Ultrasound #2

We had our second ultrasound today – I am 8w3d. Everything is fine! It was sooooo different than the first one! This time around, we saw an actual baby – head, feet, hands, strong heartbeat of 170 – and a circle next to its feet which, I assume, is the developing placenta.

The u/s tech (who used to be a gynecologist before she immigrated to Canada) told me that if I haven’t got morning sickness yet, I’m unlikely to get it now, so late into placenta development. So I should consider myself lucky. And I do – but primarily for having a baby, and only then for having it easy… If I need to complain, I can complain about bloatedness pains. I look noticeably pregnant.

While the tech was taking the measurements, the baby moved and waved – my hubby saw it, but I didn’t 😦 When she turned the screen to me again, the baby wasn’t waving. The tech even wiggled the wand in my vagina a bit, but baby refused to move. Oh well, let it snooze – I hope it will be as courteous towards me later on 🙂

The baby measures 2 cm now – and only 2 weeks ago it was 0.37 cm! Isn’t that just unbelievable?

So they referred me to a gynecologist, but because in our wonderful free medical system in Canada it usually takes a couple of months or more to see a specialist, the clinic will keep seeing me for now – I am to come back for u/s #3 in 2 weeks.

 

PS On my way home, I saw a very pregnant lady on the subway. I was mesmerized by the way her belly moved on its own non-stop, dying to experience the same…

Ultrasound Tomorrow

As always, a bit worried about the upcoming ultrasound – tomorrow.

I decided to take a walk along the lake from work today and perhaps I was moving a bit too fast, but I started feeling some aches and pains in the lower abdomen. On the sides, not in the centre – but still… So am worried now.

Hold on there, baby raspberry! Show us your strong heartbeat and wave some limbs at us tomorrow!

It’s All About Sleep?

Yesterday, I went to bed before 10 pm. Not sure when I turned off the light – but pretty sure that was well before 11 pm. And… today I was able to function!

Yes, I was tired and sleepy in the morning, but once I woke up, I was functioning! I didn’t feel half-asleep by 3 pm!

Going to bed now!!! (9:45 pm)

8 weeks

8w0d today – ninth week has started!

Exhausted beyond comprehension. Woke up at 9 am, fell asleep at about 12:30 pm, slept for 2 hours… The only reason for waking up – wanted to pee. Still sleepy. Listen to that belly growling – am hungry, too…

I know, I should be grateful I am not suffering from morning sickness on top of it all, but I guess I am too tired.

I was dreaming today that I had to confess I was pregnant while on a conference call with the headquarters (in the States). Once I went off the line, I (somehow, as it only can be in a dream) was able to hear my boss’ discussion with the US counterparts. The US people were suggesting firing me right away, and my boss was saying that in Canada, firing a pregnant person is not worth the bother, especially for a big corporation.

I woke up with evil thoughts of confessing I am pregnant right away – and stopping all the worries of not being able to perform… for I will become un-fi-rab-le!

No, not gonna do this, of course…

So, am going to make myself a salad… read about 8 weeks (received one update email telling me my baby is the size of a raspberry), and read – or maybe watch a movie…

Am tiiiiiiiiiiiiii-red… Yawn…

My Blog Etiquette Beliefs

One of the blogs I follow raised an interesting question on blogging and commenting etiquette. I’ll share my thoughts – curious to learn yours!

POST LENGTH: In my opinion, a blog post should be fairly short and focused. It should either pretty much cover one topic in 3-6 paragraphs – or cover a few topics but very shortly, like one paragraph per topic. With longer posts, I feel like the person writing it don’t know themselves what is it really they’re trying to say. I get lost and skip over big chunks of it. If you need to discuss a few things in detail – break them into separate posts! That way people will be able to decide whether this is of an interest for them. I also sometimes give up posts that are too long because there are so many blogs I follow, I can’t spend so much time on just one…

POST FREQUENCY: I usually give up reading people who tend to post 3 and more posts a day. Unless something special happens, they usually aren’t all that interesting – like those annoying friends on fa.cebook that post status updates every freaking hour.

READABILITY: Paragraphs should be short and to the point, sentences should not be too long, breaks between paragraphs should be visible. Otherwise it looks like an overwhelmingly long black block of text – a stream of subconscious with no sense or rhythm. I feel scared plunging into it.

SPELLING: Interestingly enough, I don’t care much about spelling and punctuation. As long as there aren’t way too many errors, this is not a spelling contest.

COMMENTS: I believe no comment should be left unanswered. Someone made an effort, read your post and really wanted you to know that they’re with you, they’re thinking of you. Not answering a comment, in my opinion, is like not answering a voicemail or an email sent to you, personally. Your answer could be as simple as a smiley face – just a token of acknowledgment.

This would be my founding blogging rules. What’s your view?

Moving Along the Timeline

It’s been 4 weeks since we found out we’re pregnant. Hard to believe. It feels like I’ve been pregnant for ages. Well, pregnant with knowledge, anyway (I don’t really feel pregnant… still find it hard to believe there is a new human being growing inside my belly).

I am thinking of the journey still ahead of us – summer, fall, winter… We’re due on Feb. 5th. It feels so long. It feels so far away. And yet – 4 weeks have passed already. And our Blueberry will be 8 weeks on Sunday. So time is moving.

And I am thinking: do I really need a pregnancy book? I have one – which my friend gave to me. I receive weekly emails from a couple of websites with updates of what’s happening inside me. Do I really need to know more?

I sure need to know more about labour – but signing up for prenatal classes later on will take care of that.

So. What I really think we need – is to start reading books about parenting. To start building our point of view on whether a crying baby needs to be addressed immediately, or should be left alone to build its character and cry itself to sleep every now and then (sounds brutal). Take the baby to bed? When to transfer the baby to a separate bedroom? For how long to breastfeed?

Just as I found myself utterly unprepared when I found I was pregnant (I knew so much about each of the 28 cycle days and NOTHING about week 5 and further) – I am worried that we might find ourselves totally unprepared for when the baby is with us.

What do you think? When is it time to start reading about raising a child?

And – what books would you recommend?

Do Boobs Hurt All the Time?

My left boob almost doesn’t hurt and right one is also less painful. Is it normal or am I losing pregnancy symptoms and should be worried?..

Dancing Blueberry

My hubby got us into tango classes as my bday gift this year. Have I ever mentioned that we conceived our Blueberry (most probably) on my bday?

Anyway… today was the first class. And we both enjoyed it tremendously! The instructor is fun, the steps aren’t easy but he gives them in a fun way, and no criticism at this point.Tango music, close contact with each other, feeling each other’s rhythm… Very cool.

It was lots of fun and we both agreed that even our Blueberry enjoyed the dancing – and the music 🙂

Of course, then we went out to eat and I got bloated to enormous proportions. I look 6 months pregnant (I am NOT kidding).

Looking forward to class #2 next Thursday!

A Typical Day at 7+ Weeks Pregnancy

6:30 am – alarm goes off, I promptly get my ass out of bed, shove a progesterone suppository up my ass, swallow a vitamin, get back to bed, all in a 3-minute time. Usually, I fall asleep.

7:00 am – alarm goes off. Press snooze. And snooze. And snooze. Finally, I drag myself to the washroom. I am tired. I am sleepy. I promise myself I will go to bed earlier today. I am so bloated that going to the washroom as an excruciating embarrassment, the sounds I am making! DH is good about never commenting on it.

7:30 am – wondering what the hell should I wear to conceal my bloated bump. After dressing, spend some time in front of the mirror, changing poses, straightening shoulders and sticking out my significantly enlarged boobs in attempt to make the bump look smaller (relative to boobs) or vanish. No such luck.

8:00 am – I leave for work. Once again, I worry over not having nausea. I secretly squeeze my breasts while in streetcar, making sure they’re still sore. Making sure I’m still pregnant. Although that might be all progesterone’s work.

9:00 am – I start my work day. Unbelievably tired. I now drink sweetened tea – I can’t stand the taste of unsweetened green tea anymore, for some reason. I sadly count the resulting increase in calorie intake.

10 am – I already am hungry. Again. Oatmeal in a cup time. But I am not tired and sleepy, finally! Every now and then I secretly stroke my belly and talk to my blueberry in my head.

12 pm – lunch is getting bigger every week. Or else I get hungry like an hour later.

3 pm – my head gets heavy, there is budding headache building up, I am exhausted. It feels like it is 3 am, not 3 pm. My real work day is 10 am – 3 pm, minus lunch. All other time I struggle with exhaustion. Sometimes I wanna cry – so tired I feel. Looking at computer screen is pure torture, my eyes hurt, my brain pulses. I have to time my washroom visits so that there’s no one there to overhear the cacophony I produce.

5 pm – headache settled in, I throw myself into a streetcar, head home, and spend a couple of hours planted on a couch, reading blogs, emails, and forums. I am incapable to do anything at all. Let the dishes pile up, let the laundry accumulate to Himalaya mountains proportions… I couldn’t care less.

7:30 pm – headache lifts off, feel more energetic and serene. I have dinner, light dinner. I plan my evening water intake so as not to have to wake up in the middle of the night to go pee. DH comes home, kisses belly, talks to it a bit.

10 pm – double-progesterone, vitamin, get in bed, read. Rub my belly, think of my blueberry, talk to it in my head.

11 pm – lights off. The tossing and turning begins. My boobs are sore, my stomach is bloated, various muscles and bones are sore, I am generally uncomfortable. Often I have to get up and use the washroom – that’s progesterone at work for you. Night time lullaby for DH’s ears *sigh*

4:30 am – no matter what I do, I still usually wake up to pee. So annoying. Another toss’n’turn session ensues.

6:30 am – repetition of the previous day…

My Blueberry

Still overbloated. Trying to use my enlarged boobs as a cover up – walk around sticking them out to let the dress hang over the belly. It still is noticeable. It couldn’t be the bump, not at 7w 1d. But I don’t feel constipated. Nothing hurts, no internal pressures…

Still no nausea. Still worried. It showed up for a few days and disappeared. But too tired to worry much. I barely drag my feet around. By the time I get home, I am ready to crawl into bed.

I wake up pretty much every night around 4 am now – I need to pee. And then my alarm goes off at 6:30 – progesterone time. And then another alarm gets me out of bed for good at 7 am. I can’t sleep in even on weekends. I wake up just after 7 am. Although, on weekends I tend to fall back asleep. Feels like boot camp for when the baby’s born.

5 weeks of progesterone done, 5 weeks still ahead of me. Fun.

Baby’s the size of a blueberry. 50 days down, I have 230 days to go.

I am not complaining. Trust me, I am overjoyed. But after 5 pm I get so exhausted I don’t even have the energy for any emotions. This is so bizarre…