Eight Reasons Why

Well, would you look at that.

Over there! To the left! See that little moving shape in the black box? Our little baby is starting to look a little less like a blob and a little more human.

According to Pregnancy Week By Week at Babies Online, our baby has a face! Features are becoming more obvious, as his lips, tongue and nostrils, as well as the buds for 20 baby teeth are already present. The back muscles are growing along the spinal column, and his or her reproductive organs have started to form and soon will become either testes or ovaries. The arms and legs are growing and elbows and knees appear as well. The fingers and toes are starting to show but are still webbed. Our baby is about 8 - 11 mm or 0.31 - 0.43 inches in length.

Our baby is starting to show signs of reflex activity - an automatic response to certain types of stimuli Connecting you and the baby, the umbilical cord with all its blood vessels, is starting to function. In fact, what will be our baby's intestine is forming in the umbilical cord as well. An ultrasound done this week would show our baby's fluttering heart and reflex movements.

To commemorate the beginning of the eighth week, I present to you:

Eight Reasons Why This Pregnancy Is Different and Should Result In A RLB*

1) IVF - Good egg, good sperm, good embryo. That's gotta help, right?
2) Lovenox - My stomach is a rainbow of bruises, thanks to the lovely nightly encounter with the needle, but it's worth it.
3) That beautiful heartbeat - At 7 weeks, 1 days, the baby's heartbeat was a nice and steady 145 BPM. Right on track for it's gestational age.
4) Measuring ahead - At 7 weeks, 1 days, the baby measured 7 weeks, 3 days.
5) Pregnancy vitamins - They were a bit harder to keep down this week, but I am giving it my all.
6) Zofran - this week, I had some good days and bad days, but the Zofran still seems to help.
7) Pure and utter faith - As the days tick by, a little bit more hope seeps into my spirit. I am finding myself checking for spotting less (although still pretty constantly) and not worrying as much about every single twinge.
8) Knocking on wood here, but absolutely no spotting. In every single other pregnancy, I have had spotting. With Gummy Bear, it was just a bit and just once, but it was still red blood. Despite my constant checking, I have yet to find even a tinge of brown or speck of pink. Thank God.

*Real Live Baby