Week 3 - Week 7

So I know what's you're thinking - why am I posting this now, aren't you farther along now? Because I wrote these as I was experiencing them. So I thought I would let you in on what I was feeling and thinking and how our baby was growing. Make sure to come back every Tuesday for an update on me and our growing baby. I've been enjoying writing these and seeing how our baby is growing, so I hope you enjoy reading.
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*Week 3*
You're the size of a poppy seed right now. We were really excited to find out that you would be gracing us with your presence in just nine months. You aren't up to much right now - you're pretty much just a ball of cells - but you are setting off on a trek towards my uterus where you'll be setting up shop for the next nine months.. Shamelessly, your dad and I have made a bet on if you'll be a girl or a boy. He thinks you'll be a girl and I think you'll be boy, but honestly, either way we don't care.

You've been fairly kind to my body so far. No morning sickness, but plenty of other symptoms. I've had my fair share of cramps. I've definitely been experiencing headaches. I've been exhausted. I've even been a little hungrier and craving some select foods. And I've definitely had mood swings like you wouldn't believe. At this point, it hasn't completely sunk in yet. We have been keeping you our little secret for the time being, but can't wait to let everyone else know about you.

(Monday, February 20 - Sunday, February 26)

*Week 4*

You're still the size of a poppy seed, and currently I've been calling you Poppy. I promise we'll give you a better name. You've reached my uterus and making yourself comfortable, splitting up becoming the embryo and the placenta. The amniotic sac is also forming which will cushion you and keep you safe during your stay. You've also started developing your three layers, which will make you you.

At this point, not too much has changed. The news of your pending arrival is a little more real, but otherwise not much has changed since week three. I scheduled my first ultrasound and prenatal appointment for week six and seven respectfully. It is getting harder to not tell the big news though. I'm really excited to share it with everyone. I want everyone else to be as excited about you as I am. I'm actually feeling great - better than week three believe it or not. I'm actually feeling much more like I usually feel, so I don't feel pregnant at all. And I'm still very gracious for no morning sickness, which would be a sure-fire way to feel pregnant or horribly sick. I have the occasional symptom, but for the most part I feel great. The only thing I'm really experiencing now is cravings. I've been having cravings for certain foods - but your father says that's not much different than how I am normally.

(Monday, February 27 - Sunday, March 4)

*Week 5*

You're now the size of an appleseed. Does that mean I can't call you Poppy anymore? But I've become pretty fond of the name Poppy (although I still promise not to actually name you that). You basically look like a tadpole right now - apparently you're only .13 inches.  But hey, I have great news for you, my little baby, you are now forming your vital organs and systems.

 I've been working on eating healthy and the right things. I haven't had too many cravings so far. For the most part, I'm feeling great. I actually haven't felt pregnant for the majority of week five. Headaches are gone. No cramps. But I have been hungry and tired. That's really not that different. However, towards the end of this fifth week, I have definitely got a queasy thing going on. It's making me not want to eat because I'm not really hungry and I'm afraid it's all going to come back up anyway. It's really not a pleasant feeling. It makes for long days at work, worrying that I might end up actually getting sick, and being at a daycare, there is nothing about those bathroom floors I want anything to do with! We also went in for our first sonogram and it was pretty cool to see you. You are so tiny. We weren't able to hear your heartbeat because it was still too faint to actually hear but we could see the flicker of the heartbeat. We got the first picture of tiny tiny little you and yup, it's on the fridge!

Since you're only the size of an appleseed right now, you can't even tell that I'm carrying you, which is okay with me because we aren't ready to reveal the news to the whole world yet. We just want to make sure everything is good and okay with you first. I will say that your uncle (Ryan - on my side) kept pressing me for news a few weeks ago. He was so certain that I had something to announce. As it turned out, I did. But I didn't know about you yet. Now I do and now I'm ready to tell our immediate families about you. Your grandparents, aunts, and uncles will be very excited to hear about you. In fact, we told your grandparents (well one set of them at least) over the weekend and of course they were thrilled. Who wouldn't be excited about your pending arrival in November!?

(Monday, March 5 - Sunday, March 11)

*Week 6*

You, my beautiful baby, are the size of a sweet pea. You're starting to grow your features - nose, eyes, ears, chin, and cheeks. Your kidneys, liver, and lungs are also developing strong with this week too. Also your heart is starting beating faster with every day. 

Everything is so very much out of whack right now. I keep reading about how it's all going to regulate out in the second trimester and trust me, I'm counting down the days. Very anxiously counting down the days. My extreme hunger seems to have died off, leaving me feeling queasy pretty much all the time. Lately it's felt like I've had to force myself to eat because the food aversions are here in full force. I try to eat something but the moment I put it in my mouth, I pretty much want to throw it right back up. It's a horrible feeling to be honest with you. I've been craving less and less lately. I mostly want nothing to do with food. But what does seem to work is apple slices. Apple slices are my friend right now and my favorite thing to eat. The crazy moods seem to have died off mostly too, but now I'm battling it out with my stomach. And I never ever feel like I get enough sleep. In fact that's mostly what I think about these days - the next time I can take a nap.

So I bet you're wondering how we announced you to our parents - your grandparents? Through pictures of course. I don't like to do anything normal and just plain Jane. We really wanted a creative way and I had been throwing around idea. I had gotten a few from pinterest, but I just couldn't decide how I wanted to do it. Then suddenly it hit me. We had planned to tell everyone through my blog - through a picture of course. Rob held up a 'Coming Soon' board with an arrow pointing to my stomach and we came up with some amazing pictures. So then I got the idea that we could do a couple other pictures and tell them that we had some new pictures for everyone, but put the 'Coming Soon' pictures on the bottom. Then we didn't say anything but let them flip through the stack. I almost wish I had a camera to capture their faces when they came to those pictures. It was perfect. We were really happy to finally spill the beans and let everyone know our big news. Or at least let our immediate families know our big news. It was just amazing to see their faces when they realized what we were telling them! All that almost makes up for feeling as horrible as I have been feeling!

(Monday, March 12 - Sunday, March 18)

*Week 7*

My cute little blueberry. And my smart blueberry to boot. You have been very busy developing about one hundred brain cells. I just knew you would be a genius. You are very busy with your arms and legs starting to form. And also developing a permanent set of kidneys - so no ruining them years later. But we both know you'll be smarter than that. It still amazes me that you are forming like you are. You are taking shape and becoming you, and we are so excited to see who you'll be. If you could have a bit more of me than your father that would be great - one ornery (big) kid in the house is probably enough. : ) But if you turn out like your father, that'd be okay too. I kinda like him after all. But just look at how big you're getting. It's hard to believe that you will be in the world and in my arms in nine months.

Starting out week seven, I was definitely feeling better. Less nauseousness, but about mid-way

through, my first pout of actual morning sickness hit. And honestly, I almost wished to go back to the constant nauseousness. Let me just say here that getting sick kinda sucks. It's unpleasant and pretty much just sucks. I keep trying to remind myself that it'll all be worth it and this won't last forever, but it's hard to remember that. Especially when I'm throwing up on the side of the road the next morning. So from what I can figure, the prenatal vitamin is setting my stomach off. The acid in the vitamin is not agreeing with my stomach. It's not so bad - well it's always bad - in the morning when there's not much in my stomach yet but then I have to go through my whole day (at work) feeling really crappy. So I wait and take it with another meal later in the day then at least I'm home, but there's more in my stomach. It's a horrible catch 22 I feel like I'm stuck in. But as I keep saying over and over again - this too shall pass. Just another month until I'm done with my first trimester and I should be past all of this by then.

This week I also went back in for another sonogram. There has been a huge confusion with my sonograms. The doctor's office requires you to come in and have a positive pregnancy test through them before you take the next step, but when I went in my regular doctor was not there. She was still out on maternity leave, but would be back the next week or so. So the doctor I saw set up my orders for two weeks from then to have my first sonogram then the next week my first prenatal appointment (with my regular doctor this time). But he sent me too early - much to everyone's confusion. So we weren't actually able to hear the heartbeat although we could see the flicker. So when I went in for my prenatal appointment, my doctor said that she really wanted to hear the heart tones and make sure that everything is okay in that regard. So I had to go back in. And let me just say that hearing the baby's heartbeat was amazing. It definitely made it more real. Poppy's little heart is beating strong. It still makes me smile thinking about the heartbeat now. In the morning sickness world I'm currently living in, hearing the heartbeat pretty much made it all worth it.

(Monday, March 19 - Sunday, March 25)