Bittersweet Goodbye!!

Well today we had our last appointment with Dr. Schnell. This whole experience has been so crazy that it was sad to leave. Dr. S gave me a hug before we left and it took everything in me not to start crying. She has given us such a gift and I could never thank her enough for what she has done for us. Everyone in that office has been so helpful and patient with us that we couldn't have asked for a better situation.

Onto funner things. We had our 10 week ultrasound today. The baby looks perfect. It was moving all over the place. One time it looked like it literally ran and hid from the ultrasound. The baby is about 1.5 inches long. At one point it had it's little arm over it's eyes. We saw both lobes of the brain and it's arms and legs and I even made out a tiny foot. She was even able to go ahead and do a Nuchal translucency test. This test uses ultrasound to measure the clear space in the folds of tissue behind a developing baby's neck. It needed to be less than 3 mm and it was a little over 1mm. This test is a screening for Down Syndrome so that is one thing we are for sure in the clear on. It was very exciting seeing our precious little child actually looking like a baby. Please continue to pray that everything stays on track and progresses as it should. Here's our little one.
Lori- Heart rate was 164 bpm. Are you so sure about the sex now??? I'm stumped!

Also whoever it was that left me a comment on my technical difficulties post.....reveal yourself. You forgot to leave your name. I LOVE comments but I like to know who they are from :)

Bruises

This is what my bare belly looks like. Yeah I know not everybody wants to see it, but it's my blog and I get to post what I want. I want record of what I went through to get this baby here. My stomach is bruised from the lovenox (blood thinner) shots. Why on blood thinner you ask? To keep the lining of my uterus "fluffy" so the baby keeps hanging on.

We have an ultrasound tomorrow. Nervous and excited about it. Hopefully we will get to hear the heartbeat. Anyway just a quick post.

10 weeks

Email update for 10 weeks:

How your baby's growing:Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature. He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

Happy Birthday Courtney!!

Courtney turned 4 and we had a family birthday party for her at Chuck E. Cheese. She had a blast opening presents, eating cake and playing games with Madi, Uncle Terry and Papa. I'm having a hard time believing she has already turned 4. My how time flies!!!




Here I am!! 9 weeks and 4 days. My stomach was sticking out but I had also just eaten 4 pieces of pizza. When I wake up in the morning I don't look pregnant but by the end of the day I DO!!

Little Grape

Here is my email update for this week. I know I missed a few but you can read what the little grape is doing now. And remember this is from an email I am NOT the one calling this baby she and her. I still call "it", "it" or baby.



Your pregnancy: 9 weeks

How your baby's growing:Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.See what's going on in your uterus this week.

Not Much to Report!

Well I thought I would post a quick update. My blog has suddenly gotten very boring. Actually I think that is a good thing. Everything is very normal. I am still feeling good. Still hungry and sleepy. My belly is starting to pop out a little. I need to get Terry to take some pictures. I tried to do it myself but it didn't work out very well.

I haven't told my staff at work and certainly not any of the kids. My office knows but none of the teachers know. Well yesterday morning we had pictures, assembly, then Clyde (assistant principal) and I had to go to a funeral for one of our teachers fathers. So as I was watching the kids take pictures I happen to mention to one of our pregnant teens that I needed to go eat before the day got started or it would be lunchtime before I got to eat anything. I went back to my office and scarfed down my cereal and then walked back out into the hall. This student that I had been talking to comes walking through about that time and says "Mrs. Richards you look pregnant, you must be really full." I started laughing, Mrs. Jacobs (she knows) was standing there and nearly fell over. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to hide this for much longer. I plan on telling the staff after the next ultrasound which is in a little over a week. I think this student suspects that I am pregnant because she has asked me at least twice in the last couple of weeks when I'm going to have kids.

Anyway that's all I've got for now. Keep praying for this little miracle inside me. Pray for it's health and that it continues to grow and develop as it should.

Little Baby

Here is the ultrasound I promised a week ago. The arrow is pointing to the actual baby. The circular looking thing to the right of it is the yolk sac. Pretty cool. Of course now the baby has doubled in size. It is now the size of a blueberry.

So far I haven't had throwing up morning sickness but I sure have been nauseated a few times. I felt pretty rotten this morning so I decided to take saltine crackers in the car with me. Word of advice: Never put stale saltine crackers in your mouth when you are pregnant (or not). I didn't realize they were stale, oh my goodness, that was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted. Thank goodness I had an empty Kleenex box in the car to spit it out into. DISGUSTING!! That was definitely the closest I've come to throwing up and with good reason. Other than that I am dead tired ALL the time but it gets really bad right after lunch. Of course when you stuff yourself, that can wear a person out. Food is still an obsession at this point. So much so that today while I should have been concentrating on the meeting I was having with our LPC, a police officer, and a student who is being abused by her boyfriend all I could think about was a Breakfast Jack from Jack-in-the-Box. I know, I know, BAD school counselor. I only zoned out for a minute or so and she was totally being listened to by the important folks. Needless to say I did eat a Breakfast Jack for lunch..........and a Supreme Croissant. YUMMY!!

Well that's all I have for now. I need to go take a nap or eat something :)

Ultrasound

Well yesterday was our ultrasound day. I was so nervous going into it. I kept having crazy thoughts that something bad had happened. So when I got on the table for the ultrasound I was almost in tears. Terry was holding my hand as she started the ultrasound. She confirmed how many embryos had been put back and started looking around. At first I freaked because I didn't see anything then she said "well I just see one gestational sac." As she said this Terry and I both saw the heart beating and burst into tears. That was definitely on the top of my list of awesome experiences. The baby's heart is beating at 122 beats per minute and is 6.1mm long, (not the heart, the baby). It's a tiny little thing but working hard. I go back for another ultrasound in 4 weeks and if everything is ok I will be headed back to the OB. Everything looks great so far. I still worry, I can't help it. I suppose that is what I will do until I die, now that there is a child on the way. Mom still worries about us and I'm sure the grandmothers still worry about their kids. I will post the picture of the ultrasound when I get home today, if I can peel myself off of the couch for a few minutes. So check back for Baby's second picture.

6 weeks. WOHOO!!

This is my email update for this week!!!

How your baby's growing: This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.