Still alive and well

I guess it's about time I write a little update.  Didn't mean to leave any of you readers hanging with the fifth disease scare.  I have been sooooooooooooooo busy with school.  Anyway, this is what's been going on in the life of Ruth:

Fifth Disease:

I went in for the bloodwork, which came back negative (I've never had it).  They want me to come back for some follow-up bloodwork in a couple weeks to make sure I haven't been exposed since the first test.  I haven't had any symptoms, and I rarely ever come in contact with the "little kids" at my school, so I think I should be ok.

Ultrasound:

My last u/s was on Oct. 1st (at almost 9 weeks).  It was awesome because our little one was actually starting to look human.  At previous u/s, my RE would point out the head forming, and it still just looked like a blob to me.  This time, I could recognize the head and body as soon as baby came on the screen.  Of course, my eyes are still very untrained.  When I asked "are those the little arms and legs?" the RE zoomed in to show me.  "See, here's an arm.  Look! Here's a knee."  A knee???!!! Seriously, how can he see this?  We also saw the baby move a little bit at one point. So exciting! My next u/s is this Thursday (it's been a long wait).  Tomorrow will be my last day taking estrogen & progesterone, then on Thursday they will test to see if my body is producing enough on its own.

Symptoms:

Well, 3 weeks ago when I last posted, I was having the week from hell.  The antibiotic I was taking made me soooooo sick.  I threw up twice that week, missed another day of work (in addition to the Monday I was on "bed rest"), and even had to stay behind at school with a student rather than go with my class on a field trip to the beach because of how nauseous I was.  That whole week I felt like it was a chore to eat anything, like I had to try really hard to just swallow food without gagging.  

Since then, I haven't been as nauseous, but I've definitely developed some food aversions.  For instance, at the beginning of pregnancy I always wanted spinach.  Now the thought of any leafy green makes me sick.  Also boiled eggs; I don't even want to think about that texture going down my throat. Oh yes, and there are some definite smell aversions.  DH likes to keep cooking seafood for himself & his friend, which does not make my nose happy at all.  Last weekend I was so mad when he made the whole place smell like clams.  Gotta count my blessings though: at least he hasn't brought shutki into this house (look it up).  And last night he made me some chicken korma, after I begged him to please stop the experimenting and make something I know I like.

Sleep: It's getting pretty uncomfortable.  At least I am no longer going for hours at a time without being able to fall asleep.  But I do wake up several times feeling uncomfortable and having to switch over to sleep on my other side.  Before pregnancy, I was a tummy sleeper, but now have learned to sleep on my side.  I know they say the left side is best, especially later on, but right now I feel much better to sleep on my right side.  The last few days I've been feeling a sharp pain in my left hip, so I try not to put pressure on that side.  I read about sciatic nerve pain in early pregnancy, but I'm not sure if that's what it is.

Weight gain: I think I have gained a total of......1 pound....maybe.  Although it feels like so much more.  I feel so bloated all the time.  Fortunately, I had lost about 15-18 pounds after moving to LA, and kept a lot of my old pants, so those are coming in really handy.  However, I did invest in a pair of maternity pants for work.  I also bought one of those stretchy bands to wear over my regular pants, but I still feel too constricted when I wear it.  I'm just ready to actually start "showing" so I can have more proof that this is actually real. :)