Wiggly baby

We get to have lots of ultrasounds right now because I had a procedure on my cervix a few years ago. The doctor wants to make sure my cervix holds up to the pressure of holding a baby. At 10 weeks and 3 days, we were happy to report my cervix measured at 3.5cm (a normal measurement for an "unpregnant" cervix is 3cm-6cm). At our next check-in at 13 weeks (April 27), my cervix measured a whopping 7cm!

Although studies haven't shown any risks associated with multiple ultrasounds, I'm still a little bit worried with having so many. The doctor agreed that if my next ultrasound on May 11 looks equally as good, we can talk about dropping my checks to every 4 weeks instead of every 2.

On April 27, the baby measured exactly 13 weeks with a heartrate of 149. Adam and I were amazed as we watched our baby wiggling away up on the screen. I wish I had a video clip, but all I have are these pictures.

On his/her back:

And on his/her belly (sorry for the poor quality - I don't know what happened):

Slowly, but surely, my belly is beginning to grow. I'm still trying to keep this a secret while Adam is out on short-term disability. Our hope is that when Adam returns, we can announce my pregnancy and have it act as a sort of "distraction" from his heart surgery. From here on out, I'll try to take pictures in this brown shirt, so you can compare apples to apples.

13 weeks on April 27:

2nd Trimester (maybe)

Depending upon your source, I may or may not have entered the second trimester. There seems to be quite a bit of debate about whether second trimester begins at 12 weeks or not. Some sources say as late as 14 weeks. Regardless, I think the important issue is that your miscarriage risk drops dramatically when you hit 12 weeks. So no matter what trimester I'm in, I'll relish in that. :)

I'm feeling better in general. Overall, I'd say my nausea has dimished and I definitely don't transition as quickly from not hungry to ravenous to nauseated. Adam and I have both started to notice my stomach growing. I'm sure others don't notice yet, but it's probably only a matter of time. I know 12 weeks is still very early to "show," but I'm only 5'1" on a good day, so there isn't much space to hide a baby in!

Anyway, I'll end with the pictures I owe you...are you beginning to see the difference too?

12 weeks:

11 weeks:

Pictures galore

Now that Adam is recovering nicely from his bypass surgery on April 2, I'll catch you up on what's been going on.

I had some spotting the day he went into surgery, so I've had several ultrasounds since then to check on the baby. For your viewing pleasure...drumroll please.

9w3d:

Although it's kind of dark, you can see the baby is looking more human and less peanut. The head is on the right. You can faintly make out the little arm buds under the body and the legs are at the left. There is also a hint of the umbilical cord. Zyggie's heartbeat was strong at 174.

10w3d:

This is a front or back view (not sure which). You can distinctly see the head and body. The little dots next to the body are his or her arms. The empty circle is the yolk sac, which nourishes the baby until the placenta fully takes over in the second trimester. Zyggie's heartbeat remained very strong at 169.

Then the baby flipped over on his/her belly. Definitely easier to make out the little arms and legs now. Although we'd heard the heartbeat before this, something about seeing Zyggie flip over and wiggle around makes it more real.

Last, but not least, a picture of me. There still doesn't appear to be much going on. My pants are definitely feeling tighter. Maybe you'll see more at the 11 week picture in a few days. I suspect I'm not going to "hide" this baby for very long, since I stand just over 5 feet tall.

10w0d:

Catching up on pictures

Life has been hectic around here with Adam's upcoming bypass surgery. I'll catch up you up while I can.

We ended up rescheduling my first OB appointment for last Friday, March 30 (9 weeks exactly). There's nothing terribly exciting to report - we just went over my symptoms, things to expect, etc. I will, however, have ultrasounds every few weeks until I reach 24 weeks. This is due to a procedure I had in 2006. The doctor wants to monitor my cervical length to make sure it remains strong. My next appointment is April 13.

And some belly pictures. I think the bloat is going down a little now.

8 weeks:

9 weeks, 2 days: