9 week check in!

Hi pumpkin,

You must really be doing some serious growing because mommy is exhausted every day! It has been a few weeks since my last post because I am usually falling asleep as I put your brother to sleep at around 7:30 and on the weekends I try to sleep in as long as I can to help. It's a challenge to stay asleep too - I am either having some very vivid and outrageous dreams or I am wide awake at 2am, as if it were morning. 
I have also not been a huge fan of food lately. It seems that I am hungry but can never find the right thing to eat. I am eating a diet that involves a lot of water, dry white toast and ginger ale.  I am hoping that as the first trimester ends these symptoms will pass and I will be able to get back into a good routine with better food and some exercise.
Just a note on the weather around here right now while you're on the inside - we have experienced a "Polar Vortex" this year and it has been extremely cold! It is the end if March and many people in our area got snow last night. We also had about 20 inches and two snow days in a row since I last wrote so it has been a wacky-seemingly never ending- winter!
On Wednesday, March 26th, your daddy and I went to my first doctor's appointment to confirm pregnancy and take a peek at you! It was just awesome! The moment I saw you and Dr Hansen said you were measuring exactly right for an Oct 29th due date, I felt relief and pure bliss as I watched her move around to find different angles of you. Seeing you for the first time just made it all that more real and exciting!  Your heartbeat was great too @180bpm and we could see it flickering - just magical! I was on cloud 9 all day and am still riding the high every times I look at the picture.

9 week ultrasound

 Your growth over the past few weeks has been amazing!

This week - week 9 The size of a green olive!

pregnology.com

 "This is another busy week in the early life of your baby as the shoulders, elbows, knees and hips will now be created. Although the baby now has small internal organs it will be many weeks before they are fully formed and functioning correctly. The basic skeleton of your baby is now formed as are his eyes and ears. Your baby's toes are now visible as are his fingers although his hand is still smaller than a pea. His genitals will also be ready this week and his bones are beginning to harden. Twenty tiny buds now form in the jaw of your baby; these will continue to develop until they pop through his gums in the form of teeth.

The embryo begins to look more like a little person now as the tail has all but disappeared. Later the eyelids will be formed as there is now only a thin layer of skin protecting them. The nose, the eyes and mouth are now clearer and the face is more refined. The ears are still not visible but they are now busy developing.

Your uterus should now be about the size of an egg as the baby is still only approximately 3cm. If you are already feeling like you are getting thicker than this around your tummy it may be due to the fact that your gut is inflated or that you are now retaining a lot of fluid.

The development of the baby's hand now progresses quickly and by the 48th day the left hand will be formed with the right hand following three days later. 

Look at those little hands! So cute! (pregnology.com)

pregnology.com

  
The feet are also developing quicker now and by the 60th day both will be almost complete.


It is normal during pregnancy for your nose to run or to feel blocked and stuffy. This is due to the excess hormones which are now circulating around your body. You may even find your nose bleeds more than usual. 

pregnology.com

After this week the baby will no longer be called an embryo but will be termed a fetus." Info courtesy of pregnology.com



Mommy is definitely feeling like even though her month long cold has finally quit, that it is tough to breathe, especially in warm dry places (like my office!).


Week 8 - the size of a raspberry! 
"By the end of this week your baby will be almost 2 inches long and the back of the brain is clearly visible through the tissue of the head. The baby's sex will be determined this week with the testes of a boy or the ovaries of a girl being created with the difference in both being visible.

pregnology.com

This week the baby's body is also hard at work on the bones and joints and although at present there is only cartilage, in a few weeks real bones will be made and the skeleton will begin to take shape. Although there are at present only tiny phalanges connected by a membrane, it is still possible to count the tiny fingers of your baby. The baby's heart now beats rapidly and his brains begin to function. The baby now has eyes but no irises and his eyelids have not yet formed meaning his eyes are always open but he sees nothing.

Although your baby can move around now you still won't be able to feel it. You may find you gain more weight now, not because of the size of your uterus but because the pregnancy hormone hCG causes your intestines to swell a little." Info courtesy of pregnology.com
Week 7 - the size of a blueberry! 
"You are now only 7 weeks pregnant but your baby is growing at an astonishing rate of about 1mm per day. In comparison to the rest of the body, the head is now still very big and will remain like this for a while yet. A few weeks ago your baby looked like a tadpole but now he already resembles a tiny person with the stumps of arms and legs and the buttons where his hands and feet will be. By the end of this week your baby will be approximately 7 to 9mm and the palms of his hands will be visible.

pregnology.com

The baby's heart has now grown larger and the construction of the brain and spinal cord is almost complete although they have a long way to go until they are the correct size and in the right place. The muscles of the embryo are now so advanced he can move by himself. The genitals of the baby are not yet visible but they are growing. The baby also now has nostrils." Info courtesy of pregnology.com

As each week passes, I get more excited about all the milestones we will be hitting. I am looking forward to the end of the first trimester and enjoying finally telling people we are expecting. I have been thinking of some ideas for announcing our special news around Easter but haven't decided quite yet. I'll save that for when we actually share. We love you pumpkin and are so excited!
As for Oliver - well, we haven't told him exactly that we are having a baby since we don't want him telling people but we have started to talk about babies. We asked Oliver the other day what he would think about having a baby come live with us in our house and he said, "um, I don't think so" - ever so casually. ha ha. Mommy has a few Willow Tree figurines, one of a pregnant woman, one of parents holding their baby, another of a couple hugging and a little angel. Oliver looked at the pregnant one and had some questions when I said there was a baby in the mommy's belly and that is where he grew. We started the conversation about how Ollie was a seed that grew inside mommy - he thought it was the coolest thing.  We also received a sample baby bottle at the doctor's office and when I brought it home Oliver wanted to play with it. We talked about babies and feeding them with bottles. He has been feeding "baby" Mickey with the bottle - it is adorable! I am sure he is going to be a great big brother to you!  
We love you pumpkin!
Love,
mommy

6 week check in!

Dear pumpkin,
The past two weeks have seemed to fly by! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. Your Daddy was offered a new job at a laboratory in Burlington, which is a really exciting opportunity for us. This means that Daddy will now be dropping Oliver off at daycare and you too when you come along. It is exciting that he'll be around in the morning now and we can spend some family time together then too. 

We also had Auntie Jocelyn's surprise 30th birthday party last weekend (why I didn't have time to write). She was very surprised and excited! During that time we felt like we should tell your T-Craig and Shaina and T- Mary because if they saw that Mommy was not enjoying a celebratory glass of wine, that they might guess. So we had Oliver wear his big brother T-shirt again and when he woke up from nap we had them come in and see him before he got dressed for the party. Well...that didn't go as well as you'd expect...he was a little cranky being woken up by so many people. And as you can imagine - EVERYONE was so excited to hear about our newest addition to our family!

 Last week you did some serious growing -

photo courtesy of pregnology.com

 
 According to Pregnology.com:

"This is another important week in the development of your baby as the construction of the heart and the central nervous system will now begin. It is amazing how only in these first few weeks your baby has transformed from a single fertilised egg to an embryo with arms and legs already beginning to form. Last week your baby resembled a tadpole and now the tiny stems where the arms and legs will grow are already visible. As big as a grain or rice, around 2mm the baby is now visible to the naked eye.

An ultrasound scan can now already distinguish between the head and the tailbone and the spine will start developing. The tiny heart will begin to beat around this time, very slowly and carefully."

It is so exciting to think about your heart beating even though you're only as big as an apple seed! Growing a baby is such a miracle and I am in constant awe of it.  It's also amazing to think of your little head forming, knowing that in just a few months I will be putting so many little kisses atop that head. You are loved so much already my sweet baby.

Your Daddy seems to think you are a girl - already! Since he was correct with Oliver, maybe he has some super powers, who knows! 

So far, Mommy has been feeling very limited symptoms of pregnancy - sore breasts, some mild cramping in my uterus and mostly REALLY REALLY thirsty! I have had some acne flare up just like with Oliver,and a little bit of nausea at dinner, but mostly I feel ok in the pregnancy department. Unfortunately, I am going on week 4 of a really drawn out cold. I spent some time at home this week from work with Oliver because both of us were sick. Ollie is feeling better, but it just keeps on sticking with me. I am resting a lot and drinking lots of water, so hopefully we can kick this soon.

This week your Grandma came to visit us and bring us some dinner. We sort of spontaneously told her at dinner - without any planning - so no shirt or anything! She of course is really excited and surprised and sworn to secrecy!

This week we also took the first of our belly pictures for your scrapbook. There isn't much of anything there at the moment, but it is really neat to see the progression from 6 weeks until 40 (or 41/42!). You are the size of a sweet pea this week. Here are some details and pictures about your development.

photo courtesy of pregnology.com

 According to pregnology.com:
"Week 6 is a very busy week for your baby as it grows to approximately 5mm from head to tail. As well as growing the head, neck, eyes and ears of your baby will be formed this week. At first the eyes are far apart, almost on the sides of the head.

The baby's heart will be beating a little stronger now and he has limited circulation. This doesn't mean however that the blood pumps throughout the body, it is still too early for that. However the basis of the circulatory system is formed now and this will continue to grow and develop over the coming weeks. Although the heart is now beating it will be many more weeks before your baby would be able to survive on his own outside your body.

Did you know that your baby makes his own blood and can therefore have a different blood type from you?

photo courtesy of pregnology.com

The short stems which grew last week will now become more pronounced and it is here that the arms and legs of your baby will grow from. The development of the internal organs such as the kidney, liver and gastrointestinal tract is already under way and the brain of your baby continues to develop steadily. The jaws of his mouth are now formed and tiny buttons will indicate where his teeth will be formed." 


Yesterday, Mommy went to a Pregnancy and Baby Expo with a friend of mine, Stephanie. When we arrived, Stephanie shared that she was 12 weeks pregnant and I instantly shared with her that I was 6 weeks - after all we had both suspected the other may be pregnant given that we were thinking about attending the Expo.  It was really fun - we had great iced tea that we couldn't get enough of and explored lots of vendors, signing up for giveaways at every turn. We also chat with some great people and got some great info. I was especially interested in hypno-birthing given that the tools your daddy and I used from our child-birth class with Oliver weren't especially helpful to us when things became really painful.

I am sure the word you will see most over the course of the next 30 some weeks will be the word excited - because I can't exactly find the right word to express all of the joy, anticipation and awe I am feeling as you grow each day. I hope that when you read that word, you can get a sense of how it really is so powerful a love and joy from the moment I took the test until the moment you are born. And then, as if I thought I couldn't love you more...I will fall in love with you all over in a whole different, overwhelming way when you're born. 

I love you pumpkin, 
Mommy