9 Weeks and Pictures

We went to my first doctor's appointment this week. It was good except for the whole taking blood part where they had to stick me twice (apparently holding your breath stops your blood from flowing and it won't start again from that vein...oops!). But the doctor assured me that getting blood will get easier as I get further along. She also assured me (even though a friend had already told me this) that the reason I look so bloated is that my uterus is growing and pushing all of my other organs up, so the belly you see in the pictures below is a result of my other organs and not Monkey (baby's name for now).

We have been continuing to work on the house regularly. We got our refrigerator yesterday morning and spent the majority of the day there, Josh painting, my mom and myself cleaning. Everything is starting to come together and it is looking great! I cannot wait to get all of our things moved in so we can stay there at night! We are going to be doing some major packing this week trying to finish up so on the 15th everything can be moved!

What Monkey is up to this week:

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 far along? 9 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: -1 lb from the day we found out,
Maternity clothes? I broke down and wore maternity pants this week.
Stretch marks? Nope and I would be ok if I went the whole time without them
Sleep: I am still exhausted and have woken up once or twice in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom
Best moment this week: Going to my first appointment with the Dr.
Movement: None at this point...we have a while
Food cravings: I will get a random craving when I hear something that sounds good, but it varies a lot
Labor Signs: Nope..Many weeks away from this.
What I miss: Feeling rested
What I am looking forward to: Getting out of the first trimester and hopefully getting some energy back
Weekly Wisdom: A 15 minute power nap at work gives me almost enough energy to get through the day
Milestones: 1st dr's appointment

And as requested and promised...some belly pictures starting at week 4. I will post them weekly from now on.