8 weeks

I'm cruising through the week! Here's an update of the first doctor's visit: it was pretty uneventful! They took my medical history, took my urine, and took my blood. Then they gave me a bag of free magazines and ads and I made my next/first "real" appointment. We'll be able to hear the heart beat on April 15!

Some fun facts: the baby has doubled in size again! He/she is at least an inch this week, and is looking more like a person and less like an alien. The baby has arms and legs and fingers and toes that are taking their proper shape. His/her head is big and the brains are developing. I tried to find a picture of what an 8-week old fetus looks like but google had some weird/creepy stuff so I decided to forget it!

Which reminds me, the baby has also graduated from an embryo to a fetus this week! Wahoo! Fast grower.

parental realization

As the early weeks of my pregnancy pass by I'm anxiously awaiting "the safety zone" of the second trimester. Although I try not to think or stress about it, the risks of miscarriage are much higher in the first trimester, which is why the decision to announce the good news post-12 week is often made. It will be nice when I don't have to worry about that.

The other day I was sitting in the waiting room for my doctor's appointment reading a baby magazine. An article talked about helping your baby sleep well - all the do's and don'ts and preparation for a good night's sleep, etc. The article mentioned things to do to help prevent SIDS . . . another scary thought for a parent-to-be.

"Wow." I thought, "I'll sure be glad when my baby is old enough to be out of that risk group. Then I won't have to worry so much . . ."

And then it hit me. Once they are sleeping safely then I'll have to worry about them toddling into the middle of the road . . . or being snatched on their way to school . . . or choosing cigarettes over FHE . . . and the list goes on. I guess I got a tiny taste of what parents feel. Here begins a never-ending journey of constantly being concerned for the welfare of my children.

It seems like a heavy job. But I'm excited for it.

gender predictor

The results are in! At least the predictions are.

I downloaded three free gender predictor apps on my iPhone for fun. Based on the ancient Chinese calendar (and other equally reliable factors) we have:

2 predictions for a girl
and 1 prediction for a boy.

Looks like the girls have a firm lead!

seven.five

Well I'm officially seven-and-a-half weeks along. But it feels like it's time to be halfway! It's still too soon to tell everyone but I feel like I've been keeping the secret FOREVER! And all my pregnant friends/relatives seem so far ahead of me!!! But, tomorrow will be my first doc's visit, so maybe that will make things seem more real.

The great news of the week is that I'm feeling really good. Today I went on a little walk/jog around my neighborhood and discovered a great little park that I'll be utilizing this summer. The weather was absolutely perfect. I listened to a podcast called "Is He Ready to be your Coach?". Great question. I'll think about that later. Then I enjoyed a berry smoothie and peanut butter toast on my back deck. I LOVE SPRING!

So hopefully I'm not jinxing myself, but aside from a few days last week I've really been feeling great! There's still the reality of food aversions. I'm not super in the mood for much aside from cereal, cheddar cheese, and cookies, but I'll take that over the alternative!

My 7 1/2 week picture (turns out I feel funny when I try to stand still)

On a final note, I only have three weeks of classes left before graduation . . . I'm going to make it!

blueberry graduation!

Well, the baby has moved on from the size of a blueberry to a raspberry! Can you believe he/she has doubled in size this week? From a quarter-inch to a half-inch. What progress!

This past week has been really good - better than expected! I figured out that the more water I drink during the day the better I feel. I had almost no nausea on Wednesday and Thursday as I burned through about 80 ounces of water. Food aversions, yep. But I felt much better overall.


I have my first doctor's appointment on Tuesday! This will be the long-boring-blood-test-medical-history visit, but I'm just excited to get started. It was quite a process to figure out who I wanted to go see. The main battle was finding someone and someplace that I was interested in and that my insurance would cover. The next battle came when I found out that the OB/GYN group I thought I wanted to work with had SEVEN doctors that they rotate through and I would have no say in who I see. Lame. So I went with a midwife group that my good friend (and experienced pregnant woman) recommended. We'll see how things go!

evening of hunger

I'm in a Bible as Literature class on Tuesday evenings, which is awesome. On March 23 we'll be having a Passover Feast complete with bitter herbs, flat-bread, and an official candle lighting ceremony. For some reason, I got my dates mixed up and was expecting a grand feast when I went to class this evening. So, I went there a bit hungry so I would be ready to enjoy all the fixins!

When I got to class and realized that it was business as usual, my heart sank . . . into my empty stomach. Minutes into the 2.5 hour class I felt like a ravenous beast! I started craving french dip sandwiches and pizza. The only feeling that rivaled my hunger was my exhaustion. Walking in that warm sun today (thumbs up!) just tuckered me out.

I was in trouble! I was sleepy, starving, and hadn't done my reading for the class because I thought it was feast day! Fortunately class was interesting (and so were the blogs I read on the side) and the last half went by faster than the first half.

As soon as I was free I cruised over to Arby's - for the first time in years, perhaps - and chowed a couple Jr. Roast Beefs and some curly fries. Mmmmm, blissful. Thanks, Arby's!

Lists

For today's entry, two lists of pregnant things.

First of all, a list of things I never thought would hit so early in pregnancy:
1. Having to pee all the time. I thought this came when the baby was so big that it pushed against your bladder. Nope.
2. A sore lower back. Also thought this came from being front-heavy. But I'm feeling it!
3. Being super tired.
4. Being emotional and weird!

Next, here's what I'm into lately

A great breakfast

Wish there were more of these

By the Costco box!

classic . . .