13 wk 1 day (13 wk 6 days)

Here is what happening in Week 14. Which technically I am either in the middle of or ending shortly.

Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Lately I have noticed I have a tad more concentration that I have in the past. No more first 1st tri fog which is awesome. However, my constipation has become a normal thing again. I am taking Metamucil capsules and trying to make sure I get as much as water as possible in. I still feel really tried by 8:30 ish though but really I think that is because I wake up at 5:30 everyday. I have 4 days until the next U/s two days in which is on the weekend. We truly hope that we get some positive results. I leaked brownish goo spotting/clotting for well over a week. I feel it has to be some of this SCH making it's way out. I am not to trying to get my hopes up too much...but my spotting is very minimal (almost all gone)...hehe I as soon as I say this..instantly it will come back. But as long as it gets out...the better I feel about it all.
I am totally craving Chipolte today but knowing Sandro I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. Sigh...

Weekly Update

How far along? 12wks 6 days (per last appointment 13 wk 4 days)
Total weight gain/loss: When I last went to the doctor I had gained 6 pounds.
Maternity clothes? Almost time to go shopping for more.
Stretch marks? Perhaps my old ones resurfacing a little.
Sleep: Getting harder. Mainly because of the heartburn but also because it's hard to get comfortable. I tend to fall asleep well but if I wake up to pee it takes me a while to get back to sleep.
Food cravings: I had a huge craving for tortilla pinwheels and I made a ton for Easter and ate them for two days.
Labor Signs: Nope..Many weeks away from this.
What I miss: Being about to eat spicy food. Everything I eat now is bland for the most part. Also, I miss sweets. Sweets also tend to give me Heartburn.
What I am looking forward to: The short term..my next appointment. The long term..being about to have full confidence that this baby will completely make it.
Weekly Wisdom: Bleeding/Spotting isn't always something bad. I am so happy I found a excellent support group of ladies who are experiencing the same thing that I am. It's really not that uncommon.
Milestones: Well based on my last appointment I am beginning my 2nd trimester.

As for the spotting I am experiencing. It's goes in waves. All day Saturday I had hardly nothing..then Sunday it was back again. Then yesterday only in the AM then nothing in the evenings. Then today a little in the morning. Perhaps this means that there is less and less of it.

Also I have a huge Asthma attack this weekend. Sandro decided to make popcorn from scratch on the stove with Olive Oil. (sigh...warned him this was a bad idea) He burned half of it. So we had so much smoke in the air. On top of that I had saved my dessert for late. (Cheescake) and it gave me the worse heartburn I have had so far. Lets just say I was pretty miserable and couldn't sleep well at all.

12 weeks (12 wk 5 days) w/Picture

So here is my picture for 12 weeks..well technically 12 w/5 days. I am wearing the same outfit I wore for the last time I took a picture at 10 weeks. Obviously My belly is getting bigger. Soon enough I won't be able to hide it anymore. This shirt is almost too small for me. I accompany this outfit with a light jacket to hide the bulge. But I know people aren't stupid. Sure I look like I just increased my eating and gained a few pounds. As for how I am feeling. Increasing bigger. I feel like a gained at ton more than I actually have. My tummy grumbles a lot and again I focus on eating good for me food. Currently today I am feeling a little bit crampy. It could be the fact that I haven't pooped in 4 days or I could have be a result of round ligament pain.

As for the spotting. I spotted for about 4 days. Fairly heavy. Enough to fill a pad. All brown and has a dark clot like look. Today it's very light spotting. I hoping this is good news.

I decided today I am going to post both week 12 and week 13. Since right now I have technically completed week 12 and I am well into week 13.

Here is week 12.

Your baby continues to grow and develop tremendously during pregnancy week 12. You'll be amazed at the pregnancy week by week changes that start occurring within your baby in the upcoming months. Your baby's genitals will start showing signs of being either male or female soon. During pregnancy week 12, your baby's brain is starting to make hormones, and nerve cells are multiplying at a rapid rate. Your baby may be sucking as early as this week, and your baby's kidneys may even be producing urine.

By pregnancy 12 weeks if you stimulate certain points of your uterus your baby may move in response, though you won't be able to actually feel your baby moving for another few weeks!

And Here is week 13.

Your uterus is continuing to grow at pregnancy week 13, and as it does you may start feeling some aching or discomfort in your abdomen. This is perfectly normal. The ligaments that surround your uterus will stretch in the upcoming weeks to accommodate your baby, and this stretching often results in what is called round ligament pain.

Round ligament pain is fairly common by 13 weeks pregnant, but can be alarming if you have never experienced it before. It usually presents as a brief but sharp or stabbing pain in your abdomen, but you may also feel a dull ache in the lower abdomen that lasts for a short time. Most often women feel this when they get up suddenly or change position. You might feel this pain as you attempt to roll over swiftly in the bed.

Update: Looks like it was poop related. Awww...I successful pg poop. Nothing compares.

Weekly Update

How far along? 11wks 6 days (per last appointment 12 wk 4 days)
Total weight gain/loss: When I last went to the doctor I had gained 6 pounds.
Maternity clothes? Wearing them almost exclusively now. They are a tad on the snug side already. (sigh)
Stretch marks? I haven't looked.
Sleep: Still crazy dreams. Also, becoming a little difficult to get comfortable.
Best moment this week: Seeing the baby move on the u/s. Such a active little one.
Movement: Sometimes I put my hand on my belly and I could swear I feel something. But I think that is all in my head.
Food cravings: Nothing crazy this week. Actually I have been eating less portions and smaller meals.
Labor Signs: Nope..Many weeks away from this.
What I miss: I miss being more active. This whole relaxing stuff isn't fun. Gets kind of boring.
What I am looking forward to: Being able to tell people and hopefully this hematoma leaving the body and healing for good.
Weekly Wisdom: For all you people who aren't pregnant or have been lucky enough to have a child don't give advice to people when it's not requested. I have also learned that never question a person about having children or make jokes towards someone else's fertility. It really is just a personal issue and really don't have any idea what they may be experiencing. It's as bad or worse than giving advice when it's not wanted.
Milestones: Less than 200 day mark reached. Baby is almost in the 2nd trimester.

Unsolicated Advice

You will discover when people learn that your pregnant that everyone and their mama wants to give you advice. Sometimes this advice is requested and sometimes this advice is just given without any regard to the intelligence of the woman that is pregnant. You know that people mean well but sometimes it just drives you completely insane. Let me give an example of what I mean.

So this weekend was Zdenko's birthday. Usually birthdays mean food and even more food. Well we went over at our usual time to have dinner and give our gifts. I come in and my sister in law is making some kind of shrimp kabobs and had some crab legs. Both are not my favorite unless they are cooked well in Sushi. (Philadelphia Rolls, or Shrimp Tempura or Cali Rolls) SIL says she researched it and I can have crab legs but she wasn't so sure about the shrimp because she wasn't real sure where it came from. It can be potentially dangerous (from her knowledge). Honestly neither looked appetizing so it wasn't on my food agenda. Then I proceeded to tell her that I still eat Sushi (the above mentioned only) and she immediately told me that I shouldn't do that. I think I would know what I can and cannot eat. She started to attack me and tell me that it has too much mercury. I just had to walk away. Here is an article for those who are interested. But just Google it and you will find the same result. Oh and here is a list of the fish that is safe to eat in Sushi. The ones I like are two 6 ounce servings per week.

Then the night proceeded on. Mother in law got on to me for not wearing shoes. I was wearing thick socks and I wasn't even cold. I asked her why she wasn't wearing shoes and she said..it doesn't matter she isn't pregnant. Then Father in law asked me why I wasn't laying down. It's not as if I was being terribly active or anything. He immediately jumped on the couch and asked me to relax with him. So I did. All this with in a hour of visiting. While I know they do this out of love and concern they just need to relax a little.

On the side note I ended up eating a small piece of steak, potato salad (which was terribly over seasoned with mustard), a roll, and a few bits of corn on the cob. Usually I eat more but during dinner the heartburn came back with a vengeance. Watching them open the crab legs was also disgusting so my stomach was not liking any of this. I am not sure what caused the heartburn return but its a tie between the potato salad and the little bit of steak that I did have. I ended up not even getting a piece of cake. It was sorta ironic if you think about it.

On how I feel front. I am okay today. I have a lot of brown clottish glue spotting usually in the mornings. I am taking it as a good sign. It's more than likely means that it's trying to make it's way our of my body. Trying to stay as possible as possible. Two more weeks to the appointment to check on the little bean.

Afterthoughts and Moving Forward

So yesterday I was feeling really down about everything. Mainly because I feel at this stage of pregnancy if the baby doesn't make it for some reason it's entirely my fault. Well my bodies fault. So I call up my mom and cry for about 20 mins. I think just needed to get it out. While I talk to Sandro about these things sometimes I have to hear from a different perspective. For one I am sure I am driving him completely insane but because he can only see the positive and feels that I am over reacting to the negative. I think it's because we just see things differently some days. Like I see the glass half empty and he sees the glass half full. He does try hard to comfort me but my mind sometimes tend to focus on the negative.

After talking to my mom she made some valid points. One that my grandmother (My Dad's Mom) bleed throughout most of her pregnancy with my Dad. She didn't find out she was pregnant for awhile later. She also reminded me of the last time I had a m/c. My uterus was strong then and didn't want to let go of the pregnancy until I forced it by taking medication to help the cervix open up. I haven't even thought about that in a while. I know I am strong and I am healthy and I am doing all that I can. There really isn't a way to prevent what nature has in store for me. I just have to do all I can to overcome this battle and again think about having a healthy fetus in my womb. Hopefully it will stay strong and kick that clot to the curb.

On a different note sometimes I wish I could have a husband that would let me eat what I am craving. I say this with a cheeky grin. He is just so adamant about eating healthy all the time. I mention chick-fil-a and instantly I am told absolutely not. I see all these girls all the time eating McDonald's everyday and here I am stuck on eating healthy. He is relentless. Maybe I will sneak over to Taco Bell today. A once in a while indulgence can't hurt right?

Good News & Bad News

Good News first. Baby is measuring perfectly and is growing perfectly. The heartbeat was 166 which is wonderful. (they say it goes down a little at a time from here) You can see the baby waving it's hands and kicking away. No signs of problems at all with the fetus. The cord is in the back and the placenta looked healthy. He/she is measuring 5 days ahead so 11 wk 6 days.

Now for the bad news. The Hematoma is bigger. Actually it's no longer a small blood clot but a medium one. It appears to be right under the sack now. Since the sack has obviously gotten bigger with it's grow. The doctor seems worried about this and wants me to come back in two weeks. So next appointment is April 20 and 10 in the morning. She says right now "it could go either way" which to me didn't sound to reassuring. Sandro says not worry and thinks the the Dr. wanted to be as honest as possible. She told me if I can make it to 16 weeks that most likely everything will be fine. Of course this really didn't help my confidence level any. I am just going to do my best to relax and take it super easy. No Sex, No working out, no heavy lifting.

I have to look at this way..the positives out way the negatives. Healthy baby doesn't even appear to know what's going on and is loving it's home at the moment. The baby is in a nice high spot getting all it's nutrients and growing rapidly. My hope is that what the Dr. is seeing is just a different view (I had a abdominal u/s) and that maybe it's not as big as it appears. Positive thoughts is just going to have to get me through this.