We're adding a dolphin to the family.

Around 6 Weeks

So big news, I'm pregnant! We're very excited and quite surprised that everything worked out so quickly. A few facts:

• Due date: mid-September, which means I'm just over 10 weeks along
• We thought we had miscarried a few weeks ago (right in line with past pregnancy experiences) because of some bleeding and cramping. However, when I went back to the doctor I found out that I have a blood clot sitting next to the baby. Fortunately, the clot is gone now so we don't have to worry about it anymore.
• At one appointment, the midwife discovered that I have a heart murmur. It's nothing serious, but I have to go in for an echocardiogram and a check-up with my primary doctor. The midwife thinks that it's probably more pronounced right now simply because of the pregnancy. I guess it's a pretty common situation.
• At the same appointment, I had an ultrasound so Brian and Eliza came along. When the sonographer pulled up the images on the screen on the wall Eliza cheered "yeah, dolphin show"! She's been really excited to go to the aquarium again to see the dolphin show. I'm not sure how she drew a parallel between that and a baby, but we spent the rest of the time joking about having a baby dolphin instead of a brother or sister.
• Which brings up another question...do we want a boy or a girl? We don't have a preference and we're not going to find out what we're having until the baby is born. I don't care what anyone else's opinion is on this - to each his own. :)
• This pregnancy has been quite different from Eliza's because I have actually been sick. Fortunately I haven't thrown up too much, but I've found that I feel nauseated most all of the time unless I keep food in my stomach and stay hydrated. This is already getting better though so I can't complain too much.
• Also completely different from Eliza's pregnancy is the fact that we didn't have any help conceiving this time. This baby was planned but a complete surprise because we had no idea it would happen so quickly.
• I don't have any major cravings but I haven't really wanted to eat vegetables or savory dishes. Although if I get the food into my mouth it ends up tasting pretty good. The foods that sound good are carbohydrate-rich/fatty foods like bagels with cream cheese or waffles and syrup. Desserts don't really do it for me now and I can typically only handle a small portion.
• As you can see from the pictures, I've already racked up quite a collection. That's because I've already had 4 ultrasounds to date the pregnancy and then to track the blood clot.
• I've been in to the doctor every 2 weeks and am looking forward to the slow down to once a month for the next few months. I don't think my internship is thrilled by the fact that I have to keep rearranging my patient workload in order to accommodate appointments. Nevertheless, I still get my work done so it doesn't really matter. I just end up having super long days once I tack on the appointment.

Just in case you're not sure what you're looking at: head to the left, bum on the right, one arm/hand sticking up in the middle and umbilical cord on upper right. We saw both arms and both legs today plus we saw the baby moving around and got to hear the heartbeat. This ultrasound also confirmed that the blood clot has resolved so that's great news!