11 Weeks: lime

Your baby's organ systems are now functioning and he has a skeleton, nerves and blood circulation. Your baby's tiny feet are fully formed and shaped and could stand on an adult's fingernail. The most critical part of baby's development is now over, and the remainder of the pregnancy is about rapid growth, organ maturation and getting ready for delivery. In fact, your baby grows so quickly now that he will start out this week being approximately 21 - 25 mm or 0.85 - 1.0 inches and by the end of the week will be 44 - 51 mm or 1.75 - 2.0 inches and weigh approximately 7 grams!

Your baby's head is about 1/2 of his body length. The baby's eyelids are fused now and the irises are developing. Your baby will begin to get baby teeth, fingernails, toenails and hair follicles this week, too.

Picture

Ok, I lied about the picture getting posted last night. We had to finish packing everything up in our camper last night for our camping trip this weekend, and by the end of all of that I was exhausted. So obviously no baby King picture made it up. We are leaving as soon as I get off work, but I promise Monday night to have our latest ultrasound picture posted.

Sorry for the delay!

10 week survey

How far along? 10 weeks 4 days


Total weight gain/loss: Down about a 1/2 pound


Sleep: Back to sleeping amazing, usually 8:30pm to 6:30 or 7am


Food cravings: Nothing sounds too amazing right now, although I did LOVE the taco pizza we had earlier this week


Best moment this week: We are JUST home from our "unexpected ultrasound" and it was the most amazing moment ever. When the ultrasound first started Baby King waved, it was adorable. He now looks like a real baby, hands, feet, fingers, toes, normal looking head, it was awesome. PLUS, we got to HEAR the heartbeat today instead of just seeing it. (I will post pictures from today's ultrasound later tonight)


Movement: Baby King is moving and shaking, unfortunately I can't feel it yet


Gender: Still feeling boy, thinking maybe the high heartbeat today (167) could mean girl? =)


Labor Signs: Nope


Belly Button in or out? In


What I miss: Nothing, I'm loving every moment of this pregnancy (except for when I'm worried about something)


What I am looking forward to: I'm excited for the 12 week appointment and hearing the heartbeat again so that we can record it this time


Weekly Wisdom: (From the doctor today) Anytime you feel something isn't right, call us, we would love to check everything and give you peace of mind. (Have I said that I LOVE my doctor's office?! They never make me feel like I'm a nut, love it).


Milestones: Another perfect ultrasound!

an unexpected appointment

I had a routine phone call with my Dr’s nurse yesterday to go over family history, test options, etc. (The stuff most people go over before their first appointment) One of the questions that she asked me was if I had had any nausea or tenderness. I told her that I did until about a week ago. I then asked if it was normal that that was really worrying me (that it had stopped). She said that it can be a sign that something is wrong and the baby has passed, but hopefully it just meant that I was lucky to not have symptoms anymore.

We then got in a conversation about what my options were. She mentioned blood work, which I wasn’t too excited for because results wouldn’t be back until Friday, which the office is closed. She then said that she would get me in for an ultrasound this week. She also said to make sure I bring my husband… that’s when I did start to feel nauseous, but not “the baby is making me sick” kind, more like I’m trying my hardest not to be nervous but my stomach is killing me kind.

So tomorrow Matt and I head to the doctor’s office for a 10 week ultrasound. Matt, as is normal for him, is not worried. In fact I think he’s kind of excited to see baby King again. I, on the other hand, am nervous. I haven’t even let myself venture near that point where I can even think about something being wrong. We have worked so hard, and gone through so much for this baby, we want this baby SO BADLY, everything HAS to be fine tomorrow.

Prayers are always welcome; I’m praying for a brilliant report tomorrow, the baby measuring right on with a great heartbeat and, according to my books, we should even be able to see his/her little limbs moving around.

10 Weeks: prune

This week marks the beginning of the fetal period, which lasts until birth. Your baby's body systems, such as circulatory, nervous, reproductive and digestive, are fully formed during this time. His heart is beating approximately 160-170 beats per minute. Your baby is 1.06 - 1.38 inches with 1/2 the length being attributed to the head. He weighs about 4 paper clips.

Your baby will become much more active than before, but unfortunately, his movements are still too small for you to notice. He will be moving his arms and legs, which can be seen on an ultrasound. Your baby's joints are fully formed, as are his tiny hands, feet, fingers and toes. At this age, he would be able to grab an object, if it were placed in his hand, as he grows more and more sensitive to touch. Your baby's eyes are open most of the time but the eyelids are beginning to fuse - they will stay that way until you reach approximately 25 to 27 weeks. The external genitalia are beginning to show your baby's gender and both the external ears and upper lip are completely formed now. Your baby's biggest accomplishment this week is the disappearance of the tail!

Also, your baby is breathing. This breathing activity is noticeable as he "breathes" amniotic fluid. He is beginning to urinate as well. He’s busy swallowing and kicking. Each day more minute details start to appear, such as fingernails and peach-fuzzy hair.

9 Week Survey

How far along? 9 Weeks 2 Days


Total weight gain/loss: I didn't weigh this week, but I've been eating as healthy as I can!


Sleep: It was amazing until the last 2 nights, I'm suddenly waking in the night and not being able to get back to sleep for an hour. I'll take my old sleep habits back ASAP!


Food cravings: Still not really wanting to each much of anything specific. I am in love with fruit flavored cheerios for breakfast every day though.


Best moment this week: Starting to feel nauseous during the day. It was only after dinner, now this week I've felt sick every few hours, love it!


Movement: Nope


Gender: Ummm, boy???


Labor Signs: Nope


Belly Button in or out? In


What I miss: The first few days of being pregnant and being ELATED, not worrying hardly at all. I've suddenly found myself worrying a lot, feeling like my symptoms are suddenly gone and something must be wrong. I HATE IT!


What I am looking forward to: 12 week appointment and hearing the heartbeat for the first time, I can't wait to record it on my phone!


Weekly Wisdom: (From my husband) Relax, Baby King is growing just fine!


Milestones: I'm looking forward to the 12 week milestone, and hoping that brings some peace with it.

9 Weeks: green olive

Your placenta is developing well and your baby looks like a human now - albeit a tiny human. At this point, he weighs approximately 1 - 1.5 grams (about the weight of a paperclip).

While the internal reproductive organs have now become either testes for boys or ovaries for girls, there's nothing yet to tell you whether it's a boy or girl even if you look closely. The skeleton has begun to form as cartilage and bones take shape. The baby's intestine has begun to move out of the umbilical cord into the baby's abdomen and your baby is now taking his first few drinks - he's drinking amniotic fluid.

Reflex muscle movements continue and now your baby will move away if touched through the uterine wall. Other changes in your baby are the heart valve formation, the retina formation, and the tip of the nose becoming visible.

We were finally listened to

We had our first pre-natal appointment with a "normal" OB yesterday. She was phenomenal. I have never felt so validated, listened to, and encouraged by a doctor ever before. This woman was seriously amazing.

First we had our 8 week ultrasound. Baby King looked AMAZING! He (we're still thinking boy) was RIGHT ON TRACK! Measured exactly 8 weeks 2 days, and had a glorious heartbeat of 176. Matt saw the heartbeat right away, I never did get a perfect view, I was a bit too far away from the screen, and the ultrasound at a "normal" doctor's office isn't quite the same as a high tech infertility clinic, oh well.


Once we saw the doctor she asked us a few questions and then we were able to ask her some questions. Right away I asked her what she thought about my MTHFR mutations and a need for blood thinners. She looked us straight in the eyes and said she doesn't know enough about it, but she would research it this week and personally call me back. WOW. Seriously, WOW. Not a single doctor would admit that they didn't know enough about it, not a single doctor would answer our questions, and not a single doctor, until yesterday, ever made me feel like they cared. By 5:30 last night I had received TWO personal phone calls from our doctor. She had found some research (AND EVEN EMAILED A COPY TO ME!) and was confident that everything that I was currently doing was right on, and there is no need for blood thinners. She said that I'm lucky in the fact that I have 2 mutations but they are both on difference chromosomes. People who have 2 mutations on the same chromosome have more issues. So if I continue with crazy high doses of folic acid, that will control my homocysteine levels, which is what would cause the clotting issues. Insert huge sigh of relief. She had mentioned needing to go back to Iowa City to see a high risk OB, but I'm thinking we may avoid that now that we don't have to do blood thinners.

We also were able to ask a ton more questions. I asked about weight, and what I should be aiming to gain. Her answer - nothing would be preferred, but 15 lbs would be the max. I was a bit shocked by her answer. From what I had read I was thinking she would say 25 lbs, but nope, nothing. I'm not exactly sure how a pregnant lady gains no weight, but I guess I'll attempt it. Good thing almost nothing sounds good to eat these days. =)

Yesterday we were given the "pre-natal goody bag" from our doctor's office. In it there was information on the classes that the hospital we will deliver at offer. I called to get dates and to see when people typically take these classes. Long story short, they only offer Lamaze as a birthing technique. I did some more looking around and found that Lamaze is mostly for early labor and is to help you tune out the pain. I also did some research on the Bradley method, which is for the later, tough parts of labor, and teaches you to deal with the pain.

The only downfall is that the Bradley class is $200 more than Lamaze and is 12 weeks long, instead of 8. However, I'm leaning towards the Bradley method. I think it will give me a better shot at a natural delivery. I'm not one of those "I refuse to have an epidural" type of girls, but I would like to give my best effort at a natural birth. So anyone out there have thoughts or info on either class?

Overall I'm thrilled with the doctor we saw. We both left feeling completely understood, and excited about this baby and what is still to come.

8 Week Survey & Monthly Picture

I decided that I really only wanted to go take my picture once a month to see how my belly is changing, so here is the first picture to post. (Ahh yes, my wonderful intestines bloated for the world to see, enjoy!)

Two months pregnant!




How far along? 8 weeks 2 days


Total weight gain/loss: Not 100% sure, I finally got on the scale last week and weighed the exact same from the last time I weighed myself (our scale saves your info)and I think that was right before we started this last round of treatments. If that's the case, I'm very excited to have not gained a single pound yet! I'm assuming I'll be weighed at my first "regular" appointment today and then I'll have an official weight to go by. I'm hoping to stay under 25-30 pounds through the entire pregnancy.


Sleep: Comes and goes. I'm sleeping well, I just get up a lot for the bathroom or to reposition.


Food cravings: Not craving much of anything lately, feeling kind of blah about eating.


Best moment this week: I'm hoping the best moment of the week comes this morning at our ultrasound! Otherwise the best moment (this is going to sound crazy) is having my first bout of real morning sickness, vomit and all. =) But another pretty awesome moment was getting my first mother's day card and presents from Matt, I love that man.


Movement: Nope, but I can't wait to feel the first movements!


Gender: Still thinking boy.


Labor Signs: No thanks.


Belly Button in or out? In.


What I miss: Not having back pains at night.


What I am looking forward to: OUR ULTRASOUND TODAY!!! I can't wait to see tiny baby King again today. I'm hoping I can get a more clear picture this time too!


Weekly Wisdom: I had so many people tell me Happy Mother's day, I kind of felt like a fraud, but so cool to feel more like a mother already.


Milestones: 2/3 of the way through the 1st trimester, yeah!

8 Weeks: raspberry

Week 8:

Many changes take place this week – the embryonic tail is gone, and all organs, muscles, and nerves are beginning to function. Your baby measures measures about 1.6cm. His hands now bend at the wrist, and his feet begin to lose their webbed appearance. Eyelids are beginning to cover his eyes and taste buds are starting to form on his tongue.

Your baby now has a face! Your baby's features are becoming more obvious, as his lips, tongue and nostrils, as well as the buds for 20 baby teeth are already present. The back muscles are growing along the spinal column, and his or her reproductive organs have started to form and soon will become either testes or ovaries. The arms and legs are growing and elbows and knees appear as well. The fingers and toes are starting to show.

The process of ossification (hardening of the bones) begins as the bones of the fingers and toes have already reached the first joint. Your baby is already getting smarter as his brain continues to develop and grow. Your baby is starting to show signs of reflex activity - an automatic response to certain types of stimuli. Connecting you and your baby, the umbilical cord with all its blood vessels, is starting to function. In fact, what will be your baby's intestine is forming in the umbilical cord as well.

Matt's Marathon

Sunday is a day I will soon not forget. It was such an amazing feeling to watch my husband accomplish such a great feat, running 26.2 consecutive miles. As I watched him run past me at mile 1.5'ish, my eyes swelled with tears. I was so proud of him and what he was just beginning. I held my sign high, yelled like a fool, and watched as my husband ran past me in a blaze of glory with a few thousand other nuts (did I just call him a nut?! Well I do think a marathon is kind of nutty).

My mom and my mom's sister (Aunt Tammy) met us in LaCrosse to watch the race with me. It was SO nice to have someone else with me to drive around and catch Matt along the route. It was quite different than when I sat alone in Hardees for 2 hours in California waiting for Matt to reach the finish line.

Here is part of the "Matt Crew", My mom and Tammy





Tammy & I



The three of us, Matt, and the signs I made became quite famous during the race. The first time everyone ran past us at mile 1.5'ish, people would yell "Go Matt" because they saw our signs and knew he had to be right behind them somewhere. The second time everyone saw us, around mile 2, people started to say things to us like "Wow, that Matt character has quite the cheering squad" or "I wish my name was Matt". It made us smile.

Matt at mile 1'ish, looking awesome



As the race continued and people continued to see us every few miles, runners started telling us, "Matt's right behind us, gray shirt and shaved head, right?" or "You JUST missed Matt, he's right in front of me".

I have absolutely no idea how everyone (ok, maybe not everyone, but a lot) of the runners figured out who Matt was. It's not like they were right next to him when he would run by and high-5 us. But it was pretty fun to be famous on the course and bring a few smiles to the runners.

Matt crossing the finish line


Matt and I at the finish (My shirt says "Nothing runs like a King" - off of the john deere saying, nothing runs like a deere)

Watching Matt come across the finish line was SO cool! He did such an amazing job. He got cramps around mile 17, but he continued to run and finished strong. His goal was to be 5 1/2 hours, and he came in at 5:28. Way to to Kinger! 75% of the people were doing the half marathon, so they dropped half way. By the time only the marathoners were left it was a pretty tiny group. It was nice for us because we could easily see Matt, and didn't have to sort through a large group of people. I loved that he finished alone so I could get some good pictures of just him. =)

Matt with his medal



The day after the race was a little rough. =) He wasn't the agile Matt that I am used to. He stumbled around the house, taking a step forward and then falling back. I might have giggled a few times. It was just too funny to watch this incredibly athletic guy not be able to get down our stairs. He's doing much better now, although he still swears he's not running another marathon again.

**Update: Tonight I heard him say he may train for a mini-triathlon... oh goodness!

7 Week Survey

How far along? 7 weeks 2 days


Total weight gain/loss: Not a clue and ok with that =)

Sleep: More please. =) I've been going to bed around 8:30 every night, and getting about 10 hours of sleep, I love sleep!


Food cravings: Nothing sounds good anymore.


Best moment this week: SEEING OUR BEAUTIFUL BABY AND IT'S HEARTBEAT!


Movement: Nope


Gender: Still "feeling" boy


Labor Signs: Nope


Belly Button in or out? In


What I miss: A cold beer with a few green olives (if I have to miss something that's it, but frankly, I'm loving the fact that I can't have one because I'm PREGNANT!)


What I am looking forward to: Continued peace about this pregnancy, our baby continuing to grow, and the next appointment in just ONE WEEK when I can see the heartbeat again!


Weekly Wisdom: Have faith that everything will be okay.


Milestones: Over halfway through the 1st trimester!

7 Weeks: blueberry

7 Weeks:
Now about 1cm long, the size of a blueberry, your baby has distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. He’s a jumping bean, moving in fits and starts. The liver is churning out large amounts of red blood cells until the bone marrow forms and takes over this role.

At seven weeks, your baby enters a very busy developmental stage. Between now and 20 weeks, your baby will be growing rapidly, and body parts that formed in the first few weeks of life (such as the heart and brain) will become more specialized and complicated. Tooth buds, palate and tongue are forming, while his ears continue to develop and eyelids are starting to cover his eyes. Your baby’s skin is paper thin, and veins are clearly visible.

Off to Wisconsin for Matt's marathon!

This morning we are leaving for Matt's marathon, which he will run tomorrow morning. I am SO SO SO excited to watch him run this marathon. I was teary eyed during his 1/2 marathon (and I wasn't pregnant!) so I'm sure this race will have me in tears. It is so amazing to watch him go from a non-runner (although very athletic) to a marathoner, so awesome!

I'll post pictures of his race and our fun in Wisconsin when we get back. But for now a letter to my love.

Matt,
I am so proud of everything that you have accomplished and are about to accomplish as you have gone through this training. I am still in shock that you are about to run 26.2 miles, what an awesome feat. You amaze me every day. Your perseverance and continued effort have impressed me.

Go get em love!

Love,
Bai