Nine weeks

Seriously? That's it? I figured it had been at least 87. These are the longest days. I would even venture to guess that, should this pregnancy continue any further, these will be the longest weeks of the entire thing. The sickness continues and I think that has a lot to do with the slow passage of time. It's a huge effort to do simple things like take a shower, standing up and all. Or making food (the smells kill me), or getting to work. Keeping myself upright for 8 hours at a time. I even have to sit down while I brush my teeth now. I have to keep the window open at work no matter how cold it is because I need the fresh air. So I'll be sitting at my desk with a parka on and gloves trying to explain to people my newfound passion for outside air when they come in and make remarks about how cold it is. These are all very welcome efforts and I continue to look forward to them every day. They are the little reminders. I'm just sayin' they are such good reminders that it is impossible to distract myself from how very long there is to go 'til the 'safety zone' of post-NT scan world or the second trimester.

The Parent!ing website says that by 9 weeks ...

"The embryo may now officially be called a fetus..." That's nice. I thought that happened at 8 weeks, but I guess I stand corrected. Makes it sound more like a person and less like a cell cluster.

"[The fetus is] about the size of a strawberry." Awwww. Some people don't like it when their in-utero babies are compared to fruit. Something about them being edible. I think it's fine, it gives some depth perception. And strawberries are cute. Don't know how it's fitting in there without any evidence of a belly. My pelvis feels firmer, i think my pants feel tighter, but really if I wasn't paying this much attention I probably wouldn't notice.

"You may no longer feel as nauseated and fatigued as you've been the past two months." I didn't know that those symptoms could abate so early. I hope it's true because I've actually felt a little better over the last 24 hours. It could just be that I'm having a good day, relatively speaking (I still feel pretty pukey). It could mean the worst is happening. But now a third possibility - I could have reached the morning sickness summit and started down the other side. What a nice thought.


"Through the placental wall, the embryo [this is from week 8] is able to absorb oxygen, proteins, sugar, and fat for the crucial task of building cells." Uh-oh. So the placental wall is already permeable. Well, I'm not happy to hear that after drinking all that cl!nique foundation yesterday. That had to have some dangerous stuff in it. No, I'm not kidding, unfortunately. In my clutziness and morning haze I somehow managed to actually ingest foundation while I was getting ready for work. Trace amounts I think, but still. I was shaking the bottle 'cause it's nearing empty and it slipped and drops of foundation went everywhere. Including, it turns out, into the glass of water I always have on the bathroom counter as I'm getting ready for work. I didn't notice this until I had popped a zofran and taken two gulps out of said glass. Then, down past the end of my nose in mid-gulp I saw the hazy, clumpy, flesh-colored mass at the bottom and quickly spit out that second gulp I was taking and poured out the rest. But it was too late for that first gulp. I considered inducing vomiting. I considered going to Dr. Google, or my real doctor. But upon executing a few experiments involving new glasses of water and intentional dispensing of makeup into them I discovered that most of the stuff stays on the bottom and it's not likely that I ingested very much at all with that one gulp off the top. It's amazing how congealed that stuff stays in water, it totally holds it's shape. I had no idea, (and in what universe does anyone have the opportunity to discover this kind of thing!?!? Only my universe, I am sure of it.). So I probably ingested particles the size of dust. I've been trying not to worry. Trying to stay off of Google. Trying to tell myself that spitting in the wind will not kill or maim one's baby. It's nothing. But then I thought of it's tiny brain forming, it's tiny organs, tiny limbs. This is probably the worst possible point in the pregnancy to expose it to poisons. But then I also thought - how bad could it really be? Everyone who wears makeup probably ingests some trace amount of it over the course of the day, right? Who knows. I'm over it. There's nothing that can be done.


What I'm not over is how on earth could that actually happened, and more importantly, how could it happen now? It has never happened in all my long years of applying makeup with water glasses near by. What a strange thing. Something I wouldn't have even thought twice about pre-pregnancy but which sent me into a tailspin thinking about all the damage that could be caused. Who drinks makeup? I always read on message boards people saying makeup is fine during pregnancy because only tiny amounts are absorbed by the skin, it's not like you're eating it! Oh, but I am eating it. What then? Is it lights off?

At least it wasn't paint or windex or mercury out of the thermometer. That's next though, you watch. I can assure you I am going to be inspecting my beverages with a fine-tooth comb from now on. As if I weren't paranoid enough, now I have to deal with spontaneous accidental chemical infusions.