7 Weeks Along (Friday, 7/4/08)

This weekend Rachel came home for the summer. It is so great having her back. We decided not to share the good news with her yet as she tends to not be so good with secrets quite yet. Monday I was nauseated for the first time but never threw up. I just had a general distaste for food. Paul reminded me that I said that I would never complain about morning sickness because it meant that I was pregnant. That made me smile even though I would hardly classify this as morning sickness. I had my prenatal blood test that was ordered by OB. Everything looked good as far as I can tell. My white blood cell count was a bit high but I think it is usually that way. On Tuesday, my sister-in-law, Debbie, had her 20 week ultrasound and found out that she is having a girl. Now that I am pregnant I am definitely less bitter toward pregnant people but I still found myself jealous that she got pregnant so easily twice and gets her dream of one of each. How come it is so easy for some people but not for me? I guess I will always feel the pains of infertility no matter my outcome. Wednesday I had my phone meeting with the OB nurse. It was basically just about 10 minutes of questions about my health history.
I thought that I was going to burst in anticipation before my ultrasound on Thursday but I made it. We still hadn’t decided how to present the whole thing to Rachel so we found ourselves in the waiting room of Reproductive Endocrinology at 7:15 a.m. with her completely clueless! When I checked in the clerk saw my family sit down and asked if my daughter was excited about becoming a big sister. I had to admit to her that Rachel had no idea because we still hadn’t figured out how to tell her yet. I had both of them come into the exam room with me. As I sat on the paper in my gown with the ultrasound machine next to me waiting for the ultrasound tech, I finally said to Rachel, “so, you’re probably wondering what we are doing here…” and told her. She was really excited. All she could talk about all day was how she wanted to help name the baby, take care of the baby, and most importantly help decorate the nursery. The ultrasound went well. There was only one baby in there. Paul was thankful for that. It was attached right in the perfect spot which relieved my fears greatly. I had been having a few side pains isolated on my left side so I was paranoid that the baby was ectopic. The best part was that we got to hear the baby’s heartbeat. It was so fast! I was so glad to hear it because I read that once you can hear the baby’s heartbeat, the risk for miscarriage drops significantly. I got some pictures with a little blob and an arrow pointing to it that said “baby”. I called my mom and told her to spread the word but she said that it was up to me. She shares in my excitement that everything is going well. When I got back to work I was so-o ready to spill the beans. I told Lois first, then Kim, Cate, and the rest of the gang. Everyone was really happy for me, even my coworkers who seem like they wouldn’t give a hoot. The only damper on the day was that before I told my coworkers, I handed my boss the doctor’s note about my pregnancy-related restrictions and she told me that I could do the testing without risk even though the note said otherwise. What a nice way to say congratulations. I called and set up my first OB appointment for 7/30/08. When we got home from work, I called my best friend, Amy, to share my news then we packed our bags and headed up to Paul’s parents’ house. We didn’t get there until after midnight. When we saw them the next morning we joyfully shared the news of the pregnancy with them. Having told the most important people, I then went on to their internet (dial up by the way, painfully slow!) and composed an email to all the other important people in my life sharing the news. Then we went on up to Mackinac Island where I immediately called my grandma then got flooded with congratulatory phone calls. Apparently my mom received a lot of them too. It was a little difficult to do our traditional 8 mile bike ride around the perimeter of the island with my fatigue and my phone ringing constantly. It was a joyous day spent at one of our favorite places on earth.

News from the womb…
Thirty-eight pairs of somites (what forms the bones and muscles of the head and trunk) have formed by now. The brain has differentiated into the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain with the cerebral hemispheres well marked. Rapid brain and head growth continue throughout the week. The hypothalamus, mouth, larynx, jaw, mammary tissue, spleen, cerebellum, palate, and muscles that control the eye have begun to form. A primitive version of the mouth is now present and the trachea and esophagus have separated. Nerves and muscles have started growing in the arms and legs. The arms, then the legs, begin to look less like flippers and more like paddles. The hand plates have appeared and the elbow and wrist regions of the arm are identifiable. The third and final set of kidneys has formed and will begin to function in about a week. Near the beginning of the week, the baby was 5-7mm long, about the size of a small coffee bean. That is 15,000 times bigger than at conception in only thirty days. Quite a fast growth rate! Near the end of the week, the baby grew to 7-9mm long. Now my baby weights about 0.001g which is about as heavy as an eyelash from my lower lid. Amazing that something that tiny is so functional!