Pregnancy Update - 12.5 weeks

Hey Y'all,

So there's been a lot that has happened on the pregnancy front since the last update but the abridged summary of weeks 6-12 is as follows: sick + tired + headaches all the time, lost 7 pounds, passed out at work, went to the hospital, went to lots of doctor visits, got some meds, able to keep down more food, gained back 7 pounds, and I'm back to my starting weight of 134 lbs so all is good.

The doctor says everything is progressing nicely and Baby Cummings is growing fast :) Morning sickness is the only known indicator of a healthy pregnancy so I must have one healthy and happy little baby in there! I am at 12.5 weeks right now. I am still feeling queasy and light headed throughout the day but it's improved a ton from what it was and the most important thing is that I've been able to keep down food and some children's gummy vitamins called Lil Critters :)

The most exciting thing that has happened was our first trimester screening for Down's syndrome last week which entailed an ultrasound and some blood work. The ultrasound was SOOO cool! I was amazed by how much Baby Cummings had developed - I could see the facial features, arms, legs, toes, fingers, tummy, back. The tech also said that Baby Cummings is now swallowing (as evidenced by liquid in its' little stomach) and the kidneys and other organs are operational!

I also was pleasantly surprised to see how much the baby can move! I expected to see a little more developed baby but was shocked to see just how much it has developed and how much it can already do! Baby Cummings was moving all over the place! Twirling, kicking, and punching to get away from the ultrasound paddle. After moving around for a long time, he or she all of a sudden stopped and just kind of floated to the bottom - the tech said the little guy/girl fell asleep :) I guess it used up all of its energy and needed a nap :)

The tech kept jostling my abdomen around trying to get him/her to move so that she could get the pictures she needed....no luck! Baby Cummings was out for the count! The tech even turned my table almost all the way upside down to see if she could get the baby to float up some to get the pics. When that didn't work, she had me get up and walk around the office some, go use the bathroom, and come back. Sure enough, when we took another look, Baby Cummings was at it again, trying to escape the ultrasound paddle :) Between Baby Cummings being uncooperative and me laughing, it took us about an hour to get the pictures that she needed for the nuchal translucency screening. The radiologist read it and said everything looked good with the sonograms so now I'm just waiting to hear back about the blood work (they look for presence of certain proteins to determine what kind of risk factor the baby has for being born with Down's syndrome).

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a video of it for Sterling to see :( but the tech gave me some sonograms of the side profile of the baby :) You can't see much in them cause it was moving too much but you can see the outline of its' face and tummy :)

Face is looking upwards and is on the left side :)

It was amazing to see the ultrasound. I can't wait for the next one so Sterling can see our little peanut in action too :) The whole thing still just seems unreal to me. Most of the time it's kind of like I've just had a bad stomach flu or something for weeks on end....and then when I go in for appointments and hear the heartbeat or go for an ultrasound like this one it just hits me like a ton of bricks - holy cow!!! THERE'S SOMETHING GROWING IN THERE!!! Along with a ton of other feelings- some nervous (I'm just a kid... and yet now I'm having a kid in October ah!), some excitement (I wonder what it is?) but mostly feelings of absolute awe - How can anyone not believe in God when they see how cool the human body is and what it is capable of and how this teeny ball of cells can develop into this breathing, swallowing, kicking and squirming little perfect kid? It really is amazing how God makes everything work...and even though the unpredictable and unplanned is really scary for me, I look forward to seeing how He makes it work for our little growing family :)