summertime and the living is easy. well, easier than waking up at 5:30am, running around like a crazy person all day and not getting home until 6. i am still in the initial flurry of doing all of the little things that need to get done but i haven't had time to do until now (getting a plumber and the exterminator to come over, scheduling a dentist appointment, taking the dog to the vet, refilling prescriptions, etc.), but overall i am taking it easy and am quite happy about it.
went to the regular OB last friday and the high risk doc this past monday. all seems to be going well. i got a warning from the regular OB because she said i've gained 9 pounds since i saw her last, which is way too much for four weeks. my scale doesn't quite agree with hers, but she's the professional. she said i'm still fine overall because i gained so little in the beginning, but i need to slow it down a bit. so i told her i'd be more careful. and truthfully i could see once i thought about it where i've gotten a little off-track the past few weeks, what with a billion end-of-year meetings at school with decadent treats, my bagel binge, and the chocolate chip cookie fest that occurred when i was craving them and so decided to make a double batch for our cookout and ended up eating one whole batch myself, i'm pretty sure. so it should be relatively easy to stop that weight gain pattern. i always lose weight in the summer when i'm not stress-eating and surrounded by temptation at school, so while i know i don't want to start losing pounds, slowing the gain should be doable. it also helps that red grapes are still as good as a hot fudge sundae in my book.
otherwise, everything is fine. the baby is doing well, estimated weight is 1 pound, 4 ounces, which is 57th percentile. he's moving around a lot, which i like, but i have to say i become a total freak show when i haven't felt him in awhile. the doctor said it's too early to have his movement be predictable, and it's still totally fine at this stage if i go a day or two without feeling anything. but i don't like that idea at all. it is such a constant reassurance when i feel him doing whatever he's doing in there. the cool thing is that some of his movements now are strong enough that you can feel them on the outside of my belly, so the hubby has been able to feel him a couple of times. he mostly tries to tell me that he thinks i'm just having gas when he feels it, but i am trying to convince him that i definitely know the difference now.
i am definitely feeling the bodily strain now, especially since it's gotten hot out. my feet and ankles swell up if i sit without elevating my feet or stand still for too long. my center of gravity and general ability to navigate through spaces are definitely compromised and my back aches a lot. and since i weigh more than i ever have, any kind of physical activity is more challenging. but i'm feeling okay overall, just... whale-like. i'm going for my first prenatal massage tomorrow, thanks to a gift certificate my friends from work gave me. i cannot wait.
next week we go to louisville to visit my cousins for our last pre-baby airline trip. i'm super excited about that, but also psyched to get home and have almost two solid months to relax and also get organized and prepared. i'm really looking forward to doing a lot of yoga and dance central this summer, and getting lots of sleep. plus, of course, tackling the items on our summer project list, which is lengthy but not overwhelming. i hope. it's all getting very real. now i am going to lay on the bed and try to feel the baby move so i can continue the day stress-free.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
21 Weeks
Time feels like it's flying by. I am past the theoretical halfway point of this pregnancy, and it's beginning to feel quite real. I've started collecting some hand-me-downs from friends, so there's even some baby stuff in the house now. Friends are organizing baby showers, I'm talking with folks at work about plans for my maternity leave next school year... it sorts feels like full speed ahead at this point.
Not that that means I've stopped worrying about something going wrong. I guess that may never stop. I'm now in the time of my pregnancy where my friend from work went into premature labor and lost her baby in January, so that weighs on my mind. And this past Sunday the hubby and I were in a car accident, which really put me into a tizzy. I went to the ER as a precaution (all the cops and EMTs on the scene thought it was a good idea, and I agreed) and after a terrifying hour or so we learned that everything was fine. We were very lucky the accident wasn't worse than it had been and that we were all relatively un-hurt. I think the hubby and I had our first foray into the all-new worries of being a parent. It wasn't a lot of fun.
This week I had my Level 2 sonogram, generally known as the anatomy scan. This is a big event for people who aren't seeing a high risk doc and getting ultrasounds every two weeks, but for us it wasn't super exciting. We ended up doing it in two parts, because my appointment with the doc was today, but I went in yesterday as a cautionary measure after the car accident and the ultrasound tech did most of the measurements then. Today the doctor looked over all of those photos and did a couple more that the tech wasn't able to get: head shots, since this baby doesn't like to show his face. But the doc got him to shift a bit by adjusting the table so that I was practically standing on my head!
Yesterday we noticed that the baby was head down for the first time, and his head was really low and pressing on my cervix. This isn't a bad thing, but it was uncomfortable and when I felt it yesterday after the accident I got nervous that something was wrong. He seems to have moved a little as of this morning... he's still head down, but I don't feel the pressure anymore.
The doctor said everything looked great and both the baby and I are doing just fine. The baby weighs about 15oz now, which is the 51st percentile at this stage. He has all of his parts, and all seem to be doing what they're supposed to be doing. I wish we could see his face a little more often, but he really doesn't seem to like the ultrasounds. Now that I can feel him kicking, I definitely know when he's all worked up about something! (But I love feeling him move. It is my favorite thing so far. It's changed now from feeling like little bubbles to feeling like someone flicking my insides with their fingers. They say over the next few weeks it'll feel more and more like actual kicks and punches. Fun!)
I've been holding steady at about 10-12 pounds gained. I'm still feeling really good. Occasionally I still get nauseated, and occasionally REALLY nauseated, but I think it's all related to how often and how much I eat. As long as I eat small amounts of food every couple hours, I'm fine. I still eat about five pounds of red grapes a week. It's sick but I figure there are worse cravings to have. Otherwise I feel pretty normal, other than having this alien being in my belly. The congestion isn't bad most of the time, the round ligament pain is sporadic now, I'm sleeping great (as long as I have my belly wedge pillow!), pooping mostly normally, and haven't noticed any more weird side effects.
And I really look pregnant now. It's still mostly in my belly, and I'm still carrying pretty much all in front, but the rest of me is changing, too. It's definitely a whole body experience now. I've outgrown my "new" bra so i gotta get another one of those. Every day is an adventure.
But summer vacation is a mere two weeks away! I'm really looking forward to getting the house ready for this baby and to a lot of relaxing time for me and the hubby before the insanity sets in. Fingers crossed that the relative and ease of the past few weeks (car accident excepted) continues for awhile. :)
Not that that means I've stopped worrying about something going wrong. I guess that may never stop. I'm now in the time of my pregnancy where my friend from work went into premature labor and lost her baby in January, so that weighs on my mind. And this past Sunday the hubby and I were in a car accident, which really put me into a tizzy. I went to the ER as a precaution (all the cops and EMTs on the scene thought it was a good idea, and I agreed) and after a terrifying hour or so we learned that everything was fine. We were very lucky the accident wasn't worse than it had been and that we were all relatively un-hurt. I think the hubby and I had our first foray into the all-new worries of being a parent. It wasn't a lot of fun.
This week I had my Level 2 sonogram, generally known as the anatomy scan. This is a big event for people who aren't seeing a high risk doc and getting ultrasounds every two weeks, but for us it wasn't super exciting. We ended up doing it in two parts, because my appointment with the doc was today, but I went in yesterday as a cautionary measure after the car accident and the ultrasound tech did most of the measurements then. Today the doctor looked over all of those photos and did a couple more that the tech wasn't able to get: head shots, since this baby doesn't like to show his face. But the doc got him to shift a bit by adjusting the table so that I was practically standing on my head!
Yesterday we noticed that the baby was head down for the first time, and his head was really low and pressing on my cervix. This isn't a bad thing, but it was uncomfortable and when I felt it yesterday after the accident I got nervous that something was wrong. He seems to have moved a little as of this morning... he's still head down, but I don't feel the pressure anymore.
The doctor said everything looked great and both the baby and I are doing just fine. The baby weighs about 15oz now, which is the 51st percentile at this stage. He has all of his parts, and all seem to be doing what they're supposed to be doing. I wish we could see his face a little more often, but he really doesn't seem to like the ultrasounds. Now that I can feel him kicking, I definitely know when he's all worked up about something! (But I love feeling him move. It is my favorite thing so far. It's changed now from feeling like little bubbles to feeling like someone flicking my insides with their fingers. They say over the next few weeks it'll feel more and more like actual kicks and punches. Fun!)
I've been holding steady at about 10-12 pounds gained. I'm still feeling really good. Occasionally I still get nauseated, and occasionally REALLY nauseated, but I think it's all related to how often and how much I eat. As long as I eat small amounts of food every couple hours, I'm fine. I still eat about five pounds of red grapes a week. It's sick but I figure there are worse cravings to have. Otherwise I feel pretty normal, other than having this alien being in my belly. The congestion isn't bad most of the time, the round ligament pain is sporadic now, I'm sleeping great (as long as I have my belly wedge pillow!), pooping mostly normally, and haven't noticed any more weird side effects.
And I really look pregnant now. It's still mostly in my belly, and I'm still carrying pretty much all in front, but the rest of me is changing, too. It's definitely a whole body experience now. I've outgrown my "new" bra so i gotta get another one of those. Every day is an adventure.
But summer vacation is a mere two weeks away! I'm really looking forward to getting the house ready for this baby and to a lot of relaxing time for me and the hubby before the insanity sets in. Fingers crossed that the relative and ease of the past few weeks (car accident excepted) continues for awhile. :)
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