Old Wive's Tales

Those that are pregnant or have been pregnant before, you know how much advice and “wisdom” that is shared whether solicited or unsolicited. :) Well, a lot of what people think is based on old wives tales, which are rarely supported by scientific facts. Now, we know not to put much if any stock in them as most of them are just for fun to guess the gender of the baby. I remember with Ryane a lot of the quizzes I took and such usually said it was 60% chance she was going to be a boy—so, I know their accuracy!

Well, to fill the time of pregnancy before we get to have THE sonogram, I thought I’d have a little fun and do some of the old wives tales myself or check into some. Here are some of the more common ones people talk about:

Chinese Calendar – says GIRL! It said girl with Ryane as well.

Heartbeat – based on old wives tale that if faster than 140, it’s a girl and slower than that, it’s a boy – last Dr. appt. was 162 – GIRL! I also found a website www.babybpm.com that you put in the exact day you are in your pregnancy and it said BOY! For fun, I went back and put some of Ryane’s in and she flip flopped a lot between boy and girl. It’s all for fun and to help pass the time.

Drano test – turned brown, says BOY! I’ll tell you this was pretty fun as it was totally like an 8th grade science class experiment. We did it outside and it bubbled and steamed forever! I can't imagine how toxic Drano is inside the house!

Wedding Ring Test – I did this one over my belly and over my wrist (depends on which tale you read) and both swung back and forth – says BOY! I remember doing this one with Ryane and the ring didn’t move at all.

So, that leaves us about 50/50 now whether we are having a boy or girl. :)

1st Dr. Appt

We had my first Dr. appt today. It was a bit long at 2 hours and stressful during most of it. After we answered the 1 billion health questions, Dr. Waite used her doppler to search for a heartbeat. After some searching, she couldn't locate it so she contacted the sonogram techs. to get us right in. After a LONG wait, which seemed like probably 3x as long as it probably was, we were off to the sonogram room. The tech immediately located the baby and we got to see the STRONG BEAUTIFUL heart beating away. Of course this brought joyful tears to my eyes. I really didn't want to think the worst, but Matthew and I have been down that road before 2 years ago with a different outcome. I much prefer today!

Our little baby was SO cute in there. We could see the nubby arms and legs just moving away. You could even see the little fingers reaching up. The Dr. said the baby looks great and right on schedule. I just thinking the baby just wanted his/her picture taken – MY kind of baby! :)

During the sonogram, the heartbeat was measured at 162bpm and sounded perfect. According the Dr., my estimated due date is June 20th, which is close to my calculation of June 19th. It's all just an estimate anyhow, right?! According to the websites, our 12wk baby is 2.5-3.5 inches long and 12-14grams. The head still takes up almost half the length, which you can definitely see in our sonogram pictures. All the baby's systems, structures, and organs are fully formed, just growing. This week reflexes are forming. In a few more weeks, I might be able to feel some of those reflex movements and kicks.




Belly Pictures

Sorry Ladies - I already got him!!

Have I mentioned lately how wonderful my baby's daddy is! :) I've experienced several cases of morning/late morning/afternoon evening nausea and Matthew has been wonderfully supportive. There's been several evenings and weekends where I just needed to lay down and rest and Matthew is always right there to fix dinner or clean up or take over my turn at giving Ryane her baths. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband who takes care of me and the house and the first kid without complaining at all. I feel guilty I can't help more at times, but know I have to take care of this little one in me right now. So, sorry ladies, I got Mr. Right! :)

Bumpidity Bump Bump

Here's our first picture at almost 10 weeks. So much for getting a beginning picture. :) Now, keep in mind that belly is not all baby. :) My baby is 1.06 - 1.38 inches with ½ the length being attributed to the head. He/She weighs between 3 - 4 grams (or less then ½ ounce), or 4 paper clips. The baby’s body systems, such as circulatory, nervous, reproductive and digestive, are fully formed during this time. The heart is beating away and the baby has started to "breathe".

Eating, eating, eating

Eating is how I seem to spend most of my days. With Ryane, I was always saying and thinking, "Being pregnant doesn't mean you have to eat twice as much, just twice as good." Well, I can't seem to stop eating twice as much this go round. A lot of time I feel nauseous so eating seems to help, and other times I'm just HUNGRY!! I'll just say that I haven't even stepped on the scales at home because I know how much is going in the mouth that I don't even want to know the results. Plus, I think I already look 12-15 weeks pregnant, so why stop now. Can you tell I have a lot of excuses in my head why I'm eating so much?! I know it's not good for me, but I can't put down the fork.

On the brighter side, my little bean is growing, growing, growing. He/she has formed hands and feet and you can start to see face structure and ears. The bean's back is starting to straighten out and the tail is getting smaller. I've read that he/she is about the side of a raspberry these days. Getting SO big!!

Love the Internet

There are SO many great pregnancy websites out there these days. Science still amazes me how they know exactly what is developing and can tell you what your baby looks like and everything. Here is one of my favorite websites as it shows awesome pictures each week of what my little bundle of joy looks like. He/she still looks alienish, but helps me connect more the more I know about him/her.

I'm Definitely Pregnant

I think it was just a week ago that I was talking about how I wished I had more symptoms. The tests said I was pregnant, but I really didn't feel pregnant. Well, I got what I wished for, plus! The 8-week mark hit on Thurs., Nov. 8th and I'm definitely pregnant. I went from feeling normal to feeling overly exhausted to the point I could beat Ryane to sleep. Morning/afternoon/evening sickness has come to visit---ohhh goody! This weekend I had a pretty good dose of it. My sister gave me some preggie pop drops that I've tried out. I'm still unsure if I'm an endorser of them or not. I'll try about anything. I just have to remind myself that I wanted to feel pregnant and I know all this sickness is because my body is working hard on this little miracle developing inside me.

It really seems early, but I'm starting to get a little bulge at the waistline. I think it's my body started to do the fat storage b/c I know it's not the baby yet! Maybe it has something to do with the pregnancies being close together?? Either way, I'm excited to get a baby belly again! Guess it's time to start the picture taking journey again as well. I love going back to look at pictures of how I grew with Ryane.

I finally made my first Dr. appt., which will be December 6th with Dr. Waite. I'll be 12 weeks along and we can't wait to hear the beautiful heartbeat then.