I had my last appointment with my current doctor today, unexpectedly (my last appointment was supposed to be Sept. 8, but they were able to squeeze me in today). I have now been officially discharged to my OB, whom I have yet to meet. I have had so many appointments lately with my current doctor, it will be strange not to go in for several weeks and then only once a month.

At today's appointment, I got one last look at our little baby, for the time being. I could even see him/her moving this time, which was really strange. The heartrate was 174. From what I have read, the heartrate starts high initially and then decreases as the baby's brain starts to take control of the heart. Here is the latest picture of the baby. You can make out the head on the left. Arm and leg nubs are also kind of visible.

My next appointment is September 12, when I go to the OB for the first time.

Posted By Lucia

I wanted to post a picture from last Friday's ultrasound. I wasn't feeling great Friday so I wasn't online at all.

Everything still looks good. The nurse practioner said the heartbeat looked "wonderful." The next ultrasound is scheduled for this Thursday, August 25.

A website that I frequent has this to say about our baby this week:

Your baby measures about 0.9 to 1.2 inches (2.2 to 3cm) from crown to rump.

Your baby's arms and legs are longer and her hands are flexed at the wrist. The head is growing more erect and the neck is more developed. On an ultrasound, you may see your baby moving, though you still can not feel this.

The organs are forming. Ears are developed and the eyelids have begun to cover up your baby's eyes. Hands and feet appear as well as small buds which will become fingers and toes. The paddles of your baby's hands have clearly defined finger ridges now, with the tissue between them (which previously made them look webbed) dying off to leave separate fingers.

Your baby's back has started to straighten slightly and the tail is now shrinking. The head still seems large and is curved forwards on her chest. Your baby is starting to look like a tiny person!

Jonathan found out last weekend that one of his good friends from college is expecting. His wife is 9 weeks along. I'll be right behind her. Their due date is March 21 - 24 while ours is less than a week and a half later. It'll be fun to tell them our news when the time comes (maybe the week we get back from NYC, if they don't figure it out this coming weekend at the wedding festivities).

Posted By Lucia

Yesterday I made my first of three offerings to the porcelain goddess — my first bout with true morning/day/night sickness. I was exercising (at a very moderate pace) when the urge came to throw up. Now I'm not so sure I want to exercise again! Today has been better, although I have napped more to avoid any queasy feeling.

I made an appointment for my first visit with an OB doctor. It is on Monday, September 12. I will be 11 weeks, 1 day then. The doctor I wanted to see (a friend of mine's OB) is on medical leave, so I will see another in the practice, Dr. Jones. She's in the same rotation as my friend's doctor. Their practice even has a website. I just noticed on the website that Dr. Jones' interests include art, photography and gardening. Sounds like we have something in common. This practice is affilated with St. Vincent's Hospital which is where I want to deliver. Their Women's and Children's Center is new and opened last year. According to the St. Vincent's website: St. Vincent's was the first hospital in Birmingham to pioneer the labor/delivery/recovery concept that allows the entire birthing process to occur in one room. Today, we remain committed to innovative ideas and quality care. Our single room birth suites offer a comfortable home-like environment that enhances the entire birthing experience.

There are a dozen OB doctors in the practice and I like that. I know some people don't like having to see so many doctors, but my viewpoint is that when the time comes to deliver, it's more likely that the doctor on call is well rested compared to going to smaller practice where the doctors are on call more often and more likely to be tired.

I don't know what will be involved with the first visit since my current doctor has already done a lot of bloodwork and I had a PAP less than a year ago.

Posted By Lucia

Today is our second annivesary. Jonathan is out of town, but we will celebrate either next weekend or when we are in New York City. We already have a list of restaurants to go to while in NYC, several pizzarias are included in the list.

Our second year included some big milestones. Here's a list of those, plus some other notable happenings:

• Jonathan started a new job in December and has really enjoyed it.
• I quit my job in February and started my own business, which is still a work in progress.
• We had season tickets to the Atlanta Falcons games, for the third year in a row.
• We saw a couple of traveling Broadway shows: Chicago, The Producers.
• We spent Thanksgiving in Mont Tremblant, Canada with Jonathan's family.
• Jonathan enjoyed a long weekend in Las Vegas in August for a bachelor party.
• Jonathan and his guy friends started the First Annual Rival Football Game Weekend trip. They went to Michigan to see the Michigan - Michigan State football game.
• Jonathan didn't play as much golf as he would have liked.
• Lucia continued to work on several projects at a time: sewing, smocking, scrapbooking, latch hooking. She even finished some of these projects.
• And the biggest milestone is that we found out that we are expecting.

Posted By Lucia

Today's ultrasound went well. The baby is measuring perfectly at 6w5d. We could see a little blink in the middle of the baby blob and that was its heartbeat! I thought it would be more apparent, but I guess when you are the size of a piece of rice (or kidney bean??) your heartbeat can only be so big. The nurse practioner gave me a pamphlet and it says that once a heartbeat has been detected the chance of miscarriage is severely reduced to less than 10 percent.

I go back again next week and then I should have been discharged the week after that (I meet with my doctor before being discharged), however the doctor wasn't available that week and we are out of town the week after (to NYC). Our schedules don't match up until I am 10 weeks and a couple of days (September 8, I think). I hope that's ok! They said I can go ahead and make my first OB appointment so that I am ready after I meet with the doctor.

When I got home from the appointment this morning, I had to lay down and ended up taking a short nap. The nap is only thing that seems to make me feel better. I finally got a Rx for something to help with the nausea today. It can make you pretty drowsy so that I may not be able to take it during the day if I want to function. I just took one, so we'll see how it effects me.

Posted By Lucia