Baby's first pictures!

Last night's marathon appointment went great. I saw a sonographer, a CNS and a midwife. So far so good for both me and the little one. Everything seems to be well. I have to admit, I wasn't prepared for how amazing it would be to see the little one moving around in there for the first time. You don't realize how much they move at this stage because they're so small and you can't feel it.


So - without further ado - Baby G's first pictures! (He/she is 3.17 cm in length from crown to rump and the heart is beating at a strong 167 BPM.)

10W5D

I can't believe I forgot this...

I forgot to share the daddy-to-be gift I gave Shaun a few weeks back! I was at the Hallmark store with it in mind to pick up a particular Willow Tree figurine I'd had my eye on for some time, but then I saw this one and chose it instead. It's called "our gift."

It looks great next to the one that my mother in law bought us as an engagement gift. I'm glad I picked that out, as it served as a combination anniversary gift as well. Since we're now saving for baby's arrival, we decided to keep things simple for that occasion on Friday. We enjoyed a good lunch at Fiorentino's followed by catching a matinee showing of Twilight. We made a special dinner at home and relaxed on the couch watching Harry Potter movies and recovering from our bouts with the cold. Not ideal by any means, but a great day none the less.

10 Weeks...

And we've reached the size of a prune! (For anyone who knows a bit about pregnancy symptoms, yes this is indeed a bit ironic.) But I chuckle and try to go on with the daily grind knowing that most of that should be subsiding in just a few more weeks.

This morning was particularly tough for me. Emotionally I'm just starting to come to grips with some of the changes I'm seeing in myself. Looking at my expanding waistline and extremely broken out skin in the mirror was really unpleasant. I guess it would be one thing if I actually looked pregnant, but right now I just look fat and acne prone. Anyone who would give me the once over right now would probably just think I've put on a few holiday pounds and stopped washing my face. I've found myself wondering if one of those "Does this baby make me look fat?" t-shirts would help me at all. Then at least the excuse would be apparent.

Anyhow, the baby seems to be doing great so far, even though I can't shake that anxious feeling. I'm sure he/she is doing flips in there and hopping around even though I can't feel it yet. We'll see for sure on Wednesday. First we have to endure the long, boring education session tonight. *yawn* Here's hoping I can stay awake. I knew I should have scheduled it earlier in the day so that I would be fresher and more apt to keep my eyes open. I wanted to be sure that Shaun was going to be able to come with me though, so I made it for after work. We're going to have to go home, inhale some dinner and hit the road to get there by 5:30 in the afternoon rush hour traffic.

One more quick note before I go... congratulations to our friends Laura and Jess who welcomed their son Tyler Rhys to the world yesterday morning (12/14/08 at 8:11 am)! Tyler was born approximately 7 weeks early via C-Section and weighed in at a bruising 4 pounds, 4 ounces! He is 18 inches long. Mom and baby are both doing great. Sending good thoughts to the new family that everyone can go home healthy very soon!

I'll be back later this week to post ultrasound pictures!

10W2D

Olives (or Grapes) and Graduations

Well, the little bean is now olive (or grape - depending on your source) sized and chugging along. Nearly an inch in length and growing like a weed! I'm starting to feel that in my waistbands too. Thankfully, I was able to snag two brand new Bella Bands for an unbelievable $28 from eBay. I am hoping they will help me stay in my pre-pregnancy clothes as long as possible! It kills me to look at my closet and think about how badly I could use a few pairs of work pants... but I just DON'T want to spend money on any clothing right now!

In any case, Baby G also graduated this week; we have survived the Embryo stage and the little one is now cosidered a Fetus. Yay for little steps forward! Only 9 more days now until I get to see them via ultrasound. I really CAN NOT WAIT!

You know, it's amazing the things you take for granted in life. Like the ability to take NyQuil when you feel like crap. Oh I miss it! I've been fighting with a cold since Friday (when I woke up with a sore throat) and I haven't been sleeping well on account of it. Last night I decided to take a chance and take one Tylenol PM before I went to bed; I REALLY needed the sleep! That put me right out, but I woke up at 2 am and spent the next hour tossing and turning. I was going to get up and go downstairs, but Shaun insisted I stay put. I did manage to get back to sleep, although the persistent tickle in my left nostril (as ridiculous as that sounds) kept waking me up. By most accounts I am OK to take Benadryl right now so I may go buy some of that to help me sleep tonight. I'll never get better if I can't rest! The green tea with honey will only do so much...

9W2D

Update on the Raspberry

Since the food theme seemed to catch on well with my family at Thanksgiving, I am going to do my best to keep up with the little one's food counterparts as it grows. I have to pull out my copy of "What to Expect..." to get the next couple of weeks' sizes.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, what a great day it was! It was so wonderful to spend time with my family; to hear about Catherine's wedding plans, to celebrate Mark's engagement and to share our news with everyone. Thankfully the little bean was also in a festive mood and I was able to eat our share (and then some...) and not feel terrible. Yippee! I had to lay down on the couch at Shaun's parents' house following our second meal, but that's to be expected at this point I suppose.

For a few days I felt pretty darn great and was really hopeful that the sickness was beginning to wane a bit and the fatigue was going to take over. Yesterday I got a hearty dose of both. I guess it's not so bad that my body waited until 8 weeks to give me a real stomach upheaval. I napped on the couch quite a bit yesterday; and as a consequence, I didn't sleep very well last night. I feel bad for Shaun. I am totally no fun right now. With our anniversary a mere 11 days away, I have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to keep myself upright long enough for us to do something fun that day.

In other news, we looked at the numbers last night, and after a bit of discussion we came to the conclusion that now is probably not the best time for us to consider moving. It seems like once the baby is born that it's going to become infinitely harder, but right now the financial side of it just doesn't add up the way we thought it did at first. It sort of stinks, but we're OK with it for now. As long as we're able to find, purchase and move into our forever home before Baby G is ready to start school, it will work out just fine. If nothing else, our house got a hearty dose of sprucing up over the long weekend, and it feels great to have accomplished so much. I guess that means we're back on the designing the nursery train. I still haven't seen the bedding I think we're going to go with in person, which makes me nervous. I want to see that so we can make sure the paint doesn't totally conflict. But I have plenty of time to fuss over that... yeesh, 8 weeks along and the nesting urge is already taking over.

So all in all things are going well. Just over 2 weeks from now we'll get to see our little one for the first time and hopefully hear the heart beat as well. I'm so excited for that appointment; it will make this seem that much more real. It seemed so far away when we made the appointment, I can't believe it's almost here now!

8W2D