8 weeks

Thursday we entered into our 8th week of pregnancy.  I continue to feel mostly alright, except for exhaustion. I have had a few more bouts of random nausea, but haven't actually gotten sick yet.  Not sure if that counts as morning sickness, although my sister says it does!  I have been craving a lot of carbs, like pasta, which isn't typical for me.  I'm guessing my body is just using a lot of energy for our growing little peanut so my body is craving something it can easily convert to energy. And even though I'm always really tired, I have been having a really hard time falling asleep the past week or so.  I get in bed around 9 because I am just so tired but then I don't fall asleep till midnight.  Its rather frustrating.  My sister gave me her big pregnancy body pillow so I'm hoping that will help me be more comfortable and get some more decent rest.

I am still getting blood work done twice a week to check my progesterone levels.  I am so ready to be done with the progesterone injections.  My backside is so sore and bruised.  I mean SO SORE.  It is hard to sit because the back of chairs hit the areas where I have to do the shots.  I am having to get creative in where I am doing the shots because the areas on both sides where they are supposed to be given are black and blue and I have knots in my muscles from the injections.  So while one area heals and recovers, I have to use another area for a few nights in a row.  The first couple weeks the shots didn't hurt or bother me but now they are hurting more and more and I dread the injection every night.  I am sleeping on a heating pad under my butt most nights because even laying down flat hurts. Luckily I only have 2 or 3 more weeks of these but right now that seems like such a long time.

I was having pretty regular cramping there for awhile but for a week or 2, I was hardly having any.  Then on Thursday night, I had pretty intense cramping for about 30 minutes.  I got up a few times to make sure I didn't have any spotting, which I didn't but it still worried me of course.  I had my scheduled blood work on Friday morning and when I told the nurse, she said it would probably be a good idea to do a quick ultrasound just to check on things.  I was hoping that would be the case when I told them, so I was relieved to get one done.   Everything checked out fine, and the baby looked good.  The heart beat was strong and measured 150 beats per minute, perfectly average.

This week in development the baby is about the size of a kidney bean.  Little webbed fingers and toes extend from hands and feet, eyelids are practically covering its eyes, breathing tubes extend from the throat to the branches of the developing lungs, and its tail is just about gone.  It's simply amazing to think of all this going on inside me.  Truly miraculous.  

I will have a final ultrasound in my 11th week with my current doctor and I have my first appointment with the high risk OB scheduled for March 26.  Once we are at 12 weeks (March 27), we will be in the so called "safe zone" and will move into our second trimester once we hit 13 weeks.   This is typically when people announce a pregnancy, but obviously ours is already public knowledge. However it will be nice to be out of the early phases where the risk of miscarriage is higher.  Plus, my birthday is this Wednesday so March is a big month for us!  Its hard to believe I will be turning the big 3-0.  While this is a big milestone, I am obviously thrilled about how our lives will change this year and excited for what my 30s will hold.

One thing I have yet to talk about and many of you may be curious about is my pain issues.  The past couple weeks I have not been feeling all that well.  I know my body is going through a lot of changes and I have high levels of hormones surging through my body (hormones can have a significant effect on pain and inflammation...sometimes good, sometimes bad).  I have also had a lot of bad muscle spasms in my back. Again, I know my body is going through a lot right now so I'm hoping that some of this will diminish in the coming weeks.  Whenever I have pain, I try to take tylenol first to see if that will help enough to prevent me from having to take my stronger medication.  If it doesn't help or if my pain is already to a level where I know that other things like heat, ice, my TENS unit, etc., won't work, then I do take my stronger medication.  The medication I am on now and have been on for a long time is a pregnancy category C.  I have done a lot of research and have found another medication that is a category B.  Most of the prescription pain medications for moderate to severe pain are actually fairly safe in pregnancy and have not shown an increase in causing major or minor birth defects.  The risk of course is late in pregnancy leading up to delivery.  I have mentioned before that while I try to take the bare minimum in order for me to be able to function on a daily basis, it will  be most important in  my third trimester to wean down to as low of a dose or take as little as possible in order to minimize the risk to the baby.  This is something I am working very closely with my pain doctor on and will be monitored closely by the high risk OB.  I'm sure many people have opinions and beliefs about the fact that I am on medication but I do not take the issue lightly and I use many other alternative therapies to help with my pain to try minimize the amount of medication I have to take.   I will do whatever I can and whatever my doctors recommend to minimize the risks to our child while trying to take care of myself and manage my pain.  Please be praying for this issue specifically during the next few weeks and months.