Week 18 Update: Second Prenatal Appointment

I don't want to be a whiner, but...

Being pregnant and having a cold STINKS!

I have terrible trouble with my sinuses normally, and this is my usual time to catch a cold.  My sinuses have really been bothering me for about two weeks.  Last week, I started getting sore throats, lots of headaches, and intense sinus pressure.  I tried valiantly to fight it off with warm salt water gargles, nasal irrigation, and steam.  But, I started with a fever on Friday and have had it intermittently since then.  I have been feeling really rotten and have spent a good deal of time sleeping.  Which is frustrating, given how close we are to Christmas and the length of my to-do list, but it is really important to me that I take really good care of myself for Peanut's sake. 

Things have been going amazingly well despite the cold.  Brian and I went to our second prenatal  appointment on December 15th.  This time was much quicker and far less drama than the last one.  They just did some normal checks this time.  My blood pressure was great, there was no protein in my urine (there had been a trace at the last appointment), and the baby's heartbeat was regular and strong.  The Peanut did play "hide n' seek" for a few minutes, but we tracked the little bugger down and were able to hear the heartbeat and some movement on the Doppler.  They weighed me, but did not measure my belly yet as it is still a little too soon.  My weight was fine although I lost two more pounds.  The only benefit to starting out overweight is they have been far less concerned about how much weight I have lost since September given how healthfully I have been eating.  My theory is that I am losing fat faster than I am gaining baby.  Then they took a bunch of blood to run the normal screening tests.  I asked a few questions and we were on our way. 

The only negative is that I really didn't care for the midwife that I had this time, Martha.  She was abrupt and sort of frantic.  I missed the soothing and kind Patty.  But, the nurse that is there for all of the appointments, Judy, is AMAZING and that made me feel OK about the appointment.  As a matter of fact, Judy is so sweet that she gave me a Naked Green Machine Juice Smoothie to drink to get some extra vitamins in me quickly because I have been having A LOT of fatigue.  It looked gross, but it was delicious and Judy's kindness totally made up for how much I disliked the midwife.

See...Judy says it looks like baby poop...LOL!

I am scheduled for the anatomy ultrasound on January 6th.  We are hoping that we will know the gender of The Peanut when we leave that appointment.  Then I will have to do the glucose challenge test on January 10th.  I have to drink a sugary drink and then have my blood drawn to see if I need further testing for gestational diabetes (GD).  They usually wait until the pregnancy has progressed farther, but the PCOS puts me at higher risk for GD, as does my family history of type 2 diabetes.  I will get the results at my next midwife appointment, which will be on January 12th.

Brian took me out for Indian food for lunch.  We had a really relaxing, delicious lunch.  I am trying to remember to savor those moments because they will be few and far between soon. 

I am still not "showing" yet.  The bump is definitely harder and more pronounced to me, but I still fit in all my pre-pregnancy clothes and am the same size.  I will post a photo once I am feeling better.

I did have one exciting thing happen.  I have been anxiously awaiting being able to feel the Peanut's movements, and I finally got to feel it.  I woke myself up coughing on Friday and felt a really strange sensation in my belly.  I tried to go back to sleep and felt it again.  The second time I knew for sure that it was Peanut bumping me.  I really can't even describe it; it was like something fluttering or rolling around.  I was so excited!  I sent a text Brian right away and tried concentrating on feeling it again, but nothing.  Then Punky and I got startled awake on the couch yesterday and I felt it again.  I guess Peanut doesn't like when I cough or I am frightened. 

So that's about it for now...I am going back to sleep again. I am hoping I will wake in the morning and feel much better.  I have a lot to do if we are going to be ready to head to Maine for Christmas. 

To any of my friends and family who have been waiting impatiently to hear from me: my throat is too sore and scratchy to chat on the phone and I haven't been online very much either.  I will get to you ASAP.  I promise!

Week 14 Update: But I Don't Wanna Buy Maternity Clothes!

I thought you might be wondering what I am looking like these days. 

I gave Brian the camera and asked for a few "belly shots".  The dear man is so used to trying to get the most flattering angles, I wound up without any pictures that really show my tummy.  Here is the only one that shows the bump at all (and, admittedly, not well):

The bump at 14 weeks

I lost so much weight when I was sick during the first trimester (you know, the months we "skipped over"), that I have stayed the same size thus far.  I already had a tummy this size, really, just now it is much firmer.  As a matter of fact, it feels like a rock most of the time. 

I haven't purchased any maternity clothes.  I am hoping that I can manage not to buy any for as long as possible.  As a general rule, I hate them.  They are either ridiculously expensive or inexpensive and junky.  They have gotten better than they were in the past, but they still make dubious material and color choices.  I already have lots of flowy tops with extra room and I kept the clothes that didn't fit when I lost weight.  I am really hoping not to need to, but I am not completely opposed to picking up a few tops.  I really want to try to avoid buying pants.  They are just so cheaply made unless you spend a mint on them and I really don't want to have to hem them either.  I did buy a "Be Band", which is a stretchy band that helps hold pants up that are too big or too small and unbuttoned, so that I can avoid having to buy any pants.  So far, only my work pants are snug, and I haven't put the band to use yet. 

Which brings me to a funny story...

I definitely ate too many Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner on Friday.  I was home on my dinner break and I had gotten ravenous during my shift.  I have never before overeaten and had to unbutton my pants; I didn't actually believe that you could eat enough at one sitting to make your clothes not fit.  Ha!  I had to unbutton my pants to use the bathroom and I couldn't get them buttoned again.  I REALLY couldn't!  I tried all the tricks: lying down, holding my breath, etc.  It didn't help that I was laughing hysterically and couldn't stop.  I was finally able to get them buttoned; but, I was five minutes late getting back to work!  Late to work because I couldn't get my pants buttoned...yes, I am ridiculous!  Especially since I have that band that I could have slipped on and just left them unbuttoned!

I have "mommy brain" already!  :)

Some Back Story: How We Made It to 13 Weeks

I think everyone is probably thinking that we waited until the second trimester to share our news but that we had known we were expecting for a while.  Our lives are just not that simple!  Let me explain...

I have a hormone disorder called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and some other health issues.  PCOS often causes infertility or sub-fertility.  It also causes an increase in miscarriage.  Lucky us, right?  Well, it is extremely common and often responds to treatment.  For conception, that usually means drug therapy, intrauterine insemination, or in vitro fertilization.  We fully expected to need at least some drugs to help.

Sadly, I had a miscarriage in March 2010.  It was a very sad time and we decided to keep it private.  We tried to stay positive, thinking that we had at least conceived naturally, which was hopeful.  We focused on staying as healthy and baby-friendly as possible.  It was difficult given how much stress, both good and bad, we had over the summer and early fall.

The PCOS causes irregular cycles, so I never got excited when I was "late".  As a matter of fact, I usually didn't pay much attention.  I was a little late (even for me) and took a home pregnancy test back in September.  The test was negative.  "OK", I thought, "I knew that was gonna happen."  I started my cycle four days later.  It was really heavy and went on FOREVER.  I had spotting for 11 days (!) after it stopped.  This is not something that usually happens to me and I was feeling rotten, so I was a little nervous.

Life was been busy and crazy and required a lot of me.  I didn't have much time to focus on how bad I felt.  I had things to do.  And I pushed myself to do them. 

When I still felt truly awful, I made a doctor's appointment.  But before I went, I took another home pregnancy test.  "Wishful thinking!", I told myself.  But, it was POSITIVE!  I immediately thought that I had had an "incomplete miscarriage", which can cause a positive result after a loss which leaves some tissue behind, or *gasp* an ectopic pregnancy.  Brian and I decided to keep the information to ourselves until we knew more what was going on.

Because it is us, life had to throw us another curveball: I started bleeding again over the weekend.  I was terrified.  It had pretty much stopped on Sunday night, but I really was nervous.

On Monday, November 14th we had a trans-vaginal ultrasound, expecting to see either a fetus that was around 8 weeks or some sort of "issue".  I honestly thought it was some sort of "issue".  I wanted to be hopeful, but I didn't want to be hurt again.  As soon as the tech started the ultrasound she said, "Oh, Boy!".  Brian asked right away what was wrong.  I could barely look.  "Well", she said, "This baby is not 8 weeks.  I see a heart beating and fingers and toes!"  We were stunned!  They didn't have an abdominal ultrasound to get good measurements, but they guessed we were about 12 weeks.

Here is what we saw during the trans-vaginal ultrasound. Looks like Mr. Peanut without thehat and cane! We've started calling it "The Peanut".

Holy crap!  12 weeks!

We went right from thinking we probably weren't pregnant to nearly the second trimester!

That means that I was pregnant in September when I had all of that bleeding (and when I had the negative pregnancy test!).  And with the bleeding again over the weekend we were practically frantic!

We rushed around like idiots to get an appointment with a midwife.  I met with the nurse first on Tuesday and got the tests started so that we could get the ball rolling quickly.  Then they sent us for an abdominal ultrasound at the hospital on Wednesday.  The baby measured at 13 weeks 2 days which makes my due date May 21st!



This is the baby's entire body in profile from the abdominal ultrasound.

This is the baby's arms and hands (tech spelled "arms" wrong...lol!) and if you look in the shadows behind the hands, you can see the face.

This shows the baby's face, tummy, and hands.  We think it looks like it is wearing a "Day of the Dead" mask because the ultrasound goes right through the baby's flesh to show the skull.

I had my first prenatal appointment with the midwife on Thursday, November 17th.  They had some of the test results back and everything was normal so far.  The exam was going really well and the midwife was happy with how I was doing.  She was concerned with the bleeding, but it had completely stopped and there was no evidence that it would start again based on the exam.

I really like the midwife that we met with today.  We will also have the same nurse everytime, who I LOVE.  She is funny and sweet and makes me feel very relaxed.  The midwife we saw today, Patty, is very soothing and easy-going.  They are just what I need right now! 

We did have one bit of drama.  Patty tried several times, but we couldn't hear the heart beat with the Doppler machine in the office.  It made her nervous enough to send us to the hospital for another ultrasound.  I was a MESS!  I kept trying to remember that I had just seen the heart beating the day before, but with everything that had happened, I was so afraid.  The ultrasound showed a strong heart beat and no problems at all.  We were so relieved!  And utterly exhausted!

It has been a CRAZY week! Shoot...it has been a crazy YEAR!  But, to get this result, I would do almost anything.  We are just trying to adjust and enjoy the process right now.  I will keep you all posted!