When Life Hands You a Lemon...

...you are apparently 14 weeks pregnant! Our kiddo is the size of a lemon this week! = ) Things are going well. I'm eating more (yea) and feeling better each day! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday break! It's back to work for us tomorrow.

Complete First Trimester- Check!

When I did my OB rotation in school I would give patients orange juice during ultrasounds if the baby wasn't cooperating or moving enough. So what did I do before my appointment on Friday morning knowing I was going to have an ultrasound? I prescribed myself some good old OJ! Ohhhh my goodness...our child can move! It was the cutest thing ever!! See for yourself..The baby is now 70 mm from crown to rump and has a heart beat of 155 bpm. He/she is growing like a weed! Even though we don't know yet, I'm convinced it's a girl! We will find out for sure on February 3rd! (mark your calender).

The visit overall went well (for the most part). Dr. Firpo and apparently her partner, Charles Falcone, MD, ganged up on me and gave me a lecture about my weight (which I already knew was a minor issue). I somehow lost 4 pounds since the beginning of pregnancy. I didn't feel well for a long time and once the nausea was gone, surprisingly so was my appetite! It's getting better though! =) We have a weight check follow-up appointment in 3 weeks to make sure I am back to where I started. Should be easy, I'm a junk food junkie! = ) Now let's just hope I don't go to the other extreme! Also this visit, we changed our due date AGAIN. It's now June 28th which makes me 13 weeks today! We are very excited about beginning the second trimester!

Can't wait to post the next picture!

Who knew...

My favorite yogurt has aspartame in it...I sure didn't! Well, it has been replaced by Chocolate and Vanilla pudding...yummy!

Just a quick update...the nausea is G-O-N-E (for the most part)! Hells yea! I still can't eat all foods, but I'm no longer repulsed by foods other than cheez its and PBJ. Yea! Just in time for our annual Christmas trip to Fairfield when we eat ourselves retarded. On the other hand my bedtime continues to get earlier and ealier (I'm turning into my mom! ). I actually woke up at 3:30am the other morning and cleaned house...crazy!

Other interesting things...my belly is now ummmmm bigger. I don't want to call it a baby bump yet, because the baby is still hiding behind my pelvic bone...so I can't blame it on that...but I'm definitely 'thicker'. We shall just call this the fat stage. Not so pleasant BUT well worth it! We take weekly belly pictures so once I feel like I look pregnant and not phat I will post one!

Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the holiday season! Just think, this time next year we will have a 5-6 month old baby possibly wearing this I love Daddy onsie (thanks Hefners)!!!!

Kumquat Dean Falcone

We are officially 10 weeks today! The picture above represents the size of our baby this week- a kumquat! Next week- a fig!

I have been doing okay lately except for some morning-evening-all day sickness, a couple of migraines and one episode of nearly passing out in the operating room. Otherwise, I really can't complain (even though I'm sure I do). = )

Last night was my first night to actually have an appetite in several weeks. Prior to this it was a chore to eat. If I ate, I felt sick. If I didn't eat, I felt sick. Any pregnant woman can relate! But something was different about me last night when driving home from work. It felt fantastic---I never thought wanting to eat would be so exciting! I went to Miyako's (local sushi joint) and stared at the menu for a loooooong time. Torture! My mouth was watering looking at the raw sushi... I asked the server if he could make me cooked sushi but prepare it on a different table than the raw stuff to avoid the dangerous bacteria... he told me it was not worth the risk... I only tipped him a $1. Anyways, I left the restaurant with miso soup, steamed rice, shrimp tempura and edamame...it was delicious!!

Other cool and interesting facts this week- fingernails are forming and the baby's joints are working. The hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over the heart! No more webbed fingers or toes!

Next visit to Dr. Firpo is 12/19/08 and there WILL be a picture coming soon!

Something To Be Thankful For....

We went back today for our follow-up ultrasound. We got great news! The baby has grown appropriately....as you can see below! My blood work from 2 weeks ago was all normal too. All in all, a good visit! If you focus very, very closely on the picture you can see 2 arm buds and 2 leg buds, crazy!! The big blob on the left side is the head!

Our next step is to follow up in 4 weeks to hear the heart beat (no picture next time, tear).

Anyways, enjoy the picture of the beautiful angel of ours...the next picture you see will likely show it's private part....haha!

CR: 18 mm HR: 170 bpm

Thank you all for your prayers during the past 2 weeks! Charlie has been a rockstar dealing with me since our last visit...I've been a bit of a wreck! = )

PUSH Present!

Just found out about this from a co-worker today.....ingenious! = )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_Present

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99962,00.html


Here are some examples in case you are still confused:

Is this normal?

We had a scare last night which turned into a visit to our OB today for an early ultrasound and check-up. I started having some spotting and abdominal pain which can be normal in early pregnancy or can signify a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy (if untreated can be fatal for baby and me). So after a sleepless night for Charlie and I we met with Dr. Firpo. She is fabulous!

We did an ultrasound and there it was....our itty bitty baby....heart beat and all. The doctor was a little concerned with the size of the baby for 7 weeks but reassured us we could be a week off and only be 6 weeks along. If this is true then the baby is right on track. Since the bundle of joy is sooooo tiny we weren't able to actually hear the heart beat BUT we were okay with that for now. We were just happy to see something there...

Now we have to return in two weeks to verify the baby is growing properly and also to recheck my blood. My doctor will put me on medication to help the baby stay in place if my progesterone levels are low since she has small concerns for a miscarriage related to the spotting.

For now we just wait and enjoy the beautiful 'thing' we saw on the ultrasound screen today. A miracle to say the least. Please keep us in your prayers that our baby will continue to grow as expected. I have attached a picture of the blob so just be creative when viewing....it's baby Falcone- Ashley Paige or Caleb David/James (our favs for now)! Oh I almost forgot...there is only ONE! = )

CR: 5 mm HR: 120 bpm

CR: crown to rump measurement

HR: heart rate

WE are Pregnant!

I say WE for two reasons:

1. It took both of us to get here!
2. Chuck bought himself a book called "Dad's pregnant too" (a little ploy to gain sympathy I suppose). = )

Anyways, we were very happy that we finally shared the news with the family. We enjoyed all the different reactions from everyone. Here are just a few:

"Oh *bleep*"
"Why are you calling me an aunt? Are the dogs next to you?"
"I had a dream you were having twins"
"Charlie, did you pass out?"
"Jennifer, is he lying to me? This is a joke! Not funny if it is."

Thanks to all for your excitement...I know we are excited too!

Now we wait for the first ultrasound on November 7th...then we may tell a few more people...