Journal
Sign guestbook
Arthur's Mummy's Diary
Matthew's Belly Gallery
Nathan's Belly Gallery
Benjamin's Belly Gallery
My Fertility Friend Chart
2005-11-11 - 10.07pm��previous entry��next entry
10 weeks, 2 days pregnant - new belly pic!!
Ten weeks pregnant already!!! That is a whole quarter of the way through my pregnancy!! Wow. I can't believe a quarter of it is now behind me! Also getting soooooo near to the end of the first trimester now, which amazes me. It seemed to last a LIFETIME last pregnancy. Things are definitely going way faster this time. I think I am a very different person to how I was last pregnancy. In the time since, I seem to have had to learn patience and coping skills! I guess that is the nature of parenthood, hehe! I didn't even notice it happening. But the great thing about it is that I am coping fine with the hard parts of pregnancy so far, and last time I really did not. I know this isn't quite the right word to describe it, but sometimes I almost feel like I was sort of childish about it back then, and not anymore. In some ways I acted or thought the way a child would about the waiting or the putting up with hard things - I simply could not bear it and it had to change right NOW or else I would just.... have a meltdown or something, hehe! I basically seemed unable to see that it WOULD pass and it was just a case of waiting it out. I mean, I KNEW that in my head, but I couldn't apply it somehow.
This time I feel sort of.... adult, about it. I clearly see that the nausea will come to an end so I put up with it much more cheerfully than last time. I feel confident that a few weeks will pass quickly, whereas last time I was crying and moaning that I would never make it through the WEEK, let alone several more! I know hormones probably played a big part in that, but it's strange how I feel that the coping skills and patience I have had to learn as a new parent have really made a huge difference in how I am coping this pregnancy. Also it helps a LOT that I had a lot of nausea and stuff last pregnancy. I think it has probably conditioned me to coping with it better this time around, since I've already experienced it. I'm sure I will have a couple of meltdowns yet though! ;)
Soooo I still feel sick. But - I hardly dare say it! - I have been wondering this week whether it might be slightly changing? Not exactly BETTER though, just.... changing. I feel just as horribly nauseous when I DO feel sick, but I am noticing patches in the day where I only feel mildly queasy or sometimes not even sick at all! It depends on how I manage it with eating and what I eat, I think. But I think it is a little better at times, not just a blanket of nausea all day with worse patches. I don't know if it is just due to management though, or simply getting used to the nausea so it doesn't seem to bother me so much? I did notice that to some degree last pregnancy after a few weeks of it.
Anyway it's nice to have a couple of windows! It also helps to have company. My parents have been round because it was Arthur's FIRST birthday this week!! It's much easier to be distracted from the nausea with them round, and it helps to have them to entertain Arthur while I grab a baked potato or something, when I DO feel dreadful. I am also TRYING to take Jemma's advice and get out of the house more for a walk. I feel tired and yucky but it does appear to help a little. Sometimes I just can't though, because I feel breathless and shaky and when I try to go for a walk I just get dizzy on top and feel anxious about being out in case I have a funny turn in public or something! But I am getting out a little more.
Thank you all so much for the nice comments on Sprout's heartbeat movie!!! I'm so glad you all enjoyed hearing my littlest one! I am starting to feel slightly more fond of Sprout at the moment, yay!
I turned 10 weeks pregnant on Arthur's birthday. That felt really special, because 10 weeks is a big milestone day for Sprout, so it was a special day for BOTH my little ones!! 10 weeks marks the end of embryonic development, and Sprout officially became known as a fetus for the first time!! Yay Sprout!
Embryonic development ends at Carnegie stage 23 (which Sprout completed at 56 or 57dpo - I am 58dpo today), with the complete disappearance of the tail stump, and the completion of all major organ development and the presence of all essential internal and external organs. The organs still need fine tuning and stuff, but the development is all finished. The risk of miscarriage drops sharply at 10 weeks as a result! Yay! Sprout looks completely like a teeny tiny human baby. His/her head is fully upright, not bent forward any more, and his/her eyelids are beginning to close (they will fuse shut for a while now). The eyes are heavily pigmented. All of Sprout's fingers and toes are seperate and elongated, no longer webbed at all!
Sprout's ears (the outer bits that you can see) are finished developing! They are really low down, almost on the neck, but they will migrate upwards over the next few weeks. I remember at Arthur's 13 week scan, his ears were still a bit low, hehe! I think they are meant to reach their correct position around 15 weeks or something. Sprout has developed taste buds on his/her tongue!!! The external genitals are beginning to form but they are still very hard to recognise at this stage.
At the moment, Sprout's palate in his/her mouth is in the process of fusing. I hope it completes. The upper lip is complete, and Sprout is nearly finished developing 20 tooth sockets in the gums! This week, Sprout is building vocal cords in the larynx - isn't that AMAZING?! The embryology site I got this info from says that at the end of this week, Sprout can make sounds. But I thought you had to have air to make sounds through vocal cords? Well anyway, the vocal cords will definitely be capable of making sounds very soon, so that is amazing.
Sprout has about 50mls of amniotic fluid, and is now about 3.5cm long from crown to rump! That is still so little, but getting quite big for Sprout! If I was holding Sprout in my hand, he/she would fill most of my palm and I could clearly see all the tiny details on his/her body.
Let's see, what else? I am really enjoying chocolate now! I like white or milk chocolate, and I just munch big old hunks of it! At first I thought maybe this was finally something different from my last pregnancy, but look what I found in my diary entry from 10w4d pregnant with Arthur:
"I am much more into sweet things, particularly chocolate! It even seems to help my nausea, but then if I nibble it all evening I can't sleep for hours when I go to bed. Plus I think it gives me more headaches and grumpiness. So I'm trying not to eat too much of it. There was a research study published this month from Finland that proves (this sounds sooo crazy!) that pregnant women who eat chocolate produce babies that smile and laugh more!!! I thought, yeah right! But it's actually true, this study proves it. I found it at FF, but it's been in the news as well. So I'm glad I'm into chocolate at the moment :)"
Amazing, because HOW TRUE that study proved to be for me!!! Arthur is the smiliest, most laughing baby I have ever met!!! How weird that there's a proven link to chocolate. I wonder exactly what part of chocolate it is that makes the difference?
Anyway so this pregnancy is looking more and more identical to my last one. Either this is just the way I "do" pregnancy, or this baby is another boy! I know that identical pregnancies do not necessarily mean same-sex babies though, so I will just have to wait and see!
I can feel my womb really clearly now, but it feels sort of flat and oddly-shaped! I remember worrying about the same thing last pregnancy around this stage, so I am not worried this time. In the mornings before I get out of bed, I can clearly feel my fundus (the top of my uterus) about 3 inches above my pubic bone! I found the exact same measurement at this gestation with Arthur. Sprout is always RIGHT at the very top, well above my bikini line now. I don't really have anything to show yet.
Over the last couple of days (or so, from 9w5d I think), I have noticed some odd sensations at times. Several times throughout the day. It's the exact same feeling that I started having with Arthur just before I turned 11 weeks. I checked my older diary entries, but I felt too stupid to write about it till 12.5 weeks! I could feel Arthur moving CLEARLY from almost 11 weeks. That is craaaazy early for a first pregnancy. I have never heard anyone else describe the type of feelings I had though. I did not feel him kick until 14 weeks. I never got the flutters - he went straight to flicks and bumps and proper kicks at 14 weeks. But from 11 weeks, I could feel him press his whole body against the wall of my abdomen. I could tell if he was pressing an "end part" (bottom or head) or the length of his body, perhaps his back. I could feel his whole shape as a sort of "tube" shaped lump sticking out, about 3 inches by 1 inch (pretty accurate for his size at the time). By 12 weeks he could shove me so strongly that it took my breath away! Neil could feel Arthur with his hand on my tummy from 13 weeks. I thought I was crazy at first, but I really could feel my baby move that early, and very clearly too. At the 13 week scan, Arthur flipped from front to back and I felt it exactly as I was used to feeling it at home, right before the sonographer said, "Oh! The baby just flipped right over!" So that was a relief to have confirmation that I wasn't crazy! ;)
Anyway, I am beginning to feel pushy sensations, and occasionally when I feel it, if I put my hand to my bikini line area fast enough, I feel a little flat lump, like a solid raised area, about an inch or so in size. I have to press in a bit to really feel it though, and it's not always there to find. I haven't noticed it so much yesterday but it was a busy day and I was so distracted all the time. Today I have noticed it once, and the other 2 days, four or five times throughout the day. I wasn't sure at first, even though it had a very familiar feel, but now I am increasingly sure that I am beginning to feel Sprout push around in there. It's awfully early, but I know Sprout can move all over my womb by now, and exercises his/her limbs constantly. It is possible I guess, because my womb is palpable well above my pubic bone now, and I know from using the doppler that Sprout is always at the very top. Also it was so early with Arthur, and I know that second and subsequent babies are usually felt earlier than a first pregnancy, so I guess it must be true! I can't wait till it's more clear and obvious, but I'm loving these first little stirrings - the first sort of "connections" between me and Sprout! Perhaps that is helping me to feel more bonded with Sprout now?
What else? I ate chunky chicken and vegetable soup (and bread and butter) for dinner tonight!!! Yay! It's the first time in 2 weeks that I have been able to stomach anything other than Dairylea on white bread and a bag of salt and vinegar crisps. NOT awfully nutritious, but that has had to be my dinner for weeks now. The soup made me feel queasy when I was heating it, but it went down okay. I think I will try that more often because it's way more nutritious for me. Also I notice I am suddenly gulping water down these last few days, whereas I was soooo dehydrated recently because I couldn't bear mouthfuls of fluid, especially water. I just had a few sips here and there. I am so glad I'm drinking more again - it's so nice to enjoy gulping cold water when I'm parched and thirsty!
My milk is still there, but I think it is changing. This time last week it seemed to be disappearing, and then a few days later it was quite plentiful again. Today and yesterday Arthur has been switching very frequently from side to side and although I can squeeze milk out after he breastfeeds, I don't think it's as much as before. So I think my supply is down a lot at the moment. I don't know if this is "it" or whether it will bounce back again like last week. By 20 weeks it will turn to colostrum. Not long now! I was already leaking colostrum around that gestation last pregnancy, so I'm sure my milk will change to colostrum by then. I wonder what Arthur will make of it?! My tandem nursing book warns me that he will go back to runny yellow newborn poo once he is drinking colostrum again! How weird that will be! I'll take that over the poor boy's current issue of terrible constipation any day though.
The weird thing is, I am still nursing Arthur several times each night (sooooo tired!) and at night my supply is great. He gulps and gulps and I hear it going down his throat and squelching in his tummy! Why is it flowing aplenty at night and almost non-existent in the day?! I guess it has to be something to do with hormones, but it doesn't make sense to me. Right now I NEED to night wean him because I'm desperate for more sleep, plus I don't fancy tandem nursing two babies at night once the new baby is here so I want to wean him at night LONG before the big event. But the fact that he is getting lots of lovely mama milk at night, and ONLY at night, is putting me off night weaning for now. Once I have colostrum, there will only be colostrum, and probably small quantities, day and night. So maybe that will kick start the night weaning anyway? I hope he won't wean completely. I know some babies do because they dislike the colostrum.
I am still somewhere around 8st 3lbs, so no gain back up to the pre-pregnancy weight yet, but I wouldn't really expect that yet anyway. I haven't lost much, and I'll pile it on soon enough! I am NOT going to stress about weight gain this pregnancy. I didn't last time either, even though I gained over 50lbs! :) I lost it fine after Arthur was born, and didn't do any exercise or anything (NOT a good girl!). Breastfeeding seemed to do it for me, and I'm sure it will again. I don't think my blood pressure would love me if I gained 50lbs again, but I think it's unlikely that I'll get the chance to gain that much this time, with my active little boy to chase!
Okay this is getting long and rambly, and I have had to stop and start ALL day (I started it during Arthur's morning nap, continued during his afternoon nap, and now it's 10pm!), so I think I'll stop for now.
Ten weeks is belly pic time! I am matching the times I took belly pics with my last pregnancy, to make it easier to compare. The new belly photo is in Sprout's gallery today. Not much difference, and I couldn't find those pink pyjamas - tsk! But oh well. There is a little pokey pouch which IS to do with Sprout, but mostly because Sprout is pushing all my groaning swollen bowels upwards, hehe! What a nice note to finish on! ;) Anyway, the next belly photo will be 14 weeks I think. I wasn't showing much at this time with Arthur, though there was definite rounding of the flatness that I had at 5 weeks!
Anyway, yay! I'm pregnant!!! :D
Recent entries.....
Babies 7 and 8! :) - 2016-01-10
Babies 6 and 7! - 2013-02-17
Baby #5 !! - 2010-04-03
Nearly 3 months postpartum! - 2009-10-05
6 weeks old already! - 2009-08-25