Our Fetal Heart Doppler

After our scary trip to the ER I asked Shaun if we should buy or rent a fetal heart doppler so we could listen to the baby's heart whenever we wanted to be reassured. We decided it would be more cost effective to buy the Hi Bebe Doppler from amazon.com. We got it in the mail Tuesday and tried to listen Tuesday and Wednesday after work and didn't hear anything. We both knew it was early and we weren't concerned, but we figured we'd keep trying every couple of days. Shaun and I were both home sick today with some sort of sore throat bug we caught, so around 3:00 we figured we'd give it another try. I tried for a little by myself and Shaun finally came in and took over. BAM! 169 beats per minute! It was the beautiful faint sound of our babies heart.

Tomorrow I will be exactly 11 weeks. That means we only have about 29 more weeks before we meet this baby of ours.

I'm 10 Weeks Today!

Morning Sickness: The morning sickness (all day) has really let up, the only time I feel it is in the car. I get carsick like crazy now for some reason, but only if I'm the passenger, if I drive I'm ok. Too bad I'd rather Shaun drive 90% of the time!

Dreaded Weight Gain: I've put on a little weight, and bought a pair of maternity jeans. Let me tell you....I may never wear regular clothes again! They are the most comfortable thing in the whole world, and people that don't know I'm pregnant around the office complement me on them because 1. they can't tell they are maternity and 2. they are super cute!

The Cravings: I've been super moody and the cravings are just starting to kick in full force. About a week ago Shaun and I were IMing back and fourth, the conversation went something like this:

Jess: I NEED Chocolate NOW
Shaun: Why? Did the doctor tell you to eat it?
Jess: Ummm, no I'm just craving it. But let's pretend the doctor does need me to eat it right now.

I thought it was pretty funny :)

Odd Pregnancy Surprises: I've been having awful sciatic nerve pain, mostly to the right of my tailbone, but when I lie down at night or get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom it shoots down my leg like a lightning bolt. I'll be talking to my doctor about this for our next appointment.



Here's a little bit about what's going on with our baby right now. By the end of Week 10, your baby graduates from embryo to fetus, which literally means "little one." It also translates to "I'm just going to keep getting bigger and bigger and so are you!" Other highlights this week:

Your baby has finally morphed from a little tadpole into, well, a baby. Not only is the face more human-like, but that unflattering "tail" (really just the developing spinal cord) has disappeared, fusing into the spinal column.

Your baby now has discernible fingers and toes, which will explain the steady stream of kicks and punches you'll feel down the line.

Junior's skeleton is starting to grow and harden. The ears are beginning to take shape and the eyelids are no longer transparent. Tooth buds are forming, although your baby won't get any teeth until six or seven (or eight or nine or 10) months after birth.

Baby's brain will make an incredible 25,000 new neurons every minute this week. While you may feel like you're losing as many as he's gaining, we can assure you it's not permanent. "Pregnancy brain," like nausea and bloating, is a temporary symptom that soon shall pass. (And then you'll get "Mommy brain," but we won't go there now.)

If you're baby is a boy, he's started producing that macho hormone testosterone. And whether your baby is a boy or a girl, the kidneys are creating copious amounts of urine. Lucky for you, you won't have to change a diaper for another 30 weeks.

Baby weighs only 4 grams and measures 1½ inches, about the size of a mondo Brazil nut.

Our scary trip to the ER

Sunday was like any other Sunday. I was extra tired and having some cramping, but I wasn't worried until I went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding. Not the "Oh, pink or brown spotting can be normal during pregnancy." It was super scary bleeding. I googled as much as I could, talked with Shaun and decided it was probably a good idea to go to the ER.

I didn't expect our trip to be short, but gawd it was LOOOOOONG. First they took about a gallon of blood (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration) and made me pee in a cup so they could do a pregnancy test. Then the put us in a exam room and we waited...and waited...and waited until a very nice doctor who knew very little about obstetrics came in and gave me the most violent pelvic exam EVER. Not only was it extremely violent, but she didn't know if my cervix was open or closed (open would have meant we were miscarrying and there would have been nothing they could do except "send me home and let nature take it's course") so she called a nurse over and asked for her opinion...it was closed. She told me since it was closed they were sending me for an ultrasound to find the cause of the bleeding.

When we got to the ultrasound room much later, the tech told us she wouldn't be able to tell us if it was good or bad, but the doctor would read the results later. She did an external and I figured it was a bad sign when she told me she needed to do a transvaginal ultrasound. She had me empty my bladder and I whispered to Shaun to look for a baby flickering because she told us she couldn't say anything.

After a couple of minutes she let me know that everything looked fine, which was so incredible to hear after being so scared. She took tons of measurements and asked me if I wanted to see the baby. DUH, of course I did! For the first time that scary scary night, when I cried it was happy tears. It was the most amazing feeling every to see the little baby nestled in the corner and it's little flickering heart beating so fast.

We were sent on our way and waited in the exam rooms for the doctor to come and tell us that our baby was measuring further along than we thought (8 weeks 2 days) and our new estimated due date is Feb 20! Our baby's heartbeat was 163 beats per minute, which the nurse said was a great heartbeat! The doctor told us though that miscarriage was still a possibility and we needed to follow up with our doctor to figure out the cause of the bleeding. He put me on bed rest for 1 day, pelvic rest for 3 weeks and I'm anxious to hear what our OB has to say on Wednesday for our appointment.

I am glad we went, I was sure we were miscarrying on the way to the ER and although my fears aren't 100% put to rest, I was so happy we got to see our little beautiful baby. I'm still anxious to tell people, but I'm glad we've waited and we'll probably wait until our doctor gives us the OK. Hopefully we'll get pictures of our baby at our next ultrasound which we will schedule this Wednesday.

We have a fetus

I am 7 weeks 1 day and my baby is now considered a fetus and not just an embryo. This feels like quite the milestone although Shaun and I are still referring to our baby as "shrimpy" because that's what it's looked like up to this point. I've been nauseated throughout the day, every morning I've woken up feeling hungover, I'm moody as hell, and I already have to pee so often that I think people around the office are getting suspicious.

Here's a little bit more on what's going on in week 7
* Elbows form - Taking a peek inside you could see your baby's fascination with bending and flexing. Later you will swear you can enlist your child as the star of the next "Karate Kid" movie!
* Fingers start to develop - These digits often become your baby's first toy!
* Feet start to appear with tiny notches for the toes - It is fascinating that at less than a half inch, your little guy (or gal) already is leaving "footprints" on your heart!
* Ears eyes and nose start to appear - Although they may resemble an alien life form, these all "shift" soon enough into a more normal appearance.
* Intestines start to form in the umbilical cord - Did you know that initially the intestines are not formed inside your baby's body?
* Teeth begin to develop under the gums - Thankfully, right now you won't be dealing with teething pain!

Almost 7 weeks

We're almost 7 weeks and getting excited about our next appointment. I've been on a emotional ride with a lot more downs than ups (poor Shaun), but I'm hoping things get better. Our next appointment is at exactly 8 weeks and we'll have another ultrasound shortly after that. Hopefully we'll see a little baby blob this time instead of a sac. Here's little blurb about what's happening at 6 weeks 6 days.