18 Weeks & 0 Days

This one will be short, since I just posted a couple of days ago.


Here's the Bud facts for 18 weeks:

- Bud is approximately 6" / 14.2cm long and weighs about 7 ounces / 190 grams.
- Bud's chest moves up and down to mimic breathing but he/she is not taking in air - only amniotic fluid.
- Bud is busy kicking, flexing, reaching, rolling and even sucking his/her thumb!
- Bud's genitals are in place and recognizable (though they may not be recognizable to our untrained eyes on the ultrasound on the 13th).


Next week Friday is my next appointment with the OBGYN, so I'll post more then. In the meantime, here is a picture of me looking a little more pregnant!

17 Weeks and 4 Days

Well, I'm a little late on the 17 week post. Sorry about that. I thought I'd wait until we were home from our Christmas visiting before posting.

It's been a good week-and-a-half. I've been feeling really good (for the most part) and much more energetic than in the 1st trimester. My appetite has been rather...hearty...which is good right around Christmas, I guess. :) I've finally started gaining weight, too - about 3 pounds now. And...while on Christmas break, I seem to have "popped". I look quite pregnant now. Yay! I'll post a picture with the 18 week post in a few days. We definitely enjoyed our last Christmas with no baby, but are REALLY looking forward to next Christmas with a new baby! So exciting!


Here are a few Bud-facts for week 17, courtesy of www.babycenter.ca:

- Bud is now nearly 5.5" / 13cm long and weighs approximately 5 ounces / 140 grams.
- Bud's skeleton is mostly rubbery cartilage, which will harden later.
- A protective substance called myelin has slowly begun to wrap itself around Bud's spinal cord.


Look for a new post on the weekend - including a picture!

Happy New Year!

16 Weeks and 0 Days

Well, this has been a fairly uneventful week, pregnancy-wise. My belly's growing EXTREMELY slowly, much to my chagrin (although I'll admit to being pleased about still fitting into most of my clothes - including one pair of slim-fitting jeans). It's not worth posting another photo yet because there's not really a visible change from the last one. I'm actually losing a bit of weight, and can tell that my metabolism is changing (e.g. my bloodsugars are dropping), just in time for Christmas feasting! :) The doctor says this is very normal and I shouldn't be concerned about the lack of weight gain.

I have been feeling some "new" sensations that may be Bud moving around - but may just be muscle twitches...or gas. :P I'm thinking it might be Bud, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.

My abdominal muscles are not providing the support they used to. I managed to pull a muscle this week, and I'm finding my lower back is getting sore lately from compensating. Thank goodness for my massage therapist (and here's my plug for Tracie from Ankyo Therapeutic Massage)!


So, with no further pregnancy news to tell, here are this weeks Bud-facts:

- Bud is now about the size of an avocado (about 5"/11.6cm, and weighing approximately 4 ounces / 100 grams). In the next three weeks, he/she will double his/her weight and add inches to his/her length! (I've GOT to get bigger then!)
- Bud is playful, and may sometimes play with his/her first toy - the umbilical cord - which he/she may be pulling and grabbing.
- Bud's circulatory system and urinary tract are in full working order.
- Bud is inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid through his/her lungs.

More news soon (although week 17 may be a bit delayed due to our Christmas holiday plans.

Merry Christmas everyone!

15 Weeks & 0 Days

Wow! 15 weeks already! Time is flying!

The highlight of this week was that I got connected with my doula! She is from Birth Roots Doula Collective (http://www.birthrootsdoulas.com/). As I was looking at their website, I noticed that I recognized the name of one of the doulas as a woman from Steinbach (my hometown) who also has Type 1 diabetes! So when I registered with Birth Roots I asked if I could be paired up with her. Because she has 3 small children herself, she will not be able to be "on call" for the birth itself, but was very excited at the possibility of working with me, so she will be my doula along with another doula from Birth Roots. I have my own little doula team! I feel very fortunate! We have communicated via email and phone a fair bit already and she is already FULL of information for me. We will meet a few times before the birth and then this second doula will be with me for the whole labour and birth process. It will be so nice to have that support! Statistics show that using a doula greatly increases the chance of having a "positive birth experience" and I'm all for that!

I'm no bigger than last week, so I don't have another picture this week. I've actually gained no weight at all yet, even though my stomach is definitely protruding. I guess my metabolism is just changing.

Here are this week's Fun Bud Facts, brought to you by www.babycenter.ca:
- Bud frequently gets the hiccups, which babies master before breathing. Bud doesn't make any sound because his/her trachea is filled with fluid rather than air.
- Bud weighs about 2.5 ounces / 70 grams and measures nearly 4"/11cm.
- Bud's legs are growing longer than his/her arms now
- Bud's fingernails are fully formed and all his/her joints and limbs can move.
- Soon I should be able to feel Bud move (I haven't yet), although for first-time mothers it's often closer to week 20.

All for now!

Edit: Oh, one more thing. My first ultrasound has been scheduled for January 13th!

A Quck Note on Posting Comments

We interrupt this baby blog to bring you a quick note on posting comments.

First, I'd like to mention that we LOVE it when you post comments on these blog entries. Partially because we like feedback, but also because this blog and your comments will make for some great memories for us and for Bud long after Bud is born! So comment please!

Second, if/when you do post comments, please make sure that you post them under a name that we recognize. If you call yourself "Anonymous" or "Excited Friend" or "Guess Who" or something else, when we get the notice to approve or reject your comment, we will be unlikely to approve it if we don't know who you are. If you have a Google ID or something that will identify you with a name we don't recognize, go ahead and use that, but then be sure to sign your own name at the bottom. (And if you're the person who posted a comment yesterday (that is still unpublished) who I don't recognize, let me know who you are so I can publish your comment!)

Third, here's a crash course in posting comments for those who are confused.
a) Click on the link right below the post that says "0 comments" or "1 comment" or whatever...
b) Write your comment in the box.
c) In the dropdown menu below the comment box, select "Name/URL" (unless you have a Google or other ID that you want to use...but then you probably know what to do anyway).
d) Enter your name in the "Name" spot and leave the "URL" spot blank.
d) Hit "Continue"
e) Now you wait for us to get a message saying that you made a comment, and assuming we know who you are and that your comment does not have any classified information or un-family-friendly content, we will say "Publish this comment please" and your comment will end up on the site!

And now back to our regularly scheduled baby blog!

14 Weeks & 0 Days.....and a Picture (of me, not Bud)!

Well, today is 14 weeks! Here is the latest on Bud, courtesy of http://www.babycenter.ca/.

- Bud is about 3.5"/9cm long and weighs 1.5 ounces / 43 grams.

- This week, Bud's parchment-thin skin covers itself with lanugo (ultra-fine, downy hair that usually disappears before birth)

- Bud's eyebrows are beginning to grow and the hair on the top of Bud's head is sprouting (this makes Bud sound like a chia pet....hmmm.....).

- Bud can grasp, squint, frown, and grimace, and may even be able to suck his/her thumb. (It doesn't say anything about smiling.)

And, since there's finally a little something to show, here is a picture of me with Bud. To be fair, I think my back is a bit arched in this picture (which you can't see because of my arm), and my sweater is fairly snug, so most of the time it's not quite so evident...but I definitely am starting a baby bump! Yay!

13 weeks & 5 days - The Heartbeat!!

Today was my first appointment with my OBGYN. We got to hear Bud's heartbeat!! It was so amazing! The doctor said it sounded just like it was supposed to. :) Yay!

We both REALLY liked the doctor. He is a very kind and caring man, with a great sense of humour, and a willingness to give me lots of time to answer questions and put me at ease. I won't bore you with ALL of the details, but he did say that he is very comfortable with my diabetes control and feels that the baby will be fine if I continue with this level of control (which I still am striving to improve every day). He does expect to induce me at around 37 weeks (i.e. mid-late May), which is common for diabetics. (The short explanation is that, with diabetics, sometimes the baby's heart will suddenly stop around week 40, and clearly that is NOT something we want to have happen. So as soon as the baby is fully developed, he would like to get it out of there.) I was hoping not to have to be induced, but obviously the biggest concern is for the safety of the baby, and if that's what the doctor thinks is best, that is what I will do. I will be having very regular appointments with the OBGYN starting around week 24 just to keep an eye on Bud and make sure his/her growth is reasonable and consistent.

I also found out that I will be delivering at St. Boniface Hospital (I've heard great things about them), and that my first ultrasound will be around week 20. I'm so impatient for that! At St. Boniface they do not tell you the gender of the baby, but we are considering going to an external non-diagnostic ultrasound company (where you pay a fee) to find out the gender sometime early in the new year.

Other than that, the doctor's biggest piece of advice is to get lots of sleep! Done and done! :)

We have also registered for a doula, to provide some extra support leading up to, and during, the birth. The OBGYN was very supportive of this decision as well. She meets with us a few times prior to the birth, and attends the whole birth no matter what time of day/night and no matter how long it is. She also does one post-partum visit (more if necessary). I'm really looking forward to this additional support. Statistics show that women who use doulas have much more pleasant birth-experiences, partially because of the support, but also because of the pain management techniques they teach. I'm really excited to meet mine!

I'll post again on Friday or Saturday to give you the Week 14 update and hopefully post a picture of my barely-there baby bump :)