My pregnancy so far

As you may guess, this pregnancy has taken a lot of people by surprise, myself included! The initial shock and disbelief has finally worn off, and I am starting to get really excited. It took me a little longer to get to the point that Damien has been from day one, but I'm glad I have finally come around. (I'm sure he is too) Today I am at 17 weeks + five days, which means 2 weeks and 2 days from now, I will be half way done with this pregnancy. That is where the shock and disbelief again begins! I can't believe I am already this far along. I think that is mainly because I really don't feel pregnant. I was lucky enough not to get struck with morning sickness or the urge to pee every two hours. I haven't really had any cravings either. The symptoms I have had are: extreme cramping, fatigue, hunger, and gas. I'll spare you the details and just say that all four have been extreme. Although now that I am in my second trimester, the cramping is nonexistent, (thankfully that ended at about week 8 or 9, and that's a good thing! It was so bad I thought I was gonna die! Seriously!) and the rest have decreased in intensity. Overall, I cannot complain about how things have gone thus far. I have great friends and family and the love and support of a wonderful man. I truly feel blessed!

At the first doctor's appointment, which we had on July 30, 2008, at 9 1/2 weeks along, I weighed in at 134 lbs, a few pounds up from where I was before I found out I was pregnant. We listened to the baby's heartbeat with a doppler device. It was hard to find, but came in loud and clear, low on my right side, after a few minutes search. The baby's tiny, little heart was beating a whopping 174 beats per minute. Damien and I just looked at eachother with big, goofy grins on our faces until Julie, the nurse, removed the doppler wand from my lower abdomen. Neither of us cried. I felt calm and was in awe, as the fact that there really was a human life growing inside of my belly began to sink in. Next, she moved us into the ultrasound room where we got to see our "little peanut", as Damien was calling it at the time. It was amazing to see the heart beating and to be able to discern it's head from it's rump and to see the little nubs that were becoming hands and feet. There was no denying it. We had now seen the proof with our own four eyes. Here are a couple pics from that visit:

Getting prepped for my very first ultrasound

OOOOOH, that jelly is cold!

If you split the screen into fourths like this +,
the baby is in the top right. Kind of hard to see here.

At our second visit, four weeks later, I weighed 140 lbs. The baby's heart beat was at 159 beats per minute, and was as awe inspiring as it was the first time we heard it. I got a PAP, always a good time, and that was about it. We made our next appointment with Dr. Twede AND scheduled an ultrasound for October 10th, when we hope to learn the sex of the baby! :)

We had the third visit just two days ago. I am 17 1/2 weeks along. I gained another 4 pounds, which Dr. Twede says is right where I want to be. One pound per week is good. My belly is measuring at 16 cm, also average for how far along I am. The books say the baby should be about 5 inches long from crown to rump. A lot bigger than the 1 inch length it was at our first visit. Again, we heard the baby's heart beat, which was 154 beats per minute.

So far, everyone is healthy and happy, and we are looking forward to finding out the sex of the baby in two weeks! It would be fun to get together with everyone that evening, for dinner or something, and announce the ultrasound findings...in the mean time, be sure to enter in your gender guess by way of the poll and/or in the comments. I'd love to know what YOU think!