Twelve Reasons Why

Ladies (and of course, the rare gentleman that might stumble across my blog), can you believe that Widget to the left?!?! Look at that BABY! Twelve weeks.

As always, I continue to be amazed to be pregnant. This pregnant. In just one week, I will be in the second trimester. Expect there to be a crazy amount of celebrating at this blog next Sunday. I am not naive, let me assure you. I know things can go wrong at any time during a pregnancy, but I also know that the chances of this little one being born safe and sound increase dramatically once I am in that promised land. However, let us know get ahead of ourselves. We still have a long week to go before that milestone and the 12th Week is still something to celebrate all on its own.

According to Pregnancy Week by Week at Babiesonline.com:

By now, nearly all of your baby's organs, structures and systems are fully formed. The heart begins pumping several quarts of blood through your baby's body every day. Your baby has also begun to develop nerves and a spinal cord, allowing him to feel some types of pain. While your baby's brain is not the same size it will be at birth, it does have the same structure. Fingers and toes have separated and hair and nails continue to grow. Your baby is approximately 2.5 - 3.5 inches and weighs about 12 - 14 grams.

Also, the external genitals can now show definite signs of male and female gender. Before, Where there was only reflex movement, your baby now moves spontaneously and at random, although his movements are still too slight to be felt. With the use of a Doppler, you may be able to hear your baby's heart beat at this office visit. It will sound very fast, similar to the sound of a running horse’s hooves. Once you hear this sound, you can rest assured that your risk of miscarriage is greatly reduced.

Now, I have to tell you, I don't like the fact that my sweet, innocent baby can feel pain. That just makes me a little sad, even though I know that it is part of the human condition. I will just pray that my baby knows little pain to no in his or her early life. I would say his or her whole life, but that is just not reasonable.

It's funny, when I started my "Blank Number of Reasons Why" Lists, I really didn't think about the outcome IF I actually stayed pregnant. The list may get both redundant and boring. Oh, well, I don't get a lot of traffic on Sundays anyway, so I'll have to risk putting my audience to sleep with my weekly list of:

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

1) IVF
2) Lovenox
3) Great heartbeat - at 11 weeks, 1 day it was 156 bpm
4) Consistent measurements- Measuring FIVE days ahead this last week!
5) Pregnancy vitamins
6) Phenergan - which I didn't have to take as much of this week
7) Pure and utter faith - could this be growing stronger?
8) No spotting - but I do have periods of pretty intense cramping. I just hope that's normal.
9) Constipation
10) Fainting - only fainted once this week, but I was off of work and spent most of my time on the couch.
11) Expanding waistline - Ugh, I feel so fat! But I am NOT complaining, just telling the truth!
12) Big breasts! - I think my breasts also got bigger with Gummy Bear, but last night, we went to a family event and my Aunt said, "Oh, yeah, you're pregnant." Immediately, my hands went self-consciously to my stomach, but she shook her head and pointed at the "girls" instead. I know my friend A has called them my "Porn Star" boobs! As I am a very modest size normally, this is a "fun" pregnancy symptom.

*Real Live Baby