Week 14 -- 2nd Trimester!

I'm finally in the second trimester! I'm so relieved to be past the first trimester -- to many worries during those three months! Now I get to look forward to feeling the baby move for the first time and finding out whether we're having a he or a she. :)

Our baby is now the size of my fist and by the end of this week will be close to the size of a softball. In the last week, I've become super hungry. I pretty much feel like I have to eat every 2 hours or so. It's amazing! I've never felt so attached to eating before. Although most people wouldn't be able to tell I'm pregnant in my regular clothes, I can tell more. Plus, my abdomen itches a lot now. I go through much more lotion than I used to. My clothes aren't fitting as well anymore and I'm much more comfortable now in maternity pants. I don't think I've "popped" yet as I can't see a bump when I lay on my back but I'm getting there. Soon!

I recently checked the lunar calendar for 2008. Looks like there is supposed to be a full moon on May 20th, 4 days before my due date. They say many women give birth on a full moon -- we'll have to see if I go early! Still such a long way off though.

Week 13

My last week of the First Trimester!!! My pregnancy through the first trimester has been wonderful. Only minor nausea and no "all out" morning sickness (Emile wants me to state that the turkey burger he made for dinner once made me gag and we haven't had turkey burgers since), some moodiness (although Emile may think there's been more than that), a lot of stretching feelings in my abdomen, very tired especially the last week or so, and only the average weight gain for the first trimester. I've been keeping up with my 4.5 mile walks on the weekends and trying to get in either pilates or yoga once or twice during the week. We had three ultra sounds (one which you couldn't see as much detail in but could see our baby's heart beating away again). The best part of the first trimester was seeing and hearing our baby's heart beat for the first time and watching him/her turn around during out last ultra sound (NT scan).

At the end of the first trimester, our baby is now the size of a peach, and has started to resemble a baby with well formed fingers and toes! Our baby's vocal cords have begun to develop, and more and more of the organs are functioning every day. All twenty baby teeth are formed beneath the gums. Our baby's bone marrow, liver and spleen have taken over the production of red blood cells. Although our baby's intestines were originally formed inside the umbilical cord, they are now moving into the abdomen. Fuzzy hair is beginning to form on our baby's head and is white (unpigmented) right now.

There are a lot of great things coming up in the next trimester. We will be finding out the sex of our baby soon! At some point during this trimester, I'll really start showing with a "baby bump" and I'll begin feeling the baby move around and kick! We can't wait!

Week 12 -- 3 Months!

We have finally hit the 3 month mark. I feel really relieved and excited to tell everyone our wonderful news! Time to let the cat out of the bag! (I doubt Picus and Ashley like that saying). We started to telling our extended family and friends already. My plan is to tell my boss on Monday -- that should be interesting given my strained relationship with him. Now I'll be able to find out the specific details our ENVIRON's and New Jersey's maternity leave policy.

Yesterday, I had my first appointment with my new doctor, Dr. Jin. She's great! I really liked her. It's not the same as my previous doctor who had a private practice and thus, I never had to wait in the waiting room -- now back to a waiting room but it was pretty quick. Dr. Jin did the normal checks of my body, took my blood pressure and weight. She answered all my questions, and unlike my last doctor, gave me a list of recommended drugs if I got sick (cold, flu, etc.). Dr. Jin took blood samples (about 7 vials) to check for all the normal genetic items (cystic fibrosis etc.) and my Rh blood type (given I'm type O negative blood this could be something I'll need to get a preventative shot for at 28 weeks). Now that I'm at the end of the first trimester she also gave me a flu shot. She also did another ultrasound (my 2nd in one week!) which was great because I got to see your baby again and confirm the heartbeat was still ticking away (you can never see that enough). Unfortunately, her in-office machine doesn't have nearly the resolution as the other machines so the photos aren't even worth putting up here. My next appointment is December 6th.

Today, Emile and I decided to go to Babies "R" Us and start putting together a registry. I can honestly say we were both so overwhelmed with all the choices that we only registered for about 15 things. We have no idea how to choose what's the safest and best product for our baby. Emile and I are going to start researching one item at a time (car seat, high chair, etc.) and add it on-line as we figure out. For the other items, I think I'll be checking out the registry my mom and sister put together for us to get more ideas. When my mom comes in town in December, we'll have to head back to add more. It was pretty overwhelming.

A little over a week till the Second Trimester!

NT Scan

Emile and I went in for my NT Scan this morning. This is an ultrasound they do to check for the probability that our baby could have Down Syndrome. Given that I'm over 30 my doctor recommended it. Although they have to confirm the results of the ultrasound with my blood test, the technician indicated the ultrasound readings were within normal range! What a relief! I'm was pretty freaked out going in. In addition to this great news, we also got to see our baby again! :) What a change since 8 weeks 3 days! We could see the arms and legs in more detail and even the baby's fingers. He/she even moved around a lot - turned his/her back to us a few times :) It was wonderful! The heart was kicking away at 160 bpm. This time technician turned the sound on and we could hear our baby's heartbeat! It was fabulous! Our next ultrasound will be the Big One to find out the gender! Time's flying by!

Our baby with his/her hand near his/her mouth.

What a difference from the u/s at 8w3d -- So many more features are formed!

Week 11

I'm 11 weeks pregnant today. I can't wait to be in the 2nd trimester -- only 2 1/2 weeks to go. :) I'm definitely starting to feel like I'm filling out more. The weight gain is going to be a struggle for me emotionally but I know it's important for our baby. Hopefully, I'll end up looking like those cute pregnant women we seeing walking around NYC. I think my 4.5 mile walks on Saturday and Sunday will help. :)

I can definitely feel my abdomen stretching more, especially in the last few days. And I've become incredibly tired -- cleaning the apartment and doing dishes now wears me out. I'm expecting it to only get worse.

My mom and sister went to USA Baby today -- sounds like they had a lot of fun looking for things we may like for the baby and checking out cribs we're interested. I think Emile and I may head to Baby's R Us in a few weekends to start registering for non-gender specific items. At least this way we'll have a list for ourselves of items we need so we can buy a few items every week or so.