13 weeks!

I never did get around to my official 12 week post, but the 13 week post will be more than enough, I'm sure! We had our NT scan at the Maternal Fetal Medicine office on Friday. It went great. The ultrasound tech got all the measurements (which the doctor said looked normal, putting us at low risk for Downs or Trisomy 18) and she printed out about 15 pictures for us to keep! It was great, as we didn't know that we would get to have any pics from this ultrasound. The tech was great and did some awesome 3-D pics, too! I'll post the link to them at the end! And by the way, if those pics don't scream "boy" to you, I don't know what will...especially the 3-D frontal view.

The sickness has faded for the most part, except on the occasional morning while brushing my teeth. I've been eating more regularly again & I'm still loving the dill pickles and pickle juice.

That's about all for this update! I go for my follow-up bloodwork on the 28th of June, my next OB appointment is on the 8th and our "BIG" ultrasound is on the 19th of July!

Click here to view our baby's pics!

11w5d

I suppose an 11 week update would be appropriate before I hit 12 weeks, huh? I am doing well - still getting sick here and there, a couple times a week, however I've noticed that the whole toothbrush-gag thing is become more prominent this week (therefore my evening sickness is definitely becoming morning sickness). One of the moms of my preschoolers called "girl" yesterday when she heard I was throwing up bile, but then I told her about the whole drinking pickle juice straight from the jar thing...she was sooooo grossed out - LOL! She's the only mom of my students to know & I only told her because she was feeling so much remorse (and thinking I would take it personally) that she's most likely moving her younger son to her own church's preschool next year. She was literally bawling to me about it because she thought I would be upset with her - so I told her about me not being here the whole year next year so that she wouldn't feel so bad. I trust her - most moms I wouldn't! And I love her - she's so sweet!

My pastor came down to my classroom yesterday to see me (I had written him a note after I had gone to see him twice and he wasn't there) - I told him that we were expecting and his first question was, "An adopted baby?" He was in complete shock but so happy for us! He sat and prayed with me and asked lots of questions & told me that he would have to congratulate G on Sunday when/if he saw him at the church softball game...I just hope I'm not being over-zealous in telling people now - It's so exciting!

I'm starting to show just a little bit now & I love, love, love it! I just bought a bella band (lace trimmed, black) on ebay for $10.45 including shipping! Yay! Pic of my belly coming soon!

We're going to a wedding in North Carolina this weekend (college roommate of G's) - I still have to decide tonight which dress to wear. The one I had planned on wearing definitely gives me a baby bump, so I'm afraid it might not be the most comfortable throughout the day/night. The other is less formal, but since it is an outdoor, afternoon wedding, I don't think it will be inappropriate either.

10 week update!

I had a great appointment on Tuesday! I'm still measuring 2 days ahead and they confirmed my due date at 12/3/10! The HB was great at 170bpm & the little sucker was in there moving all over the place - it even looked like it was waving at us!!!! Best feeling in the world!

We told G's parents over the weekend and his mom was a little confused at first (or we were just confused at what she was asking us)! G's dad is a radiologist, so he looked at the date at the top & saw my name & knew right away what was going on & hugged me immediately. His mom started sobbing and couldn't figure out how we'd been keeping it a secret for so long! We told G's 2 younger sisters and they FLIPPED, then he called his oldest sister and her kids told her that she said Oh My God 21 times! LOL! We emailed the rest of G's brothers and sisters to tell them & we heard back from every single one of them within 12 hours!

I go back in about 2.5 weeks for my sequential screen & then again on the 8th for my 2nd regular OB appt. The doctor said everything looks GREAT! We couldn't be more excited!


As for me, eating has slowly been getting better. I haven't thrown up since Sunday (after I had a huge breakfast out to eat for Mother's Day - and they even gave me a flower at the restaurant for my first Mother's Day ever!!). I had a big (for me lately) supper last night & I'm always starving at lunch time. My pants are starting to get a bit snug (mostly in the afternoon/evening) and I'm still really tired (can't wait for that to go away!). Overall, everything is great!

(almost) 10 week update!

Things are so-far, so-good. I have another u/s on Tuesday and I'm really anxious for it since I haven't had one since the 26th.

We told my parents the good news last weekend and it was CRAZY. Oh MY GOSH - it was the best reaction ever! My mom & dad were busy getting things ready for the picnic that they were having for my bday. They were both finally in the house at the same time and I told my mom that I wanted her to open her Mother's Day gift before she was up to her elbows in something else...my dad almost left but I told him he had to stay. Mom opened the card and started crying (nothing in the card but a sappy little verse) and then she opened the frame and SCREAMED, CRIED & she and my dad made a Teri-Sandwich out of me. My dad cried (this is only the 3rd time in my life I ever saw him cry) and my mom sobbed, "This is the BEST MOTHER'S DAY PRESENT EVER"...it was awesome
Then we told my little cousin Jenna (19) because she's our bud - she and Gregg always "pretend" they are Ron & Hermione from Harry Potter when we go camping (mainly just finding sticks & pretending they are stupifying each other, or quoting the movie, etc). Gregg asked Jenna if she wanted to be Aunt Jenna or Aunt Hermione - and her eyes got wide and she looked at me & I smiled and she got SO excited & screamed - she had to compose herself before we went back to the rest of the family.

Then, after we were done eating, my mom took the frame & gave it to my Grammy saying she wanted to show her what we gave her for mother's day. My Grammy opened it and just stared at it for what seemed like an hour - my cousin Michelle was sitting right beside me (she's studying to be an u/s tech, so she knew exactly what she was looking at) turned to me and said, "Nuh-uh, seriously?" so she got it before everyone else did. Then of course the frame was passed around and the congratulations came out & everyone said how I was glowing, etc.

My evening sickness has turned into morning sickness, at least for Saturday/Sunday. I've been feeling fine since! I went for my last b/w (progesterone check) at the RE on Thursday & I went to the OB yesterday - I really wish I were getting an u/s before we told G's parents this weekend....although I have no reason to worry - no spotting, just normal stretching-cramping (probably from dehydration, too, since I'm still always thirsty).

And I'm putting it all out there to show you my 9w belly shot (all bloat, once again, although G said I have a hard belly today)...this was after a long day of partying for my 30th!

8w update!

We had our 8w (and final) ultrasound with the RE on Monday. The baby measured 2 days ahead (8w4d) & HB was 164bpm! The RE's office "released" me with a really cute ultrasound pic baby card & a stack of pregnancy magazines, though they can't officially release me while I'm still on progesterone (though they probably will be releasing me unknowingly while I'm still doing PIOs since I REFUSE to go cold-turkey at this point). They did decrease my dosage, so I have to go back tomorrow to see how my p4 is holding. I will absolutely be telling them if I am not comfortable (if it has dipped too low by my standards, since the highest it has been this whole time is 20). I refuse to play the "what if" game should something happen, you know?

My TSH is back down to normal levels at 1.86, so that is reassuring. We are excited for this weekend because we're heading up to central PA! My parents are throwing me a 30th birthday party on Saturday & we're giving my mom her early Mother's Day gift. It's a frame with the picture and poem shown below! G's mom is getting the same thing the following weekend for Mother's Day. We're still very nervous to tell anyone, though...I can't wait until 12w for a little more security.

Isn't the pic so cute? The head is on the bottom left and the little feet are on the bottom right. The yolk sac is on the top!

7w update

I'm nearing the end of my 7th week! I can hardly believe it. I go through days where I feel miserable (like Tuesday) and then days like today where I feel GREAT & that actually scares me a bit. I'll take feeling miserable at this point, just for a bit of reassurance.

I had a bit of cramping on Wednesday & that scared me, but there was no spotting, so I know it's not cause for alarm - I know there's lots of stretching going on in there. Monday is our last scan with the RE and then we're released to the OB - I'm terrified about that simply because I've been so spoiled with weekly scans. I've contemplated buying a dopplar around week 10-12 just to give myself some peace of mind.

As you can see from the picture below, the 2nd sac that they discovered last week has gotten bigger. Even though we know it's empty, the pregnancy hormones seem to be feeding it and causing it to grow. I hope it goes away soon, even though the PA didn't seem to think it could cause any complications! Everything else looked good. The baby measured right on target at 7w2d & the heart rate was 136bpm! Hopefully more good news is coming!

Belly pic @ 6w

This pic is from about 6w2d, I think, but it's all bloat - that little belly you see goes back and forth from being there and not being there depending on the time of day. Is that normal??