Week 10 of the Holloway Pregnancy

Our baby this week: "At nearly 1 1/2 inches long (about the size of a prune), [our] baby is growing by leaps and bounds: bones and cartilage are forming--and small indentations on the legs are developing into knees and ankles. Even more unbelievably for someone the size of a prune, the elbows on [our] baby's arms are already working. Tiny buds of baby teeth are forming under the gums." And further down, it's stomach and kidneys are already doing their thing! (You can see a few of these changes on the simulated baby.) We just can't believe how rapidly our little one is growing!
Mom this week: There have been some great, and some not so great days. Overall, I'm being able to eat more (which doesn't quite reach what I am normally able to eat, but at least it's an improvement), and am feeling less nauseus overall as well (although I'm still throwing up, though less often, and in increasingly more random places). Only 3 more weeks until the first trimester is over! (I'm hoping to feel back to my old self again by the time we leave for Travis' interview in Cleveland...hoping, praying, crossing my fingers!)
And as for what we have decided to name our baby for the time being--we still don't know. Go to our poll on the side bar to help us decide!

MCAT scores and application update

Hey everyone. This is Travis just signing on to give a little update with what has happened since submitting my application for podiatry school. As Jenny mentioned, my application was sent to schools in Arizona and Ohio. I heard back from the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine and have an interview scheduled for October 31st. I'm still waiting to hear back from Midwestern (the Arizona school). I also got my MCAT scores back today and am proud to report an overall score of 26M. I'll take it. It's higher than I expected so I can't complain one bit. That's all the news on the career front for now. Stay tuned for more details at a later date.

The Name Game

The more we post about our pregnancy, the more we realize that we need a nickname for our little one, so we don't have to call it "he/she" "it" or "the baby" all of the time. Any nickname ideas? Travis thinks that "fetus" is an appropriate name (as, he says, that's what it is right now) but Jenny can't stand that as a name! Ideas, anyone? We could really use your help!

News from the Dr.'s Office

We had our first prenatal appointment this morning! For this pregnancy, we have decided to go with Targhee Medical Specialists, and we are very pleased with them so far. (The Dr. and nurse we met with this morning were both friendly, answered our questions, and made all of the procedures--pap smear, ultrasound, blood draw, and flu shot--as painless as possible. =) )

Well, let me tell you all about it:

We found out that our little one is developing right on target. He/she is currently 9 weeks and 1 day "old" (just like we had thought), so our due date of May 8, 2009 will remain the same. The baby is also just about an inch long, right at the 9 week size (I can't believe how big it has grown in only a few weeks!). And, as the Dr. says, "its a good lookin kid" (which at this stage means that everything looks normal).

It was so amazing to see the ultrasound of the baby--its head and back, its stubby little arms and legs, and its pulsating heart. The baby even danced as we watched it; the Dr. commented that we had a dancer in the family, and Travis said "Just like their mom." It's been nice to look at our simulated baby (which, by the way, is looking so grown up today!), but it's sooo much different to see the actual baby that is inside of my body. And it was extra surreal, because last time we were pregnant, the baby wasn't there, but this time, it was. Having seen the baby also made me feel more pregnant. I told Travis that as we were walking out of the clinic (unconsciously sticking out my belly a little further, and waddling a little more), and it was such a funny/strange feeling!

In addition to the GREAT news that our baby is doing well, I also recieved a prescription from the Dr. that should reduce my nausea (as well as some helpful "reading material"). Hooray! (The Dr. had asked if I had been nauseous during this pregnancy. I informed him that I just threw up in his garbage. He told me that if the nausea gets bad, I can try unisom and some vitamin B6 (which Mark had already told me about). I told him I'd been trying those, that they had been helping some, but that I was still nauseous. Then, he turned and gave me the prescription. And there was much rejoicing.) We have our next appointment in 4 weeks.

Updates on our baby from "What to Expect" are that our baby has officially graduated from an embryo to a fetus (which is why its face, arms, and legs look so much more developed in the simulator. I saw this for the first time today when we were at the school library, and I immediately turned to Travis and excitedly said "LOOK! LOOK!"). Also, his or her head is continuing to develop and take on more baby-like proportions, and tiny muscles are starting to form, allowing the baby move its limbs (or dance).

Well, there you have it--all the info on our first Dr.'s appointment and where our baby is at for week 9. =)

A Funny

My cousin emailed me this funny a little while ago, and I thought you'd all enjoy it!


Dear Tech Support,

Last year, I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slowdown in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications (which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0). In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I've tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate


Dear Desperate,

First, keep in mind Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter command:ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 (and don't forgetto install the Guilt 3.0 update). If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the application Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta. Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (It runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.) Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0. In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program; but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,
Tech Support.


(Husband 1.0 is obviously more fabulous than here described, but it is true that things are a little different once you get married, and that BOTH partners have to work to keep the romance alive throughout the relationship. Hope you all enjoyed!)

Week 8 Update

I am now 2/3 of the way through my first trimester! Wahoo! Updates on our baby for this week: it is now the size of a large raspberry (don't you love how we're working our way through the produce section?!), and is developing further in it's back and limbs. And look, just LOOK at our simulated baby! Notice, if you will, its long limbs, its rounded back, and its cute little face! It's actually starting to look like a real baby! Sometimes I go to our blog just to look at it...

Well, updates on mom (me): I officially have my first Dr.'s appointment!!! It's scheduled for Friday morning, and I can't wait! (The only frustration is that I found out that I need to reapply for Medicaid, so I have to scramble to get all of my paperwork together, and then find a time to get over there before Friday. Question for those of you who have done this before: will Medicaid back date, so that they can cover this first Dr.'s appointment? Boy I hope so, cuz I don't want to wait a day longer to get to the Dr.!) In other news, I have found out that soda crackers and 7up are my new best friends (the only things that really seem to calm my stomach). The only problem I have now is finding out what ELSE I can eat during the day that will also settle nicely!

In other news: We are now about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through this semester of school (WAHOO to that)! And...drum roll please...Travis submitted his application for Podiatry School in Cleveland, OH and Glendale, AZ today! Yea Trav! I'm so proud of you!
Check back for more updates on his application and the pregnancy!

P.S. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions to help me with morning sickness! I love you!

Pregnancy Update

Ta-da! Here we are in week 7 1/2 of the Jenny Holloway pregnancy. This week brings our baby to the size of a blueberry (so cute!). New developments include our blueberry's (as we now sometimes affectionately call him/her) mouth and tongue, as well as little leg and arm buds (which you can see in our "virtual baby"--It's so exciting to look at the "virtual baby" and see arms and legs sprouting from our little tadpole, and realize that a baby is actually forming!).
As for Jenny (mom), things are feeling more and more pregnant! Morning sickness has turned into all day sickness (bluh!--let's just say that food no longer feels like Jenny's friend). We're hoping that the doctor can give us some ideas for relief, as going to school and work is hard to do when you feel like you have a continuous flu! And speaking of the doctor, Jenny is planning on calling today to make an appointment for sometime in the next week or so--we'll let you know how it goes (and hopefully get to post pictures!).

We'd like to give a personal shout out to Mindi for calling and sharing her thoughts for nausea relief--thank you thank you! It was so nice talking to you! And tell y'all that we'd love to hear any remedies that y'all have from the rest of you! (We're desperate for ideas!) Thanks!