Update on weeks 15-17

Having a hard time getting sleepy...guess I'll update this thing :)  

So this past Monday marked 17 weeks!   It's very exciting to say that since we've never gotten this far before :).   Since my last post we saw the doctor again last Monday and they didn't do an ultrasound, but we did get to hear the heartbeat-151 bpm :)   Since I had seen some light spotting, she also checked to make sure I wasn't dilated, which luckily I wasn't.

Our next ultrasound isn't until the end of November, which seems like so long, but I guess that's part of having a regular pregnancy :).  We've thought about getting a heart rate Doppler, just for that reassurance whenever we want.    Another thought was to get a basic ultrasound done at a place like Womb with a View, here in town, to get a little peek in a couple of weeks, so we don't go 6-7 weeks without getting to see our little gummy bear :)

Physically, I either am completely exhausted or super charged with energy.   I have "popped" out a little bit, but it's hard to see unless I wear form fitting shirts, which I've been avoiding at work, because I was waiting until Halloween to announce my pregnancy (tomorrow!).   For some it may look like I've been eating a pizza a day for lunch :) but my belly has started to round out and has gotten firmer.   I've been able to keep the weight off that I lost in the first trimester, despite the growing roundness up in front.   I've also started to feel a pulling/pressured feeling at times, which apparently is normal.  I've also started to feel a little movement on my left side (where the baby is)!   I can't feel it on the outside yet, but when I'm hungry, sing, sitting in my tower class I can feel it moving more.
Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll be able to find out the gender :)
I know I'm a dork, but we've been taking some "weekly" pictures and the baby is as long as a _____ picture (in the what to expect book/app it tells you approximately how long your baby is every week, i.e. an orange, poppy seed, cantaloupe, pineapple, etc).   I tried to take a profile picture as well so you can see the "bump" :)
Thanks for checking in! :)

                                             Week 15, baby is as long as a navel orange.   

                                                      Week 16, baby is as big as a turnip (we didn't have one :)), 
                                                         roughly about 5 inches long. 

                                           Week 16 profile.  Some of this is me, but I'm definitely 
                                                           feeling more round these days :)  

I'll post my 17 week belly and Halloween baby shirt after tomorrow.  This week, the baby is as long as a sweet potato :), about 5 1/2 inches long.    Those of you who saw Ethan (baby #2) or saw pictures, he was 5 1/2 inches long so this baby should be about that long now.   

We're almost halfway!  Here's to hoping everything keeps going well!  :) 

Week 13, Appointment, last week of 1st trimester! :)

Week 13!   I can honestly say 9 weeks ago when I found out I was pregnant, I didn't think I would make it this far.   I suppose with all the problems we've had in the past, it feels like I am constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.   It is hard to believe the fairly uncomplicated journey we've had so far with this baby.  I'll take boring any day over constantly worrying every second.   Almost every comment out of my mouth about the baby has been prefaced with "Knock on wood...", i.e. "Knock on wood, I haven't had any abdominal pain with this one...".  I was joking with Josh that I should have a little piece of wood to carry on a key chain :) I feel we've been blessed with the good, (fairly) normal pregnancy so far.  

Not to step onto a soapbox, but I feel that anyone out there that is thinking of getting pregnant or very early in the 1st trimester, should definitely get everything checked out long before it's too late.   I had NO idea that I had a low thyroid or that when pregnant my body can't produce enough progesterone (what nourishes the baby while the placenta is being formed, then the placenta produces it's own progesterone).   I can only wonder what a difference knowing that information would of made with my first three babies.   I am just thankful that we took the initiative to go push for answers.   Taking medication for both the the thyroid and progesterone is the only difference in this pregnancy.   Hopefully things will continue to go well with this one. :) 

So next week we start the 14th week and we'll officially be in the 2nd trimester!   I've only made it to 15.5 weeks before so I'm going into uncharted territory.  I actually "feel" pregnant this week, with all my regular pants out of commission :) and my "bump" starting to push forward.   I haven't wanted to share the good news quite yet, with the stupid superstition that I'll jinx myself somehow, so not being a skinny mini has been a good disguise, haha.   I suppose I won't be able to hide it much longer.   Knock on wood :) if we make it to Halloween, I'll announce it to the "world" around that time.   

We had an appointment yesterday.   I'm so tense until I see that ultrasound.   I was so excited for Josh to see this ultrasound.  When I made it to the 2nd trimester with Ethan, our second pregnancy, the last ultrasound we saw him alive in was when I was taken to the ER in Tracy by my school secretary (God Bless Sue :)), and was about 12.5 weeks and Josh was working and couldn't get there in time, so he had only seen the very early ultrasounds where they baby isn't quite moving yet.   It was so great to see our little one kicking around, waving it's arms around.   We saw the bladder and a couple other tiny internal  organs, it's little head and alien looking eyes :).  Josh swears he saw it trying to suck it's thumb.   Everything look okay and the heartbeat was normal.   The baby is in the left side and I've been feeling...something on that side, but wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but the baby is exactly where I'm feeling flutters, and round ligament pain :P ( the ligaments in the abdominal area are stretching and loosening up to accommodate the baby and growing).   So it seems everything is okay as of right now.  Our next appointment is on Oct. 22nd at about 16 weeks.    

Below is a couple of pictures from the appointment.  They aren't very clear but I'll try to explain: 

On the left side is the baby's head, the whiter part is the baby's jaw, the spine runs along the bottom. 

This one is looking at the baby straight ahead, he/she was facing us.   The baby's head is again on the left, the dark circles are the eyes (hence the above alien eye comment), and the two little arms are the white stick looking things sticking out.  The one below is in the mirror image and more enlarged.   

Thanks for checking in on us.  We definitely feel the love :)