9 weeks, 3 days

Hey guys :) Here's the latest on what's going on with our little bean:

Our new resident is nearly an inch long - about the size of a grape - and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. It's starting to look more and more human; essential body parts are accounted for, thought they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Our baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers this week and the valves start to form - as do its tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Our little one's organs, muscles and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. His/her eyes are fully formed, but the eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. It has tiny earlobes, and its mouth, nose and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that our baby's basic physiology is in place, it's poised for rapid weight gain.

It's really exciting to think about all of that and picture what the little thing looks like :) I'm definitely right on track with all of the symptoms still. I've been getting sick more and more and the fun moods swings are there too :) Thankfully Russell has guy friends at work to talk to who have all been through this before and have assured him that my craziness is normal hehe. He's so sweet and I'm so lucky to have him to go through this with.

My next appointment is on Tuesday, February 8, so I'll have more to report then!

Round 2!

Hi everyone! I'm super excited to post again on my blog! You know what that means...Russell and I are going to have another baby!

We actually found out on Christmas eve that I was pregnant, but wanted to keep it to ourselves and our parents until things made it a little further along this go-round. So far so good though! I've had four doctor appointments, two of which were just blood work, and two sonograms. Everything looks really good now; my blood pregnancy levels and hormones are all increasing like they should, and we got to see our little baby for the first time this past Thursday!

It was so cool to be able to look up at the monitor and see that little blob growing inside of me and to see its tiny heart beating away. The nurse was able to put this little computer tool thing around the heart and it started playing the heart beat so we could hear it. It was beating at about 140 bpm, so crazy to see and hear!

My mom was there with us too, and the nurse printed us out some pictures of the baby saying "Hi Mom", "Hi Dad" and "Hi Grandma" hehe :) I've posted some pictures below of what we've got so far.

As of my appointment on Thursday the 20th, my due date is between August 27th and September 2. That puts me at a little over 8 weeks now, and I'm feeling all of the symptoms that go along with it this time. I haven't really had a day where I've felt top-notch in about 3 weeks, but that's okay. I'm just thankful to be experiencing it all this time.

Stay tuned for more!