11 Weeks

I want to preface this post by saying that from here on in my posts will contain more explicit references to pregnancy, and will include photos and other media.

I want and need to be true to my journey, but I also understand that such posts may be upsetting to those who are still trying to conceive. If you need to unsubscribe from these posts, I completely understand. Please do what you need to protect your heart xo

There are three ways of dividing up a pregnancy into the three trimesters:

By Development
This uses actual developmental stages to divide up a pregnancy. From LMP to 12 weeks the embryo develops all the major organs and becomes a fetus. From 12 weeks to 27 weeks the fetus continues developing and reaches viability. From 27 weeks on the fetus finishes development and prepares for delivery. Here the second trimester begins at 12w 0d and the third at 27w 0d.

By Gestation
With this method you take the 40 weeks of gestation and divide into three equal stages. Here the second trimester begins at 13w 3d and the third at 26w 6d.

By Conception
This method is where you take the 38 weeks of post conception development, divide by three, into the three equal trimesters. Here the second trimester begins at 14w 5d and the third at 27w 3d.

Source

Only one more week until I enter the second trimester! It seems so incredible to me. I prefer to calculate the first way, because it’s based on baby’s development and viability. Plus, that’s what my RE and OB go by. And, yeah, it’s also shorter! (I will still celebrate the other two methods as mini milestones in their own right, though.)

Baby is now the size of a fig (about 4cms from the top of its head to its bum) and is fully developed! Am I really here? Already?

Other Milestones

Goodbye Drugs!

This time next week I will stop taking the synthetic estrogen and progesterone that have sustained this pregnancy so far. I’m really looking forward to that. Progesterone pessaries really irritate my cervix…

Goodbye Morning-and-After-Dinner-Sickness!

My morning sickness lasted precisely one month: it was intermittent at first, but by 6w4d it was pretty consistent through noon, and it peaked between 8-9 weeks. Then at 9w6d I woke up hungry for breakfast — I’m not normally a morning eater but, luckily, I’d bought high protein bagels and cream cheese the night before. When I still hadn’t had any nausea by the next day, I began to worry. I emailed my OB, Dr. D, to ask how I should manage this anxiety and she said to come in to listen to the heartbeat.

Hello Heartbeat!

I went in for an interim reassurance appointment on Tuesday. Dr. D was very understanding of my anxiety and had a Doppler to listen to the heartbeat. She said it might still be too early to hear with Doppler, especially as I have a tilted uterus — or maybe not after my Mayan abdominal massages ;) — but that we could always do an ultrasound. Luckily for me, she picked up the heartbeat right away. It was higher up than I expected. I thought she would be pressing just above my pubic line, but she found it almost halfway to my belly button!

Here it is: the heartbeat is the little galloping sound around 180 beats per minute, not the slower whooshing sound, which is my blood flow through the placenta:

 

Dr. D was, as usual, incredibly warm and compassionate. Considering the first time I met her was about 30 minutes before my D&C, I feel so fortunate that the surgeon assigned to my case turned out to be a wonderful OB who I really love and trust for this pregnancy.

Hello Bump!

I had a blood tests this morning: one was the first of two tests that are part of the nuchal translucency scan; the other was a glucose test, which I had to fast for. When I got home, DH asked, Are you bloated or are you beginning to show?? I reminded him I hadn’t eaten anything so couldn’t be bloated. My normally almost-flat stomach now sticks out! I don’t think I look pregnant (at least not to people who don’t know I am) but I am very excited about the changes in my body.

DH bought me ‘comfy pants’ for my birthday — long, loose PJ bottoms that I can wear around the house, but I broke down last week and bought myself a pair of fabulous, ultra dark blue maternity jeans. I found them at Pea in a Pod for 40% off! (If you are tall and want skinny jeans, I really recommend this brand.) They are sooooo much more comfortable than wearing regular jeans fastened with a hairband!

Here I am, wearing my first maternity outfit — eep!

Bearing in mind I am sucking in my stomach here, I think it’s weird how the protrusion of my lower abdomen pushes out the fat around my navel. I wasn’t expecting that, but I like it!

♥

I’ve done a bit of reorganising around here. I’ve consolidated pages, divided up other, and added a few new ones. Check ’em out in the menu above:

Updated About: Who Am I? | My Story So Far | Who Are You?

NEW! This Pregnancy: The Bump | Pregnancy Achievements Unlocked