8 week update

Friday was eight weeks since my LMP. According to my apps, baby is the size of a raspberry or Jelly Bean. 

  

According to my ultrasound this week baby is 16.8 mm (or was on Wednesday). Something I read suggested that baby is growing about a millimetre a day at the moment, so by today would be around 21 mm! 

How far along are you? I am 8 weeks and 2 days today. This is a big day for me. This time last pregnancy was when my miscarriage started. So tomorrow I am the furtherest along that I have been pregnant in the last year. 

What’s happening with the baby? Arm and leg buds start to form, the neural tube is closing and tastebuds are beginning to form already!

Total weight gain? I weighed in the same as last week. 

Maternity clothes? Nothing new. I did go and look at Woolworths, which is one of my favourite clothing stores, but discovered that the biggest one in my city only has one rack of maternity clothes – all pants! That was a bit disappointing. I will have to contiune looking around to find where to get affordable options. I liked some of the suggestions I got through my Bump app in this article. 

Stretch marks? Nothing new. I’m using Save my Skin from Pure Romance when I remember to try and keep my skin a little flexible. Both my sister and I are Pure Romance consultants. I have a blog about becoming a consultant here, but I’ve been very lax at updating it. 

Sleep? Not so great this week. I’ve been awake early almost every day. Between the need to pee and the very vivid dreams I haven’t been sleeping very well. I dreamed this week that I was in a competition to undress guys without using my hands – don’t ask – it was really weird! 

Best moment this week? Obviously seeing and hearing the baby’s heart beat at our appointment with Dr P on Wednesday. Second best moment was when he said when we were walking out that there was nothing that was niggling at him and he really felt everything was exactly where it was supposed to be at this point. My cousin gave birth to her third child on Wednesday afternoon and B said he though that was a sign. Happy coincidence of welcoming a new family member and us seeing a heartbeat on the same day?

Miss anything? Smoked Salmon! I went to breakfast meeting on Friday morning and they had smoked salmon & scrambled eggs to put on croissants. I’ve never been a scrambled egg fan (especially in hotels and other institutions), but I absolutely love smoked salmon. Unfortunately I knew in my head not to eat it, but my stomach wasn’t interested either which was disappointing. I also miss sex. I feel bad for B that I’m not interested right now – I know part of it is concern for the pregnancy, and part of it is a true lack of libido. But I’m not feeling like a very good wife right now!

Movement? Nothing to report in this department. Although apparently the foetus is moving already. 

Food cravings? Nothing weird this week. I am drinking loads of Milo in the afternoons. 

Anything make you queasy or sick? Nothing in particular, although I’m even more anti-smoking now than ever. 

Gender? We will probably not find out. 

Symptoms? Weirdly this week they all seem to have dropped in intensity. I have moments of tenderness in my boobs, especially with the weird change in temperatures we’ve had this week. I haven’t noticed much queasiness, and my skin is less icky than it was last week. My digestive tract is still on a major go slow. Otherwise just the frequent peeing and the weird dreams have remained about the same as the last few weeks. 

Belly button in or out? Not expecting much of a change here until a few months from now. 

Wedding/Engagement Rings on or off? All the same here too. 

Looking forward to? We go on holiday on Friday for a week. I’m really looking forward to having some quiet time in the bush. Also my parent’s visas have finally been approved and the leave for Canada the week after next. I know that sounds weird to say I’m looking forward to that, but they have been in limbo for so long, that I think it’s going to improve everyone’s lives a little bit. It’ll be good for B and I to finally feel like the house is ours. I will definitely miss my folks, but we will stay in touch with them via Skype regularly. 

I’ve decided that this is a book I really want for this pregnancy. I have always loved Dr Seuss! Click the pic to be taken to the Amazon page where you can read an excerpt. 

7 week Update

Yesterday was seven weeks since my LMP. According to my apps, baby is the size of a blueberry.

For those that would like to see, this week’s photo is in the gallery above.

How far along are you? 7 weeks 1 day today.

What’s happening with the baby? Hands and feet are developing, as well as ears. A tail is still visible.

Total weight gain? I’ve dropped 1.1kg and am only 0.8kgs above my starting weight. I only weigh myself on Friday mornings.

Maternity clothes? Not yet, although I was going through my vacuum bags to get out my summer pjs, and decided to take out my fat pants too. That way I have them for a few months time. So I have one pair of black work pants and two pairs of jeans that will fit me for a good few months once the weight/change in shape starts.

Stretch marks? Nothing new

Sleep? I’m waking up a lot to pee, but am managing to go back to sleep pretty quickly. I’m usually in bed by about 9pm and fall asleep very quickly (so quickly that my hubby actually texted me something he found while reading in bed, as I was already fast asleep!). I’m awake between 5 and 5.30am pretty much every morning, but my therapist has said that’s fine since I’m definitely getting enough sleep. I do find around 3.30pm I’m getting very tired already though. I haven’t really managed any naps this week.

Best moment this week? I’ve been reading Chicken Soup for the Expectant Mother’s Soul – what an amazing book. My mother took it out of the library for me, and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. I’ve always thought they were full of Christian ideals, Bible verses and that sort of stuff. Turns out it’s actually just real life stories from people about their children. What I truly love is how inclusive the stories are – these are not just stories for new, naive moms. There are stories about IVF, adoption, RPL, stories from the man’s point of view and all sorts. I have really enjoyed reading the book and find myself laughing out loud, and crying at different moments. I really highly recommend this book to any mother who is expecting – be it pregnant, adopting, or any other way of becoming a Mom.

B sent me a text message during the week: “I so want to scream to the world that my angel pie is spawning”. That really made me smile.

Also my Mom and I went shopping at a fabric store yesterday and she bought a whole bunch of fabrics to start decorating the nursery. It’s mostly just fabrics to cover scatter cushions. She is also recovering the rocking chair cushions. This is the same rocking chair that she had when I was a baby, so it’s a very cherished item for my nursery.

Miss anything? This week I am missing wine, and fancy cheese. I love Brie usually – but dairy still isn’t my friend, and I know it’s one of the ones to avoid.

Movement? Not supposed to feel anything yet.

Food cravings? I can’t stop eating. Eating seems to help the queasiness. I had two bouts of real nausea this week – one in the shower which lasted a while and when I was brushing my teeth was finding it hard to keep everything down. The other was when I was getting really hungry and water wasn’t even helping. I am taking a whole lunch box of snacks to work with me on office days, and find myself eating all the time. Colleagues have started commenting on how there’s always paper rustling near my desk. I am keeping fruit sticks, nuts & seed bars and those sorts of things around, but I am pretty much open to eating anything someone offers me. I normally HATE digestive biscuits, but the other day someone offered me one and I happily accepted and ate it. AND I enjoyed it. I can finish off a bag of crisps in a matter of minutes – hubby now brings them to me in a bowl.

Anything make you queasy or sick? Still not able to handle milk, although I’m ok with yoghurt later in the day. The smell of chlorine turns my stomach (we have a pool so this is quite a common smell at our house). South Africa has the highest concentration of swimming pools per household in the world! We have a dedicated aisle in the grocery shops for pool stuff – I can’t walk down that aisle at the moment.

Gender? According to some of the old wives tales Miss Fanny P posted, it’s possibly a boy. Right breast is definitely bigger than the left.

Symptoms? Incessant trips to the loo. Very short temper. Tender breast, but not as bad as they were a few weeks ago. Queasiness, but it comes and goes. Slow digestive track resulting in gas at both ends A LOT.

Belly button in or out? No change.

Wedding/Engagement Rings on or off? No change.

Looking forward to? Wednesday is our first appointment with Dr P. I am looking forward to actually having a scan while I am pregnant and seeing something there for real. That’s really pretty much all I can focus on right now.

I’m hoping to have a good week, and also hoping that some of the symptoms of Progesterone Poisoning get stronger, as I know that will make me feel a bit better about everything.

After the weekend

So we told both sets of parents this weekend and now I feel comfortable posting on my blog. I am no longer publicising my blog to Facebook or twitter, but I do want to share my journey with the people that I have come to share with in the blogosphere. I did on the other hand not want to post online and have my family find out by accident before we had told them. So now they know and you can too.

The weather was cold and miserable most of the weekend which proved to be perfect for me. I’ve been really tired. Friday afternoon I lay down and fell fast asleep for over an hour – that never happens to me. It’s 3.30pm here and I’m feeling ready for another nap, but I’m at work! I spent most of the weekend lounging on the couch reading my new pregnancy book – The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy – I think every woman should read this book. It’s got almost no medical help at all, but it is truly the most useful help I’ve ever heard. She covers all the things that would normally have been told to pregnant women by the women in their lives who have been through this, but since most of us don’t have that village around us anymore, there’s not as much of that wisdom sharing around. I have laughed until I cried at some of the stories and examples that she has given. I highly recommend it for the down to earth advice it gives.

I spent the whole weekend trying to figure out if I should have gone for more blood work this morning. I decided that I was being obsessive, and I will go tomorrow if I haven’t heard from Dr P. He is back today from leave, but I haven’t heard from him yet. I don’t even know if he will contact me if he thinks everything is ok. This bugs me. I feel like I need to talk to a doctor about everything I’ve been through and what’s starting now. Maybe I’ll give it until tomorrow and I’ve done the third round of blood tests. Am I becoming obsessive? Is this normal?

PS – sorry for the multiple posts on one day, I just wanted to publish the story so far in order.