Significant Date in Pregnancy

Today is a significant date in pregnancy for me. Today is the first day anyone said, "You look pregnant".

And I do.

I am wearing a Liz Lange beige sweater, solid color. So the solid color doesn't allow for any camouflage of the mid section!

The noticeable change occurred today at 2 pm. Earlier in the day, when I got dressed and looked at myself in the mirror, I didn't see a pregnant figure. This afternoon when I took a bathroom break I did see a larger midsection.

I think its the shape of things to come!

Baby is Hungry for... Version 2

My food sources have really shifted lately. I am hungry for certain, uncharacteristic Bethany foods. Other foods sound perfectly terrible.

I have only had a handful of times during February and January when I've truly felt hungry... not empty feeling... but hungry.

Here are the things I've been hungry for: Arby's Roast Beef sandwiches, very cheesy pizza without meat, apples, baked potato, and Chinese noodles with pickled cabbage.

I've found a few "trick foods", ones that trick my stomach into not turning. These are Cheerios (recently, off brand ones called Happy-Os), small juice boxes in the morning and afternoon, and chewing gum (sometimes). Sometimes saltines do the trick, but not lately!

If I am ever pregnant again and experiencing the same constant nausea and vomiting, I'll have this list of "go to" foods available. This time its purely trial and error!

Movement

For about a week and a half now, I've been able to sense baby h moving. Sometimes the sensations are like a small cramp. I have compared it to an eye twitch - its not uncomfortable, you can't control it, and its like a spasm.

Lately, though, I've felt something a little different.

When I am driving our small car, my torso must put the baby at an unusual angle. The seat belt is pressed under my belly. I can feel the baby shift, move, maybe even roll around. Its hard to describe exactly, and I don't know exactly, since there is no internal camera or no clear viewing panel for me to see what is going on (both are cool ideas, though). My best guess is that the gestational sac is being forced down and up at the same time, and squeezing the baby a little tighter than normal.

It feels weird - like a water balloon being squeezed and adjusted, but I am not actually the one doing the adjusting of the water balloon.

I tried to explain this to my husband today, and he said, "Oh, great. He's already inheriting your sense of comfort and pickiness!".

Estimated Date of Arrival

Have I not written this? Many people are asking!

The calcuated date is July 26, based on the first few Crown to Rump Length measurements.

However, in many pregnancy guides, the due date is usually more like a "due month"... 2 weeks before, 2 weeks after! So at latest guess, we might have a mid August arrival. Right now, I am thinking it will be August 5. Just a random guess!

Baby H Gender Announcement

Though we had planned to be surprised to learn the gender of our child at delivery, the temptation of finding out at 15 weeks, about 5 weeks sooner than is typical for most pregnancies, proved to be too tempting!

Baby H is now known as Baby Boy H!

Pregnancy Update, 4 months.

I am well into the fourth month. In fact, if we were in an Asian country, rather than in the US, the fourth month would be over and I'd be starting the fifth month... half way there! I still feel confused about the Asian way of counting 40 weeks as 10 months, and then after that 40 weeks your baby is born and becomes 1 year old. This compared to the American style of 40 weeks is equal to 9 months, and when the baby is born, time starts over again at 0 months.

At this point, I am feeling some movement. Its hard to explain, sort of like twitching or digestion. I usually can't notice it unless I am very still and very calm and very patient. These moods and behaviors don't coincide very often!

I've still experienced all day weakness, nausea, and frequent vomiting. I took the day off of work on Monday, 2/9 to get a refill of the Zofran and to rest. I have times when I fear I am dehydrated and can't stand the thought of ANY foods, and then other times when I am as hungry as a bear!

As for my physical appearance, I most assuredly think I look pregnant. I feel pregnant. I wear pregnant lady pants. I move slightly different, and my center of balance has shifted.

In next time's post: Baby Gender Update.

15 Week Appointment

Eye sockets, 2 hemispheres of the brain, and a neck!

The placenta is healthy and has taken over the role of producting hormones and nutrition for the yolk sac.

Arms and hands up by the eyes. We counted the fingers. They are all there!

Baby H is drinking in fluid here. We were able to see a lot of very noticeable slurps!

Breech position, facing upwards.

These two are blurry because the baby was SO active. The ultrasound technician was really surprised at how alert and active this little one was before 8 am. She told us to expect an early riser! Or, a show-off!


The baby didn't have a Crown/Rump measurement, since its just been 2 weeks since the last appointment. However, the baby is as large as an apple now and approximately the same 8 oz. The heart rate is at a slower (but still high-average) 168 bpm. The scans today were to check the bladder, stomach, heart, and brain. All are right on schedule, working well.

I think I was most surprised by how much the baby is moving now compared to how little I feel it. I suppose I have nothing to compare it to except for digestion or my own pulse. I think that part of the reason I feel so uncomfortable is the baby's movement and how it affects other organs and muscle tissue in my body. I can't say for certain if I am feeling the "quickening" movements described in What to Expect... but its clear that there are no painful jabs, just sloshing.

I didn't gain any weight during the first trimester, and not since my last second trimester appointment. This is due to my intense nausea and daily vomiting. Dr. Kimberly said 90 percent of all women experience diminished or completely eradicated morning sickness by this the 15th week. Either I'm in the 10 percent or I will be feeling better soon! I've tried as many remedies as I've found to feel better: lemonade, ginger root/tea/ale/cookies, Zofran, Phenergen, Unisom and Vitamin B6, chewing non-mint gum, using non-mint toothpaste, frequent snacking, constant hydration, and acupressure bands. Fortunately, I am only on the cusp of needing IV fluids, and if I continue to make urine 3 times a day, I won't need hospitalization. I am supposed to check up with Nurse Mary in 2 weeks to make any notes in my health decline/improvement.

My blood pressure is still low, and besides the fatigue of teaching in a high school, and the nausea, I am pretty healthy! My energy level is twice what it was two weeks ago, but is definitely running at 60 percent of normal. Maybe one day I'll have the stamina to finish cleaning projects, reading late at night, or do a work out. But not now! I am most frequently found sleeping on the couch or relaxing in bed. I suppose it is really taxing on my body as it creates a new creature!

Week 15 Visit...

Scheduled for tomorrow, Feb 2.

For the first time, we only have ONE appointment scheduled for this month. With any luck and with good health for the two of us, the next appointment will be March 2.

However, I've been dehydrated lately and its causing a little alarm. I'll have this checked out tomorrow, as well as ask questions about my lack of caloric intake due to the extreme nausea and vomiting of week 14.

The night before a scheduled appointment, like tonight, I feel incredibly tense. I don't sleep well, and I tend to hyper-focus on one thing to avoid worries about the appointment. Now I am feeling most concerned about the baby's progress since my second trimester progress hasn't really happened. All the books, suggestions from well-meaning friends, and medical sources indicate that I should be getting relief from the exhaustion and vomiting. I have been feeling worse, if anything. Its hard to imagine actually being worse that I was in late Nov, all of Dec, all of Jan, but its true. Pregnancy just isn't agreeing with me.

Maybe learning our baby's gender or feeling some movement will perk me up and help me to focus on the fun we'll have this fall, rather than the puny-ness I've had all winter!

**Haven't actually decided about learning baby h's gender just yet. Probably we won't be able to tell tomorrow, so there are four more weeks until decision time!