4 Weeks - 14 Weeks

This will unfortunately just have to be a very long post to play catch up since I slacked off quite badly for the first trimester.  But here's the rundown:

4 weeks - zygote implanted, we found out we're pregnant, and besides being extremely excited I pretty much felt no different than usual.

5 weeks - now officially an embryo the baby is forming into three layers that develop further into the neural tube and brain, the circulatory system and heart, and finally the inner organs.  Baby is about 1/17 of an inch.  I still feel no different.

6 weeks - baby triples in size, eyes begin to develop, heart begins beating.  We have our first ultrasound this week and see the heartbeat which is nice and strong.  It's official!

Baby Rau at 6 weeks 5 days

7 weeks - arms and legs are taking shape, brain is continuing to develop and become more complex.  Now I'm starting to feel the pregnancy and understand what all those morning sickness sufferers were talking about.  Food = Bad.  We have another ultrasound to check out how my uterine tumor (preexisting condition) is doing.  Seems like all good news, baby is still doing great and is actually measuring ahead of schedule, we just have to watch out for degeneration on the tumor, most likely sometime after the 14th week.

Baby Rau at 7 weeks 5 days





8 weeks - finger and toes are forming, heart function and circulation are more fully developed.  Still feeling pretty sick, eating has become a challenge for me and a guessing game for Henry.  Every night we play a round of 20 questions of what will Tori actually eat today??
9 weeks - now we're into the third month, but the morning sickness has not let up even a little.  The baby is becoming more human in shape, the embryonic tail is disappearing and the baby is starting to make tiny movements, although there is no possible way to feel them as the baby is only about an inch long.
10 weeks - bones of the skeleton are forming, as are buds for teeth, the brain is growing very quickly now producing almost a quarter million new neurons every minute.  But we've hit our first hurdle.  The uterine tumor started to degenerate this week, sending us to the hospital for a bit.  All that happened was that the tumor that is hanging out in the wall of my uterus grew too big too fast and outgrew it's blood supply which caused part of it to die.  The baby was not affected in any way, in fact s/he is still measuring ahead of schedule!  It just caused me a lot of pain.  After a ton of tests and monitoring, we are sent home with painkillers.  Basically there's nothing to do but get through it.

Baby Rau at 10 weeks 4 days





11 weeks - now officially a fetus, the baby and placenta are growing fast, reproductive organs also start to form this week.  I'm basically on bed rest since I'm really unable to get out of bed, still waiting out the tumor...
12 weeks - facial features are becoming more defined, fingernails and toenails are forming, and the first trimester is ending!  I'm starting to do better with the pain and have cut back on the painkillers dramatically, but unfortunately I've lost ten pounds in just these two weeks which has left me pretty weak and my appetite almost non-existent.  We have our 12 week appointment for our NT scan.  Everything comes back perfect and the baby is doing absolutely fantastic, nothing that has affected me during this whole ordeal has affected the baby which is great news!  The baby was moving around like crazy during the ultrasound, waving his/her arms and kicking legs, nodding his/her head and even moving his/her lips! 

Baby Rau at 12 weeks 3 days





13 weeks - hello second trimester!  All the baby's organs, nerves and muscles are formed and beginning to function together, eyelids are fused shut, baby can even put a thumb in his/her mouth, but sucking will come later.  I'm slowly but surely starting to make some progress, even making it into work for a few hours every day.  This is mostly due to the superb care Henry is taking of me and the baby.  We find that protein shakes are a quick and easy way for me to get nutrition, so until my appetite comes back, we're mostly relying on those.  But the weight loss has stopped, now if we can only get to the weight gain!  (and that is the last time you will ever hear me say that)
14 weeks - reproductive system is the site of the most action this week, either the prostate is developing or the ovaries are moving down into the abdomen, by the end of the week the palate will be completely formed.  I'm still making slow progress but it's definitely getting better, appetite is starting to come back and I'm still managing half-days at work which is probably what I'm going to be doing for a while.  I'm even gaining some weight, which is great because I'm supposed to be gaining a pound a week right now.  I think the dark phase may have passed, thanks to lots of bed rest, lots of medications, and lots of care from Henry.