9 weeks

Hello friends, here's a little update that I get from Whattoexpect.com weekly about the growth of the babes.
 

How your baby's growing:

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain.

How your life's changing:

You still may not look pregnant even if your waist is thickening a bit. You probably feel pregnant, though. Not only are morning sickness and other physical symptoms out in full force for most women, but you may feel like an emotional pinball as well.

Mood swings are common now — it's perfectly normal to feel alternately elated and terrified about becoming a parent. Try to cut yourself some slack. Most women find that moodiness flares up at around six to ten weeks, eases up in the second trimester, and then reappears as pregnancy winds to a close.

Now for an update on me....

We had our first appointment with Dr. OB as a pregnant couple this morning and I remember all the reasons that I love her.  Not only did her staff go above and beyond the call of duty trying to understand and help us understand our insurance situation and what it would cost without insurance, but Dr. OB never rushed us and answered all our questions thoroughly and honestly.  First she did an exam with just me.  She did a PAP (always fun) and then felt my uterus.  Okay, that's just weird.  I had given her the notes from Dr. H, the pictures and told her about the vanishing twin.  She said that my uterus felt larger than it would for a single baby at 9 weeks, so that made her feel like we were still on track for twins.  

Then, J was brought in for lots of information.  She relayed the same information to him that I had just gotten and said that we could do another ultrasound as early as next week to figure out if we were having twins or not.  We determined that we wanted that.  The more I see these babes, the better off I am.  Then she described how much we would see her - single baby or twins, twins would be more often and more ultrasounds...fine by me!  We talked about a test to check for Cystic Fibrosis genes that I swore I had had when they ran all the blood work before Dr. H stepped in and lo-and-behold we had so didn't need to again, yay for good memories!  And no, I am not a carrier.  We talked about the Ultrascreen which checks for Downs Syndrome and decided to have it because I am a preparer, and if that is the scenario I want to know.  I wouldn't dare terminate, but I do want to know.  Of course I was taking notes through all of this and again Dr. OB commented on my notebook and how organized I was.  I said, "you should see the fertility binder, it's double this size...this is the baby binder!" 

I asked Dr. OB about eating and she said not wanting healthy stuff is perfectly normal and to just make sure I eat.  If we're having two, I'll probably gain more than the recommended 25-30 lbs, by no fault of my own.  She said to not TRY to gain weight, but understand that I will.  She wants me to monitor it and try to keep it to 1 lb a week from here.  J commented, "She's eating, but not very much!"  Some of the best words he's ever said, since usually I am a huge eater...but not lately!  Anyway, she just said to try and eat healthy, but if that fails, eat what will stay down.  She wasn't worried about me not working out, just said to ease back into it when I felt up to it.  And be aware of what goes down my gullet.  She also said I can have one caffeinated beverage a day, although right now coffee doesn't sound great to me, but tea maybe! She went through some meds that were approved and not, also said to call anytime with questions.  And she was excited for us and complemented us on our tenacity to get pregnant! Even saying she hoped it was twins given the situation!

All in all it was a great appointment and J really liked Dr. OB and her staff.  They sent me home with some research to do about insurance because their info was different than mine, and mine eventually turned out to be right, but what a drama ... I hate insurance companies!  Sorry, they are just so difficult no matter who it is!  Anyway, we're set for now.  Ultrasound is scheduled for next Friday and Ultrascreen is scheduled for mid-October.

Next step....find out if it's one or two...but must wait until next week!  Will post before then, but for now off to find dinner!  Thanks for stickin' with me folks and talk to you soon!