An Explanation for the Nausea and Exhaustion- Baby Q :)

As Melinda pointed out :), I did not offer an explanation for my nausea and tiredness in any previous posts... so here goes! We are expecting baby #2 at the end of February, and I am nearing the end of the first trimester (thankfully!) I was spoiled with my pregnancy with Ethan in that I felt little to no nausea and did not notice an impact on my energy level until the very end of the pregnancy. This time around has been a totally different story, as I have felt underlying nausea all of the time and have been completely exhausted (sleeping well at night and still desperately needing a nap for at least a portion of Ethan's naptime). I'm looking forward to less nausea and renewed energy in the second trimester! We had our first OB appointment today with a new OB practice. Because our insurance changed when I went on leave from my previous employer, I had to change OB practices. We were very impressed with the new OB and how seriously she is taking her approach to prenatal care and monitoring based on all of the glucose issues that Ethan experienced shortly after birth. I'll have several glucose tolerance tests throughout the pregnancy to make sure that my blood sugar levels are completely normal up until delivery. Even though the neonatologists didn't think that I had any glucose issues with my pregnancy with Ethan (all of my test results had been normal), I will feel more comfortable closely monitoring this for the second pregnancy.

Now for an explanation of "Baby Q". Ethan has had lots of nicknames throughout his life of 2 years, and the one that has stuck started as "Mister Sweetpea". This was shortened to "Sweetpea", and then just "Pea". Although it probably sounds odd to others, we usually simply (and affectionately) refer to him as "Pea". When we were thinking of something to call Baby #2, we figured that Q comes after "Pea", so that is how we came up with Baby Q.

The OB practice that I go to does not routinely perform an early ultrasound, but my doctor ordered one anyway-yay! So we got to see the baby at 11 weeks. We had an ultrasound at 9 weeks with Ethan, and at that point he looked a lot like a jelly bean ;) We were amazed at how much development occurs in only 2 weeks, as we could see so much more of Baby Q. We saw the heart beating and arms and legs moving. We could see the baby's hands clearly. The ultrasound tech showed us several different neat views, and we got to take home several pics. We don't have a scanner (sad, I know), but I tried to take digital photos of two of the printed photos to post. Sorry for the fuzziness of the images- it was the best I could do photographing reflective film without a flash.

Baby Q! You can clearly see his or her head, arms, and legs/feet

This view is from the top of Baby Q looking down. His or her hands were close together and easy to see, so the ultrasound tech took a picture for us.