12 Weeks and Finally Caught Up!

We've passed that momentous occasion - 12 weeks!  It's the week that marks the transition period from bloat to bump as your uterus pops out of your pelvis; it marks a point at which most doctors believe the risk of miscarriage has significantly decreased (especially if you've seen the heartbeat), and it also marks a point at which most mamas start to feel much much better.

I have to say, all of the above is true for us!  I'm noticing a little bumpage going on (finally!), I no longer worry that we'll miscarry and I'm finally allowing myself to look forward to meeting our little one, and I am definitely feeling better.  Not great, but better.  I'm still on a major fruit kick; loving all things fruit!  Juice, smoothies, fresh fruit, sorbet. . .I can't get enough of any of it.  Dinner is my least favorite meal, usually by 5pm I'm feeling a little nauseous again and not wanting to eat much, but my husband, God love him, has turned into the pregnancy police and likes to make sure that I'm getting the requisite 65+ grams of protein per day.

He finally got to go with me for an appointment, our 11 week NT scan.  It definitely made it more real to him, I can tell by the way he is acting and talking about baby Emby.  :)  We went to the appointment at 9am, and met with the ultrasound tech who *finally* was able to use the belly transducer instead of the vaginal one.

What an amazing difference to see baby Emby from week 8 to week 11!

We could watch the baby move and jump on the screen, which if you haven't experienced that yet, just wait.  It's incredible.  The tech even gave us a video of it.

I can't get enough of that video - that little hand pops up and it just melts my heart.  

The tech measured something called the Nuchal Fold, which, if measuring large could indicate a potential problem with Down's Syndrome.  They pair the results of the NF Measurement with the results of a finger prick blood test.

Now, the nurses lied to me.  That finger prick HURT like a son of a gun, and they both laughed and said 'yeah, we don't like to tell people that because they'll freak out!  It's worse than a blood draw!'.

No kidding.  That was not fun.  

All said and done, our risk of Downs Syndrome with this baby is literally zero.  *Insert HUGE Sigh of Relief Here*   We would not likely have terminated, we just wanted to know so we could be prepared, and I'm glad we know now!

Finally this week as well, it's unmistakable; my pants don't fit.  I'm not 'showing' per se, but there is definitely a little bump starting to form!  My uterus can be felt just above my pubic bone, so it's popped out and on it's way to becoming a legitimate baby bump :)  Showing is something I've looked forward too since I was a teenager; it's such a special thing that us women get to experience and I'm so excited to finally start having proof that we're pregnant besides a distaste for chocolate and chicken and an insatiable appetite for orange juice!

Here is my official 12 week bump photo :)

  

Second Scan and First Bump Photo!

Because I had been spotting a bit, they called and asked for me to come back at 8 weeks pregnant to see an ultrasound tech who could look for the problem.

They never found the problem, but I got a much cuter photo of baby Emby :)

That round thing is the babies yolk sac, and then I believe you can make out the head and arms and feet!

As far as symptoms go, it was around week 7 that I started feeling pregnant.  The morning sickness is pretty bad, but I've always maintained that it could be much worse!  More than just feeling overall kind of blah and generally nauseous, I'm exhausted.  It's an exhaustion that I liken to staying up to study chemistry; that 3am crash where you literally cannot concentrate and you feel kind of out of body.  I've been going to bed at 8.30pm, napping in the afternoons. . .and it doesn't seem to matter how healthy the food that I do manage to eat really is.

Speaking of food, I'm having a serious aversion to chicken!

I started taking bump photos at 8 weeks.  I definitely had a bit of bloat going on here. . .yikes!

First Scan!

On January 14th, I mustered up my courage (I'm terrified of doctors and medical procedures) and headed in for my very first prenatal appointment at 7weeks, 4 days pregnant.

The appointment started off with the usual routine of peeing in a cup, getting weighed, blood pressure (which, I failed miserably due to a sad case of white coat hypertension!), and sitting in a room waiting to be seen.  Eventually the nurse came in, did a whole workup on my health history before bringing out the torture devices for a pap smear.

Finally, it was time to see the baby!  I was nervous because I had been experiencing some spotting, one night I cried thinking that it was over and we'd lost the baby.  It was a tense few moments as she moved the transducer around to find the baby, and all of a sudden there he was - a little blob with a little flickering heartbeat, fluttering away at 174 beats per minute!

Baby Emby is the little blob to the left of the black void.

That made the ensuing blood draw so much more tolerable :)  I got through that in one piece, and went on my way with a sense of relief and pride.  We did it!