10 weeks prego

Now that Noah is 2, and not changing as rapidly, I'm going to stop doing monthly posts on his development.  And now that I'm prego again, I'm going to attempt to do a weekly update like I did with my last pregnancy... attempt being the key word... with a busy 2 year old, and 2 other kiddos that I watch, my life is a lot more busy, leaving a lot less internet time than my last pregnancy.

Here is what is going on with our little kumquat this week, according to babycenter.com;

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

At your next prenatal visit, you may be able to hear your baby's rapid heartbeat with the help of a Doppler stethoscope, a handheld ultrasound device that your practitioner places on your belly. Many women say that the beating of their baby's tiny heart sounded like the thunder of galloping horses and hearing it for the first time was very moving.

Before you got pregnant, your uterus was the size of a small pear. By this week, it's as big as a grapefruit. You may or may not be ready for maternity wear now. Even if you're not there yet, your regular clothes are probably feeling uncomfortably tight and your blossoming breasts are straining the seams of your bra. The thickening in your midsection is most likely due to slight weight gain and bloating. If you're between regular and maternity clothes, pants and skirts with forgiving elastic waistbands (or low-rise waistlines that sit below your belly) will provide some much-needed comfort.

Depending on your level of fitness, you can most likely participate in a wide range of activities during pregnancy. Swimming and walking are excellent choices for the whole nine months. Exercise promotes muscle tone, strength, and endurance — three qualities that can help you carry the weight you gain during pregnancy, prepare you for the physical stress of labor, and make it easier to get back into shape after your baby is born. (Unfortunately, there's no evidence that regular exercise shortens labor.)

As for me... I have been feeling awful this week.  I never threw up when I was pregnant with Noah, but I've thrown up a few times this week.  I've been pretty tired, but been foregoing naps in exchange for some catchup on an out of control to do list.  I feel bad almost all day, every day, but, if this is like my last pregnancy, by next week I should be starting to feel some relief from this.

I am determined to be more active, eat less junk, and gain less weight with this pregnancy.  With Noah I gained 50 lbs, and then it took me a while to loose it all.  If I can gain a little over half that this time, than hopefully it won't take me so long to get back in my pre-prego clothes.  So far I haven't gained any weight, but do feel like my stomach is starting to stick out a little more than normal (maybe due to not having done abs at the gym for 5 weeks now).  I was still jogging and lifting weights regularly until 2 weeks ago, but now I feel so bad that I'm settling for some walks, and 1 day a week of riding the recumbent bike at the gym.  I did a bit of biceps and triceps this week, but only things that I can do seated, because I get very nauseous trying to lift weights while standing up right now.  I'm just hoping right now to maintain some strength and endurance during this awful season, so that in a few weeks, when I start feeling better, I can continue to exercise as normal for my second trimester.

I have been eating completely different than I did with Noah, I remember eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for breakfast and lunch with him, and eating saltines and gingerale all day everyday to try to keep myself from feeling hungry, and therefore nauseous.  This time I haven't been eating any peanut butter, and not much carbs, I've found that what really helps me feel better is protein, mainly eggs.  So I have eggs for breakfast, a fried egg sandwich for lunch, and scrambled eggs as a snack some days.  

My first doctor's appointment was this Monday, and everything was good and healthy.  It was great to see our little kidney bean, hear the heart rate, and confirm that everything is looking good as of now.  And now we have a sonogram pic that I stare at for a little while everyday, dreaming about who this kid will be, what they will look like, and what their future will hold.

And for those who want the details, my due date is May 25, but there's a good chance that as a result of my last birth, I'll be having a scheduled c-section this time, a week before my due date.