April 28th

Today I attended a friend’s baby shower.  It was a great event, and she got SO many adorable gifts!!! She looks really great! Very pregnant, but great!

It was awkward for me to sip water all day while the ladies around me were drinking bloody marys and mimosas.  I was nervous that someone would question me, but luckily that didn’t happen.  Although, I think one of the girls I was sitting across from at first did pick up on the fact, but didn’t mention anything.  Let’s hope she didn’t think anything of it!

My mother-in-law drove down for a visit today, and went out to brunch with Hubby while I was at the baby shower.  I was glad that I wouldn’t be home for her visit because I’m not good at keeping secrets or telling lies and I was nervous that she’d catch me off guard or that something would slip!  We did make sure to hide all our books, the little hat Hubby bought last weekend, and my vitamins before she came.  She stayed for a couple hours after I came home from the shower but luckily there weren’t any beans spilled!

April 27th

I missed Zumba today but went to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 45 minutes, followed by some light arm weight exercises.  Although I was very slow moving this morning, I got a good workout and felt a lot more energetic afterwards!

My OBGYN appointment on Tuesday afternoon can’t come fast enough -- I’m so anxious to hopefully confirm that everything looks good and on track!

April 26th

Sushi Fridays, as usual!  My dinner wasn’t really impacted much since I typically don’t eat any fish on the “no eat” list, but I was slightly envious of Hubby’s glass of wine that accompanied his meal.  :(

Oh well, it’s a small sacrifice for a wonderful reason, so I’ll just have to learn to live without wine for 9 months!

April 24th

Today is the start of week 5!

Your baby's the size of an apple seed!

Your embryo is now measurable -- though at week five, that means a teeny .13 inches -- and she's gearing up for much more growth. In fact, in the next week, she'll almost double in size.  She doesn't look like much more than a tadpole right now, but she's already starting to form major organs (heart, stomach, liver, kidneys) and systems (digestive, circulatory, nervous). Grow baby, grow!

Pregnancy hormones kick in (if they haven't already).

During week five, those same hormones your pregnancy test picked up are likely starting to rear their ugly heads, causing some (not so fun) early pregnancy symptoms. The most common? Sore breasts, nausea and fatigue. Some nasties you may not have expected:

Frequent urination. It's something you expected later in pregnancy, right? Wrong. The urge to get up and go to the bathroom can be blamed on those pesky hormones.

Bloating. No, that's not a baby bump (at least not yet). That's bloating! The hormones are relaxing smooth muscle tissue in your gastrointestinal tract, which makes your gut work slower and translates into gas for you (sorry).

Heightened sense of smell. Every little whiff of perfume or food making you nauseous? That's par for the course too.

{Above images and facts courtesy of The Bump}

***

I woke up super tired today... probably because I was tossing and turning all night with nightmares.   I caught myself at lunch reaching for tomatoes with feta cheese...bad, feta!  Phew.  I worked late and then came home ready to take my Week 5 time lapse photo.  Unfortunately, although I know I’m not showing yet, I look like a blob in the photo.   I guess that’s because of all the bloating!   At least I can tell myself I’m not a porker.... yet!

Even though I ate a pretty filling and healthy dinner @ 8pm, my tummy is now loudly growling at 10:47pm!!

I took my first baby bump watch photo today, and Hubby and I devised a list of ongoing questions to answer along with each pic!  Here goes...

(1) How far along are you? 5 weeks
(2) How much weight have you gained to date? 2 pounds
(3) Visible bump? Maternity clothes? No way, Jose!
(4) Any cravings? Not yet!
(5) What symptoms have you had? Nosebleeds, sore breasts, bloating, VERY tired, excessive peeing. Vivid dreams.
(6) Who did you tell? Hubby, my primary care physician (when I went in for a check-up) and my chiropractor.
(7) What names are you considering? Too many to list!
(8) What “getting ready for baby” task did you do? Signed up for some websites & newsletters, bought a couple books, started a pregnancy calendar to-do-list, took some photos, started this journal. 
 (9) What are you most looking forward to? My first OB appointment when I hopefully confirm everything looks good and maybe even hear the heartbeat!
(10) What do you miss? Wine, not having to pee every hour, not having to pay such close attention to what I eat.
(11) Any funny/memorable comments or experiences? At my chiropractic appointment, I had to tell the Dr. I’m pregnant so that he wouldn’t use the electrode stimulator on me. He congratulated me and then said jokingly that I would “get fat” like the woman in the waiting room, who was 8+ months pregnant (and not fat at all). He was joking because when she walked in the office, he turned to me and said as a joke “she’s really fat!” because it was obvious that she was very pregnant.
(12) Any movement? Only gas so far!  ;)
(13) Belly button in or out? Stretch marks? In. Not yet, thank goodness!
(14) Overall mood/condition? Excited/nervous/very tired.

April 23rd

Today I made an appointment with a new OBGYN.  They deliver at NYU and I got positive recommendations by a couple online message boards, so I guess it’s worth a shot.  At this rate, I have no other solid leads so I’ll give them a whirl!   The appointment is next Tuesday afternoon and they’ll apparently confirm the pregnancy with a blood test as well as go over some other important info.  Hubby won’t be getting in on the fun until the following appointment, which will be my "first OB appointment" and I think when I will get my first ultrasound!!!

After work I had a chiropractic appointment, which means I told another person the happy news!  {I had to so that he wouldn’t use the electric pulse machine on me, which he mentioned last time should not be used during pregnancy.} The funny thing was that while I was awaiting the doctor, a woman 8 months pregnant came in and the doctor jokingly referred to her as “fat”.  Then, when we went into the treatment room and I informed him that I was pregnant, he replied: “Oh, so you’re going to be fat, too!”

I went to Zumba tonight and it was a hard class -- I took it a bit easier than I normally would but it was fun and I felt fine afterward!  Absolutely starving, but fine!  I hope that whatever murmur the doctor heard in me yesterday isn’t dangerous and won’t prevent me from Zumba-ing my way through a healthy pregnancy!

TMI Alert:  I’m noticing some fullness/tenderness in my boobs, and my belly feels a bit bloated.... probably from all the water I’ve been drinking!  I’ve also been making more frequent potty visits.  :)

April 22nd

Because I made zero progress last night, I started the day by calling the 3 OB practices my regular gynecologist recommended to me a couple months ago.  As my luck would have it, two of them don’t take my insurance and the one that does is not accepting new pregnant patients.  Boooooo!

I had a regular check-up scheduled with my GP for an annual exam and also for the wrist pain I’m having, and while I was there I found out that I have a heart murmur.  Say wha???  The doctor thinks it’s what’s called an “innocent” murmur, probably a result of my Zumba exercise, but wants me to have an echo just to be sure.  Lovely.  I also have to get a fasting blood test for the wrist pain.  Looks like I have a lot of doctor’s appointments in my immediate future...

On the positive side, today was my first experience telling someone out loud that I’m pregnant!  Scary but fun!!!

As soon as I got home from work I spent a lot of time looking through new websites and message boards.  Researching pregnancy info could be a full time job!

April 21st

Hubby and I just took a pregnancy test and it’s POSITIVE!!!! Of course, I had to snap some photos of his face, my face and the test right away for posterity.  :)  I was pretty convinced we were pregnant because my period is over a week late, and I think I experienced what’s known as “implantation bleeding” last week, but for some reason I was afraid to look at the stick once the results were done! So, Hubby and I held hands and as I flipped it over, he looked first while my eyes were closed.  I asked him what the result was and he didn’t say anything for what seemed like an eternity!!  I asked “what does it say?!” for the 3rd or 4th time and he finally replied: “Congratulations, Mama!”.

Of course, I started to cry. I’m sure hormones had nothing to do with that.  ;)  WOW.  We’re pregnant!!!!   Even though I was pretty sure before we took the test, I can’t believe it!

source

Your baby's the size of a poppyseed!

At week four, your baby, now known as a blastocyst, is practically microscopic -- a teeny ball of cells. She's busy settling into her new home (your uterus), prepping for all the crucial development she'll be doing over the next six weeks.

The ball of cells is splitting into the embryo (your future child) and placenta. Baby's neural tube, the building block of his spine, brain and backbone, is already formed. The amniotic sac and fluid are forming into protective cushioning for your baby.

 

at 4 weeks

- The ball of cells is splitting into the embryo (your future child) and placenta.

- Baby's neural tube, the building block of his spine, brain and backbone, is already formed.

- The amniotic sac and fluid are forming into protective cushioning for your baby.

I’m excited and nervous all rolled into one.  I love Hubby so much and first and foremost am so happy to be taking this journey with him.

Using an online tool, we calculated my due date as December 25th!  A healthy baby couldn’t be a more perfect Christmas gift if you ask me.

Now there is so much to think about!!!!  I need an OB, a hospital, an announcement plan..... I’m overwhelmed!  I better start researching OB doctors stat!!

Hubby went to the grocery store while I stayed home researching like a maniac.  When he got home, he announced that he’d bought me a gift and very sweetly presented me with a yellow baby beanie cap.  He explained that he wanted to be sure he was the first one to buy me something.  So cute!!!  Am I lucky or what?!

***

I signed up for a few different websites and began my “to do list” on The Bump:


Being that I’m always late, it figures I’m already behind on a few items even though I just got started!  Although technically I have until Wednesday, which starts my 5th week!  :)