and our summer job as orientation counselors one year, but I feel like we are all closer now after the past few years of living here.

Miscellaneous info: There was a scary moment this week when I heard from the OB's office regarding the testing we had done and I was told that I am a Cystic Fibrosis carrier. This is typically rare in African Americans, and more common in Caucasians. Thanks, Mom? Now Spyro needs to go get tested at some point next week. If he is negative, then we're fine. If he's positive, our baby has a 25% chance of having CF. So, that means more invasive testing like a CVS or amnio to find out. *sigh* Just thinking good thoughts.

Movement: Nope, not yet. Can't wait until I feel those little flutters though.

Food cravings: Nope. Although I spent a week thinking about spinach and artichoke dip, so I bought the ingredients for it today.

Food aversions: I've been having a tough time with creamy foods and often just get grossed out with the thought of eating. The past few nights, I've been eating weird dinners, like cereal and salad. The idea of eating is terrible. Hoping I get over it because I've just been otherwise hungry since I snack on nonsense all day.

Gender: still have about 2 months before we find out. I NEED TO KNOW!!!

Belly Button in or out: In. I used to be so grossed out by the thought of an outie, but I saw my pregnant friend the other day and she had an outie. I was fascinated by poking it, which is super embarrassing (luckily she was really nice about it).

What I miss: Still cocktails/wine. That's about it.

What I am looking forward to: Hopefully a favorable CF test result for Spyro.

Contractions: No! Very unwanted until full term :)

Milestones: Our little gummy bear has fingernails and hair. I can't wait to see that head of hair our baby has! I have a ton of super curly hair and once upon a time, so did Spyro. 

9 Weeks

How Big is Baby?: The size of a green olive

Total weight gain/loss: 0. Thank God I haven't gained anything, but I am a liiiiittle bummed I haven't lost anything. I guess I can chalk that up to not having any morning sickness or other nausea. Not even one episode of throwing up. For that, I am SUPER thankful!

Next Appointment: Still need to make it, but it will probably be for the NT scan between 11-13 weeks.

Maternity clothes? None necessary. I did realize this weekend I should be wearing my larger sized pants because of the bloating at my waist, but I'm not quite to the rubber band around the button/Bella band level yet.

Stretch marks: None from this baby, at least!

Sleep: ALL THE TIME. I can't get enough sleep. I got 10 hours of sleep last night and still wanted to take a nap today. I slept during long distance car drives this weekend. My body still craves sleep. When I'm done writing this, I'm going to bed.

Best moment this week: A few great ones that I want to blog about. I will just say that they are 1) telling my family about the baby at my graduation dinner, 2) graduating from law school (not baby related, but definitely a wonderful moment this week!), and 3) my 9 week ultrasound.

Movement: Nothing I can feel, but I know Baby A is wiggling around in there like crazy.

Food cravings: Nothing really. I just take them as they come. Nothing crazy. Still on my caesar salad kick. 

Food aversions: Nothing I can think of, but sometimes I get grossed out in the middle of eating something and have to toss it. Tonight, I ate half a hot dog and was doing OK, but then took one more bite and thought I was going to throw up.

Gender: still have about 2 months before we find out. I NEED TO KNOW!!!

Belly Button in or out: In. I feel like I will never have an outie. *knock on wood*

What I miss: Deli sandwiches. I'm being one of those overly anxious, by the book first time parents. And cocktails. Ohhh, how I miss cocktails. Just the social nature of going to drinks with friends.

What I am looking forward to: Hearing the heartbeat on the doppler. I think I'm going to get one soon so I can wait to hear our little one.

Contractions: No! Hopefully not for another 30 or so weeks!

Milestones: Our little gummy bear is officially a fetus! Keep growing, little one. Mommy and Daddy love you so much already!

8 Weeks

How far along: 8 weeks

How big is Baby: The size of a raspberry

Maternity Clothes: Nope, not yet. I'm kind of glad that summer is pretty much here because it means maxi dresses and other loose-fitting clothing and maybe getting to wait on buying maternity clothing.

Movement: Not yet. I'm still anxious for the time I can feel this little one kicking and punching!

Food cravings: It depends on what people mention to me. Last night, after hearing about someone eating pancakes, I had pancakes and bacon. I'm still craving caesar salad and ate one the past two days.

Food aversions: The smell of parmesan cheese is grossing me out, particularly when on garlic bread. Smelling Spyro making that the other day was enough to make me run to the other room on the verge of throwing up. 

Gender: Still have another 10 weeks or so until we find out. I still have the feeling we're having a boy, but that almost psychs me out and makes me think girl. 

Symptoms: Still had a little bit of cramping this week again, enormous veins in my chest, and fatigue. Also, constipation. Sorry, but true. The salads are helping.

What do I miss: The time when I didn't have so much fear about doing something wrong and hurting the baby. I almost feel like I live in constant fear of being a good incubator. It's honestly one of the terrible side effects of trying so hard and for so long to have a baby. 

Best moment this week: Knowing that the little gummy bear is measuring right on track and was just fine as of our ultrasound the other day. I have now been able to get a full night's sleep and don't feel as worried about my lack of nausea--just very thankful!

What I am looking forward to: Telling my family on Thursday! Also seeing our little one on ultrasound again next week. Assuming a good ultrasound next Friday, I will be released to an OB.

Milestones: Our little gummy bear is starting to move this week! 

Baby A's "Twin"

On a few of my birth month boards, women have been popping up with losses after their first ultrasound where they saw their baby's heartbeat already. That rate is supposed to be low, but each one freaked me out, especially when the woman had no cramping or spotting or anything that would indicate miscarriage. A week ago, I lost a lot of my pregnancy symptoms and that scared me so badly, I was losing sleep at night and worrying myself to tears during the day. So much so that I called my RE's office and begged to come in this week for another ultrasound, just about 10 or so days after the first one, and about 10 days before my next one. 

The ultrasound experience was fine. But, this tech was not very chatty and was not showing me anything on the screen. When she left the room to get the doctor, she was talking to me in a baby soft voice and in that moment, my heart sank and I was convinced that Baby A was no longer. I just started silently crying because I was convinced that if nothing was wrong, she would have said something about the baby's heartbeat or measurements or something.

The doctor came into the room and still, no one showed me anything on the screen. Spyro was so sweet and was holding my hand and looking at the screen, so to put me at ease, he asks the doctor "Is that the heartbeat?" When she said yes, I went from tears of mourning to tears of joy. He knew exactly what to do to reassure me, since neither the tech nor the doctor ever said anything about the baby during the entire scan . . . and DUH, that's why I went! I wanted to know if Baby A was OK!

I knew there was something wrong as they were doing the measurements because they were doing a bunch of different stuff and taking a long time to do it. It turns out they were dealing with my fibroid. I got the fibroid during this pregnancy and based on the measurements taken of it at this ultrasound, the fibroid has almost doubled in size since the last ultrasound. It's now over 3cm around and it's apparently exophytic (which means it's outside the uterus). And at 3cm, it's bigger than Baby A. I asked my RE nurse about it at my "appointment" with her afterward, and she had no information for me. Helpful. So I consulted Dr. Google, which then terrified the ever-loving shit out of me. While this type of fibroid won't lead to the placenta separating from the wall of the uterus, there is a chance that it can twist around my fallopian tubes and cause other damage. And it can also grow to be huge, which means I will probably show sooner and get bigger than I would normally during pregnancy. Awesome. And this is apparently part of my genetic legacy, since African American women are more likely to get fibroids in pregnancy.

That alien-like ball in the middle of the intestines coming off the ute is an exophytic fundal fibroid. 

I will get more information on Leonard (yes, I have named the fibroid) at my doctor's appointment next week, but it's yet another thing that scares me. I want to have a normal delivery, but depending on the size of the fibroid, it could push me to have a c-section. I don't want to deal with the pain if the fibroid dies, which could lead to some hospitalization. And on top of it, I'm really scared to be on a cross-country trip in the car for 2-3 weeks when there's a chance the fibroid could cause hospitalizing complications. So now we're reconsidering the trip we've been looking forward to so much for about a year. I'm just so frustrated and annoyed with this and wish I had real answers.

7 Weeks

How far along: 7 weeks

How big is Baby: The size of a blueberry

Maternity Clothes: Nope, not yet. Some pants are uncomfortable, but not many. I did buy some maternity clothes for work when I'll be really big bellied, but only because they were heavily on sale.

Movement: Not yet. I'm so anxious for the time I can feel this little one kicking and punching!

Food cravings: None really. I've been less hungry the past week than I have been in prior weeks, but it still depends from day to day whether I'm super hungry or whether I just have a normal appetite.

Food aversions: Nothing. I've been eating the types of things I normally eat. 

Gender: Still have another 12 weeks or so until we find out. I still have the feeling we're having a boy. So does Spyro. We will be really surprised (but still happy!) if this baby is a girl.

Symptoms: A little bit of cramping this week again, enormous veins in my chest, and fatigue. I think I take a nap every day around 5-6pm until about 8pm.

What do I miss: The other day, I really wanted a Subway sandwich. So I guess that qualifies as missing something, since I really dislike heated deli meats.

Best moment this week: We went out to dinner the other night, and in the same strip mall complex was a Babies r' Us. Last week, we went in there and were browsing car seats and gliders and a bunch of other baby stuff and after our ultrasound last week, it was my second favorite moment. Anyway, after dinner we planned to go to Home Depot, but Spyro very nearly kidnapped me and made me return to Babies r' Us because he loves looking at the baby stuff. Although I was exhausted and just wanted to get our errands done so I could go home, I thought it was adorable.

What I am looking forward to: Assuming a good doctor's appointment the Tuesday after next, I'm really looking forward to telling my family in just under 2 weeks.

Milestones: Our little gummy bear is developing arm and leg buds this week. The arms and legs that will contain his or her hands and feet, and 10 perfect little fingers and toes. I can't wait to hold those little hands and kiss those tiny little toes.

Sleeping Beauty, Sleepless Beauty

My life has been pretty low key lately. Since I finished finals, I've been lounging around the house, occasionally emerging to run errands. This has also given me the ability to get more sleep than I can remember getting in my adult years, generally. No matter when I wake up in the morning, I get tired around 5pm or so. I typically lay down then--even if I don't nap--and sleep or relax until about 8pm. I stay awake until about 1-2am, then go back to sleep for the night. It's a weird schedule, but one that my body is dictating to me and I'm not fighting it because I've been sleeping so well . . .

Until last night. Spyro told me I was tossing and turning all night. I knew I was too. I could feel it. I just couldn't get comfortable. As a natural tummy sleeper, the increasing bloat from this pregnancy (and maybe just the pregnancy itself. Not quite sure.) is making it SO HARD to get comfortable and go to sleep. Sleeping on my left side is OK for a while, but then my hip starts to get irritated. Sleeping on my right side feels unnatural and annoying and I inevitably shift because I hate it so much. I can't live like this for the next 33 weeks! But it seems like it's too early to buy all those pregnancy pillows and stuff like that--I don't have the pregnancy belly yet. But I need a solution because I already feel like a zombie and the day is still young. If anyone is dealing with this/dealt with this, HELP!