8 weeks!

From whattoexpect.com:  "At a length of about half an inch right now, [our] baby has graduated from blueberry-sized to raspberry-sized. Baby is growing in your womb about a millimeter each day, and is looking a lot less reptilian and more baby-like, as lips, nose and eyelids take shape.

How's [our] baby measuring up this week? At a length of about half an inch right now, [our] baby has graduated from blueberry-sized to raspberry-sized. But weekly growth is getting a bit hard to estimate, and here's why: Growth occurs at about the rate of one millimeter each day, but that growth isn't necessarily just in height. Spurts can occur in the arms, legs, back, and other parts of your baby's body. So, big changes will be occurring every which way in the coming months.

What else is changing at 8 weeks pregnant? A close-up view of [our] little embryo (say cheese!) would reveal a more baby-like appearance (and thankfully, a less reptilian one). You'd see an upper lip forming, the protruding tip of that cute button nose, and tiny (and very thin) eyelids. And check out those hands and feet! Your baby's webbed fingers and toes are differentiating now, so give your baby a round of applause.


All this growing is exciting for [our] baby too. How do [we] know? His or her heart is beating at the incredible rate of 150 times per minute. (That's twice as fast as [Julie's] heart beats.) [Our] baby's digs are growing, too. Amniotic fluid increases at a rate of about two tablespoons per week to accommodate [Julie's] womb's growing tenant."


Julie is still doing very well!  In Michigan right now, she has had the opportunity to tell her parents the good news.  Everyone is so excited!  Thankfully, she still does not have much morning sickness at all; just a little bit of nausea every once in a while, but only if she doesn't eat every couple hours.

Julie's belly is measuring about 34", and she weighed in this afternoon at 119.8 pounds!  That's almost a 2 pound gain since the day of the sonogram, which was just over two weeks ago!

7 weeks and counting!

From babycenter.com:  "The big news this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, [our] baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. [Our] baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.

If [we] could see inside [Julie's] womb, [we'd] spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of [our] baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in [our] baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body."

As for Julie, not much has changed.  She is having some occasional, mild nausea, going pee-pee more often, and is a bit more tired, but overall is doing very well.  She will be in Michigan as of Monday for the Thanksgiving holiday, and will be telling her parents the good news while she is there.  Jen doesn't know this yet, but she will be taking the 8-week belly photo and measuring Julie's tummy.

Until next time...

~Dana

So It Begins...

It seems as though the "morning" sickness has begun.  Julie was a bit queasy yesterday, and again this afternoon.  She didn't realize it today until we were en route to her work, so I stopped at the store and got her some more saltines and ginger ale to keep at work. 

Until next time...
~Dana

Week 6 Development

From The Pregnancy Bible by Joanne Stone, MD and Keith Eddleman, MD:

"Growth is very rapid this week.  [Our] baby might look like a tadpole, with his curved back and tail, but he now has a brain.  His tiny heart is no bigger than a poppy seed, but it is beating on its own.  Other major organs, including the kidneys and liver, continue to develop, and the neural tube, which connects the brain and spinal cord, closes.  [Our] baby's head now begins to take shape.

A rudimentary digestive tract begins to form, together with the abdominal and chest cavities and the backbone.  What will eventually become the testes or ovaries appear as a cluster of cells.  Rudimentary arms and legs appear as tiny buds on the body.  [Our] baby now has his own bloodstream, which has started to circulate blood."

Our First Ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound today and we have one peapod confirmed to be taking up residence in Julie's womb!  YAY!!!  The doctor said that based on Julie's hCG numbers, she was expecting to see twins, but so far we only have one.  Maybe there's another li'l grain of rice hiding in there somewhere!  LOL!  We are very happy to have what appears to be a happy, healthy baby growing as expected.  Our li'l one is right on target, measuring 3.1 milimeters in crown to rump length.  We have been released to the OB and will have our first appointment in her office (albeit with the NP, ergh) on November 30th, and we are hoping to have another ultrasound then.  We could only see a tiny flutter of a heart beat today (the baby is only 5wk6d after all), so we are very much looking forward to seeing and hearing a real heart beat by the end of this month!  Julie is still doing well.  She has not had any morning sickness or anything as of yet; well, except for the sore boobs and snug pants!

Keep watching, there's sure to be much more to come!

~Dana

Week 5 - The Embryonic period begins!

From What to Expect When You're Expecting: "[Our] little embryo, which at this point resembles a tadpole more than a baby (complete with teeny tail), is growing fast and furious and is now about he size of an orange seed - still small, but a lot bigger than it's been.  This week, the heart is starting to take shape.  In fact, the circulatory system, along with the heart, is the first system to be operational.  [Our] baby's heart (about the size of a poppy seed) is made up of two tiny channels called heart tubes - and though it's still far from fully functional, it's already beating - something you might be able to see on an early ultrasound.  Also in the works is the neural tube, which will eventually become [our] baby's brain and spinal cord.  Right now the neural tube is open, but it will close by next week."

As you can see from the ticker on the left, our baby already has more brain cells than Paris Hilton!  Well, it said so during week 5 anyway!

Julie's belly at 5wk3d.  She was standing a little weird; her tummy doesn't usually stick out like that, lol.

Julie gets Gibbs'd!

For those of you who don't know, we love to watch NCIS. Mark Harmon's character, Jethro Gibbs, is always bopping his team on the back of their head when they do doltish things. So, we have adopted this practice and call it "Gibbsing."

So, Julie got Gibbs'd today. She called me while she was on her way home from school and told me that her hCG number had gone from 936 on Monday to 1100 on Wednesday. WHAT? NO!!! The number is supposed to double in 48 hours, or at least be close to double! So, me understanding what this means... I start to freak out. I got all upset. When she walked in, she noticed that I wasn't too, jovial, as I have been lately. So, I told her that I was worried about the numbers and that I thought she should call the doctor's office and find out what we should do. So, she called the office and talks to Lindsay:
Julie: "Hey Lindsay, Juls again! I was just wondering, should I be worried about the
numbers not doubling?"
Lindsay: "What are you talking about? You're at 2100. Everything is good, don't worry!"

OH THANK GOD! I was so relieved that I cried even harder! I still can't believe that happened... what an emotional rollercoaster!

So, Julie got Gibbs'd.

Now, we have one more week to wait until the ultrasound! Hurry up November 13, 2009!!!

Development @ 4 weeks

Our baby is about 1.5 - 2.5 millimeters big; about the size of a sesame seed. His/Her/Their organs, ears, eyes, arms and legs are just starting to form!

2nd Beta

We just got the results from yesterday's blood draw: hCG is OVER 900!!! WOOHOO!!! So exciting! We, especially me, are so relieved! Juls is going to tell her sister today, and I think I will tell mom as well. We are scheduled for our first ultrasound on Friday, November 13.

~Dana

The Weekend and First Beta

So... Mom came over for halloween. SO HARD! She was asking questions about if we thought she would need to rent a hall for the baby shower... and we haven't even told her that Juls is pregnant! We still haven't decided if we want to start telling people after we get all the blood work results (the last results will come in on 11/05/09) or wait until after the first ultrasound. It will probably be mixed. Mom - please don't be mad that we lied to you!

We called the doctor today to get the numbers from the first blood draw. Juls' hCG was 251 and her progesterone was 45. The doc had already told her she could stop the progesterone suppositories after the results came in, so we are expecting that number might drop a little. The hCG should have mroe than doubled by this morning; we'll get the results tomorrow.

Until then...
~Dana