Devin's Journal

This Friday will mark the first day of the second trimester. I'm looking forward to that because it marks the date when your chance of miscarriage drops significantly. Granted, I've already seen this little one's heartbeat and they say that in itself gives you a lower chance of miscarriage. Still, I'm a traditionalis I guess.

The other beautiful thing about the second trimester is that it is the time when the morning sickness usually goes away. Hooray!

The baby is "the size of a jumbo shrimp" according to Baby Center. And he/she already has developed unique finger prints so it better not be committing any crimes in there because I'll be able to track down the culprit.

This Tuesday morning I'll be suffering through my glucose tolerence test. I'm really hoping for the nausea to subside a bit more by then so I don't throw up that nasty drink they are going to make me gulp down. More than that, though, I'm just praying that I pass.

Afterwards, I'll be seeing Marion and we'll try once again to hear the baby's heartbeat. As I said, I've *seen* it but I haven't heard it yet.

The other exciting thing that I'm looking forward to is the breaking of this happy news to my family. We're holding off on telling them until we can do so in person. I was trying to think of a creative way to do that but in my present state of mind I'll probably just greet them with a "Hi. I'm pregnant!"

I'll be sure they aren't standing on a hard surface when I do that so when they pass out from the shock they don't seriously injure themselves.

Posted by michelle at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On Friday I will be 12 weeks pregnant. Email updates keeping track of my pregnancy have compared the baby to a fig and a kiwi (and one crazy estimate that the kid was the size of an apple but we'll ignore that one).

As for me, I'm still getting sick but not as often. Whew! I'm definitely ready for that part of the pregnancy to end.

The strangest thing about pregnancy number 2 is the fact that I don't think about it 24 hours a day. I swear that's all I thought about when I was pregnant with Dax. I guess the fact that we have Dax to keep us blasting through life at full tilt keeps me a bit distracted. This is a good thing. It means this pregnancy will fly by and I'll be holding this little one before I know it.

Next appointment is July 31st. Because I developed Gestational Diabetes with Dax, I have to take my glucose test much earlier this time around so that's also going to be part of the day's agenda. Goody. Let's hope I pass.

The ultrasound and potentially the amnio (haven't decided yet if I'm going to do that) will be on September 6th. And, yes, we will be finding out the sex if at all possible.

Posted by michelle at 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I had my first appointment with Marion yesterday. You may remember her from when I was pregnant with Dax. She's only the most fabulous Nurse Practicioner EVER.

Because I've had some spotting and because she couldn't pick up the heartbeat on the doppler, she did an ultrasound. I got to see our little one's heart flickering away there on the screen so I am feeling much more optimimistic about this pregnancy.

The baby looks like a little blob. Like a piece of chewed up gum or a little wad of paper. I'm sure it doesn't really look like that but that's what the ultrasound picture looked like. I said as much to Marion and she said, "But it's a CUTE blob!"

It is. It is the cutest little gumwad I've ever seen.*

*(You know, because I didn't get to see Dax in his blob phase. I'm sure he was equally cute at that stage in his development.)

Posted by michelle at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Baby Center:

"Your new resident is nearly an inch long — barely the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce, but he's poised for rapid weight gain now that his basic physical structure is in place. He's also starting to look more and more human. His embryonic "tail" is now completely gone and his body parts — including organs, muscles, and nerves — are kicking into gear.

His eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. He has earlobes, and by week's end, the inner workings of his ears will be complete. His upper lip is fully formed, too, and his mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The tips of his fingers are slightly enlarged where his touch pads are developing. All major joints — his shoulders, elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles — are working, enabling your baby to move his limbs. As for his heart, it has divided into four chambers now, and the valves have started to develop. External sex organs are there, but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks."

What they don't mention is that mommy feels as if an entire truckload of grapes has driven over her at least twice and that every item of food she eats will be "returned" by her very grumpy tummy.

Just last week I looked at Cat in total seriousness and said, "I don't think the morning sickness is as bad this time around."

Ha!

Remember when I used to not eat meat? You know, before I got pregnant with Dax? Well, I'm back off it at this point. Will be interesting to see if I'm craving giant steaks in a few months. For today? I'm craving pickles and cheese. Like, maybe a big ol' pickle and cheese sandwich. Mmmmmmm.

Posted by michelle at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)