Week 13

This week came with yet another scare...Yeh it really doesn't end.
Good news out of the way first...Nuchal Results!!
They are fantastic.
Odds are as follows-
Trisomy 21 (Downs syndrome) 1:19803
Trisomy 13+18 (Edwards syndrome and Patau's syndrome) 1:36426
So as you can see, those odds are really great and very reassuring :)
On to the scary news...after going over my nuchal results i noticed that the tech had measured my cervical length and that it had been noted to only be 2.31cm!! This is not great at all, and most Dr's will take anything under 2.5cm as pre term labour.
So yes, i freaked and called my Dr asap.Of course, it being the Xmas holidays they were closed and he wasn't taking any appointments and my appointment was not until the following Friday...he called me back anyway, and i managed to get in at a time that he was planning to call into the office while it was shut to get checked over.
This was today...and omg,it was by far the worst thing i have been through pregnant so far.He did a full internal on me which took around 40 Min's and had me in tears. Due to the previous surgery, internals are never a nice thing to start with, but an in depth one is not something i really want to ever have to go through again...which unlucky for me, i now have to have every 2 weeks.
Good news is, my cervix was at 4.2cm, which is perfect for this time.Which means there is no cercalge (cervical stich) needed for now.Which we are hoping stays the same because there are more risks than nessessary to have it put in, int he first place, particularily infection and scar tissue.
But i am now in as a risk patient and have to see him every two weeks and have the same check done, to monitor it.
He also did the full physical on me today, checked all of my glands for lumps and bumps, breasts and abdomen.Everything is good, with the exception of my gallbladder which will inevitably have to be removed once baby is here so long as i can hold it off that long(which i already knew about this week just from my GP).
Alot of keeping that happy is just going to be eating better and avoiding fatty,greasy and fried foods :(
I am still hurting from the internal, and still bleeding, which of course is scary, but i know he did alot down there so i hope that's all it is.
Dr scanned really quickly over baby just to make sure the heart was still beating, and it was there flicking away straight away.He didn't do any measuring or checking the bpm but that's not what i was there for.
So now, we see him again on the 15th and that's when we go for the tour of the hospital as well, and get booked in, and set with the hospitals antenatal carers as well as my Dr, since we are doing co-care.
I was not going to go the rest of the pregnancy with my Dr, and just use the hospital for anything i needed, but under the circumstances, he would like me to stay under his care for the long term.Which i don't have any problem with...except that it costs me out of pocket for everything he does and every time i see him.But oh well, whatever is going to give baby the best care and looking after possible.
The only other news this week is the strange fact that we are only a couple of days away from hitting the 2nd trimester and i am sicker than ever instead of being better.
I had my first puking session last night, it came completely out of the blue...was sitting down to some chicken noodle soup and toast and didn't feel right...walked myself to the bathroom and sure enough, up it all came.LOL.
Its so me though...get worse when I'm supposed to get better.I just hope its very short term and goes away as quickly as it came.I would hate to be sick more from here on in....i am sooo longing to enjoy being pregnant with this baby.

Week 13
Your infant is about 2.91 inches (7.4cm) and weighs around 0.81 ounce (23gm) - This is about the same weight as 4 quarters.
If you could peek in again you may spot your baby as he begins to practice inhaling and exhaling movements
Eyes and ears continue to move and develop
Baby's neck is getting longer, and the chin no longer is resting on his chest
Her hands are becoming more functional - Your baby may find it comforting to start playing with her fist.
At this point all nourishment is received from the placenta
On your next doctor visit you should be able to hear heartbeat with a Doppler by now - (Don't worry though if you can't, the heartbeat can be confirmed through U/S). Your baby's heartbeat is much rapider than your own and may remind you of the race towards birth that he is running!

12 weeks and a big test.

So this week hit 3 months and we had an important test, the Nuchal Translucency Test.

Which by the looks of it went absolutely perfectly!

There was just baby and me and we got called into the ultrasound room, the lady was so lovely, it was really good to have someone who was so nice and explained things so well.

As soon as she put the ultrasound thing on my belly baby was jumping around kicking legs and waving arms, it was very exciting and even the tech was laughing and smiling.
The first sigh of relief came from me.

Next up she asked me my dates and measured baby to see if he/she was still on track...perfect, still one day ahead even and now we are officially due 6th July, not 7th, but as we know baby will be here a couple of weeks or so before then anyway.
Next up, the tech got a nice clear picture of babies profile so she could get an accurate measurement of the fluid behind the neck/head.
This is where i started to really panic because i had previously researched what was a good measurement and what would be cause for concern (they look for anything below 2.5mm in Australia, anything over that requires further testing, testing which holds a risk of miscarriage)...

i saw the numbers come up...

1.5mm! whew!!

i smiled straight away, i didnt even need her to tell me it was ok, i knew it was fantastic, and in fact quite the ideal measurement.
after all of the testing stuff was over the tech so generously gave me a really in depth look at baby, and everything that has formed so far.

It was soooo fascinating!!

She got the most wonderful shots of, both arms in the air, both legs kicking straight up, we saw both chambers of the skull and where babies brain was developing, she got an amazing shot of babies spine, and even the tummy and little tiny bladder.
There was also a great shot of where the chord goes into the babies belly.
It was really overwhelming to see how much the baby had changed in just a matter of two weeks.
The heart was a steady 162bpm again, it has not changed, and they look for anything between 120 and 180 for the whole pregnancy so he/she is sitting perfectly in range.
There was nothing, so far that she could see that could be faulted. I was so happy with the results.
Of course, she did remind me that even though the nuchal fold is right on where it should be, that my bloodwork could still come back with something to be cause for concern, but i just dont feel it will.
I go back on the 31st to pick up the ultrasound pictures, and i really hope i get a copy of everything she got a shot of.They will really be great to show everyone everything that i could see.

Week 12
Vocal cords begin to form- While perhaps not quite ready to be introduced to the nearest opera stage, your infant will use these immediately following the moment of birth. Bet you can't wait to hear that first cry!
Those precious eyes begin to move closer together - Are you wondering if he will have mommy's crystal green eyes, daddy's laughing brown ones, or maybe out of the gene pool will emerge grandma's clear blue!
Ears shift to their normal place on the side of the head
Intestines move farther in to your child's body
His or her liver begins to function - Responsible for cleansing the blood, storing nutrients, and providing needed chemicals, this is an important event!
The pancreas begins to produce insulin
Guess what? Your baby's average size is now at a whopping length: 2.13 inches (5.4cm) and weight: 0.49 ounce (14gm).

11 weeks

Well its 11 weeks this week and things are really starting to noticably change. My belly is sticking out all the time now and there is no denying something is going on.
I have alot of round ligament pain all day long, and alot of stretching which always worries me because of the way it feels.
Morning sickness is still kicking my butt day and night, heartburn has really kicked in and is there almost at some stage each and every day, and constipation! yuk!
Tomorrow we go in to have the bloodwork done for the first trimester screen (Nuchal ultrasoud), these are the other results that get looked at with the u/s to determine the chances of down syndrome and other abnormalities.I am so excited to see baby this week as i know that it will be completely different, it should be a side profle shot from now on, we should be able to see all the little features, arms and legs, nose and mouth etc.I cant wait!
there are only less than 2 weeks now until we are out of the 1st trimester. It has gone so quickly yet so slowly as well.

Here we are at 11w2d.

My mum is entirely too excited about my stomach and comments on it daily, showing it off to Iain and making an example of it whenever she gets the chance.lol.

We still both think it will be a boy :) The gender scan cannot come quicker. I need to know what this baby is, as so far i dont feel any kind of connection and i feel horrible for it.
Time will tell...Hurry up and wait.

Week 11

Nearly all structures and organs are formed and beginning to function.
Fingers and toes have separated - Take a glimpse at how incredibly precious your child's tiny feet are at this point.
Hair and nails begin to grow
The genitals begin to take on the proper gender characteristics - It will be just a few more weeks before your ultrasound can show if you are having a boy or a girl! Have you been dreaming of pink or blue?
Amniotic fluid begins to accumulate as the kidneys begin to function - This fluid, consisting primarily of water, helps provide a cushion for your baby while she's nestled within your womb.
The muscles in the intestinal walls begin to practice contractions that digest food.
Your baby is about 1.61 inches (4.1 cm) long and weighs 0.25 ounce (7gm).

10 weeks and so much worrying.

We hit 10 weeks today, but in the days leading up to this it has been pretty rough.
We spent a torturous 9 hours in the ER on Sunday.I had been having weird cramps on and off for 3 days prior and on Sunday i started to spot blood.All of my symptoms had disappeared and i felt like it was over and nothing was happening.
So i took myself to the local hospital.After checking in with triage, i had a nurse jab my arm and leave in a drip thing so that more bloods could be taken throughout the time i was there.
It hurt so much and i bleed so badly from where she put it in, it soaked through the pillow my arm was resting on and looked horrible...i was to put up with this sticking out of me for the next 8 and a half hours! It was right on the joint the other side of my elbow, so each time i tried to do anything with that arm the needle would move and stick in further or push up or down.

They took my blood pressure and temperature etc, gave me a little something for the pain and then left me to wait... the wait killed me because soooo many people were sick and vomitting and i just wanted to hold my breath!
The air conditioning was ridiculously cold and i was suffering so badly in the waiting room.
Aaron had finally finished work and came straight there to keep me company, poor thing, he was already tired and suffering from a cold.

6 hours later...
i FINALLY got a bed and got called in.
I got changed into a gown, got a warm blanket and got hooked up to the monitors, and had that stupid blood pressure machine that squeezes your arm every 15 mins which was horrible when my arm was already hurting so much!!
The Dr seemed to take forever to come over and do anything, but i was so tired, and hungry that i did not care and was just happy to be laying down and a little warmer.
I was in there for a further 3 hours and got checked right over to make sure my cervix was still coping with being pregnant (god the interal hurt so much!) and all was fine.
They found white cells in my urine, which means i have some form of an infection, but i opted to not take meds since i have no real sign of a UTI or anything.
She took swabs from my cervix to check for anything else and i am still waiting for the cultures to come back during the week.
They did not even do an u/s to check the baby because they cant do it at the hospital as the machines are not designed for pregnancy (clarity).
So after all that time, i got the all clear to leave and we finally got home and went to bed.
The next day i went to get an u/s that was ordered by my gp, and THANKFULLY baby is absolutely doing great! He/She has caught up to date and is infact a day ahead of our EDD now.

It measures 3.2cm and had a heartbeat of 162bpm (perfect range).
It was so amazing to feel the relief when i saw the baby. You could see little arm and leg buds and the head and body, it really looks like something now.
So now we wait 2 more weeks and go back for our Nuchal scan on xmas eve, and we will be the baby again, and i'm sure it will have changed so so much by then as rapid growth really starts this week.

Week 10

Baby is now called a fetus in "medical terms". You, however, may have chosen the name "peanut," "angel," "jumping bean" or simply "miracle."
The most critical part of your infant's development is complete. Now you are headed into a period of rapid growth.
While a bit strange to envision, your baby's head is now about half its length - Soon the rest of the body's growth will catch up but this area is prepared to keep up with the rapid brain development!
Eyelids fuse shut and irises begin to develop - Eye color is also determined by this point.
Placenta begins to function this week or next - The placenta is the organ responsible for both the provision of nutrients along with the removal of waste to keep your baby growing strong!
Your baby will be about 1.22 inch long (3.1cm) and weigh 0.14 ounce (4gm) at the end of this week.

9 weeks and starting to show a little.

Well gone are the days of having a nice little belly.This week, i seemed to loose alot of the fluid retention i was having all over and my belly started poking out.

Aaron is always calling me fatty lol.

Its really strange to have this because i have always suffered terribly with weight gain and the fact that i never wanted to gain anything more than 50 or so kgs or i would not eat for long periods of time.

Since being pregnant i have gained a total of 8kgs so far.heh.I'm not too worried, as long as i can loose it again.

I can no longer use my electric tooth brush and have had to go back to a regular brush because it makes me gag so badly.lol.
So far i really cant stand being pregnant.ugh.

Week 9
Baby has begun movement - While still too small for you to feel, your little one is wriggling, shifting, and dancing already! Makes you almost wish for a window to peek in whenever you want!
Most joints are formed now - and trust that your little one is practicing bending and flexing.
Fetus will curve its fingers around an object placed in the palm of its hand - This is amazing to see! At only nine weeks, if you happen to have an ultrasound, you may observe your infant fascinated by everything he or she can lay their fingers on (mainly other fingers, toes, ears and nose!
Fingerprints are already evident in the skin
Average size this week -- length 0.9 inch (2.3cm), weight 0.07 ounce (2gm)