First Maternity Purchase...

Just wanted to say that I've been in some maternity clothes since 8weeks, however none of them have been mine! (Thanks Tiffany!) But never-the-less, I knew the time would come when I had to purchase some items of my own. This past Saturday, DH caught me off guard when he asked if he could take me shopping! Of course I couldn't turn down the offer. We tried Old Navy, who I found out stopped carrying maternity as of July... (ugh). We tried Ross next door and got a cute pair of comfy black maternity shorts and a pair of Nike athletic shorts with elastic waist, and then we hit motherhood maternity! I think I could have spent my whole paycheck in there, however I was good (this time) and only splurged on a needed item for my beach trip next week - a bathing suit! Of course I don't look nearly as good as the model in the pic, but hey, at least I have something to cover up all the fat rolls, the growing belly, all the new stretch marks, and the growing bbs... and it's two piece, which makes for easy potty time! :)

14 weeks 4 days

This week? Well a lemon of course! You gotta go by the length though, not circumference. If I was a lemon when I hit 14 weeks, just think about what fruit I'm working towards by now! Nothing major in the development this week, just growing like a weed! (both Baby T. and mama!)

As far as the SCH is concerned, I had another appointment today to check on it since it had gotten so big and guess what? It had shrunk back down to 1cm!!! I can't say enough how grateful I am for that! I'm still going to take it easy though, even if the Dr. did tell me I should start to slowly get back to normal life. I kinda chuckled inside when she said that wondering what 'normal' really meant... In any case, Baby T. wasn't cooperating this morning and wouldn't sit still long enough to see much. When it was still, he/she stayed all curled up and the Dr. couldn't get an accurate measurement. Oh well. At the very least here are a couple of action shots.

This is my favorite from today. Baby T. has both his arms behind his head and his feet kicked up against the wall of my uterus as if he is just chillin'! I thought it was super cute.

This time he's playing 'hide and seek' hiding his face by tucking it into his chest and covering it with his hands. Feet are still kicked up in the air!
(for those of you trying to figure out if that is a wee wee or not - it's not.)
I like this one too. You can really see the face good on this one, especially the nose! :o)



And of course a standard picture like everyone is so familiar with!
As far as me refering to 'him' - I just do that for my DH. He swears up and down it's a boy!

13weeks 4days

A PEACH

A little late on this one I know - but so much has been going on this week! I feel really good now. All the tiredness has subsided to lots of energy, the nausea is few and far between now, and if I don't eat every 2-3 hours, somebody ends up hurt... :)

As far as my LO (Little One) goes, he/she can now make a fist, suck it's thumb, squint, frown, and do all sorts of cool stuff I can't wait to see in person!

Also - I let DH measure my belly last night. A whopping 42.5" in my largest area. Wow. I've also started putting the weight back on. Of my 8lbs lost, five are solidly back. I'm still under my pre-pregnancy weight though, so I'm happy about that.

Okay - now to the report

So I had my u/s appt today to check on the SCH. Although the pictures were totally awesome, there was a bit of bad news to go along with it. It seems the SCH has almost tripled in size. It has grown in three weeks time, from an 11x7mm clot to 3cm+. All we can do is wait. I'm still on my restrictions, and told to take it as easy as possible. Technical lingo goes something like this... a marginal subchorionic hematoma inferior to the placenta. Now in english - there is a blood clot right under the edge of the placenta - very close to the cervix. Prognosis - Most resolve on their own and disappear and some will continue to grow and cause problems with the placenta, or even miscarriage. There is no way to know which way this will go. My internet research suggests that miscarraige rates are raised 1-3% for mothers with a SCH.

3D Ultrasound!!!

THE FIRST REAL GLIMPSE OF BABY T.

(In 3D!!!) - 13w 2d -

Not quite as clear, but a leg an arm and an eye!

And even came back with some old school 2D u/s pics! We even got to see Baby T. pracitce his/her breathing! The chest would move up and down! The technician said it's very rare to catch them doing that this early! At least they kept their legs closed :)

First appt in Suffolk

So I didn't get to see Dr. Federici. Seems he's pretty famous, but I did see a wonderful Dr. by the name of Stalacci. (what's up with these names?!?) Anyhow, a little dry and straight to the point, but I like her, and DH likes her, and that's what's important! Turns out, I may get a different Dr. or midwife at every appointment, because they want you to know all of the ones who may deliver the baby. I think that's great. It would stink to have seen the same Dr. for nine months (or six in my case) just to have someone you've never laid eyes on before be the one to deliver your baby...

So - after an hour wait in a crowded waiting room, more paperwork/insurance stuff, peeing in another cup, blood work (all standard stuff) I got another pelvic and breast exam, blood pressure, temperature, etc. and then she tried to hear the heartbeat on a doppler. She told us that sometimes 12weeks is still a little early and not to be alarmed if we didn't hear it. Well, we got to hear it for a brief 3 seconds, but it was pretty as ever and I'm so glad we did hear it. My nerves would be totally wrecked had we not heard it! The best reading the machine got was 166 beats per minute. After the appointment, Dr. Stellacci said from what she could tell everything looked good, but she wanted to schedule an ultrasound to check on the SCH for herself. So this Monday it is! Guess what? It will be a 3d/4d ultrasound!!! That's all they even offer at this place!!! I sure hope everything looks good!

12w3d

12 Weeks!!! It's a Plum!

A PLUM!!! What's Baby T. up to??? Here is an excerpt from one of my beloved pregnancy sites.:

TAKEN FROM BABYCENTER.COM

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his 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. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long and weighs half an ounce.


Other than that - I'm huge. Check out the Belly shots slider at the very bottom of this blog! That's a huge difference between 4weeks and 12 weeks. Now you all see why I needed the bella bands and maternity clothes so early!

Limes, morning sickness and crotch zingers

Sounds like a bad night out, right? Well I'm 11weeks3days and the morning sickness has finally found me. I haven't downright gotten sick yet, but haven't been far from it either. I'm finding it's worse on an empty stomach, but when you feel like that, who can eat??? Regardless, once I start it seems like I can't stop, food still tastes so good! I may be paying later for that BLT I had for lunch today, but my goodness it was good at the time!

Crotch Zingers - you ask?!? Well yeah, they're just like they sound. An absolutely annoying and painful electric jolt or stabbing pain right to the - well - crotch. Enough to make you almost squeal out loud when it happens. Everything I've read says they're normal, and it's just stretching and whatnot, but you can believe that will be the first thing I ask about at my appointment next Tuesday!!!

And Limes. Ah limes. A 1.26 inch, 0.25 ounce baby that's the size of a lime. All of baby's vital organs are now formed and functioning, so the risk of defects decreases this week and Baby T. becomes less susceptible to outside influences. Phew! Baby's ears are assuming their proper place this week and the fingernail and toenail beds are continuing to form. My little "pumpkin head" is really living up to his one day nickname as his head is nearly as big as the rest of his body. Baby T. is really on the move now too! We saw that in the last ultrasound, and I can't wait till I actually get to feel the movements! In the next nine weeks, my baby will increase 30 times in weight and almost triple in length. As far as my weight - I've only gained two back of the eight pounds I originally lost, so now I'm at -6 !?!

The Morning Scare

So I got up this morning and did things as usual, getting ready to go to my scheduled OB appointment when I realized after going to the loo, that I was bleeding. Talk about your heart sinking to your feet, and your stomach in your throat. What could we do really? We were just about to leave anyway. So after a prayer (or a lot of prayers) and a quiet ride to the office, we found out it was just the SCH acting up again. Whew, what a relief. The Dr. did an exam to look for active bleeding and could not find any, so he did another ultrasound and there is was. The SCH has grown to 11x7mm, so still very small, but it was actively bleeding. That was the culprit of all the blood this morning. My cervix was very long (5.1) and closed, and that was a relief too! And then we got to see the baby again. It seems like it has grown so much in such a sort period of time, and I guess it really has! I finally got a picture too! It's funny really the quality of what they give you, because on the screen there is so much more detail. You don't get to see the little hands and fingers waving at you here, you don't get to see and hear that tiny heart beating away at 176bpm and you can't make out the mouth, nose and eyes like you could on the screen either, but with this shot, we got the perfect measurement, 10weeks5days! Right on schedule! Now if I can only get that clot to magically disappear along with the next six months it'll all be good! p.s. Yes I turned this picture over. Head is to the right of the screen, chest to the left. Placenta is right underneath baby in picture (above baby in real life) and is big and healthy according to the Doc.