Dreeeam, dream, dreeam...

Lately, I have been the queen of strange dreams.  I have successfully robbed a bank, been the queen of a pirate ship, saved a friend and her baby from an island of canibals, but I think the strangest of all happened Saturday night.

After discussing lactation and nursing with a specialist, he decided it would be best if I would start breast feeding before the baby came so that my body could acclimate.  Since there were no babies in the family, my mom and I decided that our best course of action and most logical choice would be to use my mother's beloved Josie as the scape goat.  For those of you who are not aware, Josie is a parrot.  Good news, no blood was drawn.  Bad news, it hurt badly enough to wake me up.

Moral of the story, do not use a doctor who recommends nursing parrots!

And while I am at it... week 14

Baby's now the size of a lemon!
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine, and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys, and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over her body for warmth.

All's quiet on the western front... or the Franco-American front

Ok, update... let me see.
Well, week 13 saw the end of overall morning sickness (yay!), a large increase in appetite, and while I am feeling generally human again, I definitely don't have the stamina that I used to.  I'm trying to learn how to to eat the right things at the right times so that I can evade what ever is left of the dreaded nausea.  For instance protein for breakfast is a must, followed by a snack at 11, lunch at 1, another high protein snack at 3:30 or 4, dinner number 1 around 7:30 and dinner number 2 when Elie gets home and I get motivated.
Obviously, I try to keep things as healthy as possible, but sadly, my stomach no longer welcomes salad or any kind of vegetables not cooked to the point of almost mushy.  Don't worry, Mom, I am still taking those prenatal vitamins you stalked me up on.
Elie is also starting to bond with SpaghettiO, too, which is probably one of THE cutest things I have ever seen.  He comes up to me and asks me if SpaghettiO is awake or sleeping or hungry.  When I am sleepy, sometimes he likes to poke my tummy and tell SpaghettiO to wake up.  Honestly, it's cute in hindsight.  Before coffee is another story.

Week 13 belly

Week 13... The ultrasound bumped us ahead a few days!

Baby's now the size of a peach!
Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords...savor this, their nonfunctional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with his head now only one third the size of his body. And intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy -- much more convenient.

Introducing the one, the only (thankfully!)... Drumroll please

SpaghettiO!
Length from head to rump: 2.48in
Heartbeat:157bpm
Everything looking good!

Week 12 Belly

Week 12

Baby's now the size of a plum!As you move into the second trimester, baby shifts into the growth and maturation stage. After weeks in the critical development stage, almost all of her systems are fully formed.

Oh my, there is a baby in my belly. Weiiiiiiird

So Elie and I went for another appointment yesterday.  In theory the appointments are slated to be once a month, but since they are pretty lax here and there are no insurance battles, if it falls a little sooner, it's no big deal and just means that we get to see SpaghettiO!  It had only been about 3 weeks since our last appointment, so I was thinking, ok, we'll get to see our blob looking baby. WRONG!

Let me qualify that we DID get to see the baby, but baby no longer looks like a blob. Baby looks VERY much like... a baby. OH MY!  So there SpaghettiO was, taking a nap.  Heart flickering away and a little hand in the air waving "Hi!".  There was NO mistaking the hand.  You could see all the fingers individually and everything.  Then the doctor goes "but watch this.  Let's see if we can make him move".  He starts to poke at my belly, which is definitely becoming a belly, with the wand.  Well, sure enough, he woke SpaghettiO up and SpaghettiO started waving his arms around like an actual baby does when they are woken up.  It was the wildest thing ever!  It still makes me smile. 

He also took a quick peek at the Nuchal Translucency and it appears that everything looks good, meaning there is a low risk that SpaghettiO will have Down's syndome.  We have to go verify with a real ultrasound technician next week and have some blood drawn so they can check me for markers, but I am mostly just excited to see baby again!

Week 11 and some update-age... or continu-age as the case may be

Baby's now the size of a lime!Your fetus currently enjoys a 1:1 ratio between body and head, and has skin so transparent that blood vessels show right through it. But fingers and toes are no longer webbed, and hair follicles, tooth buds, and nail beds are forming -- setting up a significantly more attractive future.





It's amazing how fast the time flies, but simultaneously plods along.  I can't believe that we have already hit week 11, but given how long I have felt like absolute (instert 4 letter word here), I really wish that time would start to pass a litttttttttttttle faster. Warp speed, preferably.
Thankfully Elie has been extremely forgiving.  I mean, I annoy myself with my mood swings, so I can't imagine from his perspective.
I am still enjoying my new appreciation for "American Cuisine" this week was macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and broccoli mixed in (again, I insert poor Elie here) and imitation crab on a bi-weekly basis.
We have pretty much decided that we don't want to know the sex of the baby until SpaghettiO is born.  It makes planning a little more difficult, but I think it is totally worth it.
Stay tuned as we start the belly pictures!

Oops! I forgot week 10!

Baby's now the size of a prune!With bones and cartilage starting to form and vital organs beginning to function, baby is making major progress. Body length will almost double in the next three weeks, and arm joints are now working. (Soon, legs will start working too.)
Average fetus: 1.2in and .14 oz