Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh

That was the sound we got to hear today - the amazing "whoosh whoosh" of our baby's heartbeat. I had my next scheduled appointment today with Dr. B. It was a different sort of appointment - I'm so used to long, in-depth ones - and I think this one we were only there for about 10 minutes tops. Enough time to get my weight, a urine sample, a new prenatal vitamin prescription, a prescription for Zofran (an anti-nausea med that will hopefully let me eat again!), AND to hear our baby's heartbeat on the doppler.

Dr. B put some jell on my belly and then used the small little hand held doppler to find the heartbeat. It took a few minutes (which were the LONGEST few minutes of my life) and then we heard the obvious sound of the heartbeat. I can't even begin to explain how happy we are!

Next appointment is in 4 weeks - for the most part I'm a normal patient now!

Prune week

Baby is the size of a prune! With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will start working too.) Tiny nails are starting form on the fingers and toes.

I'm most excited about the nails beginning to form. If the whole baby is the size of a prune, can you imagine the size of the fingernails??

This past week has just been "ok." The nausea got worse, to the point where one day I didn't keep down one single thing that I ate. I've been avoiding taking anything, but finally decided that it would be better to take something so that I can actually eat. I started taking the vitamin B6 and half of a unisom at night (suggested by my OB.) It seems to be working, at least a little. I'm still nauseous but I can keep food in.

We have another appointment this week with the OB and they're going to try to hear the little bean's heartbeat on the doppler. It could possibly be too early, so if we can't find it then we'll get another ultrasound.

We've been talking a little more about names and I think are about 90% sure on our first names for both a boy and a girl. (Hey, we've had a long time to think about this already!)

I'm still the same weight, so I'm happy that I'm not losing anymore. Even though I haven't gained any, we did realize this week that I have the start of a belly. At this point it's still probably bloat, but it's still exciting to see the difference.

Here I am at 6w4d:


And just over 3 weeks later at 9w5d. I honestly was not pushing my belly out! It was later in the day though, so that probably explains some of it. I think in a few weeks I should graduate from just bloat to a true bump. Until then, I'm still happy with what I've got!

A martini? What's that?

This week baby Fletcher is the size of a martini olive. My dad would be proud. :)

"Your little embryo has now officially graduated to fetus-hood. Adding to the excitement, a Doppler ultrasound device might be able to pick up the beating heart. With basic physical structures in place and increasingly distinct facial features, baby is kind of starting to look like...well...a baby!"

Sorry that I'm a day late in posting this - I started to feel pretty bad last night and actually stayed home sick today. I think I'm starting to get a cold and that topped with not being able to eat much and probably not drinking enough - made for a pretty bad night/day. So I stayed home today, slept a lot, drank a lot of water, managed to eat - and am feeling better.

I went garage sale shopping with my mom over the weekend and bought a few maternity shirts. I don't need them quite yet, but at $1/each I'm pretty happy with the purchase. I also have a pair of maternity jeans (not wearing yet) but I have been wearing a bella band. It's sort of like a tube top that I can wear over the top of my jeans so that I don't have to keep them buttoned. I still can button them, but the bloat causes them to be pretty uncomfortable by the end of the day. I haven't gained any weight yet, in fact I'm still down 2 lbs.

I've been pretty hormonal lately - there is something in most every tv show, commercial, and song on the radio that will make me cry.

Jason and I have also already started to talk about names. Nothing official obviously and I'm sure we'll change our mind several times between now and then, but we do have a leading boys name that we both love.

So that's it from here! Our next appointment will be next week and we'll hopefully be able to hear the little bean's heartbeat on the doppler.

The kitties are also excited about the baby on the way

You know how I mentioned that I'm always tired? The kitties are enjoying this little symptom - it means they have someone to lay with all the time. :)


Speaking of the kitties, they're pretty excited that we have a baby on the way. Well, at least Cali is. We've noticed in the past that when we have little kids over she just loves it. Pickles likes to watch from a distance. Cali likes to be right in the thick of things - she'll let them pet her, hug her, try to pick her up - she just soaks up the attention. We babysat our friend's little boy Gavin this past weekend, and once again Cali was right by us the entire time.

I'm in love :)

We were lucky enough to see our little bean again today! I called the OB office this morning to make sure they knew that I started on the Lovenox yesterday per the hematologist recommendation. While I was talking to her, we decided that as I start the Lovenox it would be a good idea for me to come in and have another ultrasound and make sure things are still looking good.

Jason couldn't come with me, so my mom got to come see her future grandbaby. Everything was just perfect! Measuring right on track, heartbeat is now at 160 (wow! Mine is only at about 60!), and the little raspberry is starting to look more like a little baby. The head is is on the left side and then the little white area showing up on the top middle is the start of the arm! I tried to label them in the 2nd picture.





Who knew that we would love something so tiny, so much!

Raspberry week

"Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from the baby's hands and feet, eyelids practically cover the eyes, breathing tubes extend from the throat to the branches of developing lungs, and the "tail" is just about gone. In the brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby - about the size of a raspberry - is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it."

There isn't much new to report for this week. Still fighting the nausea and still really tired. Something that isn't new, but I don't think I've mentioned, are the crazy dreams I've been having. I have some sort of vivid dream, that I remember after I wake up, just about every night. And wow, are they weird! The other night I dreamed that Jude Law (haven't even seen him in a movie lately) was our roommate and he was making us eat couscous (which I've never had.) Anybody that interprets dreams want to tell me what that means??

No OB appointment this week, but I did have one with a hematologist today. During my infertility testing we found out that I have a mutation of a gene that can potentially cause blood clots. It's not guaranteed that it will, but to be safe and prevent any issues I have been on baby aspirin every day since December. I am now stopping that and am starting on Lovenox (a blood thinner) today. It is safe and won't harm the baby, and could help prevent a miscarriage. They typically don't find out about this gene thing until after someone has a few miscarriages, so we're thankful that we found out beforehand and can do something to help prevent it.

So just call me the human pincushion for the next 9 months - I have to give myself a shot in the stomach everyday until 6 weeks after I deliver. Luckily I had lots of practice with shots over the last year!

That's it from us for this week!
Love,
Laura, Jason, and the baby raspberry :)

This is how I feel

Baby Blueberry

This week our baby is about 1/2" - the size of a blueberry. "Baby's brain -- both hemispheres! -- is growing fast, generating about 100 new cells every minute. Arms and legs are emerging as joints start to form, and a permanent set of kidneys (baby's third!) is now in place."

We had an appointment with our actual OB today and absolutely 100% LOVE her. Dr. B is amazing and is just what I need. We started the appointment out with an ultrasound and heard the most amazing sound - our baby's heartbeat!! I thought we'd just see it again like we did last week, so this was such a surprise. The woosh woosh of the beating heart was the most beautiful sound we've ever heard.

Here is a picture of our baby! The arrow is probably pointing towards the back, but as far as where the head is, that's anyone's guess. It's hard to tell but the baby is sort of curled up at this point. Sort of reminds me of a roly poly.



To help sort of figure out what you're looking at, here is a picture of what the baby looks like at this stage.


There haven't been many changes since my post last week. Still pretty exhausted and living in a constant state of nausea. I've been reading up on tips for the "morning" sickness so hopefully something will help soon.

I've had some tugging in my lower belly, which is normal seeing as my uterus is apparently now twice the size it was just 5 weeks ago. Another interesting little tidbit is that I now have 10% more blood than I did before I was pregnant. This and the extra fluid being processed in my kidneys explains why I'm waking up in the middle of the night to pee. I think Jason and I may have to switch sides of the bed so I can be closer to the bathroom - I hear it's only going to increase from here!

That's all for now!

Estimated due date

I realized that I have forgotten to mention something pretty important. Our EDD (estimated due date) is 2/22/10. So not too long after my 30th birthday - happy birthday to me!! :)

Our baby is a sweet pea!

So this week Baby Fletcher is the size of a sweet pea. "Growing like crazy, baby is starting to sprout eyes, ears, nose, cheeks and chin. Those little hands and feet- still webbed like paddles- might wiggle by week's end, the heart is beating (almost twice as fast as yours!), and blood is starting to circulate."

.25 inches - that's so tiny! It's amazing to me that we've already seen the little heart beating. I have been carrying the ultrasound picture with me in my purse (hey before that it was the pregnancy test!) just to keep looking at it to make myself believe this is actually happening.

Although frankly, my "symptoms" should be telling me that enough. Before we knew/right afterwards I mostly just had a headache and was burping a lot. (And actually that week before we knew, Jason kept laughing at me in the evenings and calling me a boy with all of my burping.) Since then the headache has gone away, I've started peeing more, and our baby has started to let me know what foods he/she does NOT want. Sometimes it seems like pretty much everything. I struggle in the mornings and again in the afternoon. And sometimes around dinner. And when grocery shopping. The past few days it seems that anytime food is involved, I start gagging. It's not so much that I can't keep down food I eat, but that I have a hard time even getting to the eating point. I tried talking to baby this morning. "I like food. I like to eat. Please be nice to me." So far that hasn't helped. I will say that as of right now, fruit and graham crackers/peanut butter are my friends. I've also been pretty tired and just lay on the couch most evenings.

I had an appt today with the OB Nurse Educator to go over things I need to know/what to eat/rules/etc. Example - don't clean the litter box. Jason has been wonderful and started doing that right when we found out. I also got tons more samples of prenatal vitamins. We will have yet another ultrasound next week and our first appt with our OB (hereby known as Dr. B.) I've heard such great things about her and can't wait to meet her.

So that's what's going on! Now it's time for a nap. :)

"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"

Jason and I have some wonderful news to share!!



We're having a baby!!! We found out about two weeks ago and couldn't be happier (or more surprised!) Jason wasn't home when I tested so I made a tshirt that said "baby" and waited for him. I'm pretty sure his first reaction was saying "No way!" over and over again. We've been living in shock ever since that night!

It's so hard to actually believe that this is happening to us! We had gone active with our adoption agency just a week and a half before we found out. (So yes, we're "that" cliche!)

I've had a few blood tests and 2 ultrasounds so far - the most recent was today. Today was the most beautiful and amazing experience - we got to see our baby's heart beat! Below is a picture from the ultrasound - it shows the gestational sac, the yolk sac, the fetal pole (the baby), and the heart! Just amazing!



Our first family picture!


There will be many updates to come!