All Belly and Boob, 1st belly pic 10w4d

Taken during the Christmas Holiday in AZ while visiting family. No I'm not standing and yes I'm all belly and boob. Lol. That said, god please be kind... Here I am!

My Body This Coming Week at 12 weeks

My Body This Coming Week at 12 weeks

Your uterus has now enlarged so that it protrudes above your pelvic bone. You may have begun to "show". It may be time to buy some maternity clothes!

Your doctor or midwife can feel the baby by external examination around this time.

Your heart is working harder to pump the increased volume of blood around your body and as a result your body temperature has risen. Your heart rate may have increased by a few beats per minute to cope with the increased blood volume circulating throughout your body.

Morning sickness may decrease and you may not need to urinate as much as in early pregnancy. You may become constipated, however, as bowel movements slow down in pregnancy.

You may notice a dark line, called the linea nigra, running along your abdomen from your navel to your genital area. The linea nigra shows where your abdominal muscles are stretching to allow for your uterus to grow. The linea nigra may remain for a little while after the birth of your baby, but over time it will fade.

My Body This Coming Week at 11 weeks

My Body This Coming Week at 11 weeks

Many women who have suffered from morning sickness find that their nausea begins decrease from this week on. (Unfortunately, for some it may continue).

You may have noticed you have more (or less) hair than usual, which is thought to be linked to the increased amount of blood circulating through your body as well as hormonal changes.

You are probably anxious to feel your baby move, but it is still a bit early. You may notice an increase in cervical fluid and you may also notice a darkening of your labia around your vagina and the areola area around your breasts due to hormonal changes.

During pregnancy, the cervix usually feels firm, but it will soften during labor to allow the baby to pass through. Your cervix is protected by a mucus plug to protect your baby. The mucus plug will be expelled shortly before or during labor.

Your body is burning calories faster than it did prior to pregnancy and your metabolism may increase by up to 25%. The quantity of blood pumping through your body will also increase, making you feel warmer than usual. The increased blood flow can also give you a rosy "blooming" feeling.

You may notice that you have an improved skin condition during pregnancy. For some lucky women, pregnancy hormones can cause skin to appear to "glow" and appear smoother. You may even have shinier hair and brighter eyes. Some women develop a "pregnancy mask" (chloasma) caused by deeper skin pigmentation. This can cause irregular patches of brown skin to appear on your forehead, cheeks, neck and nose. Exposure to sunlight can exacerbate chloasma, though sunscreen can reduce its effects. Chloasma usually disappears after birth as your hormones return to their pre-pregnancy levels.

Elevated estrogen levels and increased blood pressure can cause the dilation of your skin capillaries which can in turn give rise to spider nevi (raised red marks surrounded by spidery lines) and palmar erythema (redness of the palms) during pregnancy. Both conditions are considered minor and fade after the birth of your baby.

More Big Changes in 2012

Just found out that my soon to be 87 year old grandmother is out of money. It's so sad. She has to move in with my parents in Hawaii (she hates Hawaii, prefers the desert) and leave all her possessions behind. My parents have to build her a special room with ADA bathroom downstairs for her as all the showers are upstairs and she can't manage the stairs. That's going to take at least three months. In the meantime she has to stay upstairs. It's going to cost a lot of money that my parents didn't anticipate spending now, and none of my uncles are helping. Selfish... I'm thrilled my beloved grandmother has somewhere to go. I'm pissed at my uncles for not helping. And I'm a little sad that my parents probably won't be able to come out for the birth this summer now. I totally understand and I know we will be okay, just sort of bitter sweet. I hope it all works out and the chaos settles quickly. Just a shock. We all thought she had more income. But apparently the last stock market crash really wiped her out. She's probably got another ten years. I hope she can enjoy them.

Random bit of excitement today.

Random bit of excitement today. I discovered that a 3D/4D u/s facility has recently opened around the corner from my office. I could WALK there. The last time we were PG with DD and we wanted one of these scans the closest was in Boston (4+ hours away) and would be in the $500+ price range. This time it's more like 4 seconds away and priced in the $100-$200 range. Woot. So.... IF we get to that point, we're going to look into setting this up. Would be a wonderful keepsake for my last PG.

http://beforebirthbonding.com/

Wasn't Hungry... Uh, yes I was!

I'm at the office today and was surprised to not eat lunch until 1:30pm. That's kind of late. Why didn't I get hungry? Then it dawned on me... I had a protein shake for breakfast, followed with 4 eggo waffles when I got to the office and a 16 oz mug of hot milk I'd been sipping all morning/afternoon.

Duh!

I did eat an entire can of turkey chili with cheese and fresh cut avocado. A whole avocado! So I guess I was hungry after all. lol. And I'm sure I'll need to eat again before dinner, so don't know why I was remotely concerned.

My Body This Coming Week at 10 weeks

My Body This Coming Week at 10 weeks
Your uterus is now about the size of an orange, but you still don't "show". However, you probably have noticed an increase in your breast size.

You may be having mood swings, feeling happy and elated one moment, crying the next. This is perfectly normal, caused by the changing hormones in your body as well as all the hopes and fears you have and the realization that your life will be forever changed by your pregnancy.

There is little increase in abdominal size during the first trimester, though you might be starting to see some weight gain. Hormonal changes, however, especially the increase of progesterone and relaxin can cause your joints and ligaments to soften as your body begins to prepare for birth.

The joints in your pelvic bones are widening now. This may cause you to feel unstable at times, even sometimes dropping things or bumping into things.

8w3d ~ Woot!

I passed a mini milestone. Lost my last PG at 8w2d, and today is 8w3d, and no bad signs today. Still hanging on one day at a time, but a small bit of relief.

We're going to a holiday pot luck tonight at DH's old work. He actually wants to go. I don't. F-them, right? But we're going, so I have to put on a happy face!

I'm eating now, so I can make it to the meal later tonight. Otherwise I'll be super miserable as opposed to partially miserable. Night time is the pits for me. I just want to crawl into bed.

Tomorrow is "date night" but we only get 3 hours, so not 100% sure what we're going to do. DH wants to go out to eat, I kind of want to go to a grown up movie. So we'll have to just see how it plays out.

My Body This Coming Week at 9 weeks

My Body This Coming Week at 9 weeks
Your uterus is enlarged and your waistline may have increased slightly by now. The pregnancy hormones in your system have increased the volume of blood in your body.

Your skin may have improved (the famous "glow" of pregnancy) or you may be experiencing skin problems. Your gums may be softer. The thyroid gland in your neck may be more prominent. Your hair may also be less oily. Your breasts may feel fuller and more tender. You may notice increased creamy vaginal secretions.

Moving Right Along

I had my first official OB apt today and all systems go. Dr. feels encouraged and is also highly optimistic. She beleives the spotting was likely an implantation bleed and/or placenta forming. The implanting bleed doesn't line up in the time line, but it's stopped, so I don't really care what caused it or why it happened. So yay. She checked my scaring on my uterus since I had the myomectomy in January, and said it looked great, everything is healthy, c-section most likely at 39 weeks, yada yada yada... Had 5 vials of blood drawn, a flu shot, and got to pee in a cup. Yay.

Next up, the NT scan and next OB apt both on the 3rd, next month (fx we make that apt). Just after we're back from vacation.

Since it seems to be going well, DH and I decided to tell DD. She's pretty happy, but not fully grasping the concept yet. I think if/when I can take her to an u/s, and she can see baby, it'll seem more real to her.

Was a great excuse to get her to clean up her room though. And she's already thinking bunk beds. lol.