8 Months Pregnant 2014

29 Weeks, February 6-12
We visited Regan and Chris and James had a fun playdate with their girls Morgan and Payton.

Reading to Payton

Baby progress:  First hiccups I could feel (2/11)! Baby is about the size of a butternut squash (or acorn squash?) and maybe 2.5 pounds. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is getting bigger for her growing brain – which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. There's lots of rapid growth now!

Symptoms: Still throwing up once a week (when I overdo it with sugar), acid reflux, stuffy nose, trouble walking without pain- uh-oh. Evening grumpiness- big time!
Cravings: Burgers, bananas
Anti-cravings: none
My Weight Gain: 20 pounds, but still 1 pounds heavier than last time. Getting closer though!
Thing I Miss: Not worrying about the acid content of foods
Compare to week 29 with James

30 Weeks, February 13-19
Kevin and James enjoyed a snow day at home. We celebrated our last Valentines Day as a family of 3.5, and had our 30-week sonogram the same day. We celebrated Kevin's 34th birthday with Lukas and Sarah.

She looks like James.

Baby progress: Baby girl is supposed to be the size of a cabbage and weigh almost 3 pounds, but our sonogram revealed she's actually about 4.5 pounds. That's more the size of babies that are 33 weeks along, so she's really more like a pineapple. They didn't estimate her length, but we're not really worried about it. She'll probably be taller than me, because it would be hard not to be.

The sonogram technician said that she was already head down and was unlikely to turn around now, but I can feel her kicking and somersaulting all the time. She particularly responds to James crying or screaming.

The sono-tech also said the baby has some hair already, but given what a baldy James was, I am not holding my breath. I have a ton of hats all ready for her, and I'm probably going to get some decorative headbands soon too.

Symptoms: Absent-mindedness and clumsiness, stuffy/bloody nose, some seriously painful baby kicks, grumpiness. No throwing up this week! I think I learned to stop eating sugar when it starts disagreeing with me.
Cravings: Greek coconut yogurt, fish, LAVENDER- seriously.
Anti-cravings: Indian food. No thank you.
My Weight Gain: 21.5 pounds, just half a pound heavier than last time! (though last time I had gained 27-30 pounds already, but I started heavier this time)
Thing I Miss: breathing, going for walks out in the sun
Compare to week 30 with James

31 Weeks, February 20-26
Christina and I took the train to DC to enjoy Girls' Weekend with Laurie, Megan, Janice, and Ash.

Girls Weekend

Baby progress:  This week, baby girl is supposed to be about the size of a coconut or pineapple, about 3 1/3 pounds, but really now we know she's probably more of a cantaloupe, and about  4 3/4 pounds. She should now have toenails, fingernails, and some hair.

Symptoms: My left knee hurts (this happened last time too), stuffy nose, acid reflux at night (though mercifully not much during the day)
Cravings: Peanut butter, bananas, smoothies (mostly fruit, yogurt, bananas), chicken, lettuce (what, why?)
Anti-cravings: Beef
My Weight Gain: 21.5 pounds, 1.5 pounds less than I weighed last time!
Thing I Miss: Breathing
Compare to week 31 with James

8 Months!, February 27-March 5
Kevin and I finally decided on a baby name- it's mostly Kevin's choice of name (still a secret though). My mom came to visit and I showed her the nursery, and she helped me pick Itty Bitty's coming home outfit. Kevin and I went out for date night in Flushing, Queens.

8 months + 4 days

Baby Progress:  I had my 32-week doctor's appointment 3/3. It was pretty uneventful but at least they can see that she's still upside down. I guess that would be good if I had any faith that she was going to come on her own before passing the 8.5 lbs VBAC cut-off. They didn't try to figure out her weight.

She's supposed to be about the size of a large jicama and about 3 3/4 pounds, but since she was about 3 weeks ahead in weight last time, she's probably more of a honeydew melon right now, and certainly over 5 pounds by now. She'll probably gain about half a pound a week now. She's on track to be newborn-James-size at over 9 pounds. So she now has a deadline. If she's 9 pounds by the day before, she's coming out on her due date, April 24.

She "sleeps in" frequently, and stays up late dancing. She hiccups frequently. I am SO! excited!. to meet her!

Symptoms: Headaches, bloody nose, threw up again (after date night-yay), I am SUCH A GRUMP anytime I'm thirsty or tired, acid reflux but only at night, absent-minded, clumsy, cried one day because I was so tired.

Generally, this pregnancy has been much harder on both me and Kevin. The third trimester has been especially hard for me, I think because this time I'm older plus I have to take care of  James while I work from home. It's harder for Kevin because he's been getting up with James for 6-7 days a week, and generally picking up a lot of slack while grow a person.

Cravings: CHOCOLATE!!, grape juice, salt, one day I craved lettuce, vanilla a little, yogurt.
Anti-cravings: 
My Weight Gain: 23.5, still half a pound less than last time, but I'm starting to lose ground here. Possibly I haven't been drinking enough water?
Thing I Miss: Having physical and mental energy. I have none.
Compare to week 32 with James

Bonus belly shots:

Kevin calls this pose "Fashion preggo!"

James tickling my belly post bath (anything to avoid bedtime)

Carrying both my babies

And as of yesterday, I have exactly 7 weeks to go! Baby has a weight-deadline on April 24, 2014 at 9:30 a.m.!

Valentine's Day 2014

Happy Valentine's Day! We had one of the best yet. Kevin takes James to a toddler group on Mondays and James made me his first ever Valentine there! I get so excited by this stuff. Kevin got me a dozen red roses and a really sweet card. I also discovered Kevin's short story collection dedication to me this week while perusing the pages on Amazon, and I totally cried. I love it.

Valentine's Day family picture

My first Valentine from James!

We started our day with a view of our new little Valentine. I had my 30-week sonogram. She's not so little. She's got huge chipmunk cheeks and the sonogram technician estimated that she's 4 pounds 8 ounces which was a little bigger than James's estimate was at that age, and is more normal for babies that are 33 weeks along. My dreams of avoiding a repeat c-section are dimming.

My littlest Valentine at 30 weeks. She wouldn't stay still.

In the evening, we were planning on going to a chain-style family restaurant because we didn't have a babysitter this year and we were bringing James with us. Unfortunately when we got to our chosen Long Island location, even though we got there very early, we discovered lots of families had the same brilliant plan. Suddenly we found ourselves driving to the scene of our 2012 Valentines Day dinner to get sushi. But this time we picked another sushi restaurant, Kaji (right next to the one we went to in 2012, Sushi Ya).

Kaji Sushi

Smelling the roses, so to speak

We got home a little late but I squeezed in a brief Pinterest-inspired photo shoot. Dada did not approve.

Blame Pinterest.

Kisses after bathtime and before bed.

Kisses

I feel really lucky for my 2.5 Valentines. I love you guys!

Last year we had sushi in Brooklyn...
Valentine's Day 2007-2012

5 Months Pregnant 2013

17 Weeks, November 14-20
We went to Queens on Saturday but otherwise took it easy this week.

Baby progress: Baby is the size of an onion. She has been kicking a lot! I even felt her from the outside once, so I think Kevin should be able to feel her soon.
Symptoms: Acid reflux, tired (still- although not as much), stuffy and runny nose.
Cravings: Fish! Juice.
Anti-cravings: Anything spicy
My Weight Gain: 7 pounds (Last time 9 pounds)
Compare to week 17 with James

leaves

18 Weeks, November 21-27
This week we flew to Florida to celebrate Andrew's 30th birthday in Key West! Unfortunately, Kevin had so much fun that he brought a hardcore cold home with him.

At the end of the week, Kevin felt the baby kick for the first time!

Baby progress: Baby is the size of sweet potato or bell pepper.
Symptoms: Headaches. Stuffy and runny nose. I have lots of tissues with me. Luckily James loves running them to the trash for me. (Hey, I'm not sick! Just pregnant.) Some early nesting. And when I go back from Key West- oh boy, I felt AWFUL. Such painful acid reflux, and so early still!
Cravings: Fruit juice
Anti-cravings: None

My Weight Gain: 9 pounds, Oh no. I'm almost on the same schedule as last time! I even started getting more exercise again lately. Sigh. (Last time 10 pounds)
Compare to week 18 with James

 

Key West, Nov. 23, 18 weeks

 

19 Weeks, November 28- December 4 
Thanksgiving! We got a tree this week and started decorating! James and I caught Kevin's cold. Boo. Like pregnancy symptoms weren't bad enough without a cold on top.

Baby progress: Baby is the size of mango! She has a vernix caseosa on her skin to protect it. She kicks a lot. Every morning she's kicking by 8:30 a.m. and seems to move around in response to James screaming or to me singing to James.
Symptoms: The acid reflux feels like knives in my throat. Sometimes I wake up choking from it. Bad headaches. Hip pain, and trouble standing up sometimes because of it. Super stuffy nose. I feel awful this week.

Cravings: Lime juice

Anti-cravings: Wheat bread- GROSS

My Weight Gain: 10 pounds (Last time 12.5 pounds)
Compare to week 19 with James

Thanksgiving

Five Months!, 20 Weeks, December 5-11

Baby progress: We had our 20-week hospital sonogram where they check everything about the baby in detail, and the technician and the doctor said everything looked great. She was 14 ounces which is normal size for 20-weeks, but they said that my file said that at my 12-week sonogram appointment at my doctors office they had moved my due date up a week (to 4/17), so really I was 21 weeks already. I protested this because I don't want my baby to come out early if I have to get a c-section again, but so far, I've been ignored.

This is usually the appointment where you can see if the baby is a boy or a girl but I already knew this time from genetic testing. Nonetheless we confirmed visually: the baby is still a girl.

Also, the sonogram technician said that my placenta is in the back this time which means there is less padding between me and the baby. She has direct access to kick my internal organs. She said that this likely explains why I could feel the baby before 12 weeks, and why her kicks and movements feel so much more intense than they did with James. So maybe she's not fated to be a professional soccer player like I thought. Or maybe she is.

Otherwise, the baby is about the size of a banana. She has working taste buds now, so hopefully she enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner, and isn't suffering too much from my new experimentation in the kitchen.

We also went to Ben's 1st birthday party this week, and had a fun visit from Casey.

Symptoms: Painful hips, trouble sleeping already-- I took out the "Things I miss" category for this pregnancy because it seemed a bit negative, and I really haven't missed anything so far (not even alcohol!) but this week I started to miss being able to lie on my stomach. It's okay not being able to do it for a few weeks, but not being able to do it for so long makes me want to.
Cravings: Rice pudding, strawberry ice cream, cinnamon, saffron, soy milk, cranberry juice, citrus fruits.... poor Kevin.
Anti-cravings: Spicy food. A lot of packaged foods gross me out too.

My Weight Gain: 9.5-10.5 pounds (Last time 12 pounds)
Compare to week 20 with James

 

Belly at 20 weeks (or maybe 21 weeks)

Today I'm 21 weeks! Or possibly 22 weeks, depending on whom you ask. Due date?: April 17-24.

3 Months Pregnant 2013

9 Weeks, September 19-25
The doctor called to tell me my Vitamin D is low which is strange considering I go outside most days for a walk. So now I'm taking a supplement for that. At least they're little and not huge like the prenatal vitamin horse pills I take.

We told our moms this week! Yes, it's early but after our first sonogram we were feeling pretty good and thought we could share the news with just our moms since we didn't want them to guess before we told them. We told them it wasn't public yet. Well, they both immediately got on the phone and told basically everyone they've ever met. I seriously got emails from Kevin's 3rd cousins congratulating me.

Our moms are happy because they're getting another grandbaby!

Baby progress: Baby is the size of a grape/olive! Baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form -- as do tiny teeth. The embryonic tail is completely gone.
Symptoms: mild nausea, cramping, sore boobs, hair loss, sleepiness, bad skin
Cravings: SALAD (had it at 9:30 AM one morning), FISH, nuts, American cheese
Anti-cravings: None really
My Weight Gain: 1 pound (Last time 2 pounds)
Compare to week 9 with James

9-week belly picture

James and Grandma reading "I'm a Big Brother"

10 Weeks, September 26- October 2
Cathy visited on Saturday, and on Sunday people came over for football and food. We took James's to his first dentist appointment. Sarah and I went to Fall for Dance. My nausea got much worse, then it lifted at the end of the week.

Baby progress: Size of a kumquat/prune, vital organs are in place and starting to work, nails and peach fuzz hair are starting to grow. Baby's head is bulging from his or her developing brain.
Symptoms: Intense awful nausea, vomiting, sore boobs, hair loss, sleepiness, bad skin, acid reflux already
Cravings: Cheeseburger even though it makes me ill
Anti-cravings: coffee, and pasta is kind of gross
My Weight Gain: 1.5 (last time 3 pounds)
Compare to week 10 with James

11 Weeks, October 3-9
My nausea came back. I learned the hard way that I should not eat Indian food while pregnant, even if it's only the first trimester- I felt ill for hours afterwards. Mom had her surgery and it went well! We had some extra genetic testing this week since I'll be 35 when the baby is born, but it's fancy new testing that's non-invasive... and tells you the baby's gender early!

Baby progress: Baby is the size of a fig/lime
Symptoms: SO SLEEPY, sore boobs, hungry but also full after a few bites, hair loss, bad skin, acid reflux
Cravings: Very cold milk, vanilla, dark chocolate
Anti-cravings: Greasy things, spicy things.
My Weight Gain: 1.5 (last time 3-4 pounds)
Compare to week 11 with James

THREE MONTHS!, 12 Weeks, October 10-16
I was looking forward to my sonogram on Friday- it's always a thrill to see the baby moving around. I think I've been feeling movement and maybe some kicks already, and I asked the sonogram technician if that was actually possible. She said that it might be because it's my second pregnancy and I know exactly what it feels like.

Then we found out the baby's gender on Monday from our genetic testing last week!! (We didn't find out with James until 20 weeks!) Stay tuned for an announcement on that!

Baby progress: Baby is the size of a lime/prune but really we're a week ahead size-wise, so the baby is bigger. Baby is developing reflexes, and baby's nerve cells are also developing.
Symptoms: Hungry, sleepy
Cravings: Cereal, Swedish fish
Anti-cravings: I think I want coffee and then I don't finish it...
My Weight Gain:  1.5 (last time 4 pounds)
Compare to week 12 with James

12-weeks and showing already, 10/11/13

2 Months Pregnant 2013

5 Weeks, August 22-28
This week began badly. My mother called to tell me that scans had revealed she had a growth on her kidney. We didn't know yet if it was cancer or not, but it was obviously a big concern for all of us, and we had to wait  two weeks for an appointment with a urologist to find out more. The connection to my last pregnancy is hard to ignore, since my dad had been diagnosed with kidney cancer around the time I got pregnant with James. I saw my mom over the weekend, and we all went to Ash's barn party.

With James and mom at Ash's barn party

I was so impatient for the sonogram this week. I really wanted to know everything was going well.

Baby progress: Size of a sesame seed, looks like a tadpole, neural tube and circulatory system are just beginning to form
Symptoms: SLEEPINESS, HOT FLASHES, headaches, nausea, bad skin, sore boobs, hair loss, getting hungry...
Cravings: Water, watery fruit, oranges, tuna, salad, lentils.
Anti-cravings: Kevin: "I was going to make tacos tonight." Me: Clutching stomach, "Noooooooooooo."
My Weight Gain: 0
Compare to week 5 with James

6 Weeks, August 29- September 4
Brady was here for the weekend, but luckily I wasn't feeling too sick when he was here.

Baby progress: Size of a lentil, the baby's kidneys, liver, lungs, eyes, and ear canals are forming
Symptoms: SLEEPY, NAUSEATED, HOT, mild anxiety attacks (not fun!), hungry, sad, hair loss
Cravings: Chocolate, salad, lots of water
Anti-cravings: Coffee and tea kind of gross me out
My Weight Gain: 1, oh dear, already? Disaster.
Compare to week 6 with James

7 Weeks, September 5-11
The doctors confirmed my mom has renal cell carcinoma, and scheduled surgery to remove her kidney for October 9.

Jaime visited and we went out for dinner and karaoke to celebrate Rachel and Christina's birthdays, and they figured out I was pregnant when I refused sake bombs.

Baby progress: Size of a blueberry, baby is growing brain cells, a mouth, tongue, arm and leg buds. It's doubled in size since last week.
Symptoms: mild nausea, back pain, sore boobs, hair loss, sleepiness, bad skin, cramping
Cravings: Strawberries!, corn, sushi, Thai food, soup
Anti-cravings: Coffee, hot dogs (I can't eat them anyway but they sound SO GROSS)
My Weight Gain: .5
Compare to week 7 with James

James discovers the wonders of the pregnancy pillow

TWO MONTHS!, 8 Weeks, September 12-18
I was SO EXCITED to finally have a sonogram on Monday to confirm that the baby was doing well and the heart was beating. The doctor told me the baby was already trending big! This is a familiar story for me. The baby also had his or her back to us. Mooning us!

Baby progress: Size of a raspberry, webbed fingers and toes, eyelids, and starting to lose the tail
Symptoms: mild nausea, mild panic attacks, cramping, sore boobs, hair loss, sleepiness, bad skin
Cravings: French toast, chocolate, fruit, salad, chicken, fish, nuts, American cheese- so yeah, everything
Anti-cravings: chicken
My Weight Gain: 0.5
Compare to week 8 with James

Baby's 1st sonogram! Mooning us.

30 Weeks, February 6-12, 2011

Milestones:  We had our 30 week sonogram this week! It turns out my bumpy Quasimodo belly is not the baby's head pushing out parts of my belly but the baby's butt. He's already upside down and probably has been for about two weeks.  According to our baby book, he should be "just over 3 pounds," but the sonogram technician estimated his weight at 4 pounds 6 ounces. My friends who have had babies all advised me that this estimate might be off by a pound, but the catch is-- it might be off in either direction.

Baby's sonogram is 3D so I have already started to attribute family characteristics.  I think he looks like Kevin's maternal grandfather George plus the Clou nose plus maybe a dash of my maternal grandmother's pout.  At least right this second he does. Also, he already has hair. I figured he'd be born with hair, but I'm surprised he already has enough to be visible on a sonogram. 

Baby Clou's pouty nap face at 30 weeks and 5 days

Previously, I would wake up at night to change positions, for bathroom trips, or because of trouble breathing or acid reflux.  Now I have new reasons to wake up!  Leg cramps! And the baby is himself strong enough to kick me awake. Cute but not helpful.

The baby book also says his brain is developing more this week. I wonder if he knows what he's up to...

What I miss the most: Nah, I'm cool. 
Craving: Lots of hydration.CEREAL. Salad. Fruit. Red meat. Grape juice. Ice cream without chunks of anything- plain vanilla, plain chocolate, etc.
Anti-craving: Smoke. I know this is not something you consume, but the windows have to be open if Kevin is cooking something because I feel like any cooking smoke is suffocating me.
Symptoms: This probably started a long time ago, subtly, but at this point I am full on waddling all the time. Hot flashes if I leave the apartment. The sonogram technician said that when she was pregnant she had acid reflux that she thought she would die from. I'm not anywhere near that yet, but I'm afraid. The Tums are helping.
Baby-size: Cabbage
Weight gain: I'm up to like 30 pounds. I don't wanna talk about it.

He doesn't even have a beer belly. 30 weeks and 5 days.

It was an eventful week otherwise. Michele came to visit me in Long Island and we had sushi (all cooked for me) and cake while we watched Puppy Bowl. Shut-up, you're jealous.  Kevin and I also went to visit mom in her new apartment and took her to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant with an Italian name. Confusing.  And after our 30-week sonogram, we celebrated Kevin's 31st birthday with dinner with a few friends (more on that in the next post).

It's a boy!

I've been convinced the baby is a boy for weeks.  Before we went to the 16 week appointment Kevin asked me what if the baby turned out to be a girl?  I said it didn't matter because it was a boy. But at the appointment the doctor couldn't tell because the sonogram image wasn't clear.  She zoomed in on something that I couldn't see at all and said, "See that? Maybe it's a boy."  Kevin and I started laughing because that wasn't helpful at all.  Then she typed right on the sonogram "MAYBE A BOY??"  Um, thanks.

Well the 20-week sonogram clarified it.  The sonogram technician said Baby Clou is definitely a boy, and a doctor confirmed it. This will be the first boy in my maternal line in a long time- my great grandmother had two girls, my grandmother had a girl, and my mother just had me. My mother came to the sonogram with us and was weepy with happiness.  It's been a tough week for her too, so a little bit of happy baby news was nice.  Also, I'm halfway through the pregnancy now!

20 weeks sonogram profile with jazz hand

3 Months Pregnant 2010

Our baby at 11 weeks- he or she is awesome

With baby Eleanor

9 Weeks, September 12, 2010
The week began with Rachel's 30th birthday surprise. I got to hold Eleanor finally, and she was so quiet and wonderful. It was such a shame not to be able to share the news with Rachel, Janice, and Christina in person.

Becky and Brandon had baby Connor 14 weeks early this week.

Later in the week, My dad was in aggressive rehab when his leg pain increased. Mom had to bring him back to the hospital and the doctors decided to perform another leg embolization because the leg tumor had grown again. The first embolization was done with wires and this second one was done with alcohol at a different hospital in Teaneck that specialized in it. They used a dye that would affect his kidney the following week.

Milestones: Our baby book says the baby is starting to grow muscles to move his arms and legs on purpose.
Craving: Fish Vitamin C in any form, though orange juice and grape fruit juice make me queasy
Anti-craving: I guess the baby hates red meat forever
Symptoms: nausea, sciatic nerve pain
Baby-size: Grape
Weight gain: 2 pounds

10 Weeks, September 19, 2010
The weekend was really tough as my dad's kidney failed, and I gave up on trying to keep my stress down. I took sometime off work and joined my parents at the hospital. Kevin and I had been waiting until after next week's appointment to tell our mothers, but the circumstances were scary enough that I thought it would be best to tell my mother on Monday night so that she could discuss the news with dad. Dad started his dialysis on Monday, and afterward he felt a little better than he had during the weekend, and mom was in okay spirits. Mom started crying and hugging Kevin and didn't let go, until I insisted on my turn for a hug. Dad pretended to be surprised, but I busted him. Unfair since I’m the one who asked him to keep it a secret in the first place. I showed mom the sonogram picture, but dad was interrupted by a follow-up ct-scan, so I showed him the following day after his second dialysis treatment. His kidney started working again on its own by the end of the week.

Milestones:  Our baby book says the baby is starting to grow bones and cartilage.  The baby can bend its elbows. The kidneys are now producing urine. If the baby is a boy, he's producing testerone.
Craving: Peanut butter, cranberry juice, granola (I saw a picture in a magazine of granola and became obsessed), Honey nut cheerios, tea
Anti-craving: Meat is back in, coffee is still out.
Symptoms: Sleepiness
Baby-size: Kumquat
Weight gain: 3 pounds

11 Weeks, September 26, 2010
Our week started with our ultrascreen appointment, which was awesome. We got sonogram photos and even a video of the sonogram.

And active!

Then around the 29th I got sick with a cold or flu. It would last for weeks! Sniffling, coughing, achiness. Dad was moved to a less aggressive rehab and then we were off to Cory and Robin's wedding.

Milestones: According to our baby book, the webbed fingers and toes have split into separate fingers and toes with nails starting to grow.  The nose has little nostrils.  If the baby is a girl, she's starting to develop ovaries.
Craving: Cherry-flavored anything and citrus, granola. Honey nut cheerios, tea
Anti-craving: Figs? Hm.
Symptoms: Round ligament pain
Baby-size: Fig
Weight gain: 4 pounds

12 Weeks, October 3-9, 2010
Baby is now the size of a lime, so Kevin tosses me a lime, and I say "this is huge, how would you not feel this kicking around?"  Kevin goes, "throw me back our baby."

I got a call from the doctor's office that everything was okay with the baby.  Since it was 12 weeks now, that meant we could start telling people, but we wanted to tell Kevin's mom before other people.  We arranged for her to come visit at the end of the week so that we could tell her in person.

I was getting sicker and sicker this week with my cold or flu.  Sniffling turned to coughing.  Dad started getting sick in rehab again so he went back to the hospital.    It took the doctors a few days to figure out what was wrong, and Kevin's mom met us at the hospital on Saturday.

I had to review documents at the hospital, but we took a break to take Kevin's mom to lunch and tell her the good news.  We gave her a card with a copy of the sonogram.  Just like my parents, she cried with happiness.

I felt bad having to leave my dad when he was having another minor surgery the next day, but I had to work the whole weekend.  In fact, I even missed most of Kathy's visit, though it was nice of her to have dinner waiting for me when I came home from work.

Milestones: All our parents and grandparents (the baby's great-grandparents!) know we're pregnant.  Our baby book says the baby's bone marrow is starting to produce white blood cells to fight off infection, and the pituitary gland is producing hormones.
Craving: Apples, granola
Anti-craving: Coffee
Symptoms: Round ligament pain, acid reflux  (coughing plus acid reflux means vomiting)
Baby-size: Lime
Weight gain: 4 pounds

2 Months Pregnant 2010

5 Weeks, August 15-21, 2010

Of course, morning sickness decided to strike on the delayed flight home from San Francisco. For the record, Kevin offered to give me his seat and be the one who stood, but I thought it would be quicker if I was the one without a seat. While I was standing around waiting for the flight attendant to give me a seat on the plane, she kept commenting on my bad-attitude face. "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "What's wrong?"

Oh-let-me-see. I am on hour 24 of my travel home, I barely slept last night because my shuttle to my scary hotel was mislabeled, and now I get on the flight to discover my seat is missing. Probably for all these reasons, today is the day that my morning sickness has kicked in and all I want to do is bend over at the waist, or – I don't know – take my seat on the plane. Instead of getting me a seat you want me to stand in the back of the plane and smile.

"Just nauseous."
"Pregnant?"

And that is how I got her to rip the seat cushion off someone else's seat and give to me. Score!

Nonetheless, I had to throw up in the plane bathroom later. I didn't really mind, as it was a sign that I was really pregnant and I felt better immediately after. I lost my appetite but now I figured I had to eat frequently enough to avoid nausea.

When we got home, I took another pregnancy test just to be sure, and I made a doctor's appointment with the doctor Kevin selected for excellence in baby-delivering. Then we went back to the hospital with my dad for an embolization.   The sadness and stress of the situation with dad also made me throw up again.

Mostly I was really tired the rest of the week, unfortunately, I couldn't tell Jaime when she visited and wanted to walk all over creation.  Also, this is really random, but I was no longer able to sit for stretches at a time without my bum being sore. This symptom makes no sense. I was a champion sitter before pregnancy! I am guessing it's another bad consequence of all my muscles being relaxed. The preggo blogs call it sciatic nerve pain, but sometimes the sites say it's not actually that unless it's severe.

Milestones: First morning sickness. According to our baby book, baby's heart is forming and starting to beat.
Craving: Lots of water, Annie's organic mac and cheese, and eel
Anti-craving: Coffee
Symptoms: Nausea!, very tired, sciatic nerve pain
Baby-size: Sesame seed (I was a week off before on size, so sesame seed again this week)
Weight gain: 1 pound

6-7 Weeks, End of August 2010

Flowers for being Pregnant 2010

6 Weeks, August 22, 2010
This week was truly awful. Chrissy's mom passed away from cancer, which made for another very sad week. I felt personally sad about Maureen missing from the world, I felt awful for Chrissy, and I felt awful about telling my parents who knew and liked Maureen and were also fighting cancer. I cried a lot again this week.

Due to my dad's brain radiosurgery, he was on antiseizure medication. But the doctor's made a mistake on his prescription and he had a seizure on Thursday, and he again lost his ability to speak or walk. The doctors advised us to up his antiseizure medication and wait for him to improve again. With my dad in this state, I went to Maureen's funeral on Friday. Heart-breakingly sad. I had to leave after the funeral to help my dad who had not improved after his seizure yet.

On Saturday, Kevin and I went to Patrick and Aubree's wedding, which was lovely. I had trouble eating the yummy wedding dinner and could not dance much because of Baby Clou, so I spent the time chatting and taking pictures. Mom called during the end of the wedding reception and told me that dad was getting worse, so I encouraged her to call an ambulance to bring him to the hospital. Kevin and I left the reception so we could get up early and go back to New Jersey.

Milestones: According to our baby book, the baby's organs (kidneys, liver, lungs, eyes, and ear canals) are forming.
Craving: Cereal, Red fruit, Strawberries (which I never especially liked before), cranberry, raspberry, red grapes, etc. I tried looking this up, and I think I must have been after flavinoids
Anti-craving: Anything fried, fatty, or red meat.
Symptoms: Very thirsty, very hungry (waking up at 4 am hungry), nauseous
Baby-size: Lentil bean
Weight gain: 1 pound

7 Weeks, August 29, 2010
We visited Dad in the hospital on Sunday, while the doctors tested him and decided what to do. Despite his brain radiosurgery, the doctors determined that he needed a regular invasive brain surgery to deal with the swelling around his brain tumor more quickly. The doctors said that if he remained without his ability to walk or talk for too long he might not be able to regain his abilities so it was important to take action now.

He was scheduled for traditional brain surgery on Wednesday. We followed dad all the way to just outside the operating room, and when mom stepped out right before dad went in, I told dad I was pregnant. He couldn't speak but reacted very emotionally and sweetly and seemed happy. I didn't expect him to have such a big reaction though and then I felt bad about getting him worked up before he went into the surgery. It was a very long day of sitting in the waiting room. When he came out, he felt awful, and he didn't show any signs of knowing, so I wasn't sure if he remembered.

Milestones: Telling dad about the baby.  According to our baby book, the baby is growing brain cells, a mouth, tongue, arm and leg buds.
Craving: fruit juice
Anti-craving: red meat, coffee
Symptoms: Nausea
Baby-size: Blueberry
Weight gain: 1 pound

8 Weeks, September 5-11, 2010
We had our first doctor's appointment and the doctor did a sonogram! Once he told us, I was so excited about baby's first picture! But what I wasn't expecting was that I would see a little leg kicking and arm punching out. I didn't expect that the baby already had some sort of volition. I instantly fell in love.  And so much cuteness in 2.45 cm from head to rump. But clearly I was already extremely biased. Kevin was equally excited to hear the heartbeat.

First picture at 8 weeks and 3 days, September 8, 2010

Mom called while I was at the doctor, so I pretty much assumed she was on to me by now. But I asked the doctor and he said in no uncertain terms not to tell my family until Week 12. Sorry, mom.  Dad moved to rehab after the brain surgery and started speaking again little by little.  But things were still extremely tough.  Ash and Janice visited that weekend to cheer me up, and I really wanted to tell them too, but I kept quiet even as I had to subtly ignore the wine they kept pouring for me.

Milestones: First sonogram! Baby kicking and punching spontaneously.
Craving: Fish, cottage cheese, and fake fruit candy
Anti-craving: red meat (though pork doesn't seem gross anymore this week), coffee
Symptoms: nausea
Baby-size: Kidney bean/ raspberry
Weight gain: 2 pounds