I stand corrected - 6 weeks old

I figured out that I was one week off when calculating how old the little embryo was in my oven. Three days ago when I wrote the first blog, I thought that the bugger was 4 weeks old, but apparently that was wrong. It WAS 5 weeks.

But just recently (yesterday), we entered week No. 6. So I have some updates on its progress. The baby IS almost looking something like the picture I posted on Sunday. According to babycenter.com,

The nose, mouth, and ears are beginning to take shape. If we could see into my uterus, we'd find an oversize head and dark spots where the baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. Its emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and its arms and legs by protruding buds. Her heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as Mom's — and blood is beginning to course through its body. Her intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to her lungs has appeared. Her pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of the brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, the little tyke is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

I cut and pasted this blurb almost verbatim from the babycenter email that I've been getting. I just changed the gender, because (as most people know), I would prefer calling the unknown gender "her" - or preferably keep it as neutral as possible - until we know for sure what we are talking about. (Sorry Pops, I AM gender biased). Even though I've changed a lot to she/her, though, I have this gut feeling that I have a boy in me!

BY the way, pops and I decided that we probably know one thing for sure - the kid is going to have big eyes. Between him and me, that kid might come out with eyes the size of golf balls - because both of her parents' eyes are pretty d#mn large.

I just realized last night that after this thing comes, I 'm probably never gonna get a full night's sleep again...

Visit to the Doctor

Today I had an appointment at the student health center. They took a test and confirmed that, yes, I AM pregnant.

Apparently I have to find a obstetrician somewhere outside of the student clinic - but my student health insurance works at the UCLA Hospital. I feel good about that - it is one of the top 3 medical schools in the country, so the treatment I'll get there will be very advanced, I'm sure. I have other options too, apparently, perhaps even Cedars Sinai, although, despite the big name, I'm not very interested. How inconvenient - so far away (Ugh, that traffic!!!!)...

SO I guess the next step is to get me a doctor. This is actually trickier than it seems, because Pops and I actually aren't 100% sure if we will be in LA in about 4 months, or in HB. It really depends on whether he can find a transfer up here or not.

In the meantime, the doctor I saw today informed me (provided my ensuing health care giver agrees), I can have 1 cup of decaf a day, exercise all I want - except I should exchange hot yoga classes for prenatal yoga classes- and, well, in general, I can do do anything that makes me happy - as long as it's in moderation, of course. (obviously that disincludes my former meth habit! - JK again).

In the first trimester, if a person is going to have a miscarriage, it will happen no matter what she does - within reason). One cup of coffee or soda a day is not going to ruin things. Nor will jogging or bicycling, she said. Later on, when it comes to exercise, it will be more of a matter of balance and making sure the extra weight doesn't make me fall.

3/10: 123.5 pounds

Haven't started gaining any weight yet. But decided it would be interesting to keep a record here of how much I gain each week and month. Apparently I can gain up to 35 pounds, which will still have me weighing considerably less than Pops, so he can not point any fingers!

Preggers

We just found out that we're pregnant. That was pretty trippy. We took a test a couple of weeks ago and got a "false negative," so we had kind of given up some hope. But there were definitely signs that it might actually be happening still - especially during the last couple of days: the pregnant one has been really tired lately, sleeping all the time, and complaining about feeling a little "off" in the mornings. Suspecting that she might be pregnant, she gave up coffee a few days ago too, which has made her Extra edgy and moody.

Finally yesterday we confirmed the pregnancy by taking a one-step test from CVS. As soon as that wand hit the urine, the indicator on the test just instantly turned dark, revealing that the HcG hormones are definitely surging.

After we found out, we spent all day yesterday and this morning thinking about what kind of parents we think we might be. We calculated that it will be 2024 by the time this Thing has grown up and is old enough to start learning how to drive. We also decided that, although we'd like the kid to go to Stanford (chuckle) some day (because Stanford has some amazing new financial aid packages for struggling families like us), we want to prioritize raising a kid that is respectful, honest, and knows how to laugh well. Pops (aka Scotto-san) wants the kid to learn how to play the piano so that it can entertain him. I want the kid to learn some foreign languages so it can learn how to think in a variety of different ways. Oooh, an alternative thinker!

We also figured out that we have 8 more months together to be alone and enjoy each other's company...

Anyway, it is definitely difficult not to get ahead of ourselves. We know that the next three months (first trimester) is pretty risky, and that a relatively large number of pregnancies end in miscarriages during this time. We really (obviously) have a our fingers crossed... It is hard not telling people yet that we're expecting ... but I guess we'll have to wait another 8 weeks at least...

It's funny how time has almost stopped all of a sudden. The last three weeks have seemed interminable, waiting to be able to pee on a monitor again to see if we're pregnant yet. Now we wait 8-10 more weeks to tell our friends and family... Then another long 6 months praying for the baby to be healthy...

This picture is a baby - well, an embryo, really - at 7 weeks. So we have a ways to go to reach this size yet (especially considering how time has seemed to stop lately). We have determined that now - at around four weeks old - our little bugger is about the size of a pin head, and THAT is old enough for it to have a beating heart and spine already. Apparently it also has "little nubs" for hands and feet. According to some of the web sites, at 4 weeks into the pregnancy, the little baby's heart IS already beating, so any amount of coffee in its system makes its heart rate sky rocket - Snarl (I'm already feeling like yelling at this kid!). (JK)

Signing off, Scotto-san (pops), Mom, and the little blastocyst in the oven.