And just because it needed to be said

David & Abigail Martin (co-conspiritors of my child's exsistance) are coming over this weekend for a dinner and such...im pouring over recipes for ideas and for the first time in quite a while reading them isnt making me sick to my stomach...it turns out the fetus enjoys a party

Things that I forgot to add in the last post...

The website for the stationer is www.silverleafdesigns.net, also I have a session with Mike Long (my favorite photographer) for pregnancy photos and I have him on our registry for baby photos www.katchlight.com, and I have an appointment already scheduled with a belly casting artist (no surprise, I already have the artwork picked out and approved) www.geocities.com/pmsartist

Things to get excited about/check off of my list

Now that I'm not AS sick (i still struggle in the mornings and i still cant keep down cereal or bagels) I have been a bit productive which as you know, pleases me to no end. The nursery is being painted in less than a week, the muralist is almost finished with her sketches, The baby shower planning is going well with a theme, custom invites picked out (the stationer is a cohort of my wonderful wedding planner Jacquelyn Reynolds), and a custom menu being laid out by one of my favorite restaurants in Portland (www.meriwethersnw.com). Every couple of weeks we get something new from our registry for the wee one and it's starting to get fun. Thank goodness!

A sigh of relief

We got the official results back from our first tri screening for down's syndrome and trisomy 18 and it turns out that it's almost a genetic impossibility for our wee one to have either of these. Phew, now maybe I can sleep again.
Our next OB appintment is on September 4th, it'll be the first one with our new doctor (since we had to switch thanks to an insurance change).
I'm feeling a lot better stomach wise. I still get nauseaus but i cant usually keep food down. Im still super super tired and without energy (I fell asleep at Fred Meyer today while reading a magazine...for 20 minutes i was sound asleep). I think part of that is that it's not so easy to get to sleep with my now changing body. Lucky for me i've always been a side sleeper and do in fact prefer my left side (which is how doctors want you to sleep during pregnancy).
Our nursery is being painted next weekend and the muralist is working on sketches for us. We got a baby book and a car seat this week so that's fun.

In non-baby news our good friends Austin & Whitney Andreasen and their 2 boys are going to be in town from Denver this week and we're really looking forward to our first overnight guests in our new house! Yay!

Week 15 begins

Week 15

Your 13-week-old fetus now measures about 4.1 (10.4cm) to 4.5 inches (11.4cm) from crown to rump and weighs about 1.75 ounces (50g). Its body is covered by an ultrafine hair, called lanugo, which is usually shed by birth. Eyebrows and hair on the top of the head are beginning to grow. He may even be sucking his thumb by now. Bones are getting harder.

Oh evil baby, why do i fight your power? You are clearly more crafty than I.

Please to notice the time difference between this post and my last. Less than two hours. I just finished throwing up. The bad kind (yes there are degrees of it), in a nutshell, i threw up so hard that some coleslaw from lunch came out of my nose.
Obviously my baby can read my thoughts and thus can "hear" me thinking of what to type. I think that the happiness and gloating in the last post over not throwing up for a week was viewed as some sort of "challenge" to the baby or threat against it's evil cunning.
Well hear this baby..."I give up, you win. Check and mate."

Either im getting better or someone is plotting evil deeds

A week! I have not thrown up in exactly (as of 10 minutes ago) 7 days!!!!!!!!! I'm still nauseous (especially in the mornings) but no actual vomit in a whole entire week.
In less wonderful news i can barely button my pants now, in fact last week i wore an extra long shirt to cover up the fact that i didn't button my pants at work. Since I've lost so much weight from throwing up it means that I'm less wide but thanks to bloat and baby my pouch sticks out uncomfortably. I'm pretty sure that my days of being less wide are numbered...
On a lighter note, we went to Ace and picked out the color for the baby room (Yellow Lotus from the Benjamin Moore "Nutura" low-VOC line) and will have the room painted (minus the murals, which should be started on in late September or early October) in a couple of weeks! Exciting!

Week 14 Begins aka 2nd Trimester!!!

Baby:
Your baby measures about 3.2 (8.1cm) to 4.1 inches (10.4cm) from crown to rump now and weighs almost an ounce (28g). The ears are shifting from the neck to the sides of the head, and the neck is getting longer and chin more prominent. Facial features and unique fingerprints are all there. Your baby is beginning to respond to outside stimuli. If your abdomen is poked, the fetus will try to wriggle away.

36 hours and counting

My first trimester is down to hours and i couldn't be happier. Things look happy and healthy with the little parasite and my vomiting has gone way down. In fact I've kept all meals down for over 24 hours now (I'm still retching up spit in the mornings of course). I also have a touch more energy which means that pretty soon I'll be popping in those pregnancy workout and yoga DVDs that we got and making sure that I'm keeping a nice healthy strong home for the wee one for the next 6 months. Fun thing of note: the baby must have the soul of a middle aged woman (or it's mama's taste in music) because i feel the least nauseated when the like of James Taylor, Carole King, Jim Croce, Van Morrison, & Simon and Garfunkle are on. Also super exciting (to tech nerds like this baby's parents): our BabyPlus Prenatal System arrived today! Haven't heard of it? Do a Google search. It's super rad and i'll be strappin it to my tummy in a couple of weeks when the baby develops use of it's ears.

Baby of the future

Since this site is mostly about me and my pregnancy I thought we ought to give the baby it's own little website as well. Our baby would like to direct you to www.ourlittleclarkling.com for baby info, polls, registry, photos (the ones on here as well as nursery and future ultrasounds when they come out), guestbook, etc. It's totally darling so check it out. When i update it i'll put a post on here to give you a heads up.

A few more 13 week pics

a few that couldnt fit in the last posting

13 Week Ultrasound

We had our 13 week ultrasound and things look good. Baby's heartbeat is 139/minute at this point.

Week 13 begins - Life's a "peach"

Week 13
Baby:
Your fully formed fetus, now in about its 11th week of development, measures 2.6 (6.6cm) to 3.1 inches (7.9cm) from crown to rump and weighs between half an ounce (14g) and seven-tenths of an ounce (20g) -- about the size of a peach. The head is still disproportionately bigger than the body, but the rest of the body is starting to catch up. In fact, your baby is growing rapidly these days. The face is starting to look more human, with eyes moving closer together. Toes and fingers are clearly separate, and ankles and wrists have formed. External genitalia are becoming visible. Intestines are shifting into their proper place, too.

Such a stereotype

A sign that things must be getting better...i have eaten 5 or more (I've lost count) pickles today thus far and i haven't thrown up once (god could you just imagine how awful that would be after all of those pickles) this is not to mention the fact that i so desperately want some Fig Newtons (it's not a cookie! It's fruit & cake!) that i would be willing to kill another human for them at this point. Cheyenne is out of town for a few days on business...I have every intention of buying myself some Fig Newtons tonight and eating them in the bathtub like a gross pregnant monster (don't tell my secret).

Now that the 1st trimester is coming to an end

We have signed up for "Prenatal Education Classes". It's a 10 week (Tuesdays only) course starting October 13th. Class description - A package of our three most popular classes: Childbirth Preparation, Basics of Baby Care and Breastfeeding. You meet once a week for 10 weeks to complete this series.

Week 12 Starts

Your Baby This Week - Your baby has more than doubled it's size during the past three weeks, weighing in now at 1/2 an ounce and measuring (crown to rump) about 2.5 inches. About the size of a large fresh plum, your baby's body is hard at work in the development department. Though most of his/her systems are fully formed, there is still plenty of maturing to do. The digestive system is beginning to practice contraction movements (so your baby will be able to eat), the bone marrow is making white blood cells (so your baby will be able to fight off all of those germs passed around the playgroup), and the pituitary gland at the base of the brain has started producing hormones (so that your baby will one day be able to make babies of it's own).

Under 200!

We have passed the 200 day mark...our due date is now just a short (ha) 198 days away! Yay!

Sisterly love, mouth vomit, & nursery ideas

First things first....my best friend (which really isn't a strong enough word for our bond, sister is better and it's what we use) is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Just flat out awesome with no ifs ands or buts. She gives me constant love and advice in all aspects of my life and is already such a great godmother. Today our wee Clarkling was lucky enough to receive it's second care package from his/her god-mama and a few treats for this mom as well. Nothing has made my pregnancy as fun as getting to hold and smell all of the sweet baby things that Manda is sweet enough to send. Much love.
Today I threw up in my mouth. Not a little bit like you get with a vurp (vomity burp) but in fact full on puke. My co-worker truly cannot handle the very IDEA of vomit without dry heaving, let alone full on puke taking place. So I'm sitting there "working" at my computer and out of NO WHERE my mouth filled with vomit...."what to do?" I cant make it downstairs to the bathroom, i cant use the trash can because co-worker will go ape, i cant use the hand sink because boss & health inspector will freak, so i swallowed it!!!! Yes readers, i have hit a new low. A single tear trickled down my cheek (like the Indian fella from the 70's recycling commercial). Cheyenne has forbidden me from ever doing this again and says that he'll have "words" with co-worker if i feel like i cant use the trash can in an emergency.
New nursery news...i have settled on a new "theme" (though I am loathe to use that word, i hate anything overly themey or matchy matchy). We are going to have yellow walls with a Babar the Elephant mural and framed artwork with some other (small and tasteful) Babar items. We like the colors & the fact that it's gender neutral. We have a muralist coming out to give a price quote this week or next (it's not nearly as pricey as you would think). I will of course keep everyone posted.