jeromeartists-roberts

A bit late, but here is my picture when I was done with week 13 and the old pictures for comparison: Week 13 done! Week 12 done! Week 11 done!

So, this past week I had both my second doctor's appointment and my 1st Trimester Screening. I have Care First (Blue Cross) which doesn't allow for procedures like the 1st Trimester Screening to be covered in my doctor's office, so I went to the Genetics & IVF Institute to get that screening done on Friday. But, my regular doctor's appointment was on Wednesday and everything went pretty quickly. I had a mid-morning appointment which meant that I waited about a half hour to get in. Then, I did my urine sample, blood pressure (good) and waited in the room for my doctor. She came in and it was pretty quick where she just listen to the heartbeat - in the 160s/minute, good - and then just asked if I had questions. I really do think that they figure there is so much for people to read out there that they don't need to really tell us a lot of stuff... Or they figure we will ask. Which makes me think that really, in the end, not too many things will hurt you! A...

Here is my weekly belly shot (with week 11 and 5 next to it for comparison) and below pictures of our little guy/girl from the first trimester screening last Friday :) So, I *think* I may be getting stretch marks. I'm not sure, but I have little red spots on my buttocks. :( I do have stretch marks (on my rear end again) from when I gained weight my first year of university so I guess it's too be expected. Hopefully it won't get very bad and I'm still not convience they are stretch marks, but I have a feeling they may show. I lotion up, but I know that the stretch marks come from deep in... The other thing - my baby pictures are 2 ultra sounds and 1 3-D. They don't even ask me if I want the 3-D or not - they just do it! :) I'm not that crazy about it... however my mom - who didn't even have ultrasounds with us for the most part - thinks it's super cool because it's so in detail. I guess it'll look better as the baby develops a bit more! W...

Apparently, I'm pretty right on time for this! This weekend, I went shopping for a pair of maternity jeans and some longer shirts (I hate buying clothes that I will only wear for 6 months; well, again when I have another kid, but still- I'm trying to buy 'flexible' tops) and after trying on the clothes, I got so dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out! I had to sit down on the floor of the shop while F finished paying for the clothes. I then had to sit down and ate and had water for a bit before feeling better. I thought it was because we ate kinda' late on Satur...

Ok - so I went ahead and took a picture of my belly this morning. I did it myself and I don't think it's the prettiest shot out there, but ah well. I don't think it'll be pretty until it starts looks less like a fat belly and more like a pregnant belly ;) Without further ado.... (lol - I first wrote 'adieu', but found this: "It's "Without further ado ," not "without further adieu." "Ado" means "fuss" or "delay." "Adieu" is not a noun but a complete statement which simply means "goodbye." - lol!) Week 5 belly shot - hmmm, I should have thought about putting the toilet seat down! Week 11 (that is, today should be either Week 11 or week 10, day 6). I'm actually kinda' holding my stomach in... ;)

So, I have been meaning to write about this at some point, but got my first question here (thanks Bounty!) about if we have started to look at names for the baby. Of course, we have plenty of time; we don't know the sex of the baby yet; but I also know that this is something that takes people FOREVER to decide. And with good reason! Your baby is stuck with that name for the REST OF THEIR LIFE! The short answer is: yes, we know what our baby's names will be. For anonymity purposes - I will say B or G in this blog for the names (b for boy; g for girl). Sorry! So- What is the long story that I wanted to share about our kid's name?................. I am a naturally born (as opposed to naturalized - I'm not making a statement, just clarifying my culture growing up) white American, brought up in Northern California (Contra Costa County). My husband is Jordanian and grew up in the Middle East (mostly the Gulf). I bring this background info up because of how the baby...

This seems to be the time of pregnancy when most women do start taking pregnancy pictures. I did take a picture about a month ago - farewell pre-pregnancy body! - but it was in my pjs and I'm not sure if I want to show THAT off. I'll have to find another picture :) I'm not the most consistent when doing stuff like this, but maybe I can get in that habit. It seems best to get some clothes that you can wear the whole time so that your focus is on the belly and not on anything else... I think it would be fun to do... I sure hope I don't have an ugly belly! I guess right now I also feel rather fat. I know, I know - I'm pregnant. But, I have gained more weight than your supposed to - 7 pounds so far instead of 5 MAX! And, you just don't look 'pregnant' in week 11. I do wear maternity pants for work - they are SOOO comfy! But, otherwise, I feel very NOT toned and basically lazy and kinda' fat. :( I keep telling myself I'll be better once I get ...

Tired, tired, tired!!!! I have been nothing but tired!!! And very distracted. I'm feeling like I'm getting behind on my work - although in reality I think I'm better off than I was a few weeks ago. But, it's a very strange kind of tired. It's not a regular, I'm sleepy tired. Or a, I'm sore from working out. Or, I'm bored from work... It's a tired where you are... I guess it's kinda' like being sick with the flu. You just don't feel right and your brain is a bit foggy. It's particularly bad for me in the morning. I am getting up later and later because I'm just too tired to wake up! Of course, I get up to go to the bathroom and then go lie down again. lol - I'm on the toilet for about 30 minutes... I'm not constipated, but it takes about that long to get things 'moving.' (I need to get some gas out first) Then, I just want to lie down again because I feel so tired. It was particularly bad yesterday and ...

In the last 2 days, I all of a sudden can't really fit into my pants. :( That's not very fun... I'm not really 'showing,' but I am certainly getting bigger. The good news - I weighed myself today and I'm the same as last week! That is a good thing, because this last two months I have CERTAINLY gained more weight than I should. I think it's because I have been so tired and not moving. I'm better now and my eating is a bit different as well - slightly smaller meals. My goal is to only gain about 1/2 pound every week or two until 2nd trimester. That is more 'normal' and on track. But, my stomach is still kinda' sticking out. At work yesterday, I ended up unbuttoning the top two buttons of my pants while sitting down (I have my own office and wore a long shirt). The day before, I wore a skirt with the stretchy waist. (which I think made me look bigger) Today, I have some pants that usually don't fit well - they are doing ok :) Las...

Ok - I've decided to put in the week the week I'm IN - so in this case, I'm 8 weeks 3 days and IN the 9th week. That seems to be how most sites and books handle it... Yesterday was the first day that I really noticed smell aversions. I always have seemed to have a heightened sense of smell - particularly around my period. But, nothing so bad. Until yesterday. I was ok for the day and then when I came home, I lied down. (I'm still very tired) So, my brother-in-law actually made dinner and when I came down - OMG! The smell was just... bad! It was just rice and chicken - nothing exotic, but it did NOT smell good. Now, my b-i-law makes VERY good food, so that was just weird. But, I couldn't really even eat it because I didn't like the smell. So, I heated up some corn and had that. But, the entire time, I was smelling other stuff and nothing was right. So, we finished and had ice cream (yay!) and then I actually got a fruit bar after that because I was ...

So, I finally told my boss that I was pregnant today. I started with "I know it's early, but...." because - I am only 8 weeks and like 2-3 days pregnant. Hopefully, everything will go well... Anyways, he was super understanding. He actually works a lot around his kids schedules and so was very nice about everything. I am going to see if I can't find a graduate student to intern during the spring for when I am out and I think that will work well. :) Other than that - I REALLY need to get my work ass in gear. I feel like I have been very distracted and slacking off. Boss is out for most of this week so I need to use that time to FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS! Unfortunately, I have student workers (1 is great, 1 is :P most of the time, and 1 is too shy). So, that usually takes a lot of my energy, but I have projects for them to do so hopefully they will be out of my hair. :) I am going to tell another coworker tomorrow that I'm pregnant and so I'll let that cat out...

So, yesterday I had my first OB appointment. It was actually much quicker than I thought it would be. It was kinda' like a regular OBY/GN appointment, but with an ultrasound. The ultrasound, of course, we VERY cool and lots of fun to see. Because I'm so early (my due date got moved back 1-2 days, so I'm now 7 weeks, 6 days pregnant today), they did the internal ultrasound. Which means that instead of going over your belly, they lube up a dildo-looking thing and stick that in you to get the picture :) I heard about this before (thank goodness!), but it was still funny to see her lube that up, put a condom on it, and lube again before sticking it in me. But, it was very cool to see the ultra-sound - my favorite was SEEING the heartbeat. That was so cool!!! We then heard it for about 5 seconds and went back to looking at the screen. Looking at it first, I thought the head was to the left, but it was the right. Now, I see it right away, but it's a bit disorientati...

Tomorrow I *finally* get to my first doctor's appointment. I know, I know - there is a chance of miscarriage between 1-8 weeks, but I still think that for 1st time moms they should bring you in to at least confirm the pregnancy at 6 weeks. Of course, my mom was saying that before pregnancy tests, they waited until you missed 2 periods anyways to be sure you were pregnant. Ah, the state of women's health in the world. You would think that overall there would be more knowledge in this field... A nyways: " Here's what you can expect your doctor or midwife to do on your first visit:" from http://www.babycenter.com/0_your-first-prenatal-visit_9344.bc Take your health history Do a genetic and birth defect history Explain your options for prenatal genetic testing Check you out and run some tests ( a thorough physical, including a pelvic exam. She'll do a Pap smear . Next, she'll order routine blood tests to identify your blood type and Rh status , and a...

So, my sister is a nurse. Who, when she was in college, worked in a woman's health center at our local hospital. So, she has always been pretty good about giving advice in a pretty clear manner and not giving hype. But, she ticked me off today. All and all, I don't think I'm too cranky being pregnant. I haven't been really sick, but have been nauseous. This past weekend I did throw up for the first time, but I don't think that had so much to do with pregnancy than the fact that I decided I wanted donuts at 1:30 am and ate a bunch of munchkin donuts holes. All that sugar and fried dough probably didn't help me much. Ah well. No more donuts. But, this whole last month I have been pretty TIRED. That, and that when I would walk it is pretty hot outside (it is summer), means that I haven't been doing much physical activity. Now, I'm not the most physical person anyways, but I can tell there was a drop. Also, normally, if I have more than 1,200 calor...

WARNING: NOT SO MUCH ABOUT PREGNANCY AS MY GUEST :) (who I love and is super sweet, but the timing is BAD) This week is kicking my butt. :) I am very tired, although I think I'm tired because I feel pretty nauseous. Not throwing up or anything (hopefully I won't), but just very blah all the time. It's not making me want to eat. Actually - I really want to eat a chicken salad or tuna salad sandwich, but apparently I should stay away from mayo because it has raw eggs. :( Maybe I can make a chicken salad sandwich tonight with sour cream :) That works. The other bad thing is that my HS friend is here (for about a week - she leaves tomorrow!) and while I'm glad she is here, there are 2 things: 1. Apparently, what I do is not 'work' and she thinks I can just take of time for her. 2. I am pregnant and not feeling 100% which I can't really explain because I'm not saying anything yet I probably could tell her, but she is one of those people that would probably b...