Save the date....May 29, 2007!

12 week update....

You're reaching an important milestone--the end of the first trimester. Your baby is about the size of a peach and is growing rapidly. Crown to rump, your baby measures 2.6 to 3.1 inches (6.5 to 7.8cm) and weighs 0.5 to 0.7 ounces (14 to 20g).

Your baby's legs are longer than her arms and her skin is red and transparent. Her eyelids are fused together and won't open for about four more months. Her arms are long enough to reach her mouth and she may begin to place her thumb in her mouth. Her sucking reflex, however, is not yet developed.

The tissue that will become your baby's bones is being laid out, especially around her head and her arms and legs. Some ribs may be distinguished at this time. The nose and chin are more prominent now.

Your baby will begin to practice breathing in the next few weeks as her chest rises and falls in mock breathing motions. She will also swallow small amounts of amniotic fluid which will be passed as urine.

Your placenta is providing all of your baby's needs for nutrition, oxygen and waste disposal, though the amniotic fluid will become more important later on.

All major components of the body are formed and now must grow and mature. From now on, your baby's development will consist primarily of organ maturity and growth and body refinement.

Now onto the good stuff....
Everything went very well at my first doctor's appointment. I have said it many times before, but I am so thankful to the man upstairs for providing me with such wonderful, kind, intelligent doctors. I thought I would never find a doctor as wonderful as Dr. Cada, but I think I have.

All right, enough about my doc! Baby is doing wonderful! I did have an ultrasound today, but it was only on a portable machine, hence no pictures to show. :-( But I will say, that I got to see our little bean kicking around and the flicker of the heart. IT'S AMAZING!!!! We didn't get any measurements, but she said that I will probably have a full ultrasound next time. Yippee!

I am measuring a bit large. (Are we surprised?) In fact her quote was, "Wow, I can't believe that's the top of your uterus right there!". Yup. It's right there under my belly button already. It was funny because she reminded me that the risk of twins from Clomid is only about 10%. I reminded her that I had already had an ultrasound and that there was only one. She actually looked relieved! :-)

It certainly explains why my pants are tighter and that I really do have an expanding belly. I'm down 11 pounds and my blood pressure was perfect (let's hope it stays that way). I did find out an interesting fact, though. They always test preganant women for their reisitance to the measels and apparantly my vaccine has worn off. Therefore, if you have the measels, STAY AWAY FROM ME! Before I leave the hospital they will give me a new vaccine. Funny, huh?

Her and I talked about having another c-section or if I would want to try a VBAC and we both decided to just go ahead and plan on another c-section. She reminded me that Josh was a good size (no need of reminding me) and that succeeding children tend to be a bit larger. She said we'll schedule a week before my due date and a squeeled, "That's my birthday!" She laughed and said, "Well, do you want that?", I said, "OF COURSE!" She said, "Then that's the date!" I'm so excited!!!! As I sat there on the exam table I flashed to the night that I layed in bed with Dustin. I was on the internet and all depressed because our first round with Clomid didn't work and that month 15 of trying to conceive was a bust. I had a ritual of checking what my due date would be if I got pregnant each cycle and subtracted a week for the scheduled c-section. When it popped up and said MAY 29, 2007, I turned to Dustin and started crying. I told him that if God gave me a child for my birthday all of this waiting and failure would be worth it.

God knew, because it was!!