Friday, March 26, 2010

15 Weeks

Baby's now the size of a naval orange!
Continuing the march toward normal proportions, baby's legs now out-measure her arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably can't feel the movements just yet. She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

How far along? 15 weeks 3 days
Pregnancy Symptoms: I'm starting to move slower and i get aches and pains. Like at work standing on my feet all day *kills* me. I think i may be starting to waddle a little too, although i don't know why because i don't have a huge belly yet. Pregnancy brain has *definitely* set in.
Sleep: The Snoogle has helped a lot, i sleep a lot better now, but still have to get up a couple times a night to pee.
Best moment this week: starting my vacation week, yay!
Worst moment this week: finding out we're being forced to give shots at work, even though i dislike needles and sticking people with them. Oh, and my bonus was $2.46, that was awesome too.
Movement: My stupid doppler crapped out! Apparently there's something wrong with the connection/wiring according to Jake. I ordered another one because i listen to Peanut almost every day. Sometimes i wonder if i'm feeling Peanut flutters, but then i decide probaby not. We're getting Mexican food tonight so i'll see if the spicyness has any effect.
Food cravings: i keep waiting for the pickles and ice cream to hit but it just isn't happening. I do still like fruit better now and eat less chocolatey type things.
Gender: Tuesday can't come soon enough. So excited!! All of the family won't know until Friday night but as soon as i get home from dinner i'll post the ultrasound!
What I miss: my old clothes...most of them aren't long enough to cover the pregnancy panel on my maternity pants
What I am looking forward to: Ultrasound and Easter dinners!
In Other News:
I was forgetful before i was pregnant. It's *so* much worse now! At the maternity store i was trying on pants and went to ask the girl helping me if she thought the pants i had on were too short. They were, so i decided not to keep them. A minute later she came to ask me if she could take any of the clothes i didn't want. It took me at least 30 seconds of scanning the tiny dressing room and asking "Where did i put those pants??" before i realized....i was still wearing them.

There have been several occassions where i'll get up to go do something (like in the other room a few feet away) and will forget what i got up for. I had to write down my pin number for my debit card that i've had for several years because i'm scared i'll forget it. How i'll remember where i wrote it down? Beats me.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

14 Weeks

Baby's now the size of a lemon! 
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, making urine, and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys, and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over his body for warmth. Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

How far along? 14 weeks 2 days
Pregnancy Symptoms: I feel more nauseous now on occassion than i ever did in the first trimester. What's up with that??
Sleep: My Snoogle just arived today! It's a body pillow that curves around your back and at your head and feet like the letter "C". I hope it helps me stay on my left side!!
Best moment this week: *finally* getting good results back from the First Trimester Screening!
Worst moment this week: the panic attacks that started up while waiting for the results. I do not handle scary things well.
Movement: I haven't felt Peanut yet...(i don't think)...but i listen to the heartbeat all the time on my doppler
Food cravings: nothing new
Gender: i have an appointment scheduled to find out on March 30th!! That's in only 12 days!!
What I miss: a good night's sleep
What I am looking forward to: i plan to reveal the sex to my family at Easter dinner by baking a cake. The outside will be a neutral white but the inside icing will be pink if it's a girl or blue if it's a boy. They'll have to wait until dessert to find out!!
In Other News:
My bump is definitely growing. At least all that money i spent on maternity clothes will come in handy soon. (I'm already wearing the pants)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

First Trimester Screening Results Are Back...

...and they're great!! Based on my age alone our original risk for Down Syndrome was 1:701 and the risk for Trisomy 13 or 18 was 1:1,277. Now based on the NT ultrasound measurements combined with the bloodwork Peanut's risk has gone down to 1:7,685 for Down Syndrome and <1:10,000 for Trisomy 13 or 18. Yay! I was extremely anxious about it all week due to the borderline neck measurement and family history. I stopped taking panic attack meds way before getting pregnant so i had a few anxiety attacks this week. I had been doing sooo good too! Oh well. After more than a week and the doctor's office not ever calling me with the results i finally called them right before they closed this afternoon. And guess what? Oh yeah, they had the results. (So why didn't they call??) I don't plan to go back to the speciailist again, and i don't want to do any more testing since it stressed me out so much, but i guess i'll have to ask my OB if the AFP Quad Screen test is still necessary.

P.S. Siblings and siblings-in-law if you want to see all the medically stuff, here is a "calculator" of how they figure out your risk. The values i have are age (29), hCG (1.11), PAPP-A (2.03), NT value (2.4mm) and CRL (67mm.) Bad blood results would have been both a low PAPP-A and hCG or a low PAPP-A and high hCG if you want to play with the numbers. (A really low PAPP-A would be ~0.20 and high hCG 2.5 for example)
http://www.sbpsoftware.com/trisomy-risk-calculator.html

Thursday, March 11, 2010

13 Weeks

Baby's now the size of a peach!
Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords...savor this, their nonfunctional phase. And intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy -- much more convenient. Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries.  

How far along? 13 weeks 2 days
Pregnancy Symptoms: Starting to ease up....dare i hope that the "golden" second trimester will be good to me?
Sleep: i'm supposed to be sleeping on my left side but i HATE it! I guess i'm sleeping on my arms or something because they keep falling asleep and the tingling and numbness wake me up. I've tried curling up with a pillow but it doesn't help.
Best moment this week: seeing Peanut at the ultrasound!
Worst moment this week: i'm torn about whether i'm glad i did the NT scan. I got to see Peanut dancing all over the place and got a really cute picture, but waiting this week for the test results is absolutely killing me. I really hope the risk ratio isn't too bad because i don't think i can handle any more tests. At the moment i'm hoping i can skip the Quad screen and never see the perinatologist again.
Movement: Peanut moves all over the place! I can't wait to feel the baby kicking.
Food cravings: Yoplait Smoothies! They're a new frozen-food item (fruit and yogurt you blend yourself) and they're sooo good, good for you, and count toward my fruit and calcium daily requirements
Gender: now i'm thinking boy
What I miss: pregnancy before tests
What I am looking forward to: i'm considering going to the 3D ultrasound place at 16 weeks (that's in only 2.5 weeks!!) to find out the gender and get a DVD since the perinatologist didn't do recordings. It would be the standard black and white 2D though. I can't decide if i should because if i wait 2-3 more weeks i'll find out from the OB or perinatologist anyway. What do you think?
In Other News:
I'm starting "Bump" pictures this week. Here's what Peanut makes me look like at 13 weeks 2 days. I look like i just stuffed my belly full of donuts!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

NT Scan

The long-awaited NT scan finally arrived! We got up at the butt-crack of dawn and fought our way through traffic to arrive a little early. The ultrasound tech took us back to the exam room and asked a couple questions, and then we got to see Peanut. Baby was such a wiggle-worm! It was jumping around all over the place. I'm thinking Peanut was just comfortable and didn't enjoy being pushed on. The tech had to jiggle my belly a little to make Peanut move into a better position before she could get measurements. She showed us the tiny arms and legs, the head, the nose and a full-body shot. We saw the nasal bone (a good thing, 70% of Down Syndrome babies will not have a nasal bone present at NT scan) but the nuchal translucency measurement (the fluid at the back of the neck) was 2.4mm, which is on the borderline of normal-high. This alone will not put Peanut at high risk but we have to wait 3-5 days to find out the results of the blood test. They'll combine my age, Peanut's measurements, and the blood results to come up with a risk factor. The doctor said it needs to be better than 1:300 to be considered "low-risk". I'm nervous because lately i've been reading a ton of posts on the baby forum of people who are getting these awful risk ratios (such as 1:50, 1:6) that usually turn out to be false positives. Let's hope we get low-risk results!

Here's a picture of Peanut from today, at 12 weeks 6 days. He/she's waving hi! (The little white dots near baby's head are the fingers)

Thursday, March 4, 2010

12 Weeks

Baby's now the size of a plum!
As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of his systems are fully formed. The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be.

How far along? 12 weeks 2 days
Pregnancy Symptoms: The never-ending exhaustion continues, and the mood swings are crazy
Sleep: Getting a little better. I don't have to get up to pee quite as often; sometimes i get to sleep a whole 4 hours!
Best moment this week: discovering maternity clothes aren't as bad as i'd feared
Worst moment this week: my awesome Monday evening with the girls turned into a giant mess made worse by my crazy mood swings
Movement: I really, really need to get back into walking. I've gained 4 pounds already since my 8 week appointment! No baby movements yet.
Food cravings: my sweet tooth is making a comeback
Gender: gender prediction tests and the chinese lunar calendar point to...GIRL! I want to know sooooo badly! Mom has decided it's a girl already and brought two absolutely adorable outfits to work yesterday. If i don't find out at my NT scan my "big" ultrasound is scheduled for April 12th
What I miss: my favorite jeans :(
What I am looking forward to: Jake's birthday on Saturday! Then the NT scan on Monday, Bachelor night with the girls, and another consignment sale Wednesday evening.
In Other News:
We're edging closer to picking out baby names! This week our names are:
Girl: Isabelle Grace Bolton (Izzie)
Boy: Nicholas ? Bolton (Nick? maybe Nicky when he's a baby? i dunno)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Intelligender: Boy or Girl?

So i decided to do a gender prediction test. It's mostly for fun because it's not exactly highly accurate, but my results are iffy! Here's what girl and boy results *should* look like:
http://www.intelligender.com/pages.php?pageid=13

Are my results a baby girl or a baby boy? You decide!


P.S. I called the company and they said the color of the crystals on the bottom should be ignored and that a yellowish color would mean girl.