Spreading the news

I had so much fun telling my students the good news today!  The reactions I received were pretty wonderful.  

One guitar class was somewhat unenthused... and they proceeded to suggest I name the child their name (first and last. Not the brightest bulbs...).

The other guitar class was really excited.  One kid guessed right away because he thought he overheard me telling Carl (our wonderful chorus teacher) a few weeks ago.  He said he wasn't sure so he didn't tell anyone. They asked actual questions and were psyched.  

Orchestra was really excited.  I had to tell them in two groups because some kids were going to be filming something in the PAC.  I told those kids first while they were in my office.  Cheers all around.  I told the rest of the orchestra in the form of a hangman on the board.  "Mrs. Comeau is having a baby in August!"  Ironically they got "baby" completely spelled out in three moves and totally lost it and started clapping.  It's neat to have the support of those terrific kids. 

Fourth grade was excited too.  They got the hangman puzzle too, but of course they're in fourth grade so they spelled most of it out before guessing.  Cheers there too.  

Great day!  I posted a picture of a green olive on my office door, and intend to change it as the weeks go by. I'm also posting a big piece of chart paper inside my office (because if it's outside my office someone will write something inappropriate and/or draw a penis on it...) where the kids can write down baby name suggestions.  They liked that idea too.  

The fun continues!

Week 9

So many exciting things!

Week 9 - baby is officially a fetus instead of an embryo!  Woo-hoo baby!  Baby is the size of a green olive (mmmm...).Baby's growing a liver, speen, and gallbladder this week.


We had our first doctor appointment today, and after sharing that I'm a little anxious to get going and have an ultrasound the nurse offered to have it done today!  Excited does not begin to describe!!  


I know it doesn't look like much yet (although pretty cute, I must say), but we have a head, little arm and leg buds, and a really fast heart!  (The fast heart is normal - it was 170 bpm, which is "presto" according to my metronome.)  It was pretty cool seeing the heart pumping away and seeing blood moving in the umbilical cord.  We were able to hear the heart too, which was pretty amazing.  


Wonderful day!  Here's the little jellybean's first photograph!  (Head's on the top in this shot.)  

Week 8

It's the beginning of week 8 - and I know you're all wondering what's going on in my belly.

Baby is the size of a large raspberry this week (the fruit is getting more delicious as we move through the weeks!).  This week baby will be growing at about a millimeter per day!

What's growing on baby?  The tail is pretty much gone, so he/she is looking less like a reptile and more like a human.  (Although the fingers and toes are still webbed, so the verdict is still out on that...)  Lips, nose, eyelids, legs and back are taking shape.

Baby's heart is beating at 150 beats per minute!  To give you perspective, that's about twice as fast as mine (and yours).  

Baby is also starting to move this week, although I won't be able to feel it for many weeks.  The movements are kind of like spasms in the arms and legs, which is kind of neat to think about.  Of course this moving combined with high hormones could cause increased morning sickness.  Let's see if my good luck continues to hold this week!

I think I've been pretty lucky in the morning sickness department.  Most of the time I feel pretty good thanks to the suggestion of both Ma (Joanne) and Mum (...Mum) to munch absorbent things all day and try not to let the stomach get empty.  I brought pita chips Monday and Tuesday (delicious) and pretzels yesterday and today.  When I start to get that watery-mouth-omg-I-want-to-puke feeling I munch a little and it usually settles down.  Luckily I'm so busy at work it's kept me thinking of other things which helps a lot too.  I'm still liking most foods, although we bought a rotisserie chicken on our way home from the wedding and the smell in the car was really grossing me out.  The smell of the refrigerator in the teacher's room is grossing me out too so I hold my breath when I take stuff out of there.  I've also had a few times when my coffee has really turned me off and I've only had a few sips or half a cup.  (Not today though - I have a Dunks iced!)  

Oh, I'm also tired.  I reached a new low today and packed my make-up to put on in the bathroom because I needed extra sleep this morning.  (Not too tired to hit the BSO though - so excited to be going back to hear beautiful music tonight!)

How creepy is this picture... I hope my baby doesn't have shifty eyes like that. 

Week 7

Week 7 and baby is the size of a blueberry!

Dennis and I are gearing up for our first doctor's appointments.  

The first is on January 23 with a nurse practitioner.  The topic will be family history, blood tests and an internal exam (how fun!).  So, if there's any family history I should know about, please pass on the information before then!

The second appointment is on February 16 with Heidi, one of the doctors in the practice.  I'm assuming there's an ultrasound, but I'm not 100% sure... I'll have to call and double check, or possibly ask at the first appointment.

What's happening in week 7?  Baby is 10,000 times bigger than it was at conception, most of the growth being concentrated in the head.  (Thank god babys' proportions will even out by August!)  How cool is this - brain cells are being generated at 100 cells per minute!  

Baby's mouth and tongue are forming, arm and leg buds are sprouting (and dividing into segments for shoulders, arms, wrists, knees, etc), and kidneys are starting to kick into gear.  Did you know that in this short amount of time baby is on its third set of kidneys?  These are the final set, and by the end of the week baby will start producing urine.  This sounds gross - but baby excretes urine into the amniotic fluid, swallows it, processes it, and excretes it again in one continuous cycle.  Kind of disgusting but it's getting the organs to do their jobs, right?

Baby still looks a little like a blob, but less than last week, I think.