6 weeks, 5 days (Due Date Update!)

Well my new little monkey, Mommy is about to confuse you. Up until my first OB appointment last Tuesday the 11th, I believed that I was due on January 9th, which meant that you would be another week older every Sunday. However, I was informed at this appointment (and this is something they've told me before) that, since the due date is only an estimate, they just go by 40 weeks from the first date of Mommy's last p-----. (I'll just edit that word out to avoid awkward questions. :P) Besides, I'm not really sure if my cycle is longer than 28 days anyway. I've never been good at keeping track. SO, you're "new" due date estimate is Thursday, January 6th, which means that you grow to be another week older every Thursday, not Sunday. However, in the end, none of this is very precise at all. We won't be able to tell much until I get a couple of ultrasounds under my belt.

I didn't update when we hit six weeks, and I'm sorry about that. Mommy was very sick with a cold last week and stayed in bed a lot. Therefore, I will update for both six weeks and seven weeks now.

As of last Thursday, the 13th, these were your stats:

1. Your neural tube closed! What an achievement. We won't know for sure that this all happened correctly yet, but God will take care of you and I no matter what happens. :)
2. Your little heart was pumping blood like crazy!
3. Your cute little face was beginning to form!
4. You were about 1/6-1/4 inch long!

This is about what you looked like:


I realize that a lot of this is similar to what I wrote last time. It's sometimes hard to figure out exactly when things happen.

Anyway, this is what will be going on with you as of this Thursday, the 20th:

1. You have tiny, visible nostrils! I bet you have a button nose just like your mommy!
2. Your eye lenses are forming!
   
3. Your little arm buds have grown into what look like little paddles.
4. You are about 1/4-1/3 inch long, or about the size of a pencil eraser.

This is what you look like. Quite the difference from last week, huh?


I love you, my little sweat pea! For my update next week, I should be able to show you a picture of what you REALLY look like! I'm getting my first ultrasound on Tuesday the 25th, and I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!! And to hear your perfect little heartbeat...

Until next week,

I love you.

4 weeks, 6 days

Congratulations, Sweetheart! You are now the size of the tip of a pen (or about 1/16 and 1/8th of an inch)! Tomorrow I will be five weeks along, which means that you've been alive for three weeks! You have a lot of work to do this week, so Mommy will try to make sure that I eat lots of protein, folic acid and iron over the next few days. :)

This is what's going on with you right now:

1. You have grown from 500 microscopic cells to the size of a pen tip! How I wish there was some away for me to see you! I am counting down the days until I can.
   
2. The neural tube along your back is starting to close. This is OH SO important! Mommy is taking in A LOT of folic acid to make sure that this happens properly. I am praying that God will protect you in this process.
3. Your heart should begin beating today or tomorrow (if it isn't already!).
   
4. This week, your facial features should begin appearing, including the arch of your jaw and the tiny passageways that will make up your inner ear.
5. Your body is starting to form into a c-shape, and small buds are appearing that will soon become your arms and legs.

This is about what you look like right now:


I am so proud of how fearfully and wonderfully made you are! The fact that all of this is happening inside of me without me really being aware of it is so amazing to me, and I wouldn't trade being a part of this for anything.

This week, I scheduled my first doctor's appointment and ultrasounds, and I can't wait for them to get here! This Tuesday, the 11th, I will go in so that they can draw some blood, confirm your due date and ask me a bunch of questions. Everyone is being a lot more cautious this time around since your brother was stillborn in January. We all want you to be born healthy, Sweetheart.

To make sure of that, Dr. Cline has scheduled me for two ultrasounds before you have even been alive for two months! My first ultrasound is on Tuesday, May 25th. I will be a little over seven weeks pregnant, which you will be a little over five weeks old! I can't tell you how excited I am for that first ultrasound. Your daddy and I should be able to see your little heartbeat flickering on the screen, and we may even be able to hear it already! Then, on Tuesday, June 8th, Dr. Cline is going to do another ultrasound just to check up on you and make sure everything is going ok. She cares so much about your health, and I'm hoping that she will be able to deliver you when the time comes.

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this amazing process. I am so thankful to be your mommy.

Until next week,

I love you.

My first letter to you: 3 weeks, 6 days

My precious, tiny sweetheart,


It's still so hard for me to believe that I have a reason to be writing this to you. Your daddy and I found out this morning that you are growing inside of me, and I want you to know that we are SO HAPPY to know that you are alive! If everything goes well (and I am praying that it will), you will be in our arms on or before Sunday, January 9th, 2011. According to what I've read, I believe that you've been alive since April 18th, which means that you are technically 13 days old today. Once you are born, everyone around you will celebrate that day as your birthday; but please know that I will always remember April 18th as the day that your life began. Your daddy and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary on Monday, April 19th, so I look at you as God's amazing anniversary present to us.


I hope that these letters to you will be a blessing to you some day. I want them to remind you that you could not have been more wanted by us.


Here are your stats as of tomorrow, Sunday, May 2nd:

1. You are now made up of 500 microscopic cells.
2. Your tiny body is forming into three layers. The outer layer will become your nervous systems, eyes, inner ear and a whole lot of connective tissue. The middle layer will become your bones, muscles, kidneys and reproductive system (your daddy and I will explain what that means when you're older). The inner layer will become your lungs, intestines and bladder.

You are such a little miracle, Sweetheart; and I am so proud of you.

Until next week,

I love you.