Week 12 Updates

March 25, 2009 - WEEK 12
The main thing I've been dealing with for the last 6 weeks is the constant ups and downs of morning sickness. My doctor gave me a prescription for Zofran to control the nausea and vomiting, and I took it daily for a few weeks. I only took it when I felt the nausea because I was trying hard to get off and stay off of it....it causes constipation. So then the nurse recommended a "softener" (Colace) to help alleviate that. So between those 2 things and my prenatal vitamins and the occasional Tylenol or Claritin, I felt like I was taking way too many pills. I eventually quit taking the Zofran and Colace all together. And magically the constipation went away. However, the nausea and morning sickness still has not gone away. It's just less aggressive and more manageable at this point.
What I've learned....
- keep eating all day - snack on whatever doesn't sound disgusting.
- lay off the TexMex - My favorite food made me sick too many times. Hopefully I can get this back soon???
- No Chocolate - WHAT?!?!? Not because I can't eat it....but because I don't want to eat it. Has an alien taken over my body? Of course I should want chocolate.... all day, every day.

The other thing that is always on my mind is hiding my expanding belly. This is something I only have to deal with at work because I am keeping my condition on the DL until after the 1st trimester....only 1 week to go.
It gets harder everyday to find something in my closet that will hide and not draw attention to my belly. All of my clothes are getting tight, but I am not really at the point to need maternity clothes. So I'm just hanging in that limbo stage for now.


March 30, 2009 - WEEK 12 (almost 13) - NT Screening Test
We had our 2nd appointment today. It wasn't with the doctor, but rather the sonographer. It was a long sonogram so we got to see the little punkin for a while...he/she kicked and moved all around in there. It was crazy to see how much the baby has grown in just a month since the last ultrasound.
We could see and hear the heart beating, and the brain was clear to see. In fact, the brain and the shape of the head and eyes really made it look like a little alien. We watched in amazement as the sonographer moved the little punkin all around and took lots of measurements. She said that the baby is looking really good and all the measurements were within excellent ranges. She even recorded the entire ultrasound on video for us to take home, along with our pictures.

FYI..... Nuchal Translucency (NT) screening test — basically a specialized ultrasound — lets you know if you're at an increased risk for having a baby with a chromosomal problem such as Down syndrome. Unlike amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS), however, the nuchal translucency test cannot give you a definitive answer as to whether your baby has a genetic abnormality, but rather it gives the statistical likelihood of one. With that information in hand, you and your practitioner can then decide if further (more invasive, but conclusive) testing, such as amnio or CVS, is necessary. http://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/ask-heidi/nuchal-translucency-screening-test.aspx