"Just perfect"

Your fetus currently enjoys a 1:1 ratio between body and head, and has skin so transparent that blood vessels show right through. But, fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and hair follicles, tooth buds and nail beds are forming -- setting up a significantly more attractive future.

So I had an unexpected ultrasound today! A little bit of red spotting Sunday night convinced me that I needed to call the doctor just to check it out. All morning while teaching I was a nervous wreck! When I arrived at the office, they took me right back to have an ultrasound. I was so nervous! Matt couldn't be there due to work, and I was scared that I would be given bad news with no one there beside me.





Luckily, as soon as the tech started, I could easily make out Gummybear and his/her little heartbeat pounding away! 161 bpm!! Talk about an adrenaline rush! I felt my own heart speed up at the sound :)





This time, Gummybear has some facial features and LONG arms! In one of the pictures, it looks like he/she is waving at us! The ultrasound tech called Gummybear "just perfect". I could have laid back there and watched that screen for hours.





After my ultrasound, the midwife examined me and determined that I'm not bleeding anymore and she could find no reason for the bleeding in the first place. The final diagnosis was irritation and I was given the Rhogam shot (shot for RH- bloodtype moms) just in case.





They also took some blood. The blood-gatherer (what are they called?) had a hard time finding a vein, so after 5 different tries and lots of wiggling around under my skin (OUCH!!), she finally tried a baby needle and got some blood. I think my arms will be black and blue for weeks!





Here's my favorite picture of Gummybear - measuring EXACTLY 10 weeks, 4 days:

10 Week update!

With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will too.)

We've made it to week 10!! This past week saw the return of morning sickness and something new: insatiable appetite! I'm seriously eating anything I can get my hands on...which is probably why my nice work pants don't button anymore! I've started wearing my Bella Band underneath my shirts just to keep my pants closed. While it's nice to know my body is getting ready for the long haul, I'm having a hard time liking what I see in the mirror. Maybe I'll feel differently when my coworkers can stop thinking "Is she, or isn't she?" and start thinking "Yep! That's a definite baby bump!"

In other news, my AP Euro class is gearing up for the exam on May 8th. We're done with the French Revolution and moving into the 19th century reforms. Viva la spring break! Only 1.5 weeks until that! In addition to teaching the future of our country at an ever increasing (and ever erratic) speed, I've also got to start working on the spring Powder-Puff game and SGA elections. It's a crazy life I lead, but such a fulfilling one :)

Funny pregnancy hormone moment of the week: You know that video clip of the two friends in the 70's that adopt the lion club? They then turn it loose in the wild, to come back a year later and see if it remembers them. As it approaches them, it begins to run into their arms - pawing and licking them like no time had even passed. (All the while, Whitney Houston's "I will always love youuuuuu" playing in the background). Yep. I ended up spending a good half hour of my planning block bawling over that stupid clip.

And I've actually seen it at least a dozen times before.

Word to the wise - avoid saying anything sarcastic, sweet, depressing, or otherwise filled with emotion when I am within 100 feet. At least for the next couple of weeks. Matt learned this the hard way.

Only 2 weeks until we get to see Gummybear again!

Gummybear - coming soon!

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've held back from making this announcement for fear that something would go wrong and I would have to "untell". Somehow the loss of a baby-even an unborn baby you've never met before- has a way of making you more cautious. More cautious about believing this time will turn out better. More cautious about getting excited. After the loss of our baby last September, I found out what it's like to entirely LOVE and MISS someone you've never even met. And although I'll never forget our first baby, it is time to stop grieving "what might have been" and allow our family to CELEBRATE "what WILL be"!



It's time for me put away caution and give myself over entirely to the truth: the truth that we ARE expecting and there WILL be a baby for me to hold in October! And we are so excited!!