5 Weeks

At this point, our baby about the size of a sesame seed, and he/she looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He/she's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.

The neural tube — from which our baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.

His/her heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his/her tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form our baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.

The third layer, or endoderm, will house his/her lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to our baby, are already on the job.

This week symptoms have been stronger. One of he most noticeable symptoms is my new bedtime, 8pm! I find myself kissing Mark goodnight right after dinner. Needless to say the dirty dishes and unfinished homework are piling up. Also, I have had more dully achy cramps (which I think are normal). Also, I am still experiencing random food aversion. The most shocking thing is anything sweet makes me sick to think about. I used to eat ice cream and/or m&ms every afternoon. I have also been so thirsty all the time! Which probably is the reason my frequent trips to the restroom are growing.

Once again, all these symptoms just remind me of the huge blessing we have been given. And, I am so thankful that I haven't experienced much nausea and actually haven't been sick at all. This might change, which is fine if it does, because it means you have a healthy baby. But, for now, we are enjoying our blessings.

First Sonogram

We went to the doctor today, and we saw the baby! He/She was a small dark dot right there on the screen. It was so amazing to see the baby, although he/she didn't look like anything but a dot. The doctor thinks he saw the yolk sac in the amniotic sac. Although everyone in the room saw it too.

He took my blood and said he was hoping my levels were around 2000 today since they were 986 last Wednesday. So we are just now waiting to hear the news. Keep us in your prayers!

And, we didn't get a picture of the baby to take home. The doctor said there wasn't much to see on the picture. Which was true. But, I still wish I could have taken home a picture of the fuzzy little dot on the screen!

Go Bears!

This past weekend was homecoming. Mark and I went with Luke, Brittany, and Jeff to the bonfire (and I didn't take any pictures!) and 10:30 pigskin on Friday night. Phi Chi and Tri-Delt were first and second, so we were kind of ready to leave pigskin but glad we stayed. The first place act was last, and it was worth it to wait and see it. Then Mark drove us back late Friday night to Midlothian, getting home around 2 am

Then I drove us back early in the morning so we could go to the parade. Tri-Delt and Phi Chi won first place in their class and their float was awesome (once, again no pictures :( ) It was fun to get to see a lot of our friends at the parade. After the parade Mark and I went to the bookstore and got me an him Baylor t-shirts. I didn't own a single Baylor shirt that didn't have my Greek letters on it. And, I was in long sleeves, which we knew needed to change. We bought a cute Baylor onesie and newborn hat at the bookstore! We were excited because it was our first purchase for the baby!


Then, we went to the Phi Chi tailgate and saw a bunch more friends. And, we went to the Baylor Missouri game, which was so exciting. The game started off exciting, when the team entered the field through the stands (I did take pictures of this). And, then Baylor played awesome and the fans were so loud and into the game. Unfortunately, Baylor barely lost at the very end of the game. But, I was so proud of the team and the awesome fans.

The players entering the field through the stands and down the corridors of the Baylor Line.

Sharing the News

We decided to go ahead and share the news with some people. So, they could be in prayer with us.

The Moores

We called John and Diane and said we anted to come out for dinner, that Friday night. They immediately suspected something was up. When we got there, they took us out to each at an Italian restaurant in town. We waiting all dinner, because we knew they suspected something. Then when the check came, Mark told them that we had come out there because we wanted to know what they were doing around July 4th. We then told them. They were really excited and asked us many questions. Then, John (jokingly) tried to convince us to name the child after him, John Charles.
We called Rachel and Charles later that night. They were so excited and told Colton he was going to have a cousin. We also called David and Sarah.

The Chandlers

We bought cards for Billie and Mike and Lee and wrote congratulations Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Lee and Aunt Laura. We went to Lee’s duplex in Dallas to watch the Baylor Bears Football Game with them all. At half-time Mike had been asking about our future, so we went ahead and gave them their cards. They were shocked.

Friends

On Saturday, after we left Lee’s duplex in Dallas we went over to Brian and Laura’s apartment in Richardson. Laura was at work, so we told Brian and waiting for Laura. When she got there, we told her. They were both so excited and supportive. After we left there we called the Beazley and told them we needed to go out and celebrate our big news, they knew immediately what we were talking about. I text(ed) Cheyenne a picture of the positive pregnancy text. We also called Jeff, Katherine, and Mark and Annie. We waiting the rest of the week on the results from the doctor, to make sure everything was going smoothly. Every now and then we would slip the secret to a few people. Mark told the guys at Law School and they all went out to lunch to celebrate.

4 Weeks

This week marks the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until 10 weeks, all of our baby's organs will begin to develop and some will even begin to function. As a result, this is the time when he/she will be most vulnerable to anything that might interfere with her development. Right now our baby is an embryo the size of a poppy seed (pictured above), consisting of two layers: the epiblast and the hypoblast, from which all of his/her organs and body parts will develop.

Also present now are the amniotic sac, which will house your baby; the amniotic fluid, which will cushion him/her as he/she grows; and the yolk sac, which produces our baby's red blood cells and helps deliver nutrients to him/her until the placenta has developed and is ready to take over this duty. The developed placenta will be able to provide nutrients and oxygen to our growing baby when it starts to function at the end of this week.

This week, there were a few more noticeable changes in my body. I did have some slight nausea and motion sickness. But, mainly I was just tired, had some weird cramps/pains on and off. And, I noticeable had to make more trips to the bathroom. Apparently, the hormone levels increased until about 10 weeks and then level off, so most of these symptoms will soon disappear. Knowing, this it is a nice reminder that something amazing is going on inside my body right now.

3 Weeks

Our baby-in-the-making is just a tiny ball consisting of several hundred cells that are multiplying madly. Once the ball of cells (called a blastocyst) takes up residence in my uterus, the part of it that will develop into the placenta starts producing the pregnancy hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin).

Meanwhile, amniotic fluid is beginning to collect around our ball of cells in the cavity that will become the amniotic sac. This fluid will cushion our baby in the weeks and months ahead. Right now, our little blastocyst is receiving oxygen and nutrients through a primitive circulation system made up of microscopic tunnels that connects our developing baby to the blood vessels in my uterine wall. The placenta won't be developed enough to take over this task until the end of next week. (this information taken from babycenter.com)

How amazing! Something so small, is forming right now inside of me. It is such a surreal (and special) feeling knowing that this is going on inside of me! We just found out we were pregnant, which is lucky, because most people don't even know they are pregnant until the end of week 4.

After taking the test, it is very easy to see all the symptoms that I have been experience the last few days: hot flashes (which is strange because I am always cold), dizziness/lightheaded, sleeplessness, tired (going to bed at 9pm), weird cramps/small pains on and off, and a heightened sense of smell.

Blessings!!

It's been a while since I posted because we have some good news... We are pregnant again! (For those of you who don't know this is our 3rd pregnancy and we are praying for a healthy baby this time!)


Friday October 24, 2008
I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and out of habit took an early response pregnancy test, not expecting anything. I had taken so many tests and received so many negatives before. Immediately, two light pink links started showing up. I waited and watched for 2 minutes. It seemed like forever. I thought maybe I was imaging the second line. I went in and woke up Mark saying you have to come see something in the bathroom. He was groggy, and I grab his hand taking him in there. I asked him what he saw. He said that there was definitely two lines. We embraced, and he said not to get too excited yet. He said let’s wait and take another one this afternoon when I got home from school.


I took a picture of the test on my digital camera and took it with me to Waco. I kept pulling it out and looking at the picture during the day. Each time I would get more and more excited and more sure that there were two lines. (Although, it doesn't show up on the camera very well)

When I got home I took more tests. They came back positive, completely positive. Then, I took a digital test and very quickly it read positive. When I took the first test, I put it on the counter and was waiting for the 3 minutes to pass, so I went to check the mail. The only thing in the mailbox was a parenting magazine and a note saying that I got a free subscription for a year. I just knew it was an omen. Sure enough, when I got back inside the test was positive.
I took a picture of all the tests lined up and sent them to Mark in an email because he was at work. He very quickly called me. We were both very excited!


The picture I emailed to Mark!


Me, very excited, can't wait to tell Mark!

I called the doctor on the morning of Monday, October 27, 2008 and they asked me to come went in. They believed that I was pregnant but were shocked that it showed up so early (3 weeks and 2 days after my last miscarriage). They took blood work to see how far along I was and if everything was going well.

I called the doctor several times Tuesday to find out the results. Then Wednesday morning they called me and said that my hormone levels were elevated and that I needed to come back that day to get some more blood work. They said they couldn’t confirm anything. Mark and I were very upset because we just wanted to hear “Congratulations! You’re pregnant and everything looks good.” We kept trying to figure out what the doctor meant by “elevated” hormone level: higher than normal women (thus pregnant with multiples or for longer than we thought) or higher than normal women (maybe I was pregnant, but not high enough yet to know). I went back late that afternoon for more blood work. When I got there the lab nurse told me that my levels were showing pregnancy but that they just wanted to do some more blood work to make sure the levels were doubling. I was excited to hear this news and once again had to wait for lab results.

Thursday afternoon the nurse called to tell me that everything looked good and the levels were doubling like they should. It was such a relief to hear this news. She made us an appointment for Monday afternoon to take more blood work and get a sonogram. They wanted to see the baby and to make sure the blood work showed the levels still doubling. We were so excited about getting to see the baby. We hope we will get a picture to take with us! Also, we were hoping to get a confirmed healthy pregnancy and due date.