9 weeks - foetus in da house!

I’m 9 weeks today and it’s another week of big changes. Sticky is now the size of a grape and is growing teeth buds, elbows and eye lids. Her kidneys, liver, brain and lungs are starting to function. And drum roll please, Sticky has graduated from embryo to foetus!

Sticky’s not the only one having a big week of changes. I am too. This week, my uterus will become the size of a grapefruit and today, it’s starting to feel like one! I have a heaviness in my lower abdomen, along my pelvic bone. It feels hard on the left hand side, but softer on the right. It feels like how I imagine my whole stomach will feel in a few months – like a basketball!

Today is also my first day in maternity clothes. I am wearing the fabulous maternity pants my friend gave me and am so glad to have some comfy clothes to wear. I’m wearing a t-shirt and cardigan over the top of it and it’s clear the t-shirt will not be part of my wardrobe for much longer. While there is a bump happening at the front, the stretchyness of the pants hides it so I feel confident I’ll be able to keep things under wraps for a while longer.

My nausea has also made a reappearance today. It’s funny how it just seems to come and go. I haven’t had a really bad day for quite a while thank goodness. I did have some on Saturday and  – but again, both mild cases. I find it’s better once I eat which is sometimes difficult because my appetite fluctuates quite a lot too.

On the weekend I had my birthday party with about 20 friends. It was a little difficult because some people knew about the baby and others didn’t. Those who did had to wait until they could steal a secret moment with me to talk about it but I was always worried the wrong person would walk in at the wrong time. I know a lot of my friends, and family, are very excited and just want to be able to talk openly, so I’m glad we only have a few weeks to go until we can.

I’m a little freaked out about the nuchal scan which I’ll have in just over 3 weeks. My base risk for down syndrome is 1:120 purely based on my age. My blood test and scan results will be added to this for the overall risk. I think I’m just worried because the fertility specialist made such a big deal about it given I’m high risk. But, I just keep reminding myself of all my friends who have had babies at my age and they’ve been fine. Once we have those results, and we know they’re good, I’ll be ready to share with the rest of the world.

In the meantime, I choose to embrace my mantra for this year and am working towards creating a future based on propulsion. Last time, I made all the 12 week appointments and had to cancel them when I lost Peanut. I think about that as I go to book in but, I choose to move forward in confidence rather than fear. I also choose to do the same thing with my Father who wants to make a change table for me. He’s asked me for the height several times but I’ve been procrastinating, not wanting to get too involved until we know everything is ok. But, last night, I remembered I’m about propulsion, not procrastination, so I gave him the measurements.

Sometimes, you just have to make the leap and trust that you will land safely. Or in this case, that Sticky will arrive safely.