Welcome to week 8!!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 8;

embryo in second month Woohoo!

You've got one whole inch of baby inside of you! Your little embryo has finally reached the one-inch mark (30mm). And if it were possible to take a peek, you could actually see your tiny baby without a telescope!

What’s more, your baby is finally starting to take on some very distinct human features. For starters, their little tail (really just the spinal cord) has disappeared completely. It’s nice to know your baby can no longer be mistaken for a sea creature!

Additionally, both their toes and fingers are prominent with very little, if any, webbing. Upper and lower limbs all show recognizable joints (elbows and knees) and the lower limb bones are starting to ossify. But don’t expect your baby to resemble either parent quite yet. Right now, your baby’s head is disproportionately larger than the rest of their body--making up almost half of your little one’s height and weight!


And how's mom doing?

Your slightly-larger-than-a-cherry embryo is also starting to have a physical impact on you this week—and not just hormonally, as you may be noticing a slight bulge at your midline-- mostly from water retention.

Most people won't even notice the subtle change to your belly's shape, but since you’re if you have been extra moody lately, that may start to subside this week, as the placenta is beginning to take responsibility for your baby’s hormone production tuned in to every little change in your body, it hasn’t slipped past.

Good news for the hormonally tortured: if you have been extra moody lately, that may start to subside this week, as the placenta is beginning to take responsibility for your baby’s hormone production. This means your body will soon be able to relax a bit from its over-production of hormones as the placenta starts to regulate your baby’s hormones-- allowing your body to focus on producing more normal levels of hormones for yourself

This is beautiful!!!!

Isn't this just amazing how much the hand changes in just three days????

I am in awe of God's creation and how He sets all things in motion....

As of today I am at day 53!!

Wise pregnancy sayings??

Think of stretch marks as pregnancy service stripes.-- Joyce Armor


~~~~Nikki Here
Stretch marks lol....
Oh how I have many!
So with number 5 in my tum tum does that mean I have enough service stipes to earn me a decent retirement income??????

More pregnant jokes lol

The more pregnant I get, the more often strangers smile at me. Why?
~‘Cause you’re fatter than they are.

Ok week 7 plus one day

Well Week 7 is definitely full of its ups and downs.

The baby (by what I read) is definitely growing very fast!

Me, I am a bit more nauseas and the indigestion is more and I am more tired. (Yep all of that is actually possible)

 

But next week puts me at 8 weeks and that means a whole 2 months GONE!!!!

Tuesday is my 1^st OB appt too…can’t wait to hear what they have to say.

 

I have been an emotional wreck lately.

 

So confused about so much.

 

Nervous about the pregnancy, missing a certain family member in my life, worried about my sister who is ill, a friend in India who is ill….

 

I am a person who tried to take care of everyone…..

 

…..but me.

 

 

this is a test blogging from my email

 

Can i really do this..

Well I figured I'd have one of these moments eventually...

Can  I really do this?

I will be 42 when this baby is born....

Do I have what it takes still...after all this time?

Man, right now I'm scared to death.

How can I be so elated..and scared to death all at the same time ......

Last day of week 6

Today is the last day of the 6th week of my pregnancy.
TOmorrow starts week 7.....

I found out on Saturday that spicy foods are NOT going to work well with my tummy for a while.
I made some spicy hamburger thing for supper and I paid dearly for it later with indigestion that was really bad.

I need to start up my juicing again. I make my own carrot juice. Yes most might say YUCK but its really sweet, and better than that...its full of energy and vitamins and everything that I need.
I need to stick with fresh fruits and veggies too. I need to be careful to make sure I watch so I don't develop gestational diabetes.

I had to get rid of 2 more pair of jeans yesterday. Of course that threw me into a hormonal tizzy....I was so upset.

Oh well, one thing I have always wanted to try is that workout thing called PX 90....I guess I can try it to take off all this pregnancy wait I'm putting on.

What else is new?

Here is a little joke...enjoy

Since I became pregnant, my breasts, rear end, and even my feet have grown.
Is there anything that gets smaller during pregnancy?

Yes, your bladder.

Its Friday....

This is day 46 of my pregnancy!
83.6% to go LOLOL
Now that is hilarious.....
Here is a little something about the baby:

How big is your baby?
The crown to rump length of your baby now measures around 0.08-016 inches, which is 2-4mm. The crown to rump is the distance from the top your baby's head to it's rump.
Your baby's development
Your babys heart should start beating this week and with the proper equipment, such as an ultrasound, you may be able to see your baby's heart beating. Initial circulation starts off in the mesoderm, yolk sac and the linning of the placenta. By the middle of this week the aorta will have started to form in your babys heart.
Another major development this week is that your baby's eyes will also begin to form as well as the surface layer of skin. This should compete development over the course of this month.
During this week your baby's head and brain will also undergo some rapid development. There are a few things which you can do to this development:

Ensure that your are getting Omega 3 in your diet as this plays an important part in helping brain development.
Ensure you are taking in folic acid in your diet, which you can get from eating green leafy vegetables and walnuts as example sources.
If you are still smoking, stop!
Limit your caffeine intake.




-----Now for a little joke ...

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?

A: No, 35 children is enough.


LOLOLOL!!!!

So, yesterday wasn't such a good day for me.
I didn't feel well, my legs and feet were achey and I just felt emotionally drained.
Didn't feel like doing anything at all.

Boy this is going to be a long 83.6% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A bit scared now....

Well its all so real now....
And as of right now, I feel terrified....
Not sure why....
Hormones maybe ...don't know...don't care....
But scared to death is me.......

I can't even say " what in the world was I thinking" because this wasn't something I expected after 11 years.

I just don't know ......
This isn't just a dream anymore.

Up until now, it didn't seem real but when I saw those big numbers, it became real!!!!!!!!!

I'm carrying a little human being with a soul.....
God already knows the number of hairs on this persons head.

He already has a plan for this little one.

And I'm a part of this plan....

Oh....breathe Nikki, breathe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

blood work

Well, like I wrote yesterday I had to have another blood test done.
So I did that after work yesterday only to find out I had to wait until today around 8 or so to find out the results :(
I will be calling Medical Records as early as I can this morning. I just want to make sure those hcg levels are doubling like they should be.

I will post the results as soon as I have them.

12 more days until my first OB appointment.

Laters....

more...

Ok so I went back to the hospital today to pick up my records from last friday. Right now a little medical background would be nice.
Not sure what all the blood levels mean....
but I sure hope all is well.

Didn't know that the doctors want me to have another hcg test done...and it was supposed to be done Sunday....to make sure my levels were rising normally so after work today, back to the lab I go....

My left arm is bruised pretty badly from where they stuck me with an IV on Friday....
So I hope they use my other arm.

Having my blood taken doesn't bother me really. Some people don't even like the sight of their own blood. Me? Hey what humility do I have left after giving birth to 4 children???

Also how can my waist be expanding and I'm only 6 weeks pregnant.
Some people, You know who you are, think I'm just trying to get big on purpose...Oh please...

Ok sure...I want to be so big it hurts to walk,
Yes big belly....can't tie my own shoes
Of course I want to get big fast....especially after I finally got back into a 5/7 Jean SUREEE!!!!!!

Ok about my kids

Ok ...about my kids.



The easiest way to put this is the two oldest ones weren't 100% jumping up and down and picking out baby name ;(



But I'm sure this was such a shock to them, thats ok with me. They are their own persons and are allowed their own feelings.

Tony did better than I thought but Angel, she is sooooooooooo excited. She pats my belly many times a day and talks to the baby often.



Joey actually prayed for a baby sister at one time and ....voila......Angel was born.

So now, Angel, 2 months ago, prayed for a baby sister, and voila....again :)

Only time will tell though if the baby is a boy or girl.

According to the pregnancy calculator I looked up online , today is Day 43!

Is that all???!!!! LOL

I know that I have a long way to go and there are moments that I still get so scared that something will happen to this baby because when Angel was still very small, I had a miscarriage when I was about 3 weeks pregnant. Since that time, nothing....so this is a bit scary. I mean I've doubled that time now but its till scary.

Yesterday was one of those days.
I had stabbing pains down the upper back of my legs yesterday all day long and I had a hard time sleeping. They seem to be gone today THANK GOD....maybe its just the change in blood flow to the baby....who knows really. But as long as no cramping or spotting....I guess all is good.
I have my 1st OB appt with a doctor named Catherine Coleman on the 28th at 2:45.
Should be fun...more poking and prodding lol ;)
Ok more later guys....

Introducing: ME

Hey everyone.
THis journal is for anyone who wants to read the daily goings on inside this so called mind of mine.
For those who do not know me personally, my name is Nikki. I am 41 years old. I've been married over 21 years to Mike.
He retired from 20 years of Naval Service to our country not long ago.
I am mom to Michael who is almost 21, Joey who is almost 17, Tony who is 12, and Angel who is 11.

A little background???

Well for the past 3 months my periods have been crazy. Doc even told me I'm more than likely going thru the perimenopause stuff. Oh great!!! Dealing with that and hormonal stuff has been a horrible nightmare for me. I have been tired, achey, and just feeling like poo. One month (3 periods ago) I bled for 24 days straight so I thought, oh boy , here I go!
THe next month (March) it was normal. ANyway as normal as it can be I guess.
Well April came and it was weird again. ALmost like nothing...and that "almost nothing" lasted about 7 days.
Well......I had off Good Friday from work so me and my friend Courtney were out doing Easter shopping at Walmart when I got this grand ole idea to take a pregnancy test.

Now...more background.

After I had Angel, I had one pregnancy and I misscarried around the 3rd week. It was awful. It was my one and only misscarriage and Mike and I always said that we would take as many children as God wanted us to have. So after many years of nothing without using any kind of contraception, I thought, we both thought that it just wasn't in His Plan.

And so....I was in Walmart....left the things I had in my buggy already with Courtney, and proceeding to the checkout with the Walmart brand cheap pregnancy test.
Bought it...
Bagged it...
Almost ran to the bathroom...yes in Walmart....to proceed to peeing on this stick lol.

Well, the test says to wait 3 minutes. Holy Moly, it only took a minute!!!!!!!!
When I saw the plus sign, I think I ran out of the bathroom, looking for my friend. I know she told me where she would be but I was frantic. I couldn't find her anywhere!!!!!!
If I was on the outside watching me , I think I would have called 911 to pick me up. I looked like a crazy woman.

Well, I found her, after what seemed like forever looking....
And I was shaking and not thinking straight.

I asked her to look and tell me , confirm to me what I saw.
She did!!!

I told her that there is no way I could finish my shopping I had planned for the day. So I proceeded home to show Mike....

He saw...and told me to not get my hopes up!!! Told me to see what the doc says...
Well, I don't do waiting very well so instead of waiting weeks to see my doctor, I high-tailed it to my local ER and told them I was spotting and that I wanted a blood test done.

So, the doc did a blood test, confirmed the pregnancy and then said , OK we're going to do an ultrasound. Actually two of them. One normal and one internal to make sure this isn't a tubal pregnancy since I was spotting.

Ok, on to the ultrasound. First the docs has to put in a catheter.....not happy about that. THey needed to fill my bladder quickly....I've never been catherized in all my 41 years. So ok, still more things to tramatize me.
Not make matters worse, two ladies came in and one lady asked me if it was ok for this girl to put one in cause she was new. Sure, whatever!!! But ....then I started to listen to their conversation. This was only the 2nd one she had ever done!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my !!!!
Ok catheter in, rolling into the ultrasound room.
THe regular ultrasound showed nothing because my uterus is tipped so far back that the doc said ok time to do an internal ultrasound. Oh great...this day has been so fun!
Ok well, as I watched the screen, up popped this little circle on the screen.
"this is what we are looking for" the nurse said.
She proceeded to take the measurements and pointed to the yolk inside the amniotic sac and told me everything looks completely normal.
PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

......Ok I will fill you all in on how I told my kids and their responses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but this will come a bit later. You see, I run a full time daycare in my home and the kids are now here so no more writing for now. Yes, pregnant at 41 after 11 years, I run a full time daycare, homeschool my kids....and writing a blog to keep everyone updated on my "controlled chaos"

Until later :)