10 Week Pregnancy Update

The kid’s name is Blueberry Olive. First it was just Blueberry because one of the emails I got a while back from whattoexpect.com said the baby was the size of a blueberry. A couple weeks later, it said the kid was the size of a medium green olive. Ironically, I cannot get enough of medium green olives at the moment. My husband had to buy three jars of them: two for me and one for him since I keep eating all of his.

Attached is the 9-week ultrasound. The doctor said she could see another sac in my womb – that one empty – which means there was another baby that didn’t develop, a twin. She said it’s very common at my age (37) to drop two eggs.  I thought all these women over 35 were having twins because of fertility treatments, but she said it’s also very common to have multiples as you age because the body drops more eggs at a time each cycle.  As for the twin that didn’t develop, I feel OK about it, as long as there is one viable kid in there.

Blueberry Olive floating around...

I am actually 10 weeks along at this point. Can’t wait for the next two weeks to be up for multiple reasons: not as sick, not as tired, and way less likely to miscarry. We have already told our close group of friends. I really hope all is well.

How has pregnancy been so far? Interesting. I am surprised some women are able to do this multiple times. I feel nauseous almost all day long. It’s not typical nausea, as in I’m not throwing up, but I feel all day as if I’ve just gotten off of a boat. I am tired, but not EXHAUSTED like some people say they are. That said, I am resting whenever I get a free moment, but I don’t know if I’m doing that because I have to or because I know I should. I’ve been working a new job with really long hours and so after work I go straight to bed. I’ve found the nausea is easier to manage if I’ve had enough sleep and if I eat little snacks constantly.

Speaking of eating, I have, as previously mentioned, been addicted to green olives and anything else that is acidic and sour like that. Pickles, mustard, that sort of thing. Also, I am a pescatarian who has not eaten meat for years. About two weeks ago, I went to dinner with some friends and the only thing that sounded good to me was a filet mignon. I ate it and it was delicious. Since then, I’ve been on a meat rampage. No chicken, but beef. Wow. Yesterday, my husband took me for ribs. Sadly, I am still somewhat morally opposed to meat, so I feel guilty in some senses, but I’ve never had my body tell me SO CLEARLY what it wants. Blueberry is a carnivore. I’ve also been craving dairy – been plowing through cottage cheese at home. I have aversions too. My sense of smell is keen and I can tell if something’s turned. When we went to the rib joint, I couldn’t stand the smell of the restaurant. Had to wait outside for the take-out.

What else is going on? My boobs are still sore. And they’re big (for me). My stomach is starting to grow and my waist is widening out, mostly because I am eating constantly and not exercising (I am terrified of miscarrying. As soon as the 12-week mark hits, my walking regimen begins.). It’s hard to find anything to wear because I’m too big for my usual stuff and too small for maternity clothes.

I wake up in the middle of the night to pee, which I never used to do.

I’m scheduled for genetic testing in two weeks. Because of the empty sac in my womb, my doctor does not recommend amnio or CVS tests for me unless highly necessary (they could scrape the wrong sac and get the wrong genetic information). Instead, we’re doing what’s called a BUN test, which is 90% accurate and is the only kind of genetic testing done in the UK. It involves blood work and a high-resolution ultrasound. If it comes back a-OK, my doctor is not going to recommend amnio or CVS. Somehow, I feel once I get past the next two weeks, the baby is fine.

Any kid who can withstand the hours I’ve been working is a survivor! By the way, the doctor said the long hours are OK as long as I eat constantly. And for some reason, I think it’s a girl. I have no idea why…

Yay,

Phoebe

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