7 Weeks and 2 Days!!

Wow, guys...I feel awful. I mean AWFUL. I am 7 weeks and 2 days today and for the past 3 days I've had the worst lower back aches and nausea/dizzy spells. I hate to complain, because I know all of this is totally worth it, but I got hit with the pregnancy stick REAL fast. Last week I was all "I'm fabulous - not sick at all! How lucky! blah blah blah" and this week, I think Mother Nature has it in for me. Today I worked in bed...literally. I felt so bad I couldn't even sit at my desk so I moved all my gear to the guest bed in my office and have been propped up completing as much work as I possibly can. It ain't easy. Man, do I feel sick...but at least there is a baby in there!


On the other hand, I am excited to have our next ultrasound in 6 days! I'm also hoping to be off pelvic rest (whatever that means) by then so I can get back to exercising. I miss Pilates! I think that will definitely make me feel better. In other news, the babe is growing up a storm this week. He/she is half an inch long and is growing lips, eyelids, and a tongue this week! It is also starting to move spontaneously through the arms/legs/trunk, though I won't be able to feel it yet. Last week's blood work showed that my hCG levels are rising and multiplying every day as they should, which means the pregnancy is on track and developing nicely! I dont' have to worry about last Tuesday's episode so we've put it behind us! Here's hoping for a relaxing weekend and a quick week next week so we can see baby Devereaux soon!! More to come soon!

Tuesday Scare!

Make that 5 weeks and 6 days pregnant...oops! I called the doctor this morning after a few days of spotting worried that something terrible was happening like a miscarriage. They saw me today, did an exam, bloodwork and rushed an ultrasound where come to find out, Lil Bow Wow is only measuring in at 5 weeks 6 days, not 7 weeks and 4 days! The sonographer said that at this point in time, her measurements are the best to go by because gestationally speaking, fetuses all measure the same at this point through about 10 weeks. At that point, genetics take over and the size of the baby will vary on Mommy and Daddy. So here's Lil Bow Wow!!!


Because of the STAT order of the outsourced ultrasound, the lady wasn't allowed to gush over anything. She was on strict orders to measure the baby, see the heartbeat and give all the info to the radiologist, who would call my doctor to discuss everything. Though she didn't talk to us much, we still got a glimpse at Lil Bow Wow's heart rate, which was at a solid 170!!! I have to say, seeing that little perpetual beating inside my body was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I felt the proud ownership of that little being, something Matt and I created out of love, and to see our dream come to fruition in the form of our tiny baby is truly a miracle.

I was astonished to see that the heartbeat was so visible, coming from a heart that had already formed two chambers! No eyes, no real arms or legs and the beginnings of a torso and round-shaped head...but that heart...that strong heart beating like beacon in the night for all the world to see...that is unmistakable. The true essence of all living beings is the heart, which makes such sense that it would be one of the first organs to form in our baby! I love that tiny baby so much already.

Please pray for our tiny baby - that he/she continues to grow healthier each day! We have a follow up ultrasound to measure his/her growth in 2 weeks. We will definitely keep you posted!

7 Weeks and 4 Days!!!

We've got big plans for this week! We have our first ultrasound this Thursday and hopefully we'll get to hear the heartbeat! I'm pretty nervous, I have to say, but I've been feeling great lately - still no morning sickness *knock on wood! I don't, however, fit into any of my pants...which is highly depressing seeing as how I can't blame the weight gain on Lil Bow Wow (Matt's nickname for baby Devereaux) yet. I am excited about my new purchase, though! Be Band is a brilliant invention! It's a band that goes around your pants in the early stages of pregnancy when you can't button your old pants but are not big enough to get maternity pants! I love it! It's better than the rubberband around the button and hole of my too-small jeans! I tried that this weekend....it sucked.

Now this, I'm afraid, is what the belly looks like without the band!

I have shared our little secret with immediate family and the Natchez girls sans Christine at the Balloon Races and made them all promise to keep quiet - but who knows how quiet they will be! We are still holding out for the heartbeat before going public...it's harder than I thought! I plan on telling my college girls this weekend if we all meet up to watch our friend's performance in NOLA. It's so much better sharing the news face to face!

On another note, I found out my boss's wife is pregnant and due almost exactly when we are - June 4!!! I also know another girl in Natchez who is pregnant and due a few days before me - I hope we can be belly buddies! It's kind of nerve-racking to do this whole pregnancy for the first time alone! You think you know what to expect, but really, you have no idea. Thank God for the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting"! More to come later!

6 Weeks, 4 Days!

I'm almost at 7 weeks and I couldn't be happier!!! I feel great besides the fatigue and minor cramps. I'm still in shock over not being nauseous though I know it could start at any time. They say if you don't have morning sickness by the 6th week, chances are you'll be one of the lucky women who escape pregnancy with little or no morning sickness at all. Here's hoping!

I can hardly stand the suspense from now until I get to hear that magnetic heartbeat next Thursday, October 22. It will be our first ultrasound and we'll be 8 weeks! I admit I am pretty paranoid about losing the baby. I know I need to focus on the positive and take care of myself, but I am well aware of the % of miscarriages during the first trimester. Matt keeps telling me not to think about it and I'm trying not to. So to distract myself I enjoy learning the week by week growth of little Devereaux!

Happy Birthday to Mattie, Indeed!

Well...you really won't believe this one, 'cause we don't. I'm pregnant! Seriously! After Matt's birthday party last night, I felt extremely bloated and not right, especially since I hadn't seen my period in over 40 days. Now, keep in mind, I'm an irregular gal so the date didn't seem to throw me. So I just sat up this morning and said I think I'll take a pregnancy test just to rule it out...and I did...and to our astonishment, it was POSITIVE!!!!!!! There they were, the word I'd been waiting on for over a year and a half...'Pregnant' on my niffty digital HPT.


So I screamed for Matt and we sat there looking at each other for 5 minutes, unable to form a coherent thought. Then he suggested I go get more dog food because we were out. Perfect. But actually, he really thought we needed more proof so off I went to clear out the grocery store of their entire stock of HPTs. Turns out, they were all correct! I got squeezed in to see the nurse practitioner today just to make sure I was pregnant and after I waited for what seemed like an eternity, they called me back, took my weight (ugh I gained 5 or so pounds:(), blood pressure and got a urine sample then the nurse walked in with paperwork and started with "Ok, which hospital do you want to give birth at?" and I said "wait...WHAT??? Am I really pregnant??", she said "Yes, girl!!! You're 5 weeks and 6 days! Your due date is June 4th." That's how I heard the most fabulous news of my entire life!

So here I sit, blogging about this experience at 4:30pm after I have daydreamed an entire day away. I can't tell you how surreal this is. I go in for the first ultrasound in 2 weeks and hopefully we'll get to hear a heartbeat! Until then, we'll try not to tell anyone...wish us luck with that! It's gonna be hard! And just to measure how I started out in this pregnancy, here's a belly pic...except that's not the baby - that's carb consumption:)

Doomsday Tuesday

...so they day has finally come for Matt's full work up at the doctor. He has an appointment with an internist as we speak and I know he is a nervous wreck. Until the test results are in, we won't know anything. So we sit and wait...and wait...and wait...please pray for good news...or at least no bad news!

Now a strange thing is happening to me, though I know it's not pregnancy. I already do not have normal cycles, so the phrase "I'm late" doesn't pertain to me. But its been 40 days since my last cycle. I have been having strange cramps and a ridiculous appetite and my boobs are enormous. I know, I know, I should NOT take a pregnancy test because it only stresses me out and makes me angry...but I did anyway, last weekend. Of course it says negative...so I am in the waiting game again. I think this next month I'll start an OPK...I haven't used one in months since all the doctor's appointments so I thought, hey, what could it hurt? We can tell if the vitamin cocktail is working, right?! We shall see...until next time!