Week 12

Ugh.  OK, so maybe in last week's post when I said that the queasiness was waning - I was a little off.  I've definitely had some queasiness this past week.  Still not as bad as that random Thursday I mentioned around Week 10, but this past Monday was kinda rough too.  I had another one of those morning episodes where I gagged (while coughing actually - my allergies have been kinda acting up) and then threw up the water I'd drunk when brushing my teeth!  WTF?!  I went on to feel kinda blegh until about 4pm but then recovered and proceeded to join a friend for a lovely dinner.  Mornings are the roughest - but at least they're not all rough.  I've definitely been getting going later and can't always get myself into the office before 10am (thank goodness they're forgiving!!!)  It's so weird how pre-pregnancy (actually pre-week 7) I could take these giant horse pill vitamins, sometimes 3 at once, with no problem.  Now I have to take them later in the morning after I've eaten and 1 at a time and then sometimes I STILL gag on them.  This gag-reflex sensitivity is no joke...

But of course any queasiness/gagginess just means one thing: my little baby is doing great!  We had our nuchal translucency ultrasound this morning and everything looks perfect, so we're very happy!

How far along: 12 weeks, 1 day
What did baby do this week: Baby is the size of a plum or clementine and is about 2" - 2 1/2” long from crown to rump!  Its eyes are now in front of its head so s/he no longer looks like an alien.  :)  Baby is developing its reflexes and if poked, will likely move (though it’s still too early to feel this!)  It can open and close its fingers and curl its toes too.  I read somewhere that Baby is a perfect miniature human now in terms of all the organs being there - but of course it could not survive on its own yet.  There is still a lot more growth and maturation which needs to happen.
Total weight gain: 6 pounds
Symptoms:  Still nothing too bad other than the queasiness.  Still occasionally thirsty, itchy skin on my boobs, midsection and (very much so) just above the middle of my butt.  I really don't understand that one.  But I'm feeling lucky overall.  Sleeping well, no constipation, soreness, heartburn, acne...
Queasy or Sick: Yes.  I feel like it's gotten worse this last week.  That's what I get for thinking it was all going away last week.  But the silver lining of course is knowing that if I'm not feeling good - baby is likely doing well.  And we had proof of that in our NT Scan this morning.
Sleep: No problems with falling sleep, staying asleep or even getting really tired during the day.  Enjoying this while it lasts!

Best moment this week: Our Nuchal Translucency Scan this morning was pretty cool.  Baby was 2 1/4" long (head to butt) and had a heart-rate of 168 BPM.  I didn't really know what to expect from this appointment, other than we'd see more pictures of the baby.  We did this with a local perinatologist and the request was sent by Dr. A since we don't have our first OB appointment until next week (it's normally ordered by your OB).  When we got to the appointment, we were ushered into a large, dimly-lit room with an exam table (for me to lie on), an ultrasound machine next to it and a large plasma-type wide screen TV on the opposite wall.  There was an ultrasound tech who did my abdominal ultrasound - not transvaginal (my first like this).  Much more pleasant!  I just had to pull the waistband of my pants down a little - boots remained on!!  We got some very cool images of our little-one.  First the tech measured the thickness of the liquid behind Baby's neck (kinda the whole point) and deemed it perfectly normal.  We knew this, but - Yay still!  Then we just got to see some cool views: profile, little butt and feet, heard the heartbeat, got some pretty amazing (for this early in the pregnancy) 3D images.  The Dr. came in afterwards to just do her own review and chat with us briefly, tell us about recommended upcoming appointments/screenings and that was it!  They even gave us a CD of some of the images they'd captured of our little baby and sent us home with this.  Very cool.  :)  I'm looking forward to the anatomy scan at 20 weeks.  This one is supposed to be similar, but longer and baby will be way more developed by then.  Can't wait!
Hardest part of the week: Dealing with the queasiness and super-sensitive gag reflex.  It's faint, but there in the background most mornings.
Looking forward to: Feeling the baby move!  And looking legitimately pregnant instead of just fat...
Movement: Yup - in fact we saw it moving today at our nuchal scan!  Not the crazy dancing we saw at our 10 week ultrasound, but still a little wave or two!
Food cravings: I get random cravings that I think about for a week or so and then need to satisfy.  A few weeks ago it was cracked crab.  This past week it was bagels and cream cheese.  I have no idea.....  Fruit still tastes amazing - especially Clementines (perhaps I crave fruit the same size as my baby?) and Satsuma oranges.  But I recently looked into the sugar content of different fruits and am trying to be a little more aware of what fruit I'm eating.  For example - strawberries seem to be pretty low, while pineapple is quite high.

Our little one this morning at the NT Scan!
2 1/4" from crown to rump!

Happy or moody: Still feeling pretty even keel.
Labor signs: No
Maternity clothes: Getting closer and closer.  I'm mostly just using the rubber-band trick on my pants and wearing baggy sweats at home.  Oh and I did buy some belly support bands - more on that below.
Belly button in or out: In
Wedding rings on or off: On
Stretch marks: No
Learnings from the week: With my bowels being pushed up into my belly (from my growing uterus) I definitely need some relief from my clothes around my midsection.  I've mentioned this in past weeks too, but it was time to do a little more about it.  I finally bought one of these in white and one in black.  I wore it for the first time - to smooth out the look of my unbuttoned pants behind my shirt.  It feels a little weird to wear, but I think served its purpose.  I always hear about the Bella Band, but I was able to buy 2 of these for the price of 1 Bella Band so that made it an easy decision.
Final Thoughts: It's nice to basically be finished with the "risky" part of pregnancy.  I feel like I can relax a little more.  We've told a lot of friends and family at this point - I plan to tell coworkers in another couple weeks.  I kinda can't wait to start looking pregnant so there's just NO secrets anymore and I can relax and just "enjoy" the rest of my pregnancy.