Thursday, September 30, 2010

10 weeks.

Today marks 10 weeks exactly. Hush Puppy is 10 weeks along and theoretically prune sized. I'm (at least) 1/4 of the way done with this pregnancy. 1 more week until the placenta takes over the hormones and morning sickness (supposedly) starts to ease up. Three weeks until I'm out of this trimester. Maybe then I'll have some energy back. The past couple of days have actually been pretty good, and I haven't thrown up since Monday, so that's huge. I woke up this morning feeling great, wanted corn flakes for breakfast (which we didn't have) and by the time I got to work I was feeling less than grand. I'm currently sucking desperately on a B-Natal sucker hoping that will help, but so far it just makes my mouth all cherry-y.

I did have a dream that instead of the doppler we got from a friend it was an u/s and I watched Hush Puppy do the robot. It was rather amusing.

Monday, September 27, 2010

9 Weeks.

How Far along: 9 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: -3 (Yep, that's -3 in one week. Whee.) 

Maternity clothes: Nope but that rubber band is doing a great job holding up my pants. When I'm wearing real pants, that is. This weekend I lived in yoga pants.

Sleep: Yes, please. Although I've had to start putting a pillow between my knees.

Best Moment this week: The brief respite after vomiting.

Movement: N/A

Gender: Girl?

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Food does not agree with me. I've "craved" cream of wheat and a Vietnamese noodle bowl, and waffles, only one of which stayed down. Care to guess which?

What I miss: Wanting food/to eat, and not feeling constantly queasy, vomity, or hungry. Feeling normal. Not feeling completely demoralized by pregnancy sickness. Keeping down more than 1/3 of what I eat. Being able to just play with my son without feeling like I'm going to pass out or throw up on him.

Stretch Marks: No new ones but my old ones are definitely easier to see as my belly distends.

What is different this time around: How very sick I am. The fact that my hips are already spreading, evident by the pillow I must sleep with between my knees so I don't wake up in agony.

What I am looking forward to this week: Zofran? Please? Because Reglan does not to a fucking thing other than cause diarrhea, interact with Tylenol (?!) and be bad for people with a history of depression. Have I mentioned that I hate Kaiser?

Picture to come later. Sorry for the rather bleak update, I just feel like shit and I'm so over it. Can I just sleep til April?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

A Post About The Boy

I have been sorely neglecting to post about J lately, as you may have noticed. He's still very cute and sweet. He loves the baby (and likes to poke my belly and say "Baby in dere.")

He's way into airplanes. We just got him Richard Scarry's A Day At The Airport (thanks, Swagbucks!), and it's the new must read bedtime book. The other night after reading this book twice, then reading Goodnight Moon and then Woof's Bedtime (okay, gotta say, I don't know who would pay $122 for a children's board book, but that's what Amazon says...), J decided he needed some more stuffed animals in his bed. His bed is small, it's a toddler bed. So what did he do? He proceeded to carefully select every single stuffed animal he owns and pile it onto his bed, interspersed by things like "Oh, George!" or "Oh, Broncos Monkey!" and bringing them to his bed. I finally had to clear a nest for him in the middle so he would fit. I think my mommy authority was somewhat negated by the fact that after about 10 animals I was laughing too hard to sincerely tell him that was enough.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Musings

Morning sickness sucks and I hate it. I am glad it's not worse but I seriously hate it. I never puked every day with J. I guess it's time to admit that it's worse this time around, just the puking kicked in later. I have had nausea since I got my positive test, so ick.

B-Natal vitamin B suckers are very nice. I hadn't been using them the past few days but remembered to grab some this morning. It helps, I think.

One of my coworkers (whom I hadn't told yet, I just hadn't gotten around to it) guessed this morning. I guess I should tell my boss soon.

J said "hello" and "goodbye" to the baby this morning. Hello was patting my belly, goodbye was a kiss on my belly. It was very cute.

I woke up in the middle of the night last night with a headache. I still have the headache. I think I may try taking some Tylenol at this point. Ugh.

Morning sickness supposedly starts to go away at 11 weeks. That's in just a little over 2 weeks. I can make it.
Of course, I was still puking with J til 14 weeks.

Monday, September 20, 2010

8 weeks!




How Far along: 8 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: +0 

Maternity clothes: Nope but my pants have been held together with a rubber band for almost a week now.

Sleep: Yes, please. Can't get enough of it.

Best Moment this week: In the morning, when I really, really have to pee so my bladder is totally full, my ute gets pushed up so I can feel it. It's awesome. Other than that it's all been pretty decent aside from the nausea.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still thinking girl.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still experiencing an aversion to food in general. BLTs and bacon are still good. BBQ is still good. I did have a craving for lettuce on Friday. Random food and laboratory odors are not, and may make me vomit.

What I miss: Wanting food/to eat, and not feeling constantly queasy or hungry. Also, not having puked.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: The constant nausea with occasional puking, the total lack of meat aversion (LOVE this). Also the fact that I have a very definite bump, even if it is just bloat.

What I am looking forward to this week: Maybe the nausea will go away this week? Otherwise I'm looking forward to Thursday when my weeks roll over. Interestingly, they rolled over on Thursdays with J, too.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

I Just Watched "Pregnant in America"

Every woman who has ever had, considered having, is going to have, or loves someone who is going to have a baby needs to see this movie. I have a lot more to say about this, but it will have to wait until tomorrow because if I don't go to bed now I am going to need to eat something and I don't really want to eat anything else today, and if I don't eat or sleep soon I will likely puke and I really don't want to do that. Anyway, see this movie. You won't regret it. I guess they have a website, too, www.pregnantinamerica.com, that is probably interesting.

To be continued...

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Bacon: The Cure for What Ails Ya

Assuming, of course, that what ails you is a nearly 8 week old embryo trying to make you puke multiple times a day unless you give her bacon. The puking has been staved off, huzzah!

We'll see for how long, though. If I make it all the way through today, I will be shocked.

A small aside: I work in a fragrance free place. Severely allergic and asthmatic patients come here for treatment, and therefore the staff and the patients are told to leave the perfume, scented lotion, cologne, etc AT HOME. A number of people on my floor disregard this, because they are assholes. And they don't see patients, so they think it's okay, even though they will be passing through patient areas at least twice every day. Since HP took up residence in my ute, I am even more sensitive to the stank of their fragrances than usual, which is saying something. So, assholes on my floor, consider it even that if I have to smell you, you can listen to me vomit if we happen to be in the bathroom together. I think that's fair.

Monday, September 13, 2010

7 weeks!

At my appointment last week, my due date got moved up, both because my midwives go by LMP and because HP was measuring several days ahead. My new EDD is April 28. I am going to keep doing these updates on Mondays though, because I like consistency.



How Far along: 7 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain: +0 pounds total from pre-pg, right back where I started.

Maternity clothes: Nope.

Sleep: Yes, please.

Best Moment this week: It's all been pretty decent aside from the nausea. Nothing really stands out.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still thinking girl.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: I'm still experiencing an aversion to food in general. I had a craving for a BLT a couple days ago.

What I miss: (Same as last week) Wanting food/to eat, and not feeling constantly queasy or hungry. It seems to me that this time around is much, much harder to make myself eat every 2 hours than it was with J, so I get hungry more so I feel like crap more.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: The nausea (rather than more puking like with J), the fact that the nausea peaks at midday instead of the afternoon. Also the bloat bump, though that seems to vary from day to day.
 
What I am looking forward to this week: C coming home on Saturday! I also keep hoping the nausea goes away. *sigh*

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Translating the Toddler

J communicates quite well. He has some words, however, that require translation.

Poon = Spoon (although this totally cracks me up inside)
Mo = Milk
Lotit = chocolate
Elmo = elbow (this one took me a while to figure out, as we don't really invite Elmo into our home, and I was trying to figure out why Elmo might have an owie and need a kiss)
Yorit = yogurt

Sick of Morning Sickness

I know I don't have it as bad as some, I get it. I am just sick of being nauseous, then starving, then full, then nauseous because I'm full, then queasy just because, and then hungry again. I am sick of having to eat all the frickin time. I just ate a bowl of soup 30 minutes ago, and I'm hungry again. Nothing sounds good. I am making muffinlets for dinner, but the rice isn't done cooking yet.

Plus C is gone hunting this week, so it's just J and the dogs and I. I miss having someone else around to deal with all the poop.

I also puked (first time, at least) while we were at Panera yesterday. Barely made it to the bathroom in time. Boy does it slow you down when you have to drag (yep, pretty much dragged him) your toddler to the bathroom with you. In hindsight, we should have picked a table closer to the bathrooms, but I wasn't really thinking about that.

4 more weeks. I can make it 4 more weeks. At least.

The vitamin B6 does help, as do the B-Natal vitamin B suckers. Though J keeps asking for one, and asked me "Mama, whats that sucker doing?" earlier when I was having one on the way to the grocery store. I just said that sometimes when a mommy is growing a baby it makes her tummy feel yucky, so the sucker is helping my tummy feel better. He must really want one, he tried to trade a ginger snap for my sucker this afternoon.

Friday, September 10, 2010

More like a Baby Every Day

Well, every few days, anyway. HP is now at Carnegie stage 14! (Have I mentioned that I love visembryo.com?!)





31- 35 days post-ovulation



Head and Neck
The brain and head grow rapidly. The mandibular and hyoid arches are noticeable. Ridges demarcate the three sections of the brain (midbrain, forebrain and hindbrain). The spinal cord wall at this stage contains three zones: the ventricular, the mantle and the marginal. The ventricular zone will form neurons, glial cells and ependymal cells, the intermediate mantle will form neuron clusters and the marginal zone will contain processes of neurons. Adenohypophyseal pouch, which will develop into the anterior pituitary, is defined.

Lens vesicle opens to the surface and is nestled within the opttic cup. Otic vesicle increases its size by approximately one-fourth and its endolymphatic appendage is more defined. Nasal plate can be detected by thickened ectoderm.

Thorax
Esophagus, the tube through which food is swallowed, forms from a groove of tissue that separates from the trachea, which is also visible.

Semilunar valves begin to form in the heart. Four major subdivisions of the heart (the trabeculated left and right ventricles, the conus cords and the truncus arteriosus) are clearly defined. Two sprouts, a ventral one from the aortic sac and a dorsal one from the aorta, form the pulmonary (sixth aortic) arch.

Right and left lung sacs lie on either side of the esophagus.

Abdomen and Pelvic Regions
Ureteric bud appear. Metanephros, which will eventually form the permanent kidney, is developing.

Limbs
Upper limbs elongate into cylindrically-shaped buds, tapering at tip to eventually form hand plate. Nerve distribution process, innervation, begins in the upper limbs.
 

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Teaser

I had my first appointment yesterday, all is well. One healthy vertebrate with a heartbeat. I have a new (earlier) EDD. I'll post more later.

Monday, September 6, 2010

6 weeks!


How Far along: 6 weeks!

Total weight gain: +2 pounds total from pre-pg, no difference this week at all.

Maternity clothes: No, but I'm rocking the elastic waistband comfy pants today. (Not modeled above.)

Sleep: Yes, please. Although I've been waking up at 2am starving and hot. Bleh.

Best Moment this week: Snuggling with J this morning. Not at all pg related, but it was certainly one of the highlights of my week. Aside from not having to work today.

Movement: N/A

Gender: I'm still leaning toward girl.

Labor signs: N/A

Belly button: In

Cravings/Aversions: Well, I have an aversion to food in general. Although I did just snarf  1 1/2 blueberry bagels like there was no tomorrow. It was wonderful to actually want food. And I am currently wanting some pizza, which I really am looking forward to.

What I miss: Wanting food/to eat, and not feeling constantly queasy or hungry. It seems to me that this time around is much, much harder to make myself eat every 2 hours than it was with J, so I get hungry more so I feel like crap more.

Stretch Marks: No new ones.

What is different this time around: Still the bloaty bump. As you can see in my picture from this morning, taken before anything was eaten, afternoon may or may not be when it shows up anymore. 

What I am looking forward to this week: My first appointment on Wednesday!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Dying for it all week. Finally got it for dinner last night. Heaven.

Leftovers for lunch today: 4 bites = 4 near misses, but in the end pukeless trips to the toilet.

Sigh.

Another Twin Dream

I had a dream last night that Hush Puppy was twin girls. C claims I had dreams that J was twins, but I think he's making things up because I have a pretty damn good memory and I NEVER had dreams that I was carrying/having twins until now.

I guess we'll find out soon enough how many proto-fetuses HP really is.

In the meantime, I'm not feeling so hot this morning. C and J both have colds (runny nose, sore throat, cough) and I'm feeling pukey. Lovely combination. I can hardly wait to get home this evening to experience more of that fun. I did try taking vitamin B6 this morning, but I am feeling worse now than I usually do in the morning so I'm not sure it's working. Hmm.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Hush Puppy does not like peaches. Sad. I usually (in my adult life, anyway) love peaches, and this is the season for them. I haven't been able to finish a peach in over a week. They all taste horrendous, no matter how ripe they actually are. Plus, I really want to taste coffee, but the thought of actually adding anything to my already-bloated and full tummy is kind of repulsive. If only I could just suck on some coffee.

As an aside, I'm wondering if my work is figuring anything out. You know, since I constantly have snacks in my desk and by 12 or 1 every day my belly becomes a lot more prominent than it did a couple weeks ago. Or the fact that during bronchoscopies where I have to be dressed in a hot (literally, they're like plastic bags) gown and mask I've been aiming a fan at my back so I don't overheat and puke and/or pass out. Maybe they just think I'm chubby, and that it's hot where we do bronchs, all of a sudden. We'll go with that. I think it's glaringly obvious that I'm pregnant and have a bloat baby, but then, I'm in on the secret. I don't know when I will tell them. Probably after my first ultrasound, if I can wait that long. Without like puking in the lab, I mean. Hmm. Although I do have to work with some heinous chemicals tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll ask one of my coworkers to mix up the things for me so I can have minimal contact with them. I don't want HP to have 2 heads or anything. Even if that would get him or her a show on the Discovery channel so we'd all be set for life. Birthing that would not be so fun though.

J was very cute this morning, though. He wanted to say goodbye to me and also "luffyou Mama!" and to say goodbye to HP. This involves lifting up my shirt and kissing my belly, and saying "Bye, bee" (bee means baby). Aww.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

My Baby Looks Like a...Something.

Hush Puppy, you are now at Carnegie Stage 11. This means you have a tail your eyes are beginning to develop. Mommy knows LOTS about what your eyes are doing right now, she has a whole MS degree on it. You have a heart, and it's beating, and you have the beginnings of a brain. Your big brother probably won't think you look like an elephant anymore (though you very well may, from the back). Your little somites are growing, and you thoroughly resemble a vertebrate embryo, so yay! No arms or legs yet, but be patient. You'll get them.

Crazy Pregnant Dreams

I had a dream last night that HP wasn't just one baby. Nope, he or she was quintuplets. That looked like panda bears on ultrasound. Hmm. It seemed that the quints were identical triplets and identical twins. Crazy, right? So then I proceeded to give birth, like, now. At home, but in a weird place that wasn't actually my home at all, and C just watched, and there was no pain at all. But there were only 2 babies, and the first one was bigger than the second, and they were full term and healthy. I only know it was "now" because I had a conversation about canceling my first appointment because I'd already had the babies. Nevermind that somehow I'd clearly had an appointment in order to have an ultrasound. Anyway, the gist of the dream was that there were twins, and I never definitely found out the gender. The first baby breastfed like a champ though. I *think* that the first child, the bigger one, was a boy, and actually was J because that's sort of how the dream morphed after the babies were born. The second baby, later in the dream, was a little girl that was my daughter. She was wearing a pink, white and yellow flowered dress with two teeny little pigtails on the sides of her head. She was maybe a year old at this point. Blond, like J, that golden shade that's not exactly pure blond but not quite strawberry blond either.

So that's that. I'm either having panda quints, or twins, and they may or may not be a boy and a girl.