I am 4 weeks, 4 days pregnant!

After some encouragement from my friend Jen, I decided to start a new blog, chronicling my pregnancy, much like I did when I was pregnant with my first child. What's going to be different this time around is that I will not only have a toddler to take care of but I'll also be a newlywed. The next 8 months are going to be interesting, to say the least.

Where to begin? Well, for those of you who don't already know who I am, here are a few facts:

• My name is Ashlea.
• I am 26 years old.
• I am in the process of trying to toilet train my 2 and a half year old, Aidan.
• I am getting married in 9 days to the love of my life, Mark.
  
• I am a Data Entry Pharmacy Technician and I pretty much love my job.
• I enjoy knitting, reading and playing video games.
• I am 4 weeks and 4 days pregnant!

Now that those details are out of the way, maybe I should explain how this blessed miracle came to be...

Mark and I have been together for almost four years. We started dating in December of 2004 and shortly thereafter I found out I was pregnant with Aidan (side note: Mark is not Aidan's biological father. Aidan's biological father is my ex-fiance who has chosen not to be apart of his life). In March of 2006, Mark proposed to me and I happily accepted. After 2 years, we decided it was time to tie the knot.

About 2 months ago, Mark and I began discussing the possibility of having another child. I had thought that that day would be further down the road, say, five more years. Surprisingly, Mark didn't want to wait that long and after further contemplation, I agreed. It made more sense having the children closer together. My sister and I are only 18 months apart and we were super close growing up, whereas Mark and his older brother are several years apart and rarely speak.

So, about a month ago we decided to throw caution in the wind and start trying to conceive. As much as we wanted another child, we didn't want the action of trying to have another baby consume our lives, meaning we weren't going to do like ovulation tests or count days or anything. We were just going to be relaxed about it and enjoy our "baby making" time together. If it happened, it happened. If it didn't, it didn't. We'd just try again next month. I wasn't going to be stressed out about it.

Two weeks ago, I started getting the worst heartburn ever. And it lasted for HOURS. Then I had to pee. ALL THE TIME. I started to think, "Hrm...I had the same symptoms when I was pregnant with Aidan," but then I thought it couldn't be, because we hadn't been trying that long.

Last week, it was the same thing, except my nether-regions were becoming quite swollen and sensitive. I'm not sure if this is typical of pregnancy, but it was definitely something weird. Again, I had the horrible heartburn and frequent trips to the ladies room.

Friday I left work early because my shoulder was killing me (I'm having some rotator cuff issues) and had to go to the doctor. I decided that I would take a pregnancy test beforehand just in case the doc wanted to prescribe pain meds for me. I went to Walgreen's and bought a home pregnancy test kit and headed home. Much to my surprise Mark hadn't left for work yet, so while he sat on pins and needles I went and peed on that little strip...

And guess what...
....(by now you obviously know what I'm getting at) I was pregnant!

I went online and did one of those due date calculators and I found out that I was just four weeks along and that I'm due around February 15th.

At first, Mark got a little nervous but then he called his mum and all was good. I called my parents and they couldn't have been happier. :o)

***

So that's that. My first OB appointment will be on July 8th. I'll be 8 weeks by then and will be able to hear the heartbeat. *squee*

The morning sickness hasn't really kicked in yet (knock on wood). I started taking my prenatal vitamins on Sunday evening and they make me feel a bit queasy, but I'm taking them at night so I don't feel like crap in the morning.

I'm sooo bloated that it's not even funny. I already look pregnant which can't be THAT normal. They say you show sooner with your second baby than your first, but come on. This is just silly. The more I've read online though, the more I believe I'm just bloated. Blech.

So I guess that's it for now. To close, this is what the baby is doing this week:

How your baby's growing:

This week marks the beginning of the embryonic period. From now until ten weeks, all of your baby's organs will begin to develop and some will even begin to function. As a result, this is the time when she'll be most vulnerable to anything that might interfere with her development.

Right now your baby is an embryo the size of a poppy seed, consisting of two layers: the epiblast and the hypoblast, from which all of her organs and body parts will develop.

The primitive placenta is also made up of two layers at this point. Its cells are tunneling into the lining of your uterus, creating spaces for your blood to flow so that the developed placenta will be able to provide nutrients and oxygen to your growing baby when it starts to function at the end of this week.

Also present now are the amniotic sac, which will house your baby; the amniotic fluid, which will cushion her as she grows; and the yolk sac, which produces your baby's red blood cells and helps deliver nutrients to her until the placenta has developed and is ready to take over this duty.

See what's going on in your uterus this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.