So nauseous

The last time I told you I wasn't sick at all. However, 3 days later it started. Now every morning, and during the day as well, I feel nauseous. Since we haven't told anyone about the pregnancy I have to be careful what to say or how to behave at work and at other places. This weekend my mom is here as well, she is staying for 4 days. We just told her I have the flu, which explains the nauseous feeling, being tired all the time and my lack of appetite. If only she knew I am pregnant....

Five weeks pregnant: 2nd ultrasound

We had a few ultrasounds during the first weeks of the pregnancy, to check if everything was all right, i.e. if the embryo was growing inside Hanneke's womb (which it was). In this ultrasound, we were able to see the first sign of our baby--well, the development of an embryo might sound more correct at this stage. But to be sure everything was all right we had to come back again the next week (which was scheduled anyway).

In the ultrasound picture, you can see a sort of ring in the bottom-left corner of the uterus, which is filled with amniotic fluid and measures about 17 mm. The size of the embryo itself is probably around 2 mm, which is normal somewhere in between the fourth and sixth week of the pregnancy. As an additional check the gynecologist was going to check Hanneke's blood at two different times to make sure her hormone level was rising as it should. Fortunately, everything would prove to be really fine in the end, which was a comforting thought.

Luckily, everything seems to be going well for us but I think this is generally a strange period for many parents to be. You are pregnant but actually have no idea what is going on. The first few weeks/months are of course also the most risky ones (e.g. for miscarriage). This is of course a scary thought. However, I read that even about 30% of the women lose blood during the first weeks, even though there is nothing wrong with the pregnancy or embryo. And while blood loss can come from many sources--some women even still have their period--people are of course easily concerned by something like this. Probably, the only thing one can do is to have some trust. Actually, the stress might be a bad thing for the baby. Also, if you eat and live well, there is really nothing you can do to influence the pregnancy. Perhaps this kind of comforting thought is not always satisfying but I suppose it is true...

Locating our baby

As Marcel already explained, this is the first ultrasound we had. On the picture you can see how small our "baby" is and where he is supposed to be somewhere.

Until now I haven't been sick or had to throw up, I hope it will stay like that the rest of the pregnancy. So, I'm feeling quite well for the moment.

Four weeks pregnant: 1st ultrasound

This is our very first ultrasound, very early in the pregnancy (less than one month), although it is very hard to give a precise indication of the age of the baby (or embryo). So, when we say four weeks here, it is a pretty rough estimate.

On this ultrasound only the amniotic fluid can be seen in the uterus. So no baby yet, although it is hiding somewhere. ;-) We will have to come back to the gynecologist in two weeks. By that time, we should be able to see more in Hanneke's womb.

We're pregnant!

Today we finally did a pregnancy test to find out if I'm really pregnant. I thought to know already and being late 6 days only made that feeling stronger. So, this morning we did the test. Of course we were a little bit stressed and read the instructions four times to make sure we did it right. After a short time (what seemed ages for us!) the word "zwanger" ("pregnant" in Dutch) appeared on the test, which means we're going to have a baby! Although I knew before I am pregnant it is a strange feeling to know for sure you're pregnant, but it is a nice feeling.

We called the gynecologist this morning as well to make our first appointment. The appointment is already next week, that's really fast! In Switzerland pregnant women usually go to a gynecologist for the check ups and normally give birth in a hospital or a private clinic. So that's different from the Netherlands where you usually go to a midwife for the check ups and where you can choose where to give birth, at home or at the hospital.