21 Weeks

This past week Ryan took off for a long rafting trip and we are missing him tremendously.  I couldn't go because I need to save my time off and protect my precious tummy cargo.  I am enjoying the week with my mom instead.

I finally went shopping for REAL maternity clothes.  I bought my first pair of maternity jeans!  Oh my goodness these are comfortable and I found a really cute pair at Gap.  Everyone said I would get sick of the bellyband and they were right.

Here is my belly this week:

JUST KIDDING!  In the picture above I am shopping for maternity clothes with my mom and I am wearing the maternity pillow to envision how my clothes will fit when the baby bump gets full size.  Here is the actual picture:

I can't wait until I can see Baby B move from the outside.  That way her Daddy will be able to see as well instead of the just relying on me to constantly explain the movements.  I often lay around the house with my shirt open hoping to see something.  Nothing yet.  Ryan says that I look like a hillbilly laying around the house with my belly sticking out....but I am okay with this.

Here is Rio Puppy sleeping on Baby B.  She is kicking him but Rio doesn't seem to notice.  

20 Weeks--HALFWAY!

I spent most of the past week with my mom in L.A. watching my lovely little sister graduate from college.  Congrats little sister!!! The babygirl and I got some excellent vitamin D and ate amazing meals.  I can feel Baby B getting stronger every day.  She is moving around more and more.  I actually had to ask Ryan if it is starting to get annoying every time I let him know babygirl is moving around in my belly.  Not yet.

I am starting to regularly practice my hypnobirthing exercises in order to work on my relaxation.  I also started my prenatal yoga to start getting my muscles ready for all the birthing poses I am learning.

When I came back from L.A. Ryan had set up the entire nursery (well all of the furniture at least!).  It was one of the most exciting parts of coming home (excluding getting to see Ryan and my pup).  Now we can start decorating and organizing.  Let the nesting begin!  

Only 20 weeks left to go!

Gender Ultrasound and a Dr. Visit

Ryan and I were so incredibly excited to find out if Baby B was a He or a She.  To top it off we were getting the good news on my birthday.  We both took the day off to have a full day of celebration.  The ultrasound was at 9:30am and I woke up early with butterflies.  This whole pregnancy I maintained the idea that I would be happy with a girl or a boy but before the ultrasound I started to worry that I might have subconscious feelings one way or the other.  What if the ultrasound tech said, "It's a boy!" and I started to cry...... These were my pre-ultrasound jitters.

During the ultrasound our little Baby B was not exactly cooperative.  The head was pointed downwards with the face tucked between the uterine wall and placenta.  The baby was then laying faced down on the placenta like it was a body pillow, totally cuddled up around it.   The baby's genitals were at the exact point of my belly button.  The baby's feet were in my right ribcage.  Also, baby was wiggling around like crazy, even though baby would not move the face away from the placenta/uterine wall.  We were at the ultrasound for over two hours.  The doctors were having me jump up and down and roll all around in different positions trying to get Baby B to move away from the placenta so they could get a better view.  No such luck.  They were finally able to see the genitals....IT'S A GIRL!  but we never got to see baby's profile.  When we found out it was a girl a feeling came over me like, "duh, no surprise there" even though it was a total surprise.  It almost felt like I knew we were having a girl all along even though I totally didn't.  Ryan felt the same way except he was more sure that we were having a girl in the first place.  Next time I will listen to him from the start.

Our babygirl looks completely healthy!  The doctor said that she is at the 50% growth rate for almost everything except head size.  Our little girl has a small head--only 20% percentile--which I think is hilarious because she did not get that from my genes.  Due to Baby B being so uncooperative we will have to go back from another ultrasound in a few weeks.  I thought this would be the last time seeing baby in utero but now we get to see her one more time.

Here is the one cute picture we did get:

Baby stretching out her finger's on her right hand.  She would make a fist and then extend her fingers repeatedly but she consistently left her thumb extended.  

To celebrate for the rest of the day we went on a walk on the waterfront, went out to lunch, Ryan took me shopping, and then out to dinner.  Ryan surprised me with roses and a very romantic night.  It was a very special day.  We also toured a daycare and got our names on the waiting list.  Can you believe there is a waiting list 8 months before we need to utilize and center!  We are crossing our fingers babygirl gets accepted.  Now I am off to Los Angeles to watch my little sister graduate.  

19 Weeks

Happy mother's day to all you moms out there!  This was the first year anyone has ever congratulated me as a mother.  Ryan thought it was silly but I think I am deserving seeing as how I have now abstained from alcohol for five months!  Such sacrifices mothers make! (just kidding...).

Really though, it was a time for reflection.  It was a day I thought about how grateful I am for my own mother.  And it was also a day I morned for all of the people who have lost their mothers, or have bad mothers, or take their mothers for granted.  Everywhere I looked (tv commercials, magazine covers, internet ads in the sidebars, etc.) was highlighting the fact it was mother's day.  Now that I have lost my father I know what a sad day this can be for some people.  My heart goes out to all of these people.  My mom is so amazing.  I really do not know what I would do without her and I hope that my child will think of me the same way.

There is a baby up in there!  And this next week I will be halfway through my pregnancy.  AND Ryan and I will get to find out if Baby B is a He or a She in just two days!  :)

Check and Check

Crazy this is from such a mainstream news source but it totally falls in line with a lot of my wishes and desires for birth-- Consumer Reports Article about Birth

Week 18

Baby B had a growth spurt and I could totally feel it.  I felt more tired than normal this past week and my appetite skyrocketed.  I also feel baby move more and more each day.  When I haven't felt him/her move for a while it freaks me out and I start paying extra close attention.  Baby B usually always moves when we go on car rides.  I have no idea why.  Ryan thinks it could be a sign of a race car driver.  I hope not.

We find out if Baby B is a He or a She on my birthday, May 16th.  The days could not pass by any quicker.  We are so so so excited.

The nursery is coming along.  We picked out paint colors and have it mostly cleaned out (minus a desk I still need to sell on Craigslist).  I have been reading all about hypnobirthing and have a CD to listen to as well.  I also bought a Birth From Within book.  We finished our baby registry....mostly.  Babies need so much stuff!  We are going to buy the crib, dresser, and a book shelf next weekend.

Here is the growing Baby B bump:

Stress.

My hospital sent me the test results for the second part of my differential screening (to make sure baby is healthy).....or so I thought.  I went for a blood test and that is what they said was going on.  So, when I saw the test results and saw what my baby's numbers were and what the average range should be I freaked out.  My baby's numbers were outside of the normal range and when I looked online to see what it could possibly mean I saw words like: cancer, sepsis, and serious infection.

I spent the next hour trying to reach my midwife, a midwife, any midwife, any doctor, and any nurse.  Everyone was busy/on lunch/etc.  I seriously lost it.

Five hours later.....

I finally received a call back.  Not a midwife or a doctor.  But a nurse that was "filling in" and didn't even work in the women's health department of the hospital.  She informed me that the test results I was looking at were not for my baby's health.  This was a completely different test.  She had no idea why I even took this test.

Two hours later......

My midwife called me and apologized.  She didn't know how this test got ordered either.  Apparently the off numbers had no relation to my baby's health.  I should be receiving those test results any hour.  This random test was looking at my health.  And we already know that my blood tests are all screwed up.

So.....end of story is that I was oddly and thankfully relieved.  As far as I know baby remains healthy and my blood is messed up.  Apparently, this test could show that I am too stressed.  But that information stresses me out more.

Stressed about being stressed....now that is stressful! 

Week 17

This was an exciting week because the moment I blog about my curiosity surrounding how much longer my pants are going to fit, I wake up, and my pants don't fit.  I'm pretty sure I gained two inches around my tummy overnight.  It's not that I can't button my pants--it's just not comfortable to do so.  Eventually, when I sit for long periods of time the top button on my pants starts pressing into my tummy.  So I have spent a week with my new BFF the bellyband.  I know many of my friends are just like "get maternity pants already" but the bellyband is a pretty awesome invention so the maternity pants can wait.

The second exciting thing is that even though my bump is little to others (it seems HUGE to me) people are starting to notice.  I thought my clients would not figure out that I was pregnant until I was about ready to go into labor (teenage girls are usually oblivious to everything) but sure enough one of them straight up asked, "Are you pregnant?" and I could not lie.  Now the whole world (my work world) knows because teenage girls also are not known for keeping their mouths closed.  I have gotten several of my first tummy pats (not counting my tummy pats from Ryan).

People tell me my bump is small and I am guessing that has to do with my height.  Lucky baby should have a lot of room (think king size suite) so that is nice.  I also went for my hematologist appointment and was shocked when I stepped on the scale and found that I haven't really gained any weight.  Maybe two or three pounds so far.....I am hoping this won't be a problem.  My next mid-wife appointment is not until May 17th.

Other news relating to my hematologist appointment is that she could not find out why my platelet count is low.  All the tests came back normal.  My platelet count has dropped a tad bit lower--112--but she will not get super concerned unless it drops below 70.   She thinks it could be pregnancy related (except that would be weird because it usually does not drop in the first trimester) or it could be something more serious (but she doesn't think this is likely) or it could be because I have an enlarged spleen (but there is no way to look at this until after I deliver).  So who knows.  I will continue to have blood tests to get my platelet count monitored.

I took this photo right at the beginning of the week so you can't see how much I have actually "popped."  Next weeks picture will be better (I hope).