The Halfway Point

I sincerely apologize for it taking so long to get to this post.  The last part of the first half of this pregnancy was not a very happy one.  No worries, everything is fine with the baby!  I got my flu shot and confessed about my depression to the midwife.  She has offered a medication that has been tested to be safe in the second trimester, but depending on the doctor they may suggest discontinuing use in the last month of pregnancy to prevent the baby from having any withdrawal symptoms.  She said she would leave the decision up to me if I want to go on it and if in the last month I would want to continue use or not.  The withdrawal doesn't last long, but can cause feeding issues.  I'm still up in the air on how I feel about the whole thing.

My cake balls turned out awesome!  Probably not the prettiest ones, but they sure were yummy!  Strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting and coated with chocolate.  Like heaven in your mouth!

My girls get away was ok.  I was the only one who stayed up past 9, I couldn't eat much and felt sick half the night, but it was nice to relax and not feel like I was being pulled in a million directions.

Sunday Lilli and I spent the afternoon with my sister AKA Pocca.

Sunday night when I went to bed my shoulder was very achy.  I thought that the ache from the flu shot had gone, but I just chalked the pain up to that.  By morning both shoulders my neck and chest were sore and taking deep breaths hurt.  I got up and got ready for work anyway.  I had a supplier coming in that I'm working on a major project with.  By the time I got to my desk I was no longer hoping I could make it, I was sending and email to my boss with all the information he was going to need to run the meeting in my place.  By the time I got home again it hurt just to breath.  And trying to lay down in bed was some of the worst pain I think I have experienced since giving birth.  I slept ALL day.  Yesterday I stayed home again, the pain wasn't as bad, but I knew if I pushed it I wasn't going to get any better.

Also Sunday night as B and I lay in bed, just dozing off, the phone rings.  Everyone knows not to call our house past 8pm. I knew it had to either be a drunk buddy of his or something important.  Considering the person it was we decided to let the machine pick it up.  The message left was just "B, it's T, get a hold of me."  Not odd for the person, just the hour.  5 minutes later the phone rang again, same person.  I decided to let B decide if he wanted to answer it.  He didn't, I found out later he already knew what the message was going to be, but it was "B, it's T again, I'm in Roc with L and they are taking J off his machine."

T is B's cousin and L & J are brothers that have been their friends since childhood.  B actually lived with L & J and their family for a few years growing up.

Turns out he was expecting this call because my FIL had been told by J's mom that they were seeing no brain activity for a while.  J had a rough life, in his early 20s he was diagnosed with brain tumors that wouldn't go away.  This was about 8 years ago, just after B and I met.  May he rest in peace pain free.

Now on to what you are actually reading this post for...

It's a... Girl!

Since there were only 5 votes (that I knew who voted) I decided to enter everyone in the drawing.  Turns out it was a girl vote that won anyway.  Congratulations to Joy!

Send me an email at brandisboutique@gmail.com to talk about your prize!  And if any of the other voters would like a discount on a hat feel free to email me there too!

Well, I think this is long enough for now, I better get some work done!

17 Weeks

I can't believe I'm almost half way there!  For some reason that seems to be a big point for me this time.  I'm really hating this in between stage of only feeling the baby every few days.  I keep telling myself to be patient, but it doesn't keep me from worrying.  And I also know that soon after feeling frequent movement comes the uncomfortable positions and feet, hands, butt, whatever in my ribs.

October 14th is the big ultrasound day if I haven't mentioned it already.  I am going to add a poll to the sidebar so you can vote for boy or girl.  Of the people who guess correctly, I'll use random.org to choose a winner for a free crocheted hat of your choice! 

 

17 Weeks with Lillian






17 Weeks Baby 2



Week 17 according to Baby.Center:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now, and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

This week we have a Hockey Puck/Turnip.  In all honesty I don't really have any idea of the actual size of either of them!

So here is another one we should all be familiar with...

121

That's what Bean's heart rate was today! Right where is should be! And Bean was also exactly 1 week further along in growth!!!

I'm feeling very confident now and I'm so over the moon I don't know what to do with myself.

This picture shows the baby's head at the top. Due to my extensive research (and staring at pictures on the Internet) I can see the little arm and leg buds. Of course this is a picture of a picture and my actual picture isn't as good as what the screen showed. It was amazing to see the little tail and umbilical cord though!

I really can't wait to tell my little girl that she's going to be a big sister! She is going to be sooo excited!

Oh and the midwife for now has suggested tums for the excessive acid in my stomach. We'll see if they work this time. if not she does have something she can give me, but they try to any type of meds in the first trimester.

What I've Been Waiting For

Yesterday seemed to take forever!

I love my midwife! She is just so happy for me I thought she was going to cry. She just kept saying "Yay, I'm so happy and excited for you!" We talked about symptoms, which I have a ton of and how we're pretty sure I know the date of my last AF. We talked about my happy pills and the decisions I have to make regarding them. Then she asked if I had any more questions. I was shocked she never even mentioned an ectopic so I asked what my chances were. She looked at me strange and went back in my file. (I love that their office uses laptops and everyone brings one in with them for easy reference). The OB had noted that I was at a slight increased risk and my MW knew I was worried so she ordered the ultrasound, of course with the warning that being I'm only 5 weeks and 6 days (according to LMP) we probably wouldn't be able to see anything, but we'd check the tubes and if we couldn't see anything anywhere she'd order some blood work.

I got right in for the ultrasound and again was warned that we may not see anything. I her I completely understood, but I didn't want to risk any more harm to my tubes by not checking. It's funny that she even mentioned "I was supposed to see you today, then I wasn't and now I am. How's your little one doing, I remember you from you last pregnancy." The personal interaction is what I love about this place!

So anyway, you don't care. She explained she was doing all the measurements of my uterus, tubes and ovaries, but she things she sees an interuteran pregnancy. After all the measurements, she went back to my uterus and I saw it right away, a sack and an embryo. As soon as she zoomed in to take a measurement we both saw that beautiful flicker of a heartbeat! That image keeps replaying over and over in my head. I could have laid there all after noon watching that. She was even able to zoom in enough to get the heart rate, 98bpm. It's low, but I have been assured over and over again it always starts low and chances are that it just started beating in the last day or two. But without me asking my MW said she was scheduling another ultrasound for next week to make sure the rate increases. So I'm sure you are thinking "Just shut up and show me the damn picture already." OK, OK.

There are some other things that are growing well too! I'm so proud of my garden and soon I will be eating my first vegetable from it! I don't know why, but this zucchini has grown 10 times faster than the rest of them!

Tomatoes on the plant that I thought had drown from the rain.

Green beans and peas that need a little tending this weekend.

Happy Thoughts

I would really appreciate happy thoughts and/or prayers from everyone.

In 7 (what will feel very long and drawn out) hours I have my first midwife appt. This appt was originally scheduled to check to see if the fluid had drained from my tubes. I hoped and prayed that this appt would end up being to check for an ectopic pregnancy instead and thankfully it has turned out that way!

Now I could use all the happy thoughts anyone has to offer that first they do take a look (which I do plan on insisting on if they don't think it's necessary) and second that what we see in a comfy little bean nestled snugly in my uterus happily exercising it's newly formed heart muscle. I do believe that is what we are going to see, but any extra help would be greatly appreciated.

The last few weekends Lillian and I have made the hour trip up to my mom's camp ground because my uncles T (from Boston) and H (from West Palm) have made the trip there to visit family. I surprised them all yesterday by just showing up and it really was a nice relaxing time. Lillian actually took a nap with Grandma and Uncle T and Aunt D and I got to just sit and chat for over an hour. I can't remember the last time we had a chance to do that. And of this time with family lent itself to some great picture taking opportunities.

Lillian painted her own fingernails for the first time!

I just love this picture! Lillian and Uncle T hanging out!

"No mom I'm not tired! No nap!" And after 5 minutes of a movie. . .

Reading a book and showing the pictures to her second cousin.

Pretty good form for a 2 year old don't you think? Never mind if she actually hits the ball.

She loves the older boys. And don't let him fool you, he loves playing with her too!

What a tiring day! Wish I could have fallen asleep on the way home!

I may be a little bias, but isn't she just the cutest thing?

Half Way There!!!

First thing first...

The u/s was great, but it would have been better if I hadn't had to sit in the waiting room for a half hour. The orange juice I drank worked, but wore off before they started the u/s. Everything is measuring on schedule, but she is currently breach. My midwife said she has plenty of time to turn around and I'm sure she does, but her butt was stuck down in the smallest part of my uterus making her legs squish together. After explaining this the tech all of a sudden said "I have to go, I'll be back." It had me worried, so while she was gone B and I had a talk with baby. I sat up and tried pushing on my belly a little. Well it worked. She moved just enough to get a glimpse. I'll post some pictures at the end.

Then after the u/s we went and got our Christmas tree!!! I might decorate it today being that I took the day off to go shopping and can't go any where cause the roads are so bad. After bringing the tree home we went to register for baby stuff. It was fun. I'll post the bedroom stuff in another post.

Once we got home B got a call from one of our friends. His wife had been in the hospital all day. Earlier this week she was diagnosed with kidney stones, then yesterday she went to the hospital with severe headaches. They gave her a spinal tap and determined after that she had a brain aneurysm (sp?). This meant that she needed to be transferred to a hospital 60 miles away. Well her DH was in no shape to drive, especially being that the roads were terrible. So B said he would drive him being that he was coming home after he knew she was ok and settled in so he could take care of their girls. Well I didn't sleep well cause B didn't get home until 5:30 this morning. It was very frustrating, I was worried he'd be in a terrible accident or something. He said they had to go 30mph all the way home on the highway this morning. a normally 45 min trip took them an hour and a half.

Well I think that's about it for now. I'm tired, but I have a lot of things I can get done if I'm not going shopping today.

Stupid Bowling!

Ok, so first, yesterday was only OK over all. The game sucked! B got drunk and stupid, and we sat in the rain through a 10-3 loss. Not fun! The only thing that made it fun was having my best friend there that I haven't seen since finding out I was pregnant. I miss her so much some times.

Today I was all excited because my MIL sent me an email and wants to buy me this stroller:

A girl she works with has it and loves it. Said it's much easier to maneuver than the 4 wheel and it now fits the Graco Sung Ride and Safe Seat infant seats. Which is what I want. I think this one matches pretty nicely.

But B and I said that we would like to go and try out some of the 3 wheeled ones cause we haven't used them first. So B and I plan that after the BIG u/s next week we'll go out and start registering. Well later I realize that our appointment is on a Tuesday, he bowls on a Tuesday. My appointment was at 1 and the chances of me getting out of there much before 3 are slim to none and he gets picked up for bowling at 5:30. Meaning the only place we could go is Walmart and well there isn't much there I want to register for. So I called and tried to reschedule my appointment for this Friday or Monday. Well of course the soonest they have is next Thursday at 8:30. UGH, that's another 2 days! I don't want to wait that long. But at least on the plus side I'll be able to spend the whole day celebrating with B. It's just so darn frustrating. I HATE bowling!!!

We have a date!

Besides having to wait, which felt like forever but wasn't really that long, my appointment went great yesterday! My blood pressure was good, and according to their scale I lost a pound. I asked about omega-3 supplements and she said she isn't overly convinced of the affects on the baby, but I personally think it works. My SIL took it and my nephew is unbelievably smart. He was 4 years old explaining to his grandpa about how the batteries made his train work! So I think I'm going to start taking it, I figure it isn't going to hurt.

At the end of the appointment she always checks the heartbeat. So I lay back and she feels on my belly and my uterus is just and inch or so below my belly button so she puts the jelly on a little lower than that. No heartbeat, she moves down a little lower, no heartbeat, she says "pull your pants down a little farther", and there it is! She says "Your little one is still sitting on your bladder." with a little chuckle of course. And yes I knew that, I can tell when it moves off and back on cause well, I can wait longer in between bathroom trips. Apparently its comfortable there so who and I to complain.

And lastly she said to come back in 3 weeks! I was so happy she didn't say 4!!! So Dec. 9th we should be finding out what sex this little one is! I'm so excited the receptionist said the u/s takes about an hour, I can't wait to watch my baby for that long!

In painful news, I got my blood drawn for the quad screening. B didn't really want me to, but said he understands I'm a planner and I'd want to be prepared. But being that I hadn't made up my mind while at the OB office I don't even know when I'm getting the results back, which is good cause it's actually keeping me from worrying. And I have bladder issues. When I'm over tired and don't wake up at my normal time in the night to go to the bathroom I wake up later. And the problem with that is that it's pain that wakes me up. I'll roll over and try and curl up and the pressure of my legs coming up cause major cramping, like to the point I wanted to cry, I didn't even feel like I had to go to the bathroom cause it hurt so bad. But then I realized how long it had been and once I got over the pain of sitting up and then to the bathroom I was relieved. It was really scary at first though. I didn't know what was going on.

So I think that's it for now. I'm really glad that Thanksgiving is between now and my u/s. It will give me enough distraction.

1st Ultrasound!

So I left a perfect example of my brain not functioning in my last post titled Bad BlOOger, instead of Bad BloGGer. Just had to point out my idiocy.

Today seemed like the longest day ever. Of course I knew it would being that my appointment was until 3:00 this afternoon. I swear it seemed like the longest time of my life ever. 1st B got stuck in traffic and was late picking me up. I wanted to be mad at him, but I managed to keep my temper and not say anything, he was stressing as it was.

We got there about 10 minutes late for my appointment, this bothered me, but only because I hate it when other people are late and it makes me have to wait longer. So the girl takes me back after only maybe 10 minutes of waiting. She takes me into a room with a few desks and a bed, I think it was an office actually with a portable machine. She does the abdominal and doesn't say much of anything, after a few minutes she looks at me and says "I guess we'll have to do the trans vaginal." So after not saying anything, I'm wondering if this is normal for 8 weeks? Is everything ok? Did she not see anything? So she says I'm going to take you to a different room for that, like I said the room was more like an office so I was happy to wait for another room to open up.

I ask for a bathroom while I was waiting. After I went we waited another 5-10 minutes. We get to the new room and I undress and she sticks in the dildo and says "wow your bladder filled up fast" I thought I was crazy for thinking I had to go again, but my bladder was so full she couldn't see the top of my uterus so I had to go pee again. Once we finally got started it seemed like forever before she said anything, lots of button pushing though. Finally she turned the screen and there was peanut. Bobbing it's little head and wriggling around. I don't think I've ever felt so much relief in my life. Even B could tell exactly what it was. You could see it's little head and when she got it just right you could even see the arm and leg buds. Peanut is measuring 8w3d, right on schedule. And get this a heartbeat of 177bpm! The only thing that sucked was that I didn't get a picture. I was going to ask, but she logged out before I got the words out. I hope I get another u/s at 12 weeks, but I doubt it for some reason. Either way I'm happy now!