Pregnancy Update

We are about to be gone for the long weekend (hubby has Presidents' Day off) to go and help my mom and family with their big move. I wanted to write a quick post to touch base before being mostly away from my computer for the next 4 days.

Things have been going fine with our current pregnancy. The days have been dragging on, especially when we're waiting in between appointments. We have one more week to wait until our next ultrasound to find out if our baby is still growing. Sometimes it seems like forever, but when I remind myself that we've been waiting for 9 years, it makes a week seem so much more tolerable. I'm learning to be patient, and I'm learning that worrying won't do me any good.

This Saturday I'll be 8 weeks along, which means that by ultrasound day on Thursday I will be almost 9 weeks. I'll tell you why this is important to us. Our fourth pregnancy was the one that made the most progress. We saw more growth and development of that baby than we had any of the previous pregnancies or the two that followed. Although I had carried babies for as long as 11 weeks before, they had usually stopped growing around weeks 6 or 7. Sometimes we hadn't known there was a problem, and sometimes we waited the extra weeks to be certain that the baby was no longer living.

But baby number 4 was different. We had a wonderful ultrasound at 8 weeks, and then a week later the baby had grown to 9 weeks but the heart had stopped beating. We were dumbfounded, speechless, devastated, you name it. Our doctor at the time was pretty speechless, too.

I hate to relive that time in our past, but I want you to know why 9 weeks is important. The weeks that follow will be crucial for us. If the baby makes it to 10 weeks and looks normal and healthy, it will be the longest we've ever gone. If the baby makes it to 12 weeks, I know we won't be out of the woods forever, but I think we will both begin to relax a little bit.

For now, though, I'm doing okay. I'm still taking it day by day. I still have very little energy, a huge appetite, and major nausea in the evenings. That's totally okay with me; I welcome any sign that our baby might still be growing.

We are looking forward to a weekend away, for something different and a change of scenery. I don't think I've been out of the house at all (besides doctor's appointments) since my birthday more than 2 weeks ago! We are excited about seeing family and getting our first look (in person) at Mom's new house. My handy husband has a list of projects that he'll be working on, but I'll be the unofficial supervisor for the weekend. I've already been told that I won't be allowed to do much of anything other than sitting and watching. :)

I hope you all have a great weekend, whether you celebrate Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day, or even Mardi Gras (a little early)!