Oops, a day late!

Hello Everyone!

Well, I've hit 9 weeks. Supposedly. We went to the doctor on Monday for the first time. She was nice, and I liked her nurse. She scheduled us for an ultrasound on January 2nd, since twins run in both families, and she wants to confirm the due date. Since I had been on Birth Control, dating from my LMP isn't always accurate. So that will be fun! She used a doppler for about 30 seconds to try to find a heartbeat, but she thought it was still a bit early so she didn't try very hard to find it. It just means we have to wait until the 2nd! Time goes by very slowly while waiting for milestones like that.

Oh well, it will be fine. Christmas will distract us! We'll be pretty busy over the holidays, so that will help. Here's what's happening in my uterus:

Your baby is now about three-quarters of an inch long. As the embryo enters its fiftieth day of existence, it becomes known as a fetus. A membrane lid covers your baby's eyes. Your baby's muscles are beginning to develop, and she can make tiny movements. Your child's limbs are growing, but her arms and hands are forming more quickly than her legs and feet. The hands are actually still known as "hand paddles" and look just like they sound. Ridges have formed on the paddles, which will soon become well-defined fingers. Your baby is developing little dimples where her knees and ankles will go, and her elbows are becoming visible. This week is when sex characteristics begin to assert themselves, and ovaries or testes will soon appear (though an ultrasound won't be able to detect specific sex organs for another two months or so). Your baby's brain waves can now be detected.

Oh the Joys!

Week 8 has arrived. It seems so odd that we've known for almost a month! Not much has changed around here. We're just finishing up school, and want to get a lot done around the house. This will be our last major "break" before baby! Still no morning sickness for me, just nauseous if I don't eat quickly enough. But I have found that if I stand in one place for too long, my back starts to hurt. But so far I've been blessed with an easy pregnancy!

Here's what's happening this week:
Your baby is now about the size of your thumbprint: one-half to three-quarters of an inch. Six weeks is barely enough time to start a magazine subscription, but it's enough time for your fetus to develop limbs, tiny fingers and toes, the beginnings of external ear structures, eyelids, an upper lip, the tip of a nose, and intestines! The outer cells of the embryo have grown links to your blood supply.

Week 7

Well, I've hit 7 weeks. Time seems to go by so slow, but so fast too! I had to buy new pants this week. Not that I outgrew my normal ones, but my belly is sensitive, and it doesn't like where the waistband fits.

My sense of smell suddenly got super sharp, and garlic completely turns my stomach now. That's sad, I love garlic! And the Doctor appointment scheduled for friday got pushed back a week. I found out it's more of a get information on us meeting, and then they schedule the real first appointment.

In Jason and Merrilee news, we're in "dead" week now, the week before finals. Classes are winding down, and there's a lot due coming up! I'm not looking forward to the coming school, but it will work out just fine. I also got invited to be an honoree at the CBE (College of Business and Economics) Leadership lunch. They only choose 6 students a quarter to be invited! That's happening in January, and it's a real honor to be a part of.

I would write more, but I have no time! Maybe next week, and definately the week after.

Here's what's happening in the coming week:

Your baby enters its second month of development, weighing no more than a chocolate chip or a berry. It's about five to thirteen millimeters long (less than half an inch), and weighs less than a gram (0.8g), or less than one-twentieth of an ounce. The human blueprints are already visible. Your child still has a tail but is also beginning to form a digestive tract, lungs, nostrils, hands and feet, and a bump of a mouth. The liver, tongue, and lenses of your baby's eyes are forming. There are beds for your baby's fingernails, and the buds of teeth are forming in the gums. If you could take a picture, your baby would look more like a baby and less like a reptile. The baby's nerve channels and muscles are connecting, and the body can wiggle when the cells communicate. In just two days, from days thirty-one to thirty-three, the brain becomes one-quarter larger. If you were to have an ultrasound, it would be able to detect the beating heart, which shows up looking like a tiny flashing light.

Week 6

I suppose I should tell people that I started blogging on this site, huh? Not that much has changed on my front this week. I still feel about the same, still constantly hungry and tired, and had my first experience with morning sickness in the morning!

I applied for food stamps, and we qualify for additional food health through WIC (Women, Infants, Children) to help with milk, cheese, eggs, bread, and some of the more expensive grocery items. Next week we have a nurse visit at home from the Mother Baby Center, an appointment at WIC, and on Friday the 7th we have an appointment with a doctor! I called just about everyone on the list, but pretty much everyone was already filled up with their regular patients for next july. We thought about going with a midwife, which would have been my preference, but with the rate of twins in both our families, we didn't want to risk being dropped half way through the pregnancy and then have to find a doctor! So I found just about the last female OB in Bellingham who would take a DSHS patient like me, and so that's who we're going to see. Since I didn't have a whole lot of control over that, I think I'm going to interview several doulas (who act as the natural/relaxation side of the midwife, but not the doctor portion) so I know I'll like her.

Development wise, here's what's going on!

Your baby and the yolk sac are about the size of an M&M's candy. A month after conception, your embryo looks something like a newt or a tadpole, and it has gills like a fish! Right now, the embryo of your future baby looks much like the embryo of any other animal—a bird, rabbit, or monkey. It has two tiny cups of pigment on the side of its head that will develop into eyes. Tiny buds that will form the lungs have appeared. The neural tube has closed. On end is flattening and expanding to become the brain, and the other end will become the spine. It's already 10,000 times larger than the fertilized egg. The embryo doesn't have gender characteristics yet, but has little dots where the nipples will be, whether it's a boy or a girl. The heart, a tiny U-shaped tube, will start beating between days twenty-one and twenty-four and is circulating the embryo's own blood. It has a small mouth and lips and fingernails are forming.

The Beginning

Well, we're pregnant. Just barely. 5 weeks today. Jason and I are so excited! But already my body has changed so much. It's hard to keep a single thought in my head, and I fall asleep so easy! Luckily I haven't had morning sickness, but I do start feeling it in the later evening.

A few nights ago, Jason laughed at me, because I fell asleep eating a cracker. Oops!

Someone from the Mother Baby center is coming by tomorrow to talk to me about how to prepare. Hopefully from her I'll be able to get a list of doctors in the area who will take new patients like me. From there I can start calling and interviewing, and all of that fun stuff. But at least there's Thanksgiving in there!

Here's what's happening this week - Week 5

Your embryo is about two millimeters long, about the size of a grain of sand. Your baby transforms into a bundle of cells organized in a C-shape with a top, bottom, front, and back. A groove has developed on the embryo's back, which will seal and develop into the neural tube (which later will become the spinal cord). At this point, the tube already has a wider, flatter top that will grow into your baby's brain. A bulge has developed in the center of the embryo, which will soon become a tiny U-Shaped tube which will form the heart. Your embryo is encased in protective membranes and attached to a yolk sac, which manufactures the embryo's unique blood cells.

Positively Pregnant

Last month, Jason and I decided it wouldn't be bad if we had a baby. The birth control I was on wasn't working well for me anymore, so we decided to just see what happens. Usually after being on birth control, it can take several months before you start ovulating again, so I wasn't too concerned anything would happen right away. Well, the next month I was a day late, and I had all these tests, so I decided to try one. The first one came back, and I looked at it, and a million thoughts went through my head. I took the test into the computer room where Jason was on the computer and asked him "How many lines do you see?"

"One and a half"

"Ummmm"

"What does that mean?"

"I think we're pregnant..."

Thinking the first test was a fluke, I took another one, right away. Same thing. Next morning, same thing. Morning after, same thing. So on Friday, I made my way down to DSHS and got it confirmed! A lot faster than expected, but we're having a baby Dilley in July! We couldn't be happier!

Whew....

I'm afraid I finally took another photo... I'm huge! No wonder I'm waddling. At our Doctor's appointment last Thursday he was still floating high, and she said not to expect him early at all. She also estimated his weight between 6-6.5 lbs. As I get bigger, I'm starting to think that toward the end I may be doing as much as I can to encourage him...

I've been puttering around the house, slowly getting everything put in it's place. We're close to being done with that at least. I also have lots of craft projects, like making baby blankets and slings and diapers that I've been working on too. I'm having way too much fun with my sewing machine. Thanks mom!!! Of course we've also been putting some things off too, like we still need to do the childbirth center tour. I should call them and figure that out. And I still need to pack my hospital bag. I also need more long nightgowns, waistbands are starting to be super painful, especially at night. Jason laughs at me because I improvised a skirt with an old fleece blanket and safety pins that I wear around the house. It's not very classy, but it's sure comfortable!

Jason got a job at Target, but orientation isn't until the third week of July, so I don't think he will actually work there. Instead he registered at Labor Ready and has been doing odd jobs with them as well as picking up day jobs from the Western Job boards. He's done dishwashing at a local Casino, and today he's doing yard labor at a home in Ferndale. Every little bit helps!

I think I now have almost everything I need that I have to have before the baby gets here. Except a diaper pail. But I have liners, so I need to take them with me when shopping so I can make sure they fit. Fun stuff! Most of the diapers are washed and ready, and all of the clothes are too. We still have to pick out what outfits to bring to the hospital though, there's just too much to choose from!

Anyway, I still have a lot to do and I tend to take naps 3-4 times a day. My last day at Kohl's is on Saturday, and I don't work until then either, so at least I have time to relax.

Here's what's happening this week:
The average newborn has a length of 21 1/2 inches and weighs 7 1/2 pounds. He is fully developed, though still adding connections between neurons in the brain (this continues well after birth). His nails have been growing and now reach to the ends of his fingers and toes. His movements are quite restricted by his close quarters.