All about the little bean so far

All right, let's bring everyone up to speed!  Let's do this Q&A style.

Q: When are you due?  My due date is technically April 15th, "Tax Day," which is also the day after my birthday.  However, that's assuming I ovulated on day 14 (which I know I didn't).  According to my own charting, I should be due around the 22nd.  Still, I wouldn't be surprised if the little bean made his/her appearance "early" because I know there's not going to be a whole lot of room in there at the end of this pregnancy!  April also seems to be a popular month for birthdays: I have a brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and my father with April birthdays!

Q: When did you find out?  I had to take several tests on separate days and finally got a no-doubt-about-it positive test on August 11th.

Q: Do you have a nickname for the baby?  We're affectionately calling the baby "little bean" for now.  Back when I was researching about babies and childbirth before getting pregnant (yup, I'm a researching fanatic!), all of my notes were labeled "FLB" for "future little bean."  Also, with having practically no pregnancy symptoms, it was such a relief to finally see our baby on the ultrasound at 9 weeks and that was exactly what he/she looked like -- a little bean!  We also came up with a "code name" for the baby in public: "LE" ("Ellie") for "little embryo."  If this is a boy, we're very sorry for the girlish nickname!  We only used it for a few weeks when we couldn't use the word "baby!"

Q: How long did you wait to share the news?  This one was a toughie!  We knew for a long time that we wanted to wait until after we got to see/hear the baby's heartbeat.  It is actually pretty common for first pregnancies to result in a miscarriage, so we wanted to play it safe.  Although the timing would have been perfect for us to reveal our news to the grandparents on Grandparents' Day (September 12th), our appointment wasn't until later that week.  It actually worked out that Chris's brother, Sean, and his wife, Lori, (along with their new baby, Fiona) were scheduled to come into town the following weekend, so that's when we decided to share the news.  We made the announcement on September 17th, when I was about 9 weeks along.

Before the big reveal though, I did get to tell my brothers, Sean and Marc, 2 days before and swore them to secrecy.  Sean was home from the Navy and was only around for about a week, so I wanted him to know before he had to leave.  They were good secret-keepers!

Q: Will you find out the sex of the baby?  Do you want a boy or a girl?  While we briefly considered not finding out, we quickly realized that we're just too eager to wait!  Our "big" ultrasound is currently set for November 10th, provided the baby cooperates, of course.  As for whether we want a boy or a girl, truly we would be happy with either!  But I must confess, I am leaning toward Team Pink: I'm the eldest of 3 and I loved feeling like a mini-mom to my brothers!

Q: Do you have names already picked out?  Actually, we do, but we won't be sharing them with anyone until the baby is here.  This is something that we've thought a lot about, long before we felt ready to have a baby (and if you know how long Chris and I have been together, it's been in the works for a while!).

Q: Do you have a baby bump yet?  Yes, although I affectionately call it my "speed bump" because it's still so small. :)  I've been able to wear my normal jeans (with a button extension) up until recently, but my uterus is definitely growing out vs. up thanks to my short stature!  (In fact, I can feel that my uterus is already up to my belly button, which is typically the "20 week mark," yikes!)  I just started wearing maternity jeans this week (14 weeks) and the elastic band feels much more comfortable on my growing bump!  I have no doubt that at the end of the pregnancy, I'll look like I'm trying to smuggle a beach ball underneath my shirt! :)

Q: Where will you deliver?  Without revealing specifics on the Internet, I'll just say that the hospital is local and the perinatal staff includes both OB/GYNs and CNMs (Ceritified Nurse Midwife).  Who actually delivers the baby will be left to whoever happens to be on-call, but I'm seeing a wonderful midwife for all of my prenatal appointments and love her!

Q: How many appointments have you had?  So, far we've had 5 appointments.
1st) As a walk-in to confirm the pregnancy and do initial bloodwork.  I also got a prescription for prenatal pills.
2nd) An appointment with a nurse to fill out a bunch of paperwork, go over pregnancy basics, and discuss pregnancy nutrition (what I should and shouldn't eat).
3rd) My first appointment with the midwife and we got to see the baby for the first time (at 9 weeks)!  Everything looked great: saw the head, the spine, the little legs, and the tiny heart beating.  Went over blood results: my Rh factor is positive, so no Rhogam shot for me, yay!
4th) Ultrasound appointment with the ultrasound tech for the 12 week NT (nuchal translucency) scan.  I also had to have blood drawn for that, as well as for a couple of other tests.  The tech measured the little bean's heartbeat: 160 bpm!
5th) Second appointment with the midwife (13 weeks) to go over the test results and blood work results.  Everything continues to look good!  We also got to hear the little bean's heartbeat with the Doppler!

Q: How are you feeling?  Great!  I managed to win the pregnancy lotto on this one because I've had no "morning sickness," other than a couple of rare minor instances of nausea (which I think were more influenced by the situation than pregnancy hormones).  I did seem to get tired pretty quickly during the first trimester, but it wasn't anything an afternoon nap couldn't cure.  I haven't had a steady food craving... my cravings seem to change each week (this week I can't get broccoli off my mind!).  I didn't have much of an appetite for meat (I think I'm turning the bend on this though), but I know I can't go wrong with fruits, veggies, and cereal.  I've also noticed that I need to eat more often throughout the day, about every 3 hours, which is a new feeling!

Whew -- OK, I think that's good for now!  Chris and I are very excited about this little bean! :)