Update on 7 Weeks

Well, I am now 7 weeks!

Babycenter.com, "How your baby's growing:
The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body. "

So far I haven't had much nausea and no vomiting (related to the pregnancy), and hopefully it stays that way! I've been battling a cold the last few days, which makes me miserable and is causing a small bit of nausea and vomiting from the excessive phlem. I can't sleep, can't breathe, can't take meds that work so I just don't take them (what's the point?). It's the price you pay for spending time with sick family members, lol.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

Week 6 Doctor Appointment

So, I went to the doctor today for my week 6 check-up. I got to see and hear the heart beat! It was so much to take in at once I was mostly in shock. My mom cried and then looked at me like, "what's wrong with you?" ::laughs:: It's weird..and a bit hard to explain...but I still feel like they're going to tell me it's all not true. I look at the pictures and still can't believe this is happening. I also still have fears and concerns that it's not going to stay this way...

I don't have to go back for another 4 weeks, so by then, I'll be 10 weeks, and hopefully mostly out of the miscarriage danger zone. Dr.S said everything looked good. There was no free-floating blood and the cervix looked long and closed. I hope by the 10 week mark it'll have stuck with me that I am actually pregnant, and it's going to stick around.

Now! On to pictures!

Baby at Week 6

I color coded the first picture, for those of you who can't see what's going on in sonograms. Pink is my baby, the yellow-orange is the yolk-sac (which will later become or determine the sex of the child from what I've read), and red is the baby's sac (it's home for the next 8 to 9 months).

Color Coded

And last but not least, the heartbeat!

Heartbeat

Baby Blanket Colors

What do you guys think of these colors? I put them in the order of the first row on my plan (Green, Blue, Purple, Pink, Yellow). I need to know if the purple is too blue, and the color we picked in place of yellow looks okay. Thanks!

REVISED:

Okay, so I had a few suggestions, "the pink and the pale color next to it need to be split up, not enough contrast between squares!" and "you should break up the green and blue," so I am revising my plan a bit.

Overall revised plan:

And these are the squares I've made in the revised order:

Update on 6 Weeks

Well, my 6 week appointment is on Monday, so I'm sure I'll have more to say then; However, I wanted to post the weekly update that I get in my emails. :oD

So, according to Thebump.com:

"Baby's now the size of a sweet pea!
Growing like crazy, baby is starting to sprout eyes, ears, nose, cheeks, and chin. Those little hands and feet -- still webbed like paddles -- might wiggle by week's end, the heart is beating (almost twice as fast as yours!), and blood is starting to circulate."

And Babycenter.com:

"This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean."

My mom said, "eww...it looks like a fish!" hahaha..gotta love my momma. I bet she won't say that when we can see it's little heart beat. :oD

Baby Blanket

I've decided to make a baby blanket. We shall see what happens with that! I've never made something so large. Here is my plan:

So, that is my color scheme. The colors are going to be baby colors, and I have the green and blue already picked out. I just need the purple, pink, and yellow. So far the squares are turning out to be about 6x6 inch squares. What do you guys think?

Update on 5 Weeks

Babycenter.com: "How your baby's growing:
Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point, he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.

The neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.

His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.

The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job."

I'm still nervous and excited. Hopefully I'll actually get to see my baby next Monday. Dr.S couldn't find actual baby last time, because I was too early, but was surprised to see anything at all. I can't wait to see if Dr.S finds baby this time and tosb's heartbeat. I'm also still apprehensive, because of the miscarriage rate, and 1 in 4 is a little higher than I like to think about...It makes me worry when I do, so I try not to, but then something horrible happened that made me very sad, and made it hit home for me as to how fragile this whole process can really be. My heart is broken right now, and I hope everything goes okay.

Blood Tests

So! I feel better today. Not cramping so much today, so in a much better mood.

I had blood work done today...according to them, I am A+ and me and my mom were blown away. When I was born, they told her I had B+ and that's all I've ever thought I had...never thought to get it tested. Anywho! When she asked me to come back my mom got concerned because she was asking me to come back so soon (I went in Monday, and she wanted me in again today, just for blood work). She asked Dr.S if it was normal for her to want more work done. Dr.S said that basically it's just to test my hCG levels (americanpregnancy.org: "The hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (better known as hCG) is produced during pregnancy. It is made by cells that form the placenta, which nourishes the egg after it has been fertilized and becomes attached to the uterine wall. In general the hCG levels will double every 72 hours"). If my hCG levels didn't at least double since Monday, then it could be a sign of early miscarriage. I was okay with it, because it will help put a bit of peace to my mind about the miscarriage thing..but only a bit.

So, I've been stuck twice by the lab in St. John's and they're so good so far. So quick, in and out in less than a minute. It takes longer to sign in than it does to take the blood. So, I asked her when I'd know, or if Dr.S would just call me. She told me I could come back in an hour and get the results if I wanted to. I was like, heck yea I want to, so we did a few things in Owasso before going back. My hCG was 591 on Monday and it was 1524 today. Good News! It almost tripled!

My next appointment isn't until the 26th, so hopefully it's pretty quiet until then, lol.

Is Cramping Normal?

Today has been a bit of a rough day for me. I have been upbeat, positive, and in a totally happy state since finding out I was pregnant. Except for when I had that bit of bleeding, I was worried, but still happy and upbeat.

Today has taken a toll on my emotional and mental well being. I didn't sleep well last night, because I was cramping and it kept me up. It's in my lower abdomen, it's not extremely painful but it's pretty consistent, like menstrual cramps but not as intense, and there is absolutely no bleeding. I'm tired from not getting enough sleep, and still worried about miscarriage. That will probably be number 1 concern for me at least until I'm 10 weeks along. Miscarriage is more common than people realize. I read that 20 to 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and Miranda told me about 1 in 4, so what I read is about the same.

I read on babiesonline.com: "Some women start cramping shortly after they get a positive pregnancy test as their uterus starts preparing to carry a baby for nine months. The uterus is a big organ and as it grows in early pregnancy cramping is expected.

Another type of cramping during pregnancy is called round ligament pain. This is cramping that occurs as the muscles under your uterus expand and grow in order to support the weight of your uterus and baby as it grows. This is probably the most complained about cramping in early pregnancy, and one most pregnant women will experience.

Cramping in early pregnancy is usually nothing for a woman to get worried about. Actually you can be comforted by knowing that if minor cramping does occur, then your body is probably preparing as it should to sustain the pregnancy. Cramping can also continue into the second and third trimester as the uterus continues to grow and as the body prepares for labor."

::laughs:: I don't particularly feel comforted, but at least I know that cramping can be normal. Did anyone else experience cramping in the 4 to 5 week period of their pregnancies? I read that drinking even more water (ugh, I'm floating already) or a heating pad might help, and that being tired and stressed can make the cramping feel worse. I'll try the water and a heating pad to see if it gets easier to deal with.

Events Up to and Including the First Sonogram

Okay, I decided to just start this, to keep everyone updated on Baby Fetterhoff's progress (and mine of course!). The font will be green, until we know what "the one still baking" is. Just a little warning: I don't plan to keep anything back in this, whatever is going on, I plan to write about it. Be prepared!

So, We're pregnant! We've been off the pill and not-not trying since August 2009 (We were both of the same mind that if it happened it happened, we didn't want to "try" for it). I was having some suspicions, because things weren't acting like they normally do the week before my cycle. So, I took a test on April 7th (well 2 to be exact...then 4 in the proceeding days) and it was positive! I had already made an appointment about a month ago for my yearly on April 12th, so it was perfect timing.

We visited my mom and dad the next evening, so I could give her her long awaited positive pregnancy test. She cried, I cried, my dad said he knew when he saw our car in the driveway (didn't know how he knew, but he did), hugs all around. We told Miranda, Marcus, Paula and Oma the following day. Pretty much every one I know knew by Saturday.

I had a little bit of a worry on Saturday because I had a couple bouts of bleeding. I did some research, found out that it's normal for a few different reasons, and felt much better about it. Right about where I'm at in my pregnancy, women experience Implantation Bleeding. "As your baby's early placenta burrows into your uterine lining, some blood vessels may be disrupted, which can cause slight bleeding." I was okay all day Sunday, with no hiccups.

My mom took me to my very first OB appointment. They took urine to do their test (because the insurance company needs a doctor approved positive test), she asked me about questions or concerns, answered what I did have, and then did a vaginal sonogram. She said she didn't really expect to see anything, me being so early on, but she'd look anyways. Well...We found B.F.! The very first picture of my baby!

Sonogram 1

Now, for those of you who just see static on these things, I've color coded the next pictures to help a little. The green circle is the baby-spec. The pink circle is the acceptance fluids, I guess it's basically my body's way of accepting this little thing that's eating it's way into my uterus (this will later become the amniotic sac's fluids). The red circle is my uterus.

Color Coded Sonogram

If you look at the bottom of the first pic, it measured the baby-spec to be 2.6mm. ((I'll be quoting Thebump.com and Babycenter.com for my info)) "Baby's now the size of a poppy seed! Now safe in your womb, the ball of cells (blastocyst) is splitting into the embryo (your future child) and placenta. Outside this microscopic speck, the amniotic sac and fluid are forming into protective cushioning."

She also said that my cervix is closed, but a spot on it is "oozy" and that probably caused my bleeding on Saturday. I have a sensitive cervix, and it may go away or I may have it throughout the entire pregnancy.

So, I got a bit of blood work done, then I will be going back on Wednesday to see how my hormones are producing. If they are doubling like they are supposed to, it's a good sign. If they decrease, it's an early sign of miscarriage. Then my next appointment is in 2 weeks!

I think that's all for now...We'll see how the blood work goes!