vitamin drama....and an ultrasound

So the last 10 days I have not taken a prenatal vitamin because the current ones I had were making me sick. I of course wait to tell Paul this after it's been 7 days, I should have told him right away to get his advice. He suggested I get a new brand that I can cut in half. Take 1 in the morning and 1 before bed. I used to get stomach aches from regular vitamins so I rarely took them because I hated the side effects. I am hoping it was just the fact that the old prenatal vitamins were store brand from a vitamin store. This time I'm on Centrum prenatal. Cutting them in half also making swallowing the horse pills easier!


Last night I had my second ultrasound appointment. Paul came home from work early to drive me. The drive over I always get nervous, my mind starts to wander into the dark side thinking about all the possible things that can go wrong. But Paul always reassures me nothing is wrong. And he was right. Our baby was right on schedule. About 2 inches long. While looking at the baby I asked the technician if he could tell the sex of our baby yet, even though I knew this would just be a guess I wanted to hear what he thought, for myself I've thought it's a boy from the very beginning. So the technician did his measuring and close ups and told us that right now he would guess that it's a boy!!! A BOY!! But, that it's still very early and he'll be able to give a better opinion in a couple weeks!

This is so exciting that my prediction might be right. Now back to the waiting game. We won't see our baby on screen again until 20 weeks....ugh that seems so far away right now. It's right before we fly back to the States for Christmas!

Week 12 Pictures

Week 12: Last week in the 1st Trimester!!

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Our baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, toes will curl, eye muscles will clench, and the mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, they say if I prod my abdomen, our baby will squirm in response, although neither myself or Paul will be able to feel it. The 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. Ewwww to gross to think about!!!

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in our baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. Baby's face looks unquestionably human: The eyes have moved from the sides to the front of the head, and the ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, our baby is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce. But we'll get this confirmation at the ultrasound tomorrow!

This week dizzy spells have been hitting me hard. If I've been sitting for a long period of time and stand up to fast I have to be careful not to move to fast cause I get dizzy. When I first wake up if I bend of and come back up to fast I have to hold on to the nearest chair or wall because a dizzy spell hits me. The morning ones I can understand but the ones in the middle of the day are just annoying. I'm told I can blame these dizzy spells on the increased blood flow and low blood sugar. Everything is going to baby right now so I need to make sure I eat and take it easy when standing.

Last week Paul and I started our baby belly pictures. We want to wait until we have a couple weeks until we post them. I got this adorable t-shirt that I think everyone will just love. It will be in the picture every week as I grow. I'm hoping when we get to week 16 we'll put the pictures up. Until then you'll just have to wait until tomorrow when we get a new picture of baby at the ultrasound! I'm so excited to see him or her again!

Dear Baby,

I love that you are finally letting me eat. Chicken Breasts are still off limits because I can't stand to look at the raw meat section of the grocery store, but so far everything else is satisfactory. I also love not having to use the bathroom every 30 minutes. But can we please work on the exhaustion. You are draining all my energy, I must take naps in the afternoon and find myself snoozing on the couch at 9:30PM. If we could work on the exhaustion that would be great!

xoxo Mommy

Fun with Fung Shui

    We have started to look at furniture and accessories for the baby.  I never knew how many varieties of strollers / carriages there are.  How many wheels?  How big the wheels?  Direction the baby faces?  Lying down or sitting up?  Too much pressure.
     We also looked at furniture.  Then realized we need to do some rearranging of our existing furniture to fit any new furniture.  So the next few months are focused on getting our home in order.  Then we can start to seriously look at baby furniture.  I thought this would be easy.  Who knew a baby would be so much work?
    
 

We are approaching week 11 and I can finally say with confidence that morning sickness (or all day sickness) is easing. I'm trying to get used to grazing more than eating big meals. I'm also jumping back into my exercise routine with some modifications. No more aerobics or Zumba. But I can do spinning and yoga. I went to yoga on Wednesday and my body has been sore ever since thanks to 2 weeks of no working out while in the US.

Our baby (now about two inches long) has been pretty busy this week, growing hair follicles, fingernails, and ovaries (if she's a girl). While the baby has distinct human characteristics by now, with hands and feet in front of the body, ears nearly in their final shape, open nasal passages on the tip of its tiny nose, a tongue and palate in the mouth, and visible nipples.


One new pregnancy symptom that began the right before my friends Rose and Ryan's wedding was burping. Now at first I thought I was just from drinking a soda or two, but since then I've axed soda from my diet and the burping will not leave.
So being curious I took a look in the pregnancy book I bought and it says I have pregnancy hormone progesterone to blame for just about all my symptoms. And that it will only get worse as I grow larger and larger!
I'm going to be the belching Queen!

Paul posted the two photos of our baby last night. I was just amazed on how clear you can see the baby at 10wks. I kept having these dreams that we would go to the ultrasound and there would be nothing in my belly. And then Paul and everyone we told would think I lied. For some reason until last night I could not grasp the concept that something is living and growing inside me.

Okay so more details on the ultrasound. We went in and they took a look at the baby. When the technician had a clear picture of the baby he started to jiggle the wand to make the baby do some flips or jump up. But of course he/she did not jump. The only thing it did was wave one of his/her cute little arms that right now looks like nubs. The bottom picture if turned to the right looks like our baby is facing you and smiling. You can see all it's 2 arms and 2 legs. Paul and I are already trying to look at the pictures very close to see who he/she resembles.

As of now the baby is right on schedule with his/her growth. And my 1st trimester symptoms are starting to ease. That's right almost no nausea for 3 days. I thought it was kinda early for the symptoms to be going away, but I guess every woman is different. But now I am facing jet lag. Last night was my first night back in Europe. I did not get to sleep until 5AM. But luckily I woke up at Noon, so I don't feel like the whole day is wasted, I just need to stay away all day and maybe I can get to get earlier tonight, I know not to rush this process, it takes at least 5 days for me to get back on schedule.

One Baby, Two images (not twins)

Week 9 is here

How Big is the Baby at Nine Weeks Pregnant?
By pregnancy week 9 our baby is between 22 and 30 mm long, (that's about an inch) or about the size of a large grape. Our baby weighs less than one ounce at 9 weeks pregnant, but will soon start putting on weight dramatically as we continue week by week.


What I find so cool is that the baby's heart has already formed 4 chambers by this week and that he/she already has adorable facial features. Also what is sooo cool is that by this week our babies sex organs have formed, but we won't be able to tell what sex the baby is until week 18-20.
Oh Boy or Girl!

America...land of large portions of food

I've been visiting family and friends in America for the past week. My biggest problem while being here, besides keeping a secret that I'm pregnant, is the size of meals I recieve. When I'm home I can control the amount of food on my plate, but the moment we go out to a restaurant I am doomed. I've seriously been living in Europe to long if I've already forgotten how large meals are at Italian restaurants. I'm very happy that so far I've been able to eat slowly and when out pace myself and make sure if the plate has to much food on it I don't eat it all.

It' very funny since being home I have had no morning sickness. The only time I get sick is when I don't eat every 3 hours.

As of right now about 10-12 people know I'm pregnant. It's such a hard secret to keep. Especially at weddings, when I'm not drinking it looks suspicious. But less than 2 weeks until we can tell the world. I'm really looking forward to that. Now Paul and I just have to figure out how we'll make the big announcement!