We Have A Beating Heart!

Before we left (Adam for work, me for Hong Kong) I had to pack enough snacks, plus a few emergency snacks since I now get severe car sickness.  Anyway I am as difficult to get ready for a day trip as a toddler these days (10+ snacks that I can carry around all day, drinks for the car and something I can eat for lunch in case I don’t have time to eat before the appointment).

On to the exciting part of the day…I heard my baby’s beating heart!!!!!!  According to the size it is 7 weeks and 1 day old, which means our due date is our second anniversary (April 4^th).  I am so excited…watching my baby on the big screen tv (yes I said big screen tv) in the ultrasound room was the first time in 2 weeks (although it seems like a lifetime) that I haven’t wanted to curl up in the fetal position because of nausea.  It was the magic of the baby because I had rushed through a bad decision lunch (Thai food is not for nausea) and skipped a snack. 

It wasn’t all hearts and rainbows because the doctor said that there was blood around the uterus (somewhere it shouldn’t be).  He said it happens a lot, and it usually absorbs into the uterin wall but just to be safe he scheduled an appointment for 2 weeks from now (rather than the typical 4) and until then no exercise or strenuous activity…I can’t do any lifting or stretching or too much walking.  I was very careful on my way from the doctors office to the China border…I made sure to not walk too hard, to not pick up my feet too high when walking up the stairs (I mean there are escalators all over Hong Kong except when you need them) and I didn’t rush to be in the front of the immigration lines. 

7 Weeks

Tomorrow I have my first “real” doctor’s appointment.  I am really excited to hear the baby’s heartbeat.  This has been the longest 2 weeks of my life!  I have gone through all the pregnancy neurosis where I am scared there is something wrong, worried that I am not taking good care of myself or the baby, scared that people are going to think I am a bad mother because I do things differently than the Chinese (eat watermelon, pineapple, and bananas, exercise, rub my belly…more on that later).  On days where I don’t want to vomit I wonder if there is something wrong.  I wonder about that sushi I ate before I knew I was pregnant.  Hopefully seeing that the baby is OK will help me with some of these fears (I am guessing not…but it will be wonderful either way).
I have felt soooooo sick since Friday (I am beginning to think my weeks start on a Friday because that is when I get new symptoms…the Friday before I started feeling sick….two Fridays before that is when the bloating and fatigue hit full force.  This Friday I started feeling more sick and more tired.  Friday I met Adam for lunch…I could barely make the 20 min. trip without wanting to puke my brains out, and I made him eat at McDonalds because it was the closest restaurant that had an English menu.  Friday night I went to bed at 9:30 and slept until 8:30 the next morning.  Saturday I figured out that I should take a nap after lunch and eat something small every 2 hours in order to function.  Sunday the plan worked!  Today it stopped working and I now need to eat every hour.
*****COOL WEEK 7 FACT: He or she is now 10,000 times bigger than at conception.

I'm sorry I didn't do laundry today...I am busy making placneta

I am lovin’ the excuses that come along with pregnancy!  I don’t use them to get out of doing stuff…because hey, my maternal instinct has set in and I want to take care of my husband no matter how tired I am…I just use them to freak Adam out a little bit.  I am sure I will eventually use them as excuses but to be honest, I just read all about the placenta in Dr. Oz’s book and making a placenta is a very important job and even if it’s all I do one day…I’ll be satisfied…it’s very important work.  BTW anyone who plans on getting pregnant, is pregnant or had a baby needs to read Dr. Oz’s book…I love how it tells us WHY things happen in a way that I can understand and in a way that makes me understand why I need to eat certain things or not eat others, it helps me understand why I feel the way I feel and it makes me appreciate my body in a whole new way.

6 Weeks

I still have my energy back...Thank God, because I would not survive the way I felt before!  No morning sickness for me…nope as usual I break the rules and have evening sickness.  I feel nauseous a lot of the day but I can’t even eat dinner unless it’s bland and small.  The other day JJ came over to play wii with Adam and I made Chicken Parmesan (one of my favorites) I felt like crap while cooking it but I figured it was the raw meat and the hot kitchen…I couldn’t even think about eating it and when I put a small piece in my mouth I gagged and stuck to buttered noodles (JJ commented that I didn’t eat any of my dinner).  I made cookies and mango juice for dessert but everything tasted bad…only to me. 
My nauseous feeling has cut my meals in half…I usually force myself to eat half but then can’t do it anymore, however my belly would say otherwise.  It is huge (due to bloating I guess) and I know it is way too early to show but it is defiantly getting hard to hide.  Two people yesterday asked me if I was pregnant.  Nevermind the belly but a girl that usually enjoys a glass or two of wine with dinner has to now explain why she is not drinking…it’s amazing how many people have tried to force me to drink just one (we can’t drink it all by ourselves, we have a whole bottle, the wine/beer is really good).  I am out of excuses…I have used I don’t like to drink, I need something more refreshing, It makes me sleepy…meanwhile I do like to drink, I think a nice cold beer is very refreshing and although it does make me sleepy that hasn’t stopped me before.  I am not a huge drinker by any means…but somehow not drinking has made me feel like an alcoholic.

I had no idea I would have to use the bathroom so much in early pregnancy…it is so strange I guess the small amount of room my baby takes up has thrown my bladder for a loop!  Keep in mind that I taught kindergarten and first grade…my bladder was trained to go a whole school day if necessary without using the bathroom and I never had to go in the middle of the night…now I wake up at least twice!  I can’t even imagine what it will be like later on…on the bright side…I found that most malls in Huizhou have a handicap bathroom (a western toilet) for pregnant women…I guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the idea of being 7 months pregnant and having to squat over a hole in the floor.  I will continue to stop off at the local 5 star hotel to use their bathroom when I am out and about. 

***COOL WEEK 6 FACT: The eyes, inner ear and voice box are beginning to form!

Caught in the rain...

This weekend we went to Hong Kong to hang out with one of Adam’s coworkers from Raleigh who was here on business.  We had a great time just hanging out.  We met another of Adam’s coworkers who lives in Hong Kong and he took us to the pier for dinner.

It was kind of a boardwalk setting with lots of outdoor seafood restaurants looking out into the ocean full of yachts and fishing boats.  You can pick out your own dinner from the variety of live fish and other sea critters out of aquariums. YC picked our dinner and it was delicious.  I have never been a big seafood fan, but I broadened my horizons since living in China and I enjoy seafood every once and a while.  We ate some amazing squid…which according to Adam I will never taste squid that good ever again.   After dinner we went down to the promenade where you can have amazing views of the city skyline at night while enjoying a drink outside.  When we reached the promenade we took a couple pictures before the sky opened up and it rained like I have never seen before.  We were soaking wet with nowhere to go.  We figured we were already wet and decided to walk until we could find somewhere to wait out the rain.  We found an Irish Pub and sat for about an hour before heading back to the hotel. 

Lets back up to Saturday morning when we packed our bag for our overnight trip.  I just packed a clean shirt, underwear and toiletries.  Adam wanted to pack a clean pair of shorts as well as a clean shirt and underwear.  I gave him a hard time about packing so much for just overnight.  FF to Sunday morning…my jeans were soaking wet were Adam had a whole dry outfit.  I sent him out to the mall to find me some pants; I figured yoga pants would be easy for him to pick out.  We happened to be in the only area of Hong Kong that didn’t have an H&M so Adam had to pick out a pair of real pants.  They fit me pretty well (GO ADAM).  Anyway poor Adam had to go shopping for pants for me (I don’t even like doing that) and I was stuck in the hotel room until 11:30 without breakfast.

Hanoi Traffic Video

Watching people try to cross the street.

5 Weeks

my bloated before look

It’s official I had a doctor’s appointment in Hong Kong this morning where they took a blood test and determined (according to my HCG levels) that I am 5 weeks along!  The first thing the doctor said was “What happened?...I thought you were going to start trying in a few months!” then he laughed when I said I thought you had to go off the pill a few months before trying to get your body back on schedule (I love a doctor that doesn’t mind teasing you a little…it makes me more relaxed). It was too early for the first ultrasound so Dr. Doo (pronounced Dew) said he would save me some money and do the full examination at my next appointment.  Not only is my doctor totally cool, highly recommended by Hong Kong ex-pats, but he likes saving me money…I think he is a keeper.  I wasn’t surprised but I was relieved that my blood levels are good (whatever they are and whatever they mean).  My next appointment is August 17^th (maybe I will hear the heart beat).  The only bad thing about my doctor being in Hong Kong is Adam can’t come to all the appointments with me (it takes 3-4 hours to travel one way).  GLASS HALF FULL: baby number 2 will be special for daddy because he will be able to go to more doctors appointments when we live in Raleigh and he doesn’t have to take the full day off (not that we are planning baby number 2 yet).  Adam is saving the days off for my big doctor’s appointments.

Between the blood test and hearing the results I wondered a couple baby stores planning on picking something up…a “I bought you this when I found out I was pregnant with you” gift.  Unfortunately I am totally caught up in the little girl stuff vs. little boy stuff...the neutral stuff is really cute but not as cute as the little blue booties with a train or the little pink hat with a flower.  I guess I will have to wait until we find out to start buying things…but for now looking at everything is enough to keep me happy.

I treated myself to Dr. Oz’s pregnancy book, and it looks interesting…it talks about why everything happens where What To Expect just kind of tells you what happened.  After I get my amazon shipment (another pregnancy book…it is really fun to learn about all the cool things my body is doing and how my baby is growing…and a couple pregnancy workout DVD) I will be an expert of my own body and the best possible home for our little baby. 

***COOL WEEK 5 FACT: The baby's heart started beating!