Friday, April 30, 2010

I miss beer

I do. I can smell it from miles away I think and I want a mug of ice cold beer!

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Telling family

So, I have a mamu and mamiji (mom's brother and his wife) in CA who raised me like parents from my early to my late 20s (yes, they did raise me, I went in a confused lost child and came out an adult with direction). Their sons, my cousins, were 3 and 6 when I moved in and they are now teenagers! My God, where does time go?

I just sent the cousins t shirts that say "Kiss me, I'm an Uncle," and "One Cool Uncle." I also had included a coffee mug for my grandma that said "I'm Going to be a Great Grandmother." We were on the speakerphone when they opened it (I gave them directions to call us). It was hilarious! The boys opened up their shirts and were reading them. I could hear the confusion in their voices. I could hear my aunt reading the shirts in confusion. Then, I heard my uncle whisper, "they're pregnant." And, then, everything devolved into utter chaos.

Everyone was laughing and yelling and my uncle and aunt both said this made their year and was the best news they've heard. I really wish I could have told them in person but this was the next best thing. It was awesome to hear their happiness in their voices and their excitement for us.

Times like this make me sad that I live all the way across the country from family.

Belly belt

I am not ready for maternity pants yet; however, some of my pants are starting to dig into my waist. It's very uncomfortable to have the band dig into you as you sit, specially when I sit for most of the 8 hours at work. So, after doing some research, I bought the Belly Band off of Amazon.



I had my doubts about how well it would work. It comes with 4 belt extenders, 1 small button one, 1 large button, 1 small slide and 1 large slide. It also has 3 inserts - denim, white and black.

I tried it on with a pair of pants I know fit well everywhere except for the waist. I was amazed at how well the belt extender worked. Under a shirt, you can't tell that the pants aren't zipped up and have an extender.

The first 2 photos are with the shirt covering the pants with the extenders on:



You can see the extender on in these:


How do you know?

I have had 3 people tell me I am going to be a great mom. How do they know? Is there some sort of force field around women who'll be good moms? Does anyone ever tell women they won't be a good mom? I have my doubts about my ability to mother. But, according to the people around me, the way I treat my friends and other people's children shows that I'm a natural.

But, other people's children mean I hand them to somebody else when I am done.

Who do I hand my kids off to?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Jinxed it, second ultrasound and Week 11

So, I jinxed myself with the whole nausea thing. It stayed away Friday and Saturday and was back with a vengeance on Sunday!

Today, we had our second ultrasound to check for the subchoronial bleed. The baby was right on track, measured at Week 11 Day 1 and no bleeding was seen. So, all in all, good news. We got to hear the heartbeat @ 164 beats per minute.

We are calling the baby alien face for now; the ultrasound tech called it skeleton face.



According to The Bump, the baby is:



For the daddy, according to the Tarzan's Guide to Baby Development:



According to I Am Pregnant,

Your baby's fingernails appear this week! External genitalia are beginning to show distinguishing features and the development of male or female will be complete in three weeks. The placenta's blood vessels increase to provide your baby with the nutrients and oxygen he needs for continued growth. Your baby's ears are gradually moving from the neck towards the sides of his head. Inside of your baby's abdomen, the intestines are developing.

At the size of a plumb, your baby is now able to swallow. The urinary system functions. The baby swallows and urinates the amniotic fluid and the fluid is continually replaced. The baby is kicking but the mother cannot feel it yet. All vital organs are formed and, for the most part, function normally. From now on, they will grow in size and efficiency.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Nausea

is all gone!

I realised last night that I hadn't had the ever present nausea in a couple days and today, I am pretty sure I am not nauseous.

End of the 10th week, thank heavens it's gone!

I am also eating like a pig now. Darnit, I might be begging for the nausea to come back when I weigh myself this Sunday.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Man's Guide to Baby Development

This is AWESOME!!!

Tarzan's Man Guide to Baby Development

According to this guide, at 10 weeks, the baby is:



I think, now at every week, I'll put up the usual fruit comparison and the man's guide one as well :-)

Emotions

I know my posting started off hot and heavy and has tapered off. I think what they said about the 10th week pendulum of emotions is true. Night before last, I lay in bed sobbing, thinking how my life was going to be altered and did I really want that? Then, I got to work yesterday and was eagerly looking at pregnancy announcements and thinking of how much fun it's going to be telling all our family and friends.

Today, I woke up with aches in my hips and ankles and I am cranky.

But, I look good in my white high heels. Who knows how much longer I'll be able to wear my heels.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Today marks the end of Week 10

According to The Bump, the baby is now a prune:



According to I Am Pregnant,

The fingers and toes have separated and the tail has disappeared now. Your baby has taste and tooth buds at this point, which will continue to develop. The brain will continue to grow at an amazing rate and nearly a quarter of a million new neurons are produced every minute! The embryonic heart is completely developed. External genitalia are not apparent until next week, but a male's testes will already be producing testosterone.

And, this following sentence will be used as my defense in ALL cases:

Most pregnant women find themselves getting distressed easily and have frequent mood swings. Common emotional changes include feelings of unattractiveness, feelings of inadequacy and concerns about what the future holds. It is not uncommon to get upset easily, cry at the slightest things, feel moody or drift on daydreams.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Week 9 down!

According to TheBump.com, the baby is the size of a yummy green olive. Mmm, now I want me some olives. no, really, I want some olives RIGHT NOW!

According to I Am Pregnant.com,
Although the baby is still very small, it is beginning to look more like a human being. Your baby's back is straightening out and the tail is shrinking.

Oh goody, it's looking less like a monkey and more like us heehee.

Even though your baby's eyes are well developed, they are covered by a membrane lid. The eyes will not begin to open and close for quite some time still. Your baby will begin to make tiny movements as the muscles start to develop. You will not be able to feel any of these early movements, but you might be able to see them during an ultrasound. The arms and hands are progressing faster than the legs and feet at this point. By this time of your baby's development, the hands have defined finger ridges and the tissue between them will die off to leave separate fingers.
___________________________________________________________________

I have my second ultrasouns on April 26th and meet with my doctor April 28th. She wants to see if the bleeding went away. she did say it was tiny, less than 0.5 cm so she wasn't worried. But, I am still a bit worried, so it'll be nice to have that done and over with. Specially since that's the day I am having lunch with some of my closest co-workers so I can announce to them. Cross your fingers for me.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

5 inches!

So yesterday I thought I was getting a bump and mentioned it to my sister. She said I should measure my belly. Since I got my gastric bypass surgery in 2007, I have kept a weekly record of my weight and a monthly record of various body measurements. So, I checked my spreadsheet and I had measured over my belly button on March 13th and it was 35 inches.

I measured yesterday and I'll call it a tight 41 inches. Now, mind you, I haven't gained a whole lot of weigh since then, maybe 1.5 lbs. So, this is amazing to me! Now, with the weekly photos of the bump, I'll track the growing belly as well.

EDITED:::

I must have been sleeping! I compared my past waist size to my current tummy size. I just rechecked and I might have gained 1/2 an inch and no more.

Sick

My biggest fear with the pregnancy was being sick and not being able to take my usual go to drug - NyQuil and DayQuil.

Guess what? I am sick. Raspy throat, slight chest congestion, headache, bodyache UGH.

Tylenol and Robutussin, do your thang, please!

This baby better appreciate all I am giving up for it.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Week 8 completed

Week 8 is down and according to The Bump, the baby is the size of a raspberry. Mmmm, another food we love.



According to I Am Pregnant,

Eyelid folds and ears are forming. Your baby's eyes are still very wide apart on the sides of her head, but will eventually center themselves out. The tip of the nose is actually present at this time as well. Just a few weeks ago, your baby's arms were tiny buds. Now the elbows are actually present and the arms and legs extend forward and have grown longer. Fingers and toes are becoming visible also.
One of the symptoms that you might feel around this time of your pregnancy is cramping or pain in your lower abdomen or side as your uterus grows. Some pregnant women feel tightening or contractions of the uterus.

Felt that yesterday. I was at the movies with Jeff and was wondering what the heck was wrong with my stomach. It was a fluttering sensation, almost like you'd feel if you had real butterflies in your belly. At that time, I was worried something was going wrong but now I know my body was doing what it's supposed to do.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Plans derailed

So, just found out that there might be some subchorionic bleeding going on inside. I will be sent for another US first week of May, so I don't want to do any announcements till we're sure baby is ok.

Edited: Monday, April 5, 2010

Google is THE EVIL. I googled this condition and the answers ranged from "it doesn't do anything bad" to "60% of women with this lose the baby." So, for now, no more googling. My doctor did not have the final report form the ultrasound and I will wait for her to call me tomorrow before I decide what this means for me.

The wait is killing me!

God, why did I agree to wait till 12 weeks to tell everyone about this pregnancy. So, yesterday, I started a list of what to do when in the next month.
04/02: Order pregnancy related stuff from Cafe Press, I am getting my grandma (in CA) a mug that says "I'm going to be a great grandma," getting myself and the DH a couple of tees etc.
04/19: Mail family's stuff to CA with instructions not to open package till they call me
04/26: Order baby announcements for extended family and friends
04/28: Already have lunch plans with the closest co-workers to let them know. Thinking of getting cookies in shapes of a baby carriage with some cute saying on them.
05/01: Make phone calls to close friends and family here and in India
05/03: We have a staff meeting where I'll announce it to everyone I work with - have a t-shirt to do that
05/10: Mail out announcements to extended family and friends
05/17: Probably announce it on Facebook and make my now-secret pregnancy blog public

Somewhere in there, we need to work on our registry as well.