11 weeks

Boy oh boy. I haven't written in so long. There's been a lot happening.
My body's definitely been changing and rebelling a bit over the baby. I'm fitting into maternity clothes now. Melissa from across the hall loaned a whole bunch to me. All I have to buy is spring and summer stuff. I'm even starting to show a bit. And this morning in bed I was stretching backwards and it HURT my belly. Like everything was being stretched. I'll have to remember not to do that anymore. I've been experiencing a lot of constipation too and my appetite has increased significantly.

Dr. Raby has an appointment for me and Craig on Valentines Day. According to everyone I talk to she's great but very busy. Sheri's friend says we could wait over an hour for an appointment. If that's the case, I'm going to seek out another doctor. We'll have to see...

Waiting on Doctors

9 1/2 weeks pregnant... already. It's been 4 weeks and 1 day since we found out we were going to be parents. I did some follow up phone calls this afternoon to find out about my next appointment with either Dr. Raby or Dr. Hawthorne. Turns out Dr. Hawthorne's office never sent the referral because they were waiting for the ultrasound results. And the ultrasound lab didn't send results because they were waiting for Dr. Hawthorne's office to call to get them. Sheesh! So hopefully Dr. Hawthorne will call tomorrow or Wednesday with my first appointment with Dr. Raby.

I'm going to book a spot in a prenatal class tonight. It's from Conestoga College and we'll take it the first and second Saturdays in May. I'll be right around 6 months pregnant by then. I've also began completing all the forms for the pre-registrations at the hospital.

Last night all the Martins came over for a homemade pizza dinner. Craig and I spent a few minutes showing Sheri and Lisa some of the things on our wish list; like the high chair and Eddie Bauer stroller. I'm so glad Craig and I are so alike in colour likes/dislikes. That makes this so easy. All I really need to find now is a PERFECT baby book.

Everything's beginning to come together.

The First Ultrasound

So baby, Daddy and I saw the first pictures of you this morning. The ultrasound technician started the scan in the regular way, with the cold gel on my tummy. She spent a lot of time looking at the screen and after about 5 minutes she told me that she couldn't see you well enough and that I'd need an internal ultrasound.

She put the cold gel on the end of a probe (it was like the regular ultrasound scanner but longer, about 8 inches) then put a regular condom over the end and some KY-Jelly. She placed the probe inside me about 3 inches or so and took lots of pictures of you.

It turns out, the regular scan wasn't very clear partly because my uterus is sideways. Usually the uterus follows the curve of the bladder but mine is more tilted towards my spine. Apparently it's fairly common, although not normal. The technician said it shouldn't affect pregnancy, labor or delivery. Phew! My mom (your grandma) had the same in all her pregnancies.
Daddy and I are spending more and more time on the internet finding information and searching for baby things. I'm on the search now for crib bedding; fitted sheets and things.

On the ultrasound you were 1.4cm long from crown to rump (your legs aren't measured yet because they're still just stumps!). We saw your tiny arms and legs and your heart beating. Daddy and I firgure your heart is just a bit bigger than a sesame seed and you're about as big as a kidney bean. It's still too early to see the placenta (I'm at 8 weeks) but we saw the yolk sack and the umbilical cord. Daddy kept saying, "look at the heart!", "oh, look, that's the umbilical cord", "those are the arms!" Real proof that you're healthy and growing!

Yesterday afternoon when I got back to work there was a bunch of pamphlets for the prenatal health fair taped to my locker! Everyone there is looking out for my health. Rachel brought me a catalog from Sears and a pregnancy magazine, too.

I scheduled the ultrasound today. The appointment is for... *drum roll*... tomorrow at 10:30. I couldn't believe it was for so soon. I also sent all the info to Dr. Hawthorne's office about Dr. Raby so I can start going to her for prenatal appointments instead of to London.

So all we really have to look into now as far as prenatally, is prenatal classes with the local public health department. I'm not even sure which one we should take yet, assuming there's different ones to choose from.

I'm so excited to see the ultrasound! WOO HOO!

New Year, New Family

Wow, 2005. This is the year you will be born, baby. And the year we become parents. Very, well, surreal I guess. Daddy and I went to visit Dr. Hawthorne this morning. She did all the blood tests and did all the normal stuff. My weight was 149 at her office and blood pressure was 116/80 (I think, I had trouble reading it). The lab will test for many things, including: blood count, Rhesus (+ or -), iron, syphillis, blood sugar, HIV (?!?!) and others. I feel confident that all will come back normal. Dr. Hawthorne couldn't give us an official due date because of my irregular cycle so is sending me for an iltrasound within the next 2 weeks! That way we'll know when I'm at 18 weeks so we can go for the routine ultrasound. Very exciting changes!

We bought a glider and ottoman at The Brick on Sunday for $250 to put in your* nursery.

* I hope you appreciate when you're older how strange it is to write to a baby that's the size of a raspberry! Maybe it's strange for you to read! If that's the case, then we're even.

Nursery Rhymes

I've been working on the nursery for the last few days. I still catch myself calling it the spare room. It's quite a mess right now - there's stuff strewn all over the floor. I took the doors off the closet and removed the old backwards shelf that was in there. It's been replaced with a wire one that can accomodate hangers.

Daddy (ooh, that looks strange) and I bought a bassinet this morning at Nursery Rhymes. I saw it yesterday when I went "wish shopping" with Auntie Sheri. The more of that I do, the more I realize I need. Silly thinks like soothers, an ear thermometer and nail clippers. I suppose all that little stuff will come at the shower or we can buy it later.

My nausea has eased up to the point of being hardly noticible but my appetite has increased tremendously. I'm finding I'm practically famished only a few hours after eating. I'm not so much eating larger portions but I'm eating more frequently.

Baby, you're about the size of a raspberry this week according to the August 10 due date I'm guessing. Dr. Hawthorne will tell us more accurately when we can expect you on Tuesday January 4. We've already told so many people you're coming in the middle of August that I hope we weren't too far off!

Spreading the News

So pretty much the whole family knows. The immediate family anyway. We'll tell the rest Christmas Day at Uncle Jim's. Even the kids at daycare know. Some of them are pretty excited! Expecially Nicholas and Gregory, believe it or not!

My breasts are still extremely sensitive. I don't even want to move because they hurt. They're a little tingly, too.

The nausea eased up a bit today but it comes and goes. At times my stomach feels hollow and gaunt and then 5 minutes or so later it passes and I'm fine.

Who Wouldda Thunk!

So I woke up this morning at 7:30 with terrible cramps and memories of a very strange dream. One where I am pregnant and Craig and I are making calls to the family. It's so real I have to convince myself it's just a dream. I use the toilet and return to bed only to awaken again around 10. This time I grab the pregnancy library book and bring it back to bed to read. As I'm reading the many symptoms of pregnancy I'm realizing I have all of them: extreme fatigue (I've been sleeping after work from sheer exhaustion), tender breasts (Craig can't even touch them without me grimacing), feelings of PMS (cramping mostly but has lasted 3 days), frequent urination (even when I drink nothing). So I finally conince myself to take another test. This time it's positive! Craig was still sleeping so I woke him up and showed him the stick. It took him a minute but finally he looked at me and said, "that's good, right?"

So I immediately called Craig's sister Sheri and then we headed to the Urgent Care Clinic to get our baby confirmed. Sure enough, we're pregnant. The doctor thinks the baby is about 5 weeks. When we got home we called everyone!

The Journey Begins

Today is the first day that I really truly feel nauseous. There were days last week and the week before that I was feeling yucky but I had assumed that it was just left over gastrointestinal stuff that had been going around work. It's been 3 weeks today since we started trying. I'm on day 31 of my cycle. My cycle seems to be on a 40 day rotation so I think it's too early to take a test. Maybe I should call the Telehealth line...

Later... so I called Telehealth and the nurse advised me to see a doctor within 3 days if the nausea persists.

On my way to work this afternoon I picked up a pregnancy test and took it in the washroom at work. It was negative. The nausea has persisted through the day.