It's in there

Early ultrasounds are always nerve-wracking. What if there's no heartbeat? What if there's more than one? What if the baby's not measuring correctly? What if something's wrong?

I am so happy that my RE does early ultrasounds, because the wait for my ob/gyn appointment felt needlessly cruel. Monday morning, we paid a visit to her and introduced her to Liam for the first time!

After a quick date with wandy (hello, old friend!) we saw this:

One beautiful baby, measuring at 7 weeks, with a very strong heartbeat!

The ultrasound measurements can be off by about 2 days in either direction, so I think I may actually be a few days ahead of my estimated due date-- but we all know that the baby will choose when he/she wants to be born and that it doesn't really matter. Here's hoping that this one won't hang out a week past its due date like Liam did.

Baby Blakely (the sequel) is due November 21, 2011.

I'm feeling ok-- more nausea than I had with Liam & it's hitting me at night instead of in the morning. I broke down and called the doctor for a Zofran prescription yesterday. Armed with that and some Immodium, I'm hoping to start feeling a little better in the next few days. I'm tired, but the exhaustion doesn't seem to be as severe as it was with Liam-- but perhaps it's just that I have no choice. I came home every day and went to sleep at 5:30pm in the 1st Tri when I was pregnant with him. Now, there's no chance of going to bed before 9pm (and it's usually much later than that!). My parents have encouraged me to take a nap at their house when I pick up Liam after work, before heading home. I've only taken them up on it once-- I need to start doing it, just to help survive this next month or so.

It's funny-- Although it's still so early in this pregnancy, I can already tell how different it will be (and not just physically). While I'm sure the fact that this pregnancy was unexpected plays a role, I think it's more just the fact that it's the second baby. Liam consumed my every thought as he grew in my belly & while I think about this baby, it's in between taking care of Liam, spending time with my family, working & any other projects that life has thrown at me lately.

I think about our NT Scan, which we'll probably do in week 13-- that's less than 6 weeks away & that's essentially when we found out that Liam was a boy. It seems insane that we could know (a very good guess of) the sex of this baby in 6 weeks. I'm still trying to accept the fact that I'm pregnant! And even if the doc has no guess this time (boys are evidently quite a bit more obvious at that stage), we'll know for sure at our anatomy scan which we'll probably do at 18 weeks-- only 11 weeks away. How strange that 11 weeks seemed like a lifetime before & barely seems like a blip now.

I doubt that I'll post weekly updates here about the pregnancy, like I did last time. It just feels a little pointless, seeing as you all read them so recently. (Maybe I'll include a link to those posts when I'm writing other posts.) I'll certainly post ultrasound pics, videos & any news we get at doctor's appointments, but I doubt I'll do belly shots, either. I'm thinking that maybe I'll do them every month or every 5 weeks? I want this baby to have a record of how s/he grew, but I have to set some reasonable goals for myself-- I just can't do it all.

Creating a baby book for this second child is still really important to me-- I've been good about keeping up with Liam's book and documenting his firsts & filling it with dates and pictures. It's important to me that I do the best I can with the second baby's book, too. I realize that it won't be as well documented as Liam's, but I'm determined not to let it slip entirely. As Liam's grown, I've referenced my own baby book so many times to determine if he grew like I did & if he hit his milestones at the same time I did. My baby book is not as complete as my brother's (I'm the second child) but all of the important dates and information is in there. I hope to be able to do the same. I'll definitely be ordering another edma mae book-- I couldn't be happier with it.

I realize that this post is written as if I am positive that this baby is healthy, thriving & will join our family in November. I know that it is still so early in the pregnancy that we are, by no means, in a "safe" place yet. But I do believe that life is taking me where I'm supposed to be-- and if this baby is meant to join our family s/he will. I've struggled with so many feelings regarding the unexpected news of this pregnancy-- worrying about loss is something I just can't allow myself to do. I'm not trying to sound arrogant, like I know that everything will be ok-- I don't. But I'm overwhelmed enough with other worries and concerns that I've been able to put that one on the back burner. And, I'm really thankful for that.

Next Monday, I'll have my first ob/gyn appointment & I imagine that they'll do another ultrasound-- I will certainly post pics of what's in there, if we get them!