Well dear readers on Monday I was able to let go of another long breath that I was holding for God knows how long…a breath held in with excitement, nervousness, and anxiousness. We finally got to see another picture of our bean! Well I guess our bean is no longer that. It is now a peanut with a head and a body! It’s hard to tell in a picture of this size, but the version I have I swear our peanut is smiling at us. It’s saying “Hey mom and dad…don’t worry! I’m A OK in here!” That is, now that I know which side is the head and which side is the butt…at a first glance I was a bad mom and had to ask the doctor which side was which! Please don’t tell anyone!

I have been feeling pretty good recently. My only real symptoms are extreme hunger, but with a huge aversion to food. Not much sounds good to me these days but fruit, cereal and pizza, but I am doing my best to eat as healthy as I can. I am also EXTREMELY exhausted! Basically I’d be happy to nap during any time of the day. At this point I am measuring exactly up to par from my last appointment. I am 9 weeks today! (Tuesday) That means I am in my last month of the first trimester, and I REALLY hope that it goes by quickly. At this point I am extremely bloated. If I wear something tight it pretty much looks like I have a beer gut, which certainly limits my wardrobe. This in between time is tough so I have been wearing loose clothes. I look forward to the days that I can sport the cute baby bump with pride.

Monday was our first official OB appointment. We had the sonogram and got our official estimated due date of December 11, 2010! I sat very still so that we could get the best picture possible, and therefore had some trouble seeing the monitor as the doctor tried to catch our little peanut in action. So I kind of missed out on seeing the flickering heartbeat, but instead I got to watch The Captains face as HE got to see the heartbeat. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from that pure look of joy on his face. His smile was priceless! I am so blessed that we got to be together at the appointment.  After the sonogram I had the pleasure of giving 6 vials of blood that would test for all the types of genetic testing and diseases that I need done at this point. I am doing my best not to think of those tests at this time, for now I will just focus on our little peanut growing nice and strong. After the blood came a sit down with the doctor. He went over everything with us, gave us our EDD, prenatal vitamin samples, and a list of do’s and don’ts. I pretty much knew everything about what to eat and what not to eat at this point, but it was nice to get to ask a few questions that have been on my mind. In the end he sent us on our way to wait yet another four weeks before we get to have another appointment. Oh the horror of waiting!

It seems that Tuesdays are going to start a new pregnancy week for me, so I want to keep you as well as myself up to date with what is going on with our peanut week by week. Soon I plan on taking weekly belly pictures so that we can see the progression! I think it will be great for me to print out one day to  share with our little one. So even though this post is already long, I wanted to start today when I am exactly 9 weeks. So here goes!

The 9th Week of Pregnancy!

According to babycenter.com here is where our baby is at in it’s development.

Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She’s starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they’ll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby’s heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic “tail” is completely gone. Your baby’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. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won’t open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her 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 your baby’s basic physiology is in place, she’s poised for rapid weight gain.

So I guess our bean/peanut is really a grape these days! It’s amazing that something so small has so much going on it’s little body so fast! I do find it all truly amazing and really a gift from God. The Captain and I are so happy to have this miracle in our lives. We have been on a long journey to get to where we are today, and won’t take a second of it for granted. I promise. Thanks for continuing the journey with us!