Week 7: Morning Sickness, Mother Nature's Hazing Ritual

Hey team.  We are at the 7 week mark and our little nugget is the size of a blueberry.  It is producing brain cells at 100 cells a minute and developing arms, legs, and the mouth!




I'm still exhausted at all times of the day and have now successfully slept on all modes of transportation, in two time zones and through half of a conference call.



I'm also starting to feel things expanding and stretching.  It's like your uterus is tired of living in a studio and it has decided to flip this house into a duplex.  I struggle with the internal desire to start showing and I can't stop thinking about what I will look like.  For right now I'm just gonna say I'm carrying it in my ass.




The "crazies" are starting to surface a little more each day.  It feels like forever until you have your first ultrasound so there's nothing but blood work to calm the psycho within and remind me that yes, I'm still pregnant.  So I maaaaay have taken a couple more pregnancy tests through the past couple weeks. ( I know, I know).


I've been experiencing some food aversions this week and, sadly, nausea.  It's a weird thing to feel as I had gastric bypass when I was 18 and I think I've only gotten sick once since (tequila is a beast from hell).  So my body basically fights the urge to get sick- it's a vicious cycle.  The first real bout of "morning" sickness hit on my plane trip back from Virginia.  You don't know fear until you feel morning sickness at 33,000 feet.

Monday we went in for our first ultrasound at 7 weeks + 2 days.  It was both awkward and amazing at the same time.  The ultrasound tech located the baby quickly and, in all honesty, it looks like someone sneezed on the screen.  It's a little blip, but it's our little blip.  We were able to see the heartbeat and I really can't describe what that's like.  Imagine meeting Barbra Streisand, Idina Menzel and Bette Midler at a Nutella bar.  Then imagine your future child's beating heart.  That's all I got.  All things looked good- heart rate at 137bpm and is measuring out for its due date of November 15th.

Meg and I agreed not to buy any baby things until we're at least 3 months along, but man is it hard to resist! Since we graduated from the reproductive clinic (yay!), the next step is to see the OB next Monday. Stay tuned!

Week 6: Boobs of Fury

What you feel like when you go up a cup size.

Saturday we entered week 6 of pregnancy and although it hasn't been a ton of time, a lot is happening!  First of all, my knockers are getting huge.  They are also very sore. If you hug me tighter than a slightly awkward bro hug, I will probably punch you in the pancreas. But I figure- flaunt it while you have it.  Second, by 2pm I am willing to nap anywhere.  Legit. If I yawn while I'm with you, it's not you, it's me... unless it's you. You know what?  Just bring me some sort of cheese related food and we'll all be fine.  Also, please excuse the hormonal induced prepubescent acne festival that is happening on my chin.  Much like the US with Justin Beiber, I'm doing what I can with it, but we're all just waiting for it to recede and it will probably leave an ugly scar.

By now our little kinder is the size of a pea!  Currently, it has a beating heart and blood is running through Sweet Pea's (new name for the week) body.  It is also starting to develop a nose, mouth and ears.  It's probably looking similar to a newborn puppy with fins. The intestines and the tissue that will become the lungs are also forming. And the brain and bones are soon to be completed.  Guys.  I can't even finish making a gym playlist in the time all this stuff is happening.

Next step: Ultrasound on March 31st.

5 Weeks Pregnant, or, I'm Just Gonna Nap Right Here

Since our last post I have traveled to Cincinnati, Kentucky and New York (twice in one week) and in somewhere in there I've been stuck with a needle not once, but twice.  Go hard or go home right?  At least I got to be in the same room as Idina Menzel this weekend <swoon>... but back to the blog about our baby.  The Monday following our good news, and then again today, the doctor had me come in to check my HcG levels (the pregnancy hormone your body produces when a fertilized egg attaches to your uterus #science). Let me break it down for ya'.




Week 4 (3/8-3/14)- The baby was as big as a poppy seed (Meg referred to it as Poppy).

Week 5 (3/15-3/21)- The baby is as big as an apple seed (I nicknamed it Lil' Mac... like a Macintosh apple #nerdalert).

On Monday I went into the doctor's office first thing in the morning, had blood drawn and ran home to finish packing. Then I grabbed a cab and headed to Logan airport to fly out for a business trip all week.  Said trip was planned before we got the good news.  Cause, honestly, the last thing I wanted to be doing was sitting on a crowded (and delayed) Delta flight with a 1oz bag of complimentary nuts.  The office called me right before I boarded the plane to inform me that my HcG levels had been 81 on Friday and they were up to 191 on Monday! That's definitely within the "normal" range. Awesome news.

I spent most of last week in Cincinnati for business meetings and had to tell my boss and accompanying co-worker that I was pregnant for multiple reasons.

1. Business trips are code for little bit o' meetins, then lot o' bit o' drinkin', on the company dime.  And I couldn't.







2.You're going to constantly be rubbing your chest. (sorry, boss)  When they say that your boobs are gonna hurt, they mean it.  Scientifically speaking, your jugs are preparing to become milkin' machines.  They also begin increasing in size sometimes as fast as a cup size in the first week/2 weeks.(you're welcome, boss).


3. You're gonna be exhausted. I never take naps.  Ever.  Meg has even stated that she has never seen me sleep when it's light outside.  I am now falling asleep everywhere.  I slept on a plane with a "frequent leg crossing shifter" behind me that kicked my chair like they were trying to try out for the World Cup.

When you're trying to make it to a
bathroom with a full bladder.

4. Bathrooms.  You must always know where one is.  Because you're going to have to go all the time.  You will wake up at 12:59am (aka last night) and fear you won't make it. There's a lot happening in that nether region and it is starting to take over the neighborhood putting pressure on your bladder, so that's fun.

5. Emotions.  You haz them.  Not to mention hot flashes.  I was in NYC during 15 degree weather and someone said I look like I got a sunburn in a matter of 10 seconds.  I'll enjoy it now before it gets so hot I try not to move from the wall A/C unit unless food or peeing is involved.

Today I went in for more blood work and my levels increased to 2,341!  Woohoo!  Next is an ultrasound on March 31st to see how Lil' Mac is doing.  If all looks good our reproductive clinic will discharge us to our OB/GYN!  Stay tuned.