Baby makes three...

We had our first real prenatal appointment today. It was actually very enjoyable. It was actually our second pregnancy related appointment, since I already saw my G.P., who ran various blood tests and all that stuff. But today was our first appointment with the people from Westside Midwives, who'll be involved in our care from now on.

The woman I met was extremely nice and answered all of our questions. We spent about an hour talking and getting information. One of the things we learned is that midwives consult regularly with obstetricians and that if things get complicated, you can see both. It makes a lot of sense that it works that way, but I wasn't sure what the relationship was. As well, after the birth a midwife comes to your home about five times in the first week to make sure everything is going well. So I'm sure that will be a big help. So between now and September we will meet all three midwives several times and one of them will deliver little JM!

Posted by hilary at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I am almost at 10 weeks now, which is important because it marks the end of the embryonic stage. We'll soon have a foetus! Very exciting, not only because the rate of miscarriage starts to decline, but also because all the key organs are already on their way. Fingers and toes are wiggling away!

The horrible sickness I had last week is starting to subside a little bit and I feel a bit more human again. This is a good progression because I'm not sure how much more of that I could have handled. The tide seemed to turn after my massage on Thursday - I'm not sure if that's a coincidence, but I'm looking forward to my next appointment! I still gag when I see undercooked meat - a vein in my turkey sandwich gave me the chills today.

Posted by hilary at 09:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I think it was the KD that sent me over the edge; even the box makes me feel nauseous. I have felt sick to my stomach for days and days now. When I'm sick, I'm depressed. When I'm depressed, I worry. I don't like to worry. Oh second trimester, hurry up and come and bring me happy hormones and a respite from the nausea.

Posted by hilary at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So far, my cravings have tended towards healthy things - strawberries and citrus fruit are big ones. But today, I'm starting to have pangs for less nutritious items... I woke up wishing for chocolate ice cream. Sadly, there was none in the house. Tonight it's comfort food - Julian just went downstairs to the store and found me a big box of Kraft Dinner. It's bubbling away pleasantly on the stove right now. Will it be as wonderful as I anticipate - the salty cheese powder, the slippery noodles?

Posted by hilary at 07:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Already feels a bit bigger to me, but I can only tell because I can't quite suck in like I used to.

Posted by hilary at 11:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I can't be faulted for not totally getting it yet, right? The whole 'I'm going to be a father' thing?!? It's so real for the mother who is experiencing real symptoms all the time, but for the daddy it remains abstract. Slowly but surely, though, it's coming into focus for me. The first step was seeing the little parallel blue lines on the pregnancy test thingie. That was pretty real. The next step was going with Hilary to our 7-week ultrasound and hearing the thump-thump, thump-thump, 123 beats per minutes. Now that was real. A heart!! No magic plastic stripe thingie, but a real little human organ. My friend Mike who has a 3-month old told me that what made his impending fatherhood really real for him was when he first felt kicks from his little 'tacker' Jack from inside his wife Kelly when she was spooning him in bed. And that's still months away! Daddy's so excited about experiencing all these steps with Hilary over the next 7 months!

Posted by julian at 06:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What you're seeing here is a five week-old embryo floating around in his/her "gestational sac" (the black area). (Note - five weeks one day is the gestational age, seven weeks one day in pregnancy terms.)

One centimetre long, but already with a little heartbeat that flickers on-screen - 123 beats a minute! We even got to hear it - thump-thump-thump. In addition to a heart, this embryo is already developing facial features, some limb buds and some primitive internal organs. But it still looks pretty extraterrestrial.

Posted by hilary at 05:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)