12+4.. and pictures!

Well here we are... 12 weeks 4 days!!

Last week, I had a BIG ultrasound.  The ultrasound in the safe (safer) zone.  My previous ultrasound was around 8 weeks, so from 8-12 weeks I had to just cross my fingers and pray that baby was ok and continuing to grow and develop.

When the ultrasound tech (and let me just mention that my doctor has the BEST ultrasound tech in the world) put the US on and I immediately saw and heard the bean, who is no longer a bean, I couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.  Our kiddo is SOOOO CUTE.  He or she is a real baby now!! I could see everything- the head, face, body, arms, legs.  The funniest part was when she first put the probe on, I saw a perfect profile of the baby, and baby's leg was sticking straight up in the air.  I laughed so hard because that is exactly the position I was in when I was in the coma in the hospital.  Everytime my family or the doctor came into my room, I was laying there with my leg just straight up and out in the air.  No one knew why, but I was always doing it.  It probably felt more comfortable to me somehow, or alleviated the pain in my leg or back.  Not sure, but when I saw my baby laying there with one leg up and out in the air, it was just beyond hilarious and prophetic and beautiful.  You wanna see a picture of my peanut??  Look closely and you'll see his/her little leg up in the air like mama.

How cute is that little foot??

About a minute after I watched my baby lay there with his/her leg in the air with the tech explaining what everything was, all of a sudden, the baby started moving.  He/she started kicking his/her legs really fast and stretching his/her arms.  Looked like my little is gonna be a runner like mama.  Those little legs kicking so fast looked like my baby couldn't wait to get out and start running.  Which is good, because he/she is gonna spend alot of time with mama in the jogging stroller running around Naperville  when he or she is born.  

Speaking of running, I'm still keeping up with it and running anywhere from 6-10 miles a day, usually about 6 days a week.  My speed hasn't suffered either....yet.  Around a 7:00 min split.  I've started using the belly band when I'm running because it feels more secure and I feel like I'm not bouncing the baby around.  And thank you all for your sweet concerns, but no worries, my doctor has okay'ed my running and is keeping very close track of my activity, diet, & baby.  I am in that office constantly, which is kinda nice, because I love my doctor, Dr. Yockey, and her midwives Nicole and Donna.  

And as for the vomiting.  Now it's officially been diagnosed as hyperemesis and I am on a continuous zofran IV pump.  There's a little tube that goes directly into my stomach to administer the med and I just got it put in this morning, so it's too early to tell if it will help.  With the oral zofran pills, I was throwing up around 6-10 times a day.  And if I went a day without the zofran, I would literally throw up every hour, sometimes more.  For example, I ran out on Saturday and didn't take it for half of Saturday and part of Sunday, and by Sunday morning, I was throwing up every 15 minutes, intense intense dry heaving....I couldn't breathe.  It was horrible.  At my appointment last week, they realized I've lost 7 lbs and that was it... decision was made to start the IV infusion.  At least it's at home and I don't have to go into the hospital, although if I lose anymore weight or this pump doesn't cut it, I'm gonna find myself back in the hospital with the freaking tube feedings again.  Please take a second and pray for me that it doesn't get to that level.  

Despite the weight loss, my little one has been growing steadily and I have a little bump to prove it.  I'm so proud of that little peanut in there, just growing and moving and developing, even though his/her mama has been so sick.  He/she is still measuring about 2 weeks small, but the growth is consistent and steady.  Here's some (rare) pictures of my belly bump.  I am sooo not the type to take preggo pictures, so don't expect to see a preg photoshoot from this girl.  No offense to those who do, but it's just never been something I've wanted to do.  I do want to keep track of my bump growth, so I'll take an occasional pic of the bump and share if I feel ok to do it.  Here you go.. please don't judge my messy bathroom and scrub pants/hoodie outfit.  I've already puked 4 times this morning and I'm not dressing up just to throw up all over myself.

Please also excuse my abdominal scars.  

So, there you have it.  Please continue to pray for a healthy baby, a healthy pregnancy, and a stop in the  vomiting.  I HATE HYPEREMESIS.  Oh yes, one more exciting thing.... we will be finding out the sex of the baby NEXT WEEK!  I know it's early, but the first trimester blood test for genetic screening now tells you the sex of the baby around 2 weeks after the blood test.  They took my labs last week, so by next week, we'll know if this is a miss or mr.  Any guesses?