Gender Predictor Kit!

Well, my impatience in finding out the gender of this little one growing in my belly got so out of hand that I ordered an Intelligender Predictor Kit from target.com.  I first heard about it from my friend Sarah who had her little baby in the earliest part of this year, so I was intrigued to try it now as well.  Obviously it's not 100% accurate, but it wasn't too pricy and my curiosity won out, so I purchased one.  The test explains that you can take it from 10 weeks on, but when I hit 10 weeks, Jeff was still out of town, so I waited until now because I wanted a second opinion on the "color" of the sample.

You're supposed to use the first morning urine sample, so I happily collected that this morning (j/k) and followed their directions to include waiting 10 minutes before "reading" the color of the sample in the cup.  At 10 minutes, we both took a look at the color and I automatically said, DEFINITELY BOY, but then, Jeff had to confuse me and said there's a hint of orange in there (which could mean a girl).  So, Jeff's guessing girl and I'm guessing boy for now.

Who knows...it was fun to see what might come up anyway.  Of course, we'll not know for sure until we get the ultrasound (and of course that's not 100% either, but close enough), but for the time being, it's interesting (and a bit scary) to think I might have a little boy growing in there...how in the world do I raise a little boy???

Part of me still thinks it's going to be a little girl...but maybe I'll be one of the 85% that the gender predictor kit predicted properly...:)

We'll see.  Just hope you're doing well in there, little one.

Week 12 down; on with week 13!

Welcome, 2nd Trimester!

Today is the day my second trimester begins, and it has started off GREAT! I got very good sleep last night and woke up relatively refreshed this morning. For the first morning in a long time, I didn't feel nauseous, and I had this new energy to get ready for the day. Tay was surprisingly cooperative this morning getting ready, so we got some snacks for the day and we headed out the door with no fuss (minus a bit of jacket battle) and we were on the road before 8am! Amazing! I don't think I've done that for at least the past two months!

This might be sign of good things to come this trimester, and I definitely look forward to getting to know the little one growing inside of me a little better this trimester...

YAY!

11/12 week Doc Appointment

Today was the 11/12 week doctor's appointment for the little one growing in my belly. It was actually quite an exciting visit because I got there about 30 minutes earlier than my scheduled appointment time by accident, so the technician decided to see me a little earlier so she could let me see the little one via sonogram/ultrasound a bit longer.

First, she did the official measurments like the Crown-rum length, which was 5.9 cm (which means the baby is approximately at 12/13 weeks gestation) and the Nuchal translucency, which was 1.0mm (a good sign because normal is less than 3mm). Then, she just showed me around in there...like, the little one's face, arms and legs, some movement (I don't think it liked being pushed around in such a small space) and the spine. It was sitting with its head resting on its hand like the thinker, and it was sitting in a cross-legged position. :) Very cute...

And then...I got another special treat...she turned on the 3D ultrasound and showed me some amazing shots of the baby in 3D! Incredible that they could do that so early on in the pregnancy, but she didn't charge me any extra to see it! I felt so lucky...she even recorded some of the movement for me on a video clip and gave it to me on a disc, so when I figure out how to access it, I'll be sure to share...I know you all want to see. :) It's truly amazing, the capability these days. The little one's heart rate stayed pretty high at 158 beats per minute during this visit.

I keep wanting to call this little one a "she," and I think it's because I feel like it's a little girl in there, I guess we'll find out in a few more weeks, hopefully.

The doc says the baby's growing well and looking healthy, so my next visit will be another month from now. I hope between now and then, I lose the nausea and start gaining some energy back...man, this cold and exhaustion is really...tiring! :)

It was very refreshing to see that the little one's growing so well in there, though...it already looks pretty cramped, though, so maybe I should start wearing stretchier pants to give it more room...

I'm looking forward to the first fetal movement...:) yay...

A Rough Couple of Days...

Well, I guess as the end of my first trimester is going to end with some bang because I caught a little cold and the last few days have been...let's just say...not pretty.

I remember having a cold when I was pregnant with Tay, but this cold was out of the ordinary in that for a whole day, I couldn't eat ANYTHING without it coming back out only minutes or hours later. It must have been a combination of the bug I had and morning sickness because Tay didn't have any of the "refusal of food" like I did...thank goodness for that. I mean, I couldn't eat anything - not crackers, not dried toast, not fruit, not ANYTHING. My stomach wasn't going to take it. My mom says it also might be due to some underlying stressing I'm feeling...and she may be right. Being pregnant, sick, and having a husband gone away on business is pretty stressful...I guess. At least Tay was as sweet as can be and tried her best not to stress me out...:)

Dear new little Angel,

I hope you aren't too hurt by all my sickness these past couple days...I did lose a few pounds, which my doctor might be happy about, but I can't seem to hold down any prenatal vitamins either, so I really need to eat better to ensure I'm getting you the vitamins and minerals you need! I want you to be as healthy as your big sister, you know. I look forward to seeing you in there on Thursday at our next appointment. Hope you are well...

Love,
Umma

A turn for the better...

I think I've made a turn toward the good trimester this week concerning the nausea. Luckily, my constant nauseousness is passing and I'm feeling pretty good throughout the day. The fatigue is still sticking around, though, so I'm sleeping crazy hours at night it seems, but I am also waking every couple hours to make trips to the bathroom, so that's not helping the "rest" as a whole, I think.

I am now at 10 weeks and one day, according to the pregnancy calendar, and in less than two weeks, I'll have my next doctor's appointment. Perhaps by then, my little one will be moving around in there...

These next few weeks feel like they'll be very long with Jeff being gone to Daegu, but Tay is being sweet for the most part so it's still going smoothly. My belly already looks like I did when I was about five months pregnant with Tay, so I'm a little upset about that, but I guess that's expected of a second baby...or so they tell me. So far, I've put on 5 pounds, and according to Korean standards, that's WAY too much (over obese, apparently), but by American standards, I'm doing okay with a 3-5 pound gain in the first trimester.

So...when does my first trimester actually end, anyway? Some books and websites say at 10 weeks, and other say at 12 weeks...so which is it?