Happy Halloween!

This weekend has been a busy one for us! Saturday we started prepping the baby room for the  new crib and changing table we bought from our friends.  Since we like the upstairs guest bedroom furniture better than the bedroom set downstairs, we moved the nicer set into the guest bedroom on the main floor and moved the other furniture down in to the basement with. Our friends delivered the crib and changing table last night, which we  thoroughly cleaned and assembled in the new baby room today (Sunday). It's looking pretty good! (We are grateful to our neighbor Phil for helping Erich haul the furniture around, as I'm pretty useless in that department.)

We also went out and celebrated Halloween on Saturday night in downtown Boulder. There weren't too many people out, but enough to enjoy some costume watching, and we went to bars with good non-alcoholic choices; so we were happy! Although we usually go all out for costumes, this year we didn't know if anyone was going to celebrate with us until the last minute, and it was also hard for me to find costumes that would look good in my current awkward pregnant shape (not clearly pregnant, but slightly chubby looking). But I think we found a fun solution:

And of course, we also took our weekly belly shot! Here's the full progression so far:

And an abbreviated one of just me that makes the growth a bit easier to see (where did my waist go???):

This week baby will grow to about 4 inches! It really seems like I should be able to feel something by now, but I guess I'll just have to be patient. :) We have about 6 more weeks until baby grows big enough to see the gender in an ultrasound; and I keep having dreams about a baby boy. It will be interesting to see if my dreams are correct!

Second Trimester

This week we officially begin the second trimester! Wow, time flies!! Our risk of miscarriage has significantly dropped, and if I haven't gotten any morning sickness, I hear I'm in the clear now. Yay!

Last Wednesday we had our ultrasound that helps assess risk for Down's syndrome (Trisomy 21) and other chromosomal problems. It seems our risk is extremely low. The ultrasound measured the nuchal translucency (essentially the fluid in the back of the babies neck) at 1.5 cm. Anything over 2.5-3.5 cm indicates potential Down's. The baby also had a nasal bone, which apparently is often missing in Down's cases. We're still waiting on blood work, but the current stats are: odds of Trisomy 21 is 1:3866, Trisomy 18 (Edward's syndrome) is 1:2550, and Trisomy 13 (Patau's syndrome) is 1:28,814. There is apparently a blood test that we can pay for that can get even more accurate statistics, but it costs a bit our risk is so low, it seems unnecessary.

The doctor was also able to see kidneys, the spine, and several other things that to us looked pretty much like blobs, except for the spine which was obvious. Baby was very cooperative for the scan. The doctor told us that taking the nuchal translucency measurements can often be difficult depending on the baby's position, but our little munchkin was right in the proper position from the get-go and nice and still for the measurement. It did some flopping about and turning later, but that was useful too for the doc to see all he wanted to.

The only potential issue was that the placenta was a bit low, but we're told that can be normal at this stage, so they'll just keep an eye on it.

Some pictures and video from the ultrasound:

Crown to Rump Measurement 57.7 mm

Head and Nuchal Translucency (NT) Measurement

Heartbeat 163 bpm

Crossed Legs - Those Look Like Toes!!

In other news, a friend of mine is selling us her crib and changing table for a bargain! I did some research and it's a great model, very pretty, safe, etc. It's in great shape and will save us over $600, so we're happy. :) The crib can be turned into a toddler bed, day bed, and even a full sized bed, and she's selling all accessories for the conversions as well. The picture below shows the crib and changing table, though ours will be dark cherry.

 

We also have two more "baby bump" photos to add to the collection:

Out of the Closet!

Yesterday I told my boss and teammates I was pregnant. I was SO scared to tell my boss, I was actually shaking a little! She's super nice, so I shouldn't have worried, but I felt so bad that they hired a pregnant chick who wouldn't be able to finish out the year! As Erich pointed out though, none of us in the district would have a job if it wasn't for women having babies!

I decided to show her a picture of our first ultrasound, prefaced with, "I'd like to show you something on my iPad that I made..."

She was great about it. She gave me a huge hug (several actually!) and confessed that she was a bit suspicious when I didn't drink at her BBQ get-together and caught a cold two months in a row. She told me she was thrilled for us and not to worry about a thing. That she would have hired me even if she had known I was pregnant from the beginning. She also said if I needed more time off later or wanted to quit altogether after the baby was born she completely understood. Of course, that's not at all the plan as I love this job and my co-workers, but it was still nice to know she is so supportive.

My co-workers took it well too. One gave me a hug and the other congratulated me and then said, "Oh no, please don't tell me you're leaving!!" It's nice to know she likes working with me! :)

I had been planning on waiting another week or two to tell people at work, but yesterday I realized I had outgrown another skirt and most of my tights, and today I put on a button down that fit last week and the bottom part of the shirt was pulling apart! It's definitely time for maternity clothes! Since there's another gal in the building who is pregnant and wears clothes from the same store I'd shop at, I knew I had to confess before I outed myself unintentionally.

So today after work I went shopping. Even though Motherhood Maternity is not expensive really, buying enough clothes to last 7 days is pricey! Throw in a winter coat (mine are already snug when closed) and the total was a bit scary. But it will be nice not to spend 30 minutes getting dressed in the morning because everything I try on is too tight. :)

Thankfully, a conversation with a friend inspired me to check out Goodwill and other second-hand clothing stores, so maybe I can find some gently used clothes that won't break the bank and can return some of the things I got! Other maternity stores are so expensive it's ridiculous. I went to a shop in Boulder looking for slacks for work, and they had just one pair...price? $110! Seriously?? For pants I can only wear for about a year? (For pants in general, that's steep!)

If you're ever looking for a business venture, open a maternity consignment shop. There are only a few in the whole Denver metro area. Just be sure to hire people that won't have phone conversations with their children while pregnant women are shopping that end with the comment, "Sometimes I wish I could sell my kids."

True story.

Symptoms this week? Largely going away. Cramping is more or less gone, extreme hunger intolerance is fading, and thankfully, I never had nausea or serious fatigue, but apparently now that I'm at 12 weeks, I'm out of the woods for those symptoms! But alas, there is a new one: headaches! Apparently it's some sort of hormonal/extra blood side-effect. Whatever, I don't care. I want them to go away now. Please. They're especially no fun since I'm trying really hard to avoid Tylenol. It's safe to take while pregnant, but I figure the fewer drugs, the better. I have to admit though, right now, I'm real close to caving!

Hospitals & Doctors

Last week we took a tour of the Longmont United Hospital. Overall, we liked the facilities and features of the maternity ward. Although we feel that Boulder may be a tad nicer, it really doesn't justify choosing an OB out in Boulder and driving 30-40 min. for each appointment.

So I chose an office here in town and had my first appointment on Monday. The OB was nice and very practical, for lack of a better word. (Unlike some of the Dr.s I've met in Boulder who are more the granola, hippie types that are big supporters of everything "natural".)

To my surprise, my first appointment was not just a meet & greet, and I actually had another ultrasound! Although I was bummed that I didn't know this would happen, so Erich wasn't there, it was nice not to waste time & $ on a get-to-know-you appointment.

The baby was moving and grooving this time! It was wiggling around, rotated a bit, and even stopped moving for a moment, then raised its left hand and waved at the camera. :) As you can see in the pictures below, their ultrasound is not quite as high quality, but the baby is completely turned around compared to last time. I guess it's enjoying the room to swim about while it's available!! The Dr. calculated the same due date exactly as we were given during the last ultrasound.

We also took another "belly shot". Alas, we missed a week, so the progression goes week 8, 9, 11. Oh well!

I think you can definitely start to see changes, especially in the upper part of my belly! Thankfully, the OB assured me that gaining 10-12 lbs. during the first trimester is normal. So given that I have just 1 week left until the 2nd trimester, I'm actually doing much better than I thought!

On a side note, the ultrasound yesterday showed me as 11 weeks 4 days pregnant, which the Dr. referred to as "11 weeks pregnant". But I notice that the countdown timer and other online pregnancy clocks & tools call it 12 weeks. Any experienced mamas know why?

Let the "Firsts" Begin!

So last week we started the first in a series of "firsts" for our little munchkin/peanut/alien what-have-you.

We took our first "belly shot" (and 2nd this week). I think you can see a bit of a difference! I seem to be losing my waistline...

Baby went to its first concert to "hear" Train at Red Rocks.... seems fitting since I walked down the aisle to a Train song and they sang that one there! (Pardon the shaky, blurry video!)

And we got baby's first photos!

We learned on Tuesday, 9/25/12, that baby was 9 weeks and 4 days old, so I guess our count was a little off, but not by much. Baby's due date is around April 25, 2013....any bets on whether it will arrive on my birthday?? Not sure yet how I feel about that one, but it's kind of fun to think that I'm pregnant over virtually the exact same time period as my mom was! :)

You want me to drink how much water???

So, we just scheduled the first ultrasound for September 25th! I was super excited about it, until I was told that I needed to drink 32 oz. of water an hour before and not use the restroom before the appointment.

Seriously???

Maybe that would be no biggie for most people; I don't know. But for me? I have the world's smallest bladder WITHOUT being pregnant.

In fact, I recently went to dinner with two of my close friends, both of whom were about 7 months pregnant. Who used the bathroom first? That's right. Me.

This should be interesting!

However, that being said, we can't wait to see the little heartbeat, which I'm told will look like a flickering pixel. How cool!

As for symptoms, no new ones really, except pregnancy brain perhaps, as I've done/said several silly things lately. But then again, that may be normal for me. Hard to say!

I've also noticed my immune system is down. I caught a cold this week already. Usually I rarely get sick, so that's a bummer. But at least it was short-lived, and I found out I can work from home with my new job in such cases. So it was nice not to have to use up a precious sick day that will soon be needed for maternity leave!

On the plus side, my bloating seems to have stabilized, and my skin has cleared up considerably since getting pregnant, which I love!

In other news, we learned this week that Erich's brother, Matt, missed his calling. He should have been a secret agent. Apparently, when Erich shared the news with him and said to keep it quiet, he thought he should tell NO ONE. Not even his wife, Peggy. So poor Peggy only learned that we were pregnant this last weekend. Whoops! :)

Symptoms? Not many!

I'm happy to report that 6 weeks into pregnancy (4 weeks along), I'm still experiencing very few symptoms. Other than mild cramping and some bloating, I really can't complain! Ok. That's not true. I can and will complain. My pants are nearly all too tight already!! Ack!

I even dived into my pre-diet "fat pants" box, and those don't seem to fit right, if they'll button at all! The humanity! It seems that my waist has bloated out while the rest of me has remained largely unchanged. My very thorough Internet research has revealed that this does in fact happen to some women, but...why me??

After consulting with several pregnant/recently pregnant friends, they all had the same advice...go to the maternity store now. Just accept it! Personally, I was thinking I should just buy bigger pants, but the voice of sanity (aka Polina & mom), pointed out that even larger pants will soon be too small.

So with a heavy <ahem> heart, I went to Motherhood Maternity and bought some jeans 'n things. Yep, that's right. My jeans now have a 12" elastic tube top instead of a proper waistband and fly.

It might not look pretty, but damn, they're comfortable!!