Fetus-hood

I'm 9 weeks and 1 day today :) Yesterday was really funny, I'm a member of the "BabyBump" app and it requires an email. I've gotten quite a few really useful emails from them since I signed up, but yesterday's was just cute and funny.

It said:
"Baby's now the size of a green olive!
Your little embryo has now officially graduated to fetus-hood. Adding to the excitement, a Doppler ultrasound device might be able to pick up the beating heart. With basic physical structures in place and increasingly distinct facial features, baby is kind of starting to look like...well...a baby!" 

I just thought that was so awesome! It's crazy to know that there is actually something living inside of me now. Not just a bunch of cells forming into something, it's an actual baby! Baby bump has really helped a lot, there are so many women on the forums that help each other out with everything you can think of. Any doubt you have in your mind you can ask and SOMEONE has been through it or has an answer to help you through it. The app has also sent me emails that I'm really glad I received. For instance, it told me that health insurance companies now have to at least help you pay for a breast pump, if not cover the entire cost. It has to be from a medical supply company though, and based on my area code baby bump located one near me, gave me the name, address and phone number for it! Once I'm 12 weeks I'm going to call them. That is one thing that I have definitely learned we need to invest in. Especially if I'm going to stay working. I want my baby breast fed, even if I can't actually breast feed, I want him/her drinking breast milk. So pumping would be the only option. I've also read several blogs where women start pumping almost right away and have pumped enough milk that by 11 weeks post partum, they have enough milk to feed the baby past their first birthday. Obviously everyone is different, there are complications, or things just don't work out. But I'd really like to do that if I'm going back to work, it would make my life so much easier. And if that's the case, I'm going to need a REALLY good pump. Preferably a hands free one which are close to $400! Ahhh.

My first appointment is less than a week away and I'm getting very anxious. I can't wait to see an actual picture of how things are going in there! I'm even more excited to hear the heart beat. It'll bring such relief once we hear it. I think once I hear it things will start feeling real. Not that they don't already, but then I will feel less doubt, I'll feel like this pregnancy has truly and actually started. Then once 12 weeks comes around I can start buying things little by little. I can't wait for that part! :)

I have been keeping up with weekly pictures, but have also decided that I want to do monthly pictures. I went on Etsy and found a really cool thing called "belly buttons." It's really cute designed stickers that you can stick on your belly or clothes while taking a picture. It has every month (in weeks, so 2 months would be 8 weeks) all the way up until 40 weeks. I bought the larger ones because they're easier to see from further away. These are them:

I haven't decided if I'm actually going to stick them to me, or punch a hole through the top of it and put a blue and pink ribbon through it, and tie it around the top of my belly. I found a really cute picture on pinterest of how I want it to look but with the stickers I bought:

I think that would be really cute, but with my face and everything in it. We'll see!

8 weeks

Officially 8 weeks today! It's exciting, knowing I'm officially more than just one month pregnant!

Not too much has changed, I'm still feeling the same symptoms with just a few more added onto them. I'm starting to feel uncomfortable in jeans, I know it's not because of a baby bump just yet, mostly bloat, but I can literally feel my uterus expanding. It's crazy! It hurts to cough, sneeze or stretch. If I do any of those things I have to hold my lower abdomen so that I can't feel the stretching/tearing feeling. It's very strange.

My first doctors appointment is two weeks from today! I'm still very nervous about it but am trying to stay positive. It's incredible how scary pregnancy can be when you truly think about it. I've always been fascinated and obsessed with pregnancy for as long as I can remember, but even reading and talking to pregnant women for as long as I have, nothing can prepare you for when you go through it yourself. I had no idea how exhausting it was. I knew that it was tiring, I mean your body is MAKING a human inside of itself, but I never thought I'd be so exhausted this early on. 2 months pregnant and I can barely keep my eyes open past 10:30pm when I used to not be able to fall asleep before midnight! I struggle to breathe after going up and down the stairs, or walking for extended periods of time. By then end of the day I have absolutely no motivation to do anything! While talking to Tim about how tiring this whole thing is, I brought up the fact that I can't imagine what it'll be like when he/she is finally here. Sleep will be minimal, I'll be breast feeding (hopefully!) which is a job on it's own, and I will be caring for another life on top of my own 24/7. It's making me reconsider going back to work in September.

Everyone tells me I have plenty of time to make that decision, and that's very true. But like my mom has been saying, you never know which is truly the right choice. If you work, you feel guilty thinking that you should be the one at home caring for your child, but if you stay home you feel guilty thinking that you should be out there making money and contributing to your family income. Luckily, I have a husband who's never held that against me and truly wants me to be a stay at home mother if that's what my heart desires. But, he's also very understanding when I talk about the need to feel like I'm helping and making a difference in our lives. He always brings up a valid point that most men I've talked to never seem to understand: "Being a mother is a full time job, and you will never get the time you miss with your child back. Even if you only work part time, babies grow quickly and they won't be babies for long, jobs will always be there."

Regardless of what happens, I know that whatever decision I make it will be the best one for us at the time. We'll see what happens in 7 or so months :)

Morning..or all day sickness?

I'm 6 weeks and 5 days today and I think it's begun. The one thing I was dreading the most, morning sickness :(

I suppose I can't complain too much because I haven't actually gotten sick to my stomach, but the nausea is out of control. I will be feeling fine one minute and the next I feel like gagging. I also have these spells where I feel fine and then all of a sudden I'm on the verge of passing out, or so it seems. I haven't passed out or anything but I start feeling very sick and run to the bathroom, then I have to lay down on the floor because I'm so hot and queasy. I'm sweating and breathing heavy and then it'll pass. It's always the backs of my knees that start sweating and my ears that feel hot when this happens. I'm assuming it's normal? I don't know but it's just so frustrating because it's so unpredictable and I'm petrified of this happening while I'm at work. I'm praying that it doesn't. Luckily I don't have "morning sickness" because I feel great in the morning, it's usually around 10pm that I really start feeling awful and need to sleep it off. For the last two days though, the nausea has happened throughout the day especially when I think about certain foods. Earlier today I was craving sour pickles and about 15 minutes later while looking for them, the thought of them made me want to throw up. Same thing with pumpkin spice cupcakes, they sounded SO delicious and then an hour later when I went to the store I couldn't even stomach thinking about them. That's the worst thing about it so far I think, craving something but not being able to eat it. It makes me not want to eat anything at all!


The ONE and only thing that I've been craving for weeks and has yet to make me feel gross is a turkey sub with provolone cheese, lettuce and pickles. And I can't even have it because I can't have lunch meat :(

My current concern is our upcoming and first ultra sound and whether or not the baby is healthy. I'm so happy that it's only a few weeks away, but I'm scared for any bad news. Praying for a happy and healthy baby!

We've officially (for now haha) decided on the two girls names we like. We want two names for each gender when we go in for delivery. I want to look at our baby and then decide which name fits him/her the best! It's exciting but frustrating because Tim and I never have the same taste in names! Hopefully over the next 8 months or so we can figure it out.


Well that's it for now. Not much excitement is going on with the baby only being the size of a pea :)