Pregnancy Tracker: 10 week

This week marks my 10th week.  Over the course of the last week, I have felt pretty good in comparison to past weeks.

Here is what babycenter.com has to say about the 10th week:

Though she's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of her development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in her body rapidly grow and mature.

She's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including her kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. Her hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over her heart, and her feet may be long enough to meet in front of her body. The outline of her spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from her spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with her developing brain and sits very high on her head, which measures half the length of her body. From crown to rump, she's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

It's Still Summer in Our Backyard

I can tell you right now, this kid won't move from the swings out back until the snow is flying - guaranteed!!!

It's a good thing Mother Nature still has some 90-degree days in store for us! He's just not ready to let go of summer just yet.......neither is his mama.

Oh Target, How I Love Thee

My office manager told me about these things called BeBand Maternity Bands - which you wear over your normal, unbuttoned pants.  These bands fit like a glove and are extremely comfortable!  And the serious plus side - I get to wear all of my normal pants and don't have to waste a ton of money on maternity pants.  It's a win-win situation!  So I ventured over to Target yesterday afternoon and picked up two of these snazzy items and I'm thoroughly impressed.  I grabbed two sizes, so hopefully these last me the entire pregnancy.  If you are pregnant, or know someone who is pregnant, I highly recommend these!!

(and trust me, I was trying to upload a pic for you, but Blogger is being a serious pain.....so, just look it up on Target.com)

Pregnancy Tracker: 9 weeks

Since last week, I can say I've been feeling a little bit better.  Not a lot.  A little.  My stomach is still having some issues, and my continually-expanding uterus isn't exactly the most enjoyable feeling. TMI? Sorry. Just tellin' it like it is!  I finally gave in and bought a huge box of saltine crackers to help with some of the nausea.  And guess what? Since the day I bought those damn crackers, not one sign of nausea.  Go figure!  $1.28 well spent if you ask me!

Here is the latest at 9 weeks:

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 (and if you know the story behind Eric's daughter, Cailin, you know how important the heart development is to us) — 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 (oh yay!!).

You still may not look pregnant even if your waist is thickening a bit. You probably feel pregnant, though. Not only are morning sickness and other physical symptoms out in full force for most women, but you may feel like an emotional pinball as well.

Mood swings are common now (ya think?!!!) — it's perfectly normal to feel alternately elated and terrified about becoming a parent. Try to cut yourself some slack. Most women find that moodiness flares up at around six to ten weeks (ding ding ding), eases up in the second trimester, and then reappears as pregnancy winds to a close.

{Wedding} Rachel and Ryan

I actually shot this wedding a couple weekends ago, but since the couple was off on an extended honeymoon, I took my sweet time editing.  Turns out I actually knew the groom from high school, and the bride had two cousins who I also attended school with - small world!  Here are some samples from their big day!!

A Tour Around Lake Tahoe

One of the days we were in Tahoe, we all decided to take a drive around the entire lake.  There were plenty of cool stops along the way - definitely a gorgeous drive, with some massive houses (ok, a LOT of massive houses).  Here are some pics from our day.

One of our first stops was in Emerald Bay - which has the Vikingsholm Castle I posted a while ago.  We didn't hike down to the castle, so we got to see the entire bay from up top instead.

We also hiked up to see one of the waterfalls, but there was very little water running, so there wasn't much to see.

This was another little bay we stopped in - it's actually the only river that leaves Lake Tahoe, one of the many reasons the lake water is so pure.....nothing coming in (other than rain water), and only one river going out.

We stopped quite a while here since there was a dam, sort of, to look at, with lots of fish, and Carter wanted to spend some time throwing rocks (shocker) into the water.  It was such a nice day outside!

We also stopped at Donner Pass, though I stayed in the car with Carter since he had fallen asleep at that point.

We came to another rest-stop area, which provided for some really neat pictures.  The water was so blue!!!

And that's all I have from our vacation to Lake Tahoe.  It was such a fun time - though there were definitely times we were wishing we had left Carter at home with my parents.  But overall, I think we had a great time!

Take Me Up

On Labor Day, we decided to take the Gondola ride to the top of Heavenly - one of the ski mountains in Tahoe (there are LOTS).  It was a pricey little excursion, but I think it was totally worth it.  Here are some pictures of our adventure.

Carter really wasn't sure at first what to think of the Gondola.....but the more we made it out to be a BIG ride, the more he liked it.

The first stop was at the observation deck, which offered up this lovely view.

And a sign with these nifty Lake Tahoe facts.  It's a HUGE lake.

Seriously - from where I was standing, I couldn't get the entire lake in my frame, no matter how much I backed up.

One more stop brought us to the next part of the ride - the chairlift, which would take us to the peak of Heavenly.  This ride made me a little more nervous with Carter because it wasn't enclosed and we only had a bar keeping us "secure".

But we made it to the top......all 9,575 feet to the top.  The air was definitely a little thin, and made the hiking around quite interesting.

On top of the world - this is from the top of Heavenly, I believe looking out over Carson City, NV.

The ride down was definitely more interesting for Carter - he could see a lot more than the ride up.

When we reached the bottom, we explored a couple of the shops, and Carter played around with the bears - too cute!!

Stay tuned for even more adventures from Lake Tahoe!!!

Pregnancy Tracker - 8 weeks

So this week marks my 8th week. As you know, I had my first appointment yesterday with my OB. I love my OB. He's so calm and reassuring - and he really puts me at ease with any concern I have.

We had quite a lengthy discussion about my options for delivery with this child. My first concern is the safety of the child, simply because we had so many scares with Carter during my 15 hour labor. Most people assume that once you have one c-section, every subsequent birth must also be via c-section. This is not true. There is always the option to do a vaginal delivery. In my case, however, I'm committed to doing an additional c-section. My doctor felt that given the complications with Carter, combined with the increased risk of complications associated with a vaginal delivery (including rupturing my scar tissue from my previous c-section, which can cause SERIOUS problems), my best option was to deliver this baby via c-section. I had actually already made up my mind to go this route anyway, but listening to his logic, reasoning, and experience, I feel 100% confident in my decision.

Now - on to the good stuff.

New this week: webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, her eyelids practically cover her eyes, breathing tubes extend from her throat to the branches of her developing lungs, and her "tail" is just about gone. In her brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.

The Birthday Boy's Celebration

Since Eric is working out of town this week, we had to celebrate Carter's birthday a little early.  So Monday night after work and dinner, we let him open all of his presents from us.  As usual, he didn't spend too much time looking at the fall clothes we got him.  But he loved everything else!!

His Spiderman dish set Eric found for him in Tahoe.

I think he got 6 or 7 new books.

And he was in dire need of a new backpack.  His bag that goes to daycare was the one from the hospital from when he was born - and it was WORN.OUT.  So a while back, he picked out a Spiderman backpack at Toys 'r Us.  He was so excited to wear this to daycare yesterday!!

And let's not forget the BIKE!!!!  Even though it was dark by the time we showed him the bike, he still wanted to go cruising around the neighborhood.  We settled for a ride to the mailbox and back.

He also got a helmet and elbow/knee pads, but he rushed out with only the helmet on his head.  And with the head injuries this kid has incurred thus far in his life, the helmet really was the most important part, lol!!

Overall, I think he had a pretty darn good birthday!

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Boy

Three years ago, on this very day, I brought into the world the light of my life.  My sweet, bossy little boy.

Though he's quite a pain in the butt sometimes, I love him more than anything.  He's the best kid I could ever ask for, and possesses the best of both Eric and me.

I remember these hospital days like they were yesterday.

His birth was not an easy one - I spent about 15 hours in labor, which, in addition to being stressful in itself, was additionally hard because the cord (we found out later) was wrapped around Carter's chest - which was caushing him some serious distress every time I had a contraction.  My doctor finally called for an emergency c-section and we were wheeled into surgery.  22 minutes later, my little boy was shown to me and then rushed off to be monitored.  He was 7 lbs 1 oz of absolute perfection.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of my handsome guy.......Mr. Attitude, and all!

Happy Birthday sweet boy - mama loves you!!!

Big Brother

So today was my first appointment with my OB.  We covered many questions/concerns.....which I will address in a later post.  We also had the first ultrasound.  The heartbeat was visible and very strong - which drops the chance of miscarriage down to less than 5%.  Which makes this mama very happy.  I also got this baby's first picture - which I brought home and shared with Carter.

My due date is officially April 28th....which happens to be my cousin, Matt's birthday. And my brother's is April 29th.  So this baby could be sharing a big day with either one of those two guys!

A Perfect Anniversary Celebration

So before we left for Tahoe, I booked one of the dinner cruises for our anniversary.  Three hours long - cruising all around Lake Tahoe, a four-course meal, a live band......can't go wrong with that scenario.  So Sunday evening, we left Carter to hunt dinosaurs and dragons with Eric's mom and grandma, and we set out for our romantic evening. 

The cruise was awesome.  Definitely the best part was Emerald Bay (which was carved from glaciers), simply because of Vikingsholm Castle.  It was gorgeous - and bigger than it appears from the water (34 rooms).

By the time we left the castle, it was dark and we were quite bummed that we couldn't see the rest of the lake.  However, when we got close to the marina, the boat stopped and we got to see the entire Labor Day fireworks display.  It was awesome!  It went on for about 20 minutes - I tried to get some good pictures, but being on a boat kind of prevents "good" pictures from happening.  They had ones that were heard shaped, and smiley faced ones too. 

Overall, it was an awesome anniversary!  Here's to many more!