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Week 14
Milestones: Wow, baby is getting so big it's hard to believe he/she is moving around so much without me noticing! Baby bunny is now 11cm long (I think that converts to about 3.5") and weighs 45g. Biggest development over the past week has been the formation of the baby's vocal cords - hopefully this little one will be just as musical as mommy and Harmony are! My Journal: Well this is much more like it... I hadn't made it quite far enough yet last week to start feeling all that relief and confidence I was looking forward to, but it has slowly started to seep in, little by little. I am starting to "let" myself become more excited about this baby, and love it when I am excited. Although I still worry about how my baby is doing all the time, I'm also able to reassure myself that he/she is doing just fine and that everything is still going well a lot more easily than I used to be able to. Along with letting myself getting excited about this baby comes all the fun things about pregnancy! We had told family and friends right away when we found out we were pregnant, but now it is fun to be spreading the news to other aquaintances, etc. I've told a few more moms around the neighbourhood this week and they were happy to hear the news. I was a little surprised that they hadn't already overheard or guessed based on my expanding waistline and maternity fashions! But I guess that my belly only seems so big to me since I really know what it looked like before whereas they just thought I was hiding it well. It has been so wonderful to start talking about baby things and baby plans and names and all those precious things, and to actually know that this is all going to actually happen this time around. Even just little things, like talking with Paul about what style of crib we want the baby to have (I think we're going to go with one that converts to a toddler bed), planning the nursery curtains with my mother-in-law (she found a cool blue material that goes well with the celestial theme I'm doing), and finding little things in the store and picking them up as I find them (like a nice picture frame that also goes well with the room). The thing we really need to work on though, more so than baby shopping, is getting started on choosing some baby names we like. But that, like everything, will come in time. Now that I'm past the important first 3 months, I realize I still have 6 whole months stretched out in front of me, and it feels like there's still a really long way to go until baby gets here! Lots of time to plan and prepare for all those special baby details. Another big thing that's happened this week is the beginning of feeling little movements in there! There've been a few times that I swore I felt little "flutters" and a little "thump", and it doesn't seem like it could be anything other than the baby moving around a bit. I know it's still a little bit early, but I started feeling movements with Harmony around 16 weeks, and they say that you can feel movements a little earlier with subsequent babies after your first, so maybe those are little baby wiggles! I'm paying close attention now to see if I can start feeling more of those flutters on a regular basis. Test Results/Ultrasounds/Appointments: Nothing new this week, but I'm looking forward to next Wednesday when I'll get to hear the baby's heartbeat again when I go in to see my OB for another regular checkup. Physical: The nausea and belly continue to be my two big signs that remind me that I'm pregnant! My nausea has been slowly getting better for the past couple weeks, but on some mornings it really returns with a vengeance! Not sure if has to do with what I eat, or what time I get up, or something to do with baby's movements or growth, or what! but I'll have one really good day where I don't feel nauseous at all, and then the next day I will feel really yucky or even throw up. I'm still feeling pretty lucky that it has been this "easy" compared to other pregnancies and also that it's started to fade away this early. Definitely a plus side to that wonderful 2nd trimester. A new symptom that has popped up for some reason has been migraine headaches! They unfortunately run in the family (although my grandma has assured me "But they go away after menopause!"), although I've been lucky enough to avoid them for the most part except for when I've been on birth control or pregnant. I had really bad migraines throughout my pregnancy with willow, but had been lucky so far with this baby and hadn't had any. I am just taking it as a sign to keep my water intake high (I have slipped off my regular schedule of drinking tons and tons of water daily since I've been a lot busier these days as a full-time mom!), because perhaps the headaches were from being dehydrated. At least the usual remedies of cold compress and a bit of coffee do the trick of getting rid of them (my first taste of coffee in 3 months and I couldn't even enjoy it or have very much!), but hopefully I won't have any more. The changes in my belly have been more noticeable on from an "internal" perspective than from the outside. Yes, it does feel like my belly's stretched a bit more on the outside, what I noticed more this week was a really thickening of the area, and also an increasing "heavy" feeling in my middle, like someone has added a stone or two to my belly. Also, when I take my progesterone supplements at night, I've been really surprised to notice the changes in my cervix! I can definitely tell my uterus has changed shape and size in there. Also, of course my breasts have continued to change as well, and I now have maybe one or two comfortable bras. I went shopping on the weekend to try to find at least one more comfortable bra (converts to nursing bra later too), but none of the ones in the store fit so they had to order one. Sears didn't even carry the sizes I needed so I had to shop at an actual maternity store. But while I was there I found a really awesome green shirt on sale, so I'm glad I made the trip. I hope I don't need to buy more maternity clothes, since I already have an okay amount of stuff for the fall/winter months, just not as much for the hot weather. Besides, this time around, I feel like I really want to feel and look pregnant, not just a little heavier! Weight Gain/Food: Well, my weight is still bouncing around a little bit, but I'm currently only at about a 7 lb gain so far, and some mornings still only at a 5lb gain, which is what I'm mostly trying to maintain until a bit later in the 2nd trimester. In another month, the baby will weigh a half pound, and by the end of the summer she/he'll be a whole pound and climbing from there, so I have to save some of the weight I will gain for the baby's weight gain! I'm still maintaining an okay diet though, and my big cravings this week have actually been for either fruits or carbs. The past few days, I've been craving bread like crazy! Today I drove to two different stores in search of the fresh loaf of bread I wanted, and then almost ate it right in the store (but managed to wait until I got home). Emotional: According to my dear hubby, I can "switch from laughing to crying in an instant" - and I agree with him! I've proven it on several occassions, including at the dinner table over several almost-funny jokes that seemed hysterical to me at the time (and got the tears going after laughing too much). I find my emotions really swaying me this way and that these days. I get really frustrated and upset over little things, and sad over things that normally wouldn't bother me. I'm still trying to understand and express my emotions and try to keep everything balances and in perspective, but even that is a challenge sometimes... I think pregnancy really prepares you to know what your babies are feeling and also what they will be coping with as toddlers (or maybe teenagers)!
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