9 Weeks

Here are my week 9 updates:

How far along? Exactly 9 weeks today

How big is baby? We have now moved from an 'embryo' to official 'fetus' status! The little one is now about the size of a green olive.

Total weight gain: 0 (I actually lost 1.5 lbs at the beginning and am just now back to near my normal baseline)

Maternity clothes? Not yet! The only change so far is eliminating belts from my wardrobe- my pants are now staying up just fine on their own and are much more comfortable this way. I am also still able to stuff fit my boobs into 2 of my bras, even though they are about a cup size larger.

Sleep: When I sleep I am out cold- however, I seem to wake up extremely often through the night- and when I wake- I am totally awake. It takes awhile to get comfortable and fall back asleep. I am also managing to take a 20 minute catnap each day.

Food cravings: Cheese! Preferably melted on something. Whenever I think about mac n cheese, quesadillas, pizza, nachos, etc, I swoon. I actually cooked some wheat pasta late the other night just so I could smother it in cheese. I am also loving my new morning breakfast- toast with cream cheese, a fried egg, and of course- shredded cheese on top. I make this immediately after waking as I start to feel nauseous almost right away. I've also been craving steak - especially on top of salads.

Food aversions: I am still not craving sweets, but can now palate them. Last night when out to dinner, I really really REALLY wanted Bess Bisto's amazing brownie/ice cream dessert that normally comes with a shot of espresso. I had them put decaf espresso on top, and it was worth every bite (and also worth the insomnia that resulted from sugar & chocolate that late at night.) Anything too rich or fancy is tough for me- my dinner last night had potato cakes & a fancy brussels sprout salad- all which I could hardly touch. I fell back on the good ole delicious bread and butter on the table! Simple and bland is the name of the game.

Symptoms? I am having all day nausea pretty much every day. I need to eat immediately upon waking- and am able to manage it pretty well as long as I keep food in my stomach. My chest is still sore & about a cup size larger- and my fatigue has definitely picked up in the last week, noticeably so!

Guesses on the sex? I have to admit I've started a Pinterest board with nursery ideas, and the majority of the ideas are for girls. I do have a feeling we'll be having a girl, but don't want to get "set" on that as obviously there is a 50/50 chance it could be a little boy!

Most looking forward to: Our next OB appointment. It took me an entire WEEK to finally get through and switch to my new doctor, and then her first available appointment was for May 17th- which feels so far away! I will be exactly 12 weeks along at that appointment, and can't wait to see our baby on screen again. It will actually look like a real baby this time!

My brother & sister-in-law are here in town visiting from Seattle- and my sister-in-law is 7.5 months pregnant with a baby girl. We had a funny moment earlier today while at a shoe store- the shop owner came out from behind the counter to reveal her own baby bump- 5 months along. So we had 2++ months, 5 months, & 7.5 months- all different phases of pregnancy. And Anna got some adorable shoes to boot! I hope I look as lovely as she does when I get that far along.....

Tonight at dinner BC suddenly turned to me and exclaimed "I think you are starting to show!" I assured him I thought the bulge was due to the mac n cheese I'd just consumed- but Anna concurred that she too thought it was the beginnings of a wee baby bump. You be the judge- here first is a picture I took at 5 weeks, then another tonight- it is a super subtle bulge, and if it is gone in the morning than I am definitely chalking it up to the mac n cheese!

 5 weeks.....

9 weeks! Baby bump? Or cheese......

6 Week Updates

When I first told my cousin (who is 3 months pregnant) that I too was pregnant, she warned me about the 6 week mark. She said she had felt great until 6 weeks hit and then BAM- she had 4 weeks of pretty constant nausea.

Last Thursday I hit 6 weeks and thought "hey hey! I am totally going to be that girl who doesn't get morning sickness."

Then at 6 weeks, ONE day (good one, universe!)- voila. After breakfast #1 of my congee mush I got a wicked wave of nausea that had me breathing deeply and looking at what else I might stuff in my mouth at that second. And it has continued every morning since then (and often at night too).  It is definitely not 'all day' nausea, and thankfully I haven't felt the need to throw up, but it is intense when it hits. I now have a supply of crackers and peanut butter next to my bed, and anytime I wake to use the bathroom during the night (which is often!) and feel that icky tickle in my throat, I eat a snack, take a drink of water, breathe- and usually it subsides.

I remembered reading something about how having morning sickness correlates with a lower chance of miscarriage, so of course I had to google it. I ended up finding lots of articles confirming this- which is really crazy & fascinating. I am just so happy to finally be pregnant that I am willing to take & put up with anything that comes my way- morning sickness included.

I am starting to have more specific cravings & aversions, which seem to change constantly. Last night, turning my nose up at a fridge full of Easter dinner leftovers, I wanted nothing more than a simple (and heavenly!) bowl of ramen. Today at Whole Foods I stocked up on more soups & noodles, only to find in the check out line that the idea of refried beans was the only thing on earth I thought would taste good to me at that moment. Thankfully I live in Austin, where every 2 blocks is a taco stand. Those tacos tasted as amazing as I'd hoped (with the exception of the dude mixing up my request for tomatoes with onions- I HATE onions!)

I have also had a pretty constant aversion to sweets since very early in this pregnancy. We hosted the family Easter celebration this weekend, and I was a baking fool- making my sister-in-law's cake pops and baking my traditional sugar cookies:

And I didn't want to eat ANY of them. So sad. I made BC let me have one tiny bite of his cake pop- just so I could see how they turned out. They were dee-lish, but I still absolutely didn't want any more bites.

Spot has still been stopping by maybe 1x/day, if even, and remains extremely light & brown. I think I've finally got used to him enough not to feel alarmed, but still hope he takes a permanent hike soon. And I still have a tickle of glee with every bathroom visit where he doesn't show up!

I can't help thinking that this whole pregnancy thing is like a mad science experiment. As the baby grows & develops it interacts in totally different & unique ways with my body. This week, for instance, as I begin to experience what 'morning sickness' is,  our baby's nervous system & organs are all starting to develop. The heart is already beating, and its facial features are starting to take shape. Amazing how quickly these little ones grow.

I had my last beta blood draw Thursday at exactly my 6 week point. The nurse said anything over 10,000 is really great- and I came in at 35,485! It was strong enough that I was told I didn't need to do any more blood draws- yippee! Now we await our 1st sonogram in about a week, where we pray to hear a strong heartbeat. Go baby, go!