Grow Placenta, Grow!

Things have been kind of quiet at the Baby Novoa Making Lab (BNML). Fortunately, at this point there has not been much to report, except that poor Jennifer is still a slave to the Progesterone (cue Britney Spears' "I"m a Slave for you" in your head). The good news is that she was able to switch to a less painful method and thus has not had to be on shots as of recent but vaginal suppositories are not much prettier if you know what I mean.

A lot of you might be wondering "why does Jennifer need to keep taking Progesterone? Doesn't her body make this hormone on it's own?" Well, the answer is a little complicated but totally understandable.

When an egg is released from the follicle in the ovaries what is left over is called the Corpus Luteum (remember high school biology?) This structure is what triggers ones body to produce progesterone which thickens the walls of the uterus and prepares it for pregnancy, if fertilization should occur. In our case, I donated the egg so Jennifer doesn't have a Corpus Luteum to keep her uterus nice and thick hence all the Progesterone shots she had to endure after the transfer. At about the 10th or 11th week of pregnancy the placenta usually starts to function and takes over the job of the Corpus Luteum in the production of Progesterone. Jennifer is at about 10-1/2 weeks so hopefully the baby's placenta will start working soon....really soon, and she can finally be free of any sort of artificial progesterone.

This whole process has really opened our eyes to see how incredibly complicated and beautifully perfect our bodies truly are.

The Traveling Fetus

Baby Novoa went on his/her first trip out of state this weekend. The "three" of us went down to Newport RI and met up with Grandma and Grandpa Novoa and Uncle Angel to see some ostentatiously beautiful homes and eat some yummy chowda'! We had an awesome time and Grandma and Grandpa bought the baby an adorable ducky washcloth and slippers. You better believe we are going to make our little one wear these slippers ASAP because they are just too damn cute not to.

So far so good on the fetus development. Marina and Jennifer talk to the baby every day (even though she/he can't really hear anything yet) and send encouraging words of love and excitement.

Hearing is Believing

So we had our first appointment with our OBGYN today and our little bean is doing very well, as expected. They did adjust our due date though to be October 23rd instead of the 22nd. It doesn't really matter a whole lot since only about 4% of women have their baby on the actual due date.

Check out the video of our 8 week old baby's heartbeat!


Perhaps next time we will remember to bring the digital camera so we can take actual "video" of the heartbeat.

I'm Ready for My Close Up!

These are actual photos of Baby Novoa!!!!!!

The first image shows the heartbeat of our little one. Notice the space in between the two markers on the image...that is where the heart is located. You can also see the EKG of the actual heartbeat. The baby has a strong beat of 165 bpm. The site and sound of our little baby's heartbeat was perhaps the most exhilarating feeling to date.

The second picture is of the baby from head to rump (notice the little cross hairs denoting the top and bottom). The ultrasound tech thinks the head is facing downwards in this image but we are not 100% sure. Our little peanut is about 10mm big (about as much as 10 dimes stacked on top of one another). Our kid may not look like much now but just you wait, soon the cover of Vogue magazine is going to begging us for pictures.

We also were informed that our official due date is October 22nd (a date that is also meaningful to our favorite little Salfity boy, Gabriel.)

Week 7 Pregnancy Update

(Again, not an actual photo of Baby Novoa) --->
Monday's blood test came back with all good news. Jennifer's hCG and progesterone levels are normal. So basically we are on track and looking good. The other good news is that Jennifer has not yet experienced any kind of "morning sickness" yet. Phew! She did however experience an unusual amount of hunger and sleepiness recently. Let me give you an example of our weekend..."Honey, honey wake up" Jennifer says. "What's the matter sweets?" Marina says. "I'm really hungry and I don't want to get out of bed just in case I start to feel nauseous. Do you think you could get me some Saltines and Ginger Ale?" asks Jennifer. "Of course honey." replies Marina. So I proceed to get out of bed, in the darkness and blindness of my unfocused eyes, to retrieve the crackers and soda. While I'm preparing everything I ask "Honey, what time is it?" To which Jennifer replies "5:30 am." That's when I nearly fell over. My poor Jennifer was starving at 5:30 am and literally woke herself up from sleep because she was so hungry from dreaming of eating waffles and oatmeal.

Fortunately, the obscenely early morning bouts of hunger have subsided for now and we await the next funky pregnancy trend.

By the way, here's what's going on inside Jennifer as speak.

• Elbows form - Again, taking a peek inside you could see your baby's fascination with bending and flexing. Later you will swear you can enlist your child as the star of the next "Karate Kid" movie!
• Fingers start to develop - These digits often become your baby's first toy!
• Feet start to appear with tiny notches for the toes - It is fascinating that at less than a half inch, your little guy (or gal) already is leaving "footprints" on your heart!
• Ears eyes and nose start to appear - Although they may resemble an alien life form, these all "shift" soon enough into a more normal appearance.
• Intestines start to form in the umbilical cord - Did you know that initially the intestines are not formed inside your baby's body?
• Teeth begin to develop under the gums - Thankfully, right now you won't be dealing with teething pain!