Pregnancy Update: 10 Weeks

Today marks the beginning of the 10th week of this pregnancy. I am officially 1/4th of the way there! I'm not quite showing yet, but we started taking weekly progress pictures a few weeks ago so we can keep track of how plump I am getting!

That's just an orange peel rolled up to look like a Kumquat.

Crazy pregnancy dreams are here in full swing! I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had a dream about an argument with my mom over our baby having green eyes. I thought that was strange at the time, but that was nothing compared to some of the more recent ones. Last night I dreamt that Brian's uncle gave our baby to a giant bird and it dropped it from way up in the air. I woke up in the middle of the night extremely upset that he had given our baby to a bird. I even woke Brian up in the middle of the night and had a hard time getting back to sleep.

On a lighter note, Brian and I were talking the other day, and we realized that in all of my dreams the baby is a girl. The crazy thing is that the few dreams that Brian has had about the baby, it has also been a girl. So many women who I have spoken to said "I just knew it was a boy/girl". At first I thought it was a boy but that has gone away and now I have no idea. The dreams lead me to think it might be a girl but other than that I have no feeling one way or another. We won't be finding out any time soon as we are waiting till the baby is born to find out! At least that's the plan for now!

Last time I was at the doctor I asked him if I could take zicam while pregnant. He didn't know what that was and the resident with him said "it's that zinc cold remedy." He immediately said I could take that and shouldn't have any problems. Flash forward to this week and I have an annoying cold. I asked Brian to get me some zicam from Target while he was at work. Well, he just happened to talk to the pharmacist and she was very uncomfortable with pregnant women using Zicam. Apparently high levels of zinc have shown to cause premature birth. Plus it isn't regulated by the FDA so they don't have to say exactly what is in it. I'll be asking my doctor and a pharmacist from now on!

Other than having a cold, I feel pretty good. The nausea has gone away for the most part other than a few instances of instant upchuck. I was brushing my teeth this morning and with no warning threw up in the sink. I wasn't nauseous or anything; it just happened and it was disgusting. Certain smells are really getting to me still. Brian made french onion soup the other day and it smelled so bad to me I couldn't even sit next to him while he ate it. He did however make a great chicken noodle soup from scratch that I have had almost every day this week.

I haven't gained any weight so far, which is amazing because I have been all about the Christmas cookies lately. My work is filled with goodies brought in by caregivers and treats sent in from clients. It's really rather ridiculous how many cookies I have eaten in the past couple weeks. It hasn't seemed to have any impact on the scale though,, which I guess is normal at this point. I've read that most women don't gain any weight during their first trimester but I've also read that I should start to gain right about now. I've always struggled with my weight so being concerned that i haven't gained weight is totally new for me!

I have my first appointment with a regular OBGYN on January 4th. This is just with the nurse to get my medical history and go through office policy. My appointment with the actual Doctor is on the 11th at which point they will do another ultrasound. I'll be 13 weeks along at that point and can't wait to see how baby Retzlaff has grown!

- Emily

Ultrasound # 2 - 8 Weeks 4 Days

We got to see the baby again today and he/she is doing wonderfully! We could actually make out what the baby looks like and it doesn't just look like a blob anymore. Dr. Dodds, who did my egg retrieval, and a resident performed the ultrasound today. They joked about whether the baby looks more like a gummy bear or a weeble at this point. A few weeks ago the baby was about the size of a blueberry, even though it has grown quite a bit, we have all kind of taken a liking to calling it "blueberry". I even texted my mom the other day and said "blueberry is the size of a raspberry now!" Who knows, maybe the nickname will stick. ;)

Two little feet up in the right hand corner, two little arms on the sides and a giant head! 

Halfway through the ultrasound, Dr. Dodds asked if I had my phone. He said we were going to have some fun now that I'm almost 9 weeks. He flipped to a different screen and we could hear the baby's heartbeat! 

This ultrasound was a lot more exciting than the last one. The last ultrasound we got to see our baby for the first time, which was incredible. This one was just so much more detailed. They pointed out the umbilical cord that is forming and the yolk sac that is going away as it is no longer needed. We got to see the little arms and legs and we even saw the baby move. At one moment all four of us were exclaiming "it moved" and "did you see that". 

We all sat in an office after the ultrasound and went over everything. Once we were done, Dr. Dodds said we didn't need to come back and that I should see my regular OB in the next couple weeks. I'll stay on the Progesterone for 17 more days and the Estrogen for 10 more days. I will be happy to be done with the Progesterone! 

My morning sickness is almost completely gone and I've gotten used to the exhaustion. Being overly tired is just a normal part of my day at this point, My boobs hurt really bad and they seem to have grown a bit...which was unnecessary as far as I'm concerned. I know it's all part of the incredible process of creating another human being. 

While I am happy to be far enough along in my pregnancy to see a regular doctor, It is definitely bittersweet to say goodbye to the staff at The Fertility Center. They have been there along this whole journey with us and they all seem genuinely excited when things go right for their patients. I'll have to drop off some Christmas cookies for everyone in the next couple weeks. 

-Emily