These are a few of my favorite things

All together now! Oh, the hill's aren't alive? Well.... I'm going to tell you anyways. 

Crush Grape Soda. 

If only Willy Wonka's taste-o-vision really worked :( 

This stuff is amazing. I have no clue why... but for about 3 days I have been obsessed over this stupid grape soda. And just in case you were wondering... no- regular soda mixed with grape juice does not yield the same result. Not that I would know or anything. 

Self Explanitory. 

Simple Pleasures

There are a lot of things in life that you realize just how much you take for granted once you become pregnant. One of those things is sleeping on your back and stomach. Today marks sixteen weeks, which also marks when you're no longer allowed to sleep on your back. I haven't decided if I will actually follow through with this suggestion or not because, well frankly, sleeping on my back is the only comfortable position for me now. I have a body pillow which I can use to find more comfortable positions; but I think until I find my back uncomfortable I'll keep doing it.

Feeling the first movements

All the books and all the websites give a specific "window" of exactly when a woman will feel her baby's first kicks. Straight from the BabyCenter website: "You'll probably feel your baby move sometime between 16 and 22 weeks." Why is there this specific window? Why is a woman who thinks she felt her baby at 15 weeks told, "Oh sweetie, that was probably just gas" Well, just so you know... I've had gas since week 1 and THIS was different.


Why do other pregnant women and people in general make sharing such exciting first experiences feel like something you can't do anymore? Why, when I share a story, does EVERYONE feel like they need to put their fifty million cents in. Not two cents, if I had two cents every time someone tried to give me "advice" I'd be effing rich. Then, when I convey that to people they give me even more bull about how everyone's just trying to help and they're excited. And people wonder why I answer their questions without explanation or substance. The answer to such questions like, "How are you feeling?" Has become "fine." To which they respond, "Yeah, you are in the second trimester now you should start feeling better." Oh. Thank you. Thank you for your evaluation of the contents of my uterus. How is your uterus? Oh you don't want to talk about your uterus? Then why is it alright to talk about mine? Do NOT treat me any different and DO NOT analyze the contents of my uterus for me. That is what I have prenatal care for. And if you think I'm talking about you, don't ask me; I think you've just answered your own question. 


Yes, I felt the baby move. At 15 weeks and 5 days. So sue me.


On to a more positive subject: We had an appointment on Thursday with the midwife. I was lucky enough to be able to have the midwifery student sit in on the appointment and it was fun to see someone so fresh and new to the profession. When I asked her "How many babies have you caught?" Without hesitation she answered, "Thirteen this semester!" You could tell how excited and passionate she was about this and it really made me remember exactly why I made this decision. 


It was time to get up on the exam table to measure my fundal height and listen to the heart rate. Apparently, my fundal height is right back on the normal track; measuring 15 weeks at 15 weeks gestation. When the student pulled out the dopplar and began searching for a heart rate, she wasn't really able to find it. I started getting worried because every other time they were able to find the heart rate fairly quickly. After about 90 seconds the mid-wife looked at me (I guess she could tell I was getting worried) and told me, "you hear those loud static noises?" "Yeah..." I answered, fully expecting her to tell me that that was the sound a uterus made when a fetus had died or something, (I told you I had crazy hormones!) "That's your baby kicking the machine!" No way. NO. WAY. NO FU%$#NG WAY. She informed me that every time they found the heart beat, the fetus would kick the machine and move. After about 5 minutes of trying to count and having to find the fetus again, the midwife turned to me and said, "Well. A baby THAT active, has to have a heart beat."  Positive end to a frustrating day. 

Dad time again!

There comes a time, I suppose, in the course of a pregnancy when things go from "Yeah, I'm going to be a Dad" to "Ummmm....I'm REALLY going to be a Dad!"  That experience happened to me over this past week on two separate occasions.  Let me explain.

First, I spent a few days on spring break this week visiting my grandparents, who live in South Carolina.  Not long after I arrived, my grandmother brought out the baby blanket that she made by hand.  When she brought it to me, it took me a minute to realize/figure out what it was.  This blanket...is for my child!  It's amazing to know that we have such a wonderful support system - it means so much!

Yesterday was our regular appointment with the midwife.  Everything went well (though I suppose I'll let MomG tell you about all that!)  During the visit, as always, we were able to use the dopplar machine (I think that's what it's called) to listen for a heartbeat.  We couldn't get the count of the baby's heartbeat.....because he/she was moving around all over the place.  When the midwife told us that the "static-y" sounds we were hearing was the baby moving, I just couldn't believe it.  We were both so excited leaving the office.  It's really happening, and it's starting to set in.

There's lots to do over the next few months, and we're so glad you're along for the ride!

I should be studying...

Compared to the drama of last week, this week has started out pretty drama free. I may or may not have felt the baby kick, it's hard to tell until the movements pick up and I start feeling things to compare it to.

Baby G is now the size of a naval orange, or an apple... seems like everyone says something different. The second trimester isn't as great for me as it has been for some people, apparently. I'm just now starting to suffer from the tell tale nasal congestion (then again it IS allergy season) and now my gums bleed any chance they get. Brushing my teeth and eating lunch have become daily blood baths, but apparently this is normal? They say to just make sure I keep flossing/brushing like I'm supposed to and it's something that will disappear over time I guess. 

Every day it seems my belly gets fuller and fuller as the baby shifts up into my abdomen. I guess next week it's picture time already!

Measurements:
154 pounds
35"
15 weeks

Update: An Unexpected Visit

I've officially gone into crazy hormonal pregnancy googling mode. I'm really worried about something I saw on the sonogram. Below is our 9 week ultrasound and then underneath of it is our 14 week u/s. I've drawn along the outside of the baby's amniotic fluid in each of the photos with yellow.

9 week u/s. Amniotic fluid seems to be held in a round shape in the uterus; seen by the outlining in yellow. Keep in mind that black on an u/s= liquid. Gray= tissue

Then we look at the most recent u/s from yesterday, seen above. I've outlined the lining of the sac in yellow and there is a distinct difference in shape. The uterine lining comes down to a pointed "v" shape right below the baby's neck. And you can see it there in all of the pictures she gave us and it was consistently there the whole time the tech was performing the u/s. It's not like this is just how it looked from a certain angle. 

Being a crazy preggo woman I googled other u/s pictures to see if anything looked similar. Nothing. My CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) said nothing about the "V" being an issue and neither did the tech. It really bothered me that the fetus wasn't moving as much as we saw it moving in the first u/s and it honestly is scary. I can't say we saw the baby's arms or legs move once during the 10 minutes we were watching it. But the heart is still beating strong, and that's what matters. 

I haven't called the CNM back because if she hasn't called me yet then I can only assume they didn't find anything further since yesterday when I spoke with her. 

I'll keep everyone updated as I get more answers. Thanks for the love and concern!

An Unexpected Visit

Today has been the scariest day of all the days I have lived so far. When there is another human life growing inside of you that only you can protect, everything is dramafied times 100000000. The past few weeks I've been feeling uncomfortable. I use that term loosely because there is nothing about growing a human that isn't uncomfortable. But this was different. This was a sort of feeling I had. I started having pain in my lower abdomen at about 10 weeks but didn't think anything of it because every one I talked to said they had experienced the same thing and not to think about it as anything other than "normal." 


The past few days the pain and intensity got worse. I chalked it up to my uterus rising into my abdomen because, well... that's what everyone else said it was. I would urinate and the pain would stop. This morning I went to work and no matter how often I used the restroom the pain would not stop. It got to the point where I had to stop what I was doing as the pain was taking my breath away. I called my midwife after 3 hours of this pain and she told me to come in immediately. She told me to hold my urine because she needed a sample. The thing about this pain is that it is made worse by any kind of pressure- including the pressure of a full bladder. The ride from Waldorf to Alexandria took no more than 30 minutes. We hit every.single.red.light and at one point I told Nick to let me go with the police officer that was stopped at the light with us because "he could turn on his sirens and have me there in 10 minutes." We finally got to the midwife and I was in tears. I managed to get out, "In a lot of pain. Have to pee now. She needs a sample." I peed for 5 minutes straight. No lie. I felt so much better. I almost fell asleep in the waiting room. 


We got back into the appointment room and she measured my uterus. She found it was twice the size of what it should be. 

I am currently 14 weeks. My uterus is measuring above my belly button, at over 20 weeks. 

I was also having a lot of pain when she pushed on my lower belly. Pain that brought me to tears and I couldn't talk through. I'm not talking dull, achy pain. I'm talking someone is stabbing me. She sent me over for an emergency sonogram to check for fibroids, cysts, or another baby and told me to call if I hadn't been contacted by the end of the day. 

We went for the sonogram right away and were able to be seen pretty quickly. The tech saw only one fetus, measuring at 15 weeks. No cysts or fibroids. Everything looked perfect. We left feeling frustrated that we weren't getting any answers but got these to make us feel better:

I called my midwife back after I hadn't heard anything by the end of the day and she told me that the summary she got from the hospital looked normal and the only thing she "worried about" was that my ovaries were also "measuring big" which could indicate cysts that we mysteriously couldn't see on the sonogram. (hmmmm doesn't sound right...). So for now I have no answers, just an update and cute sonogram pictures. I'm hoping to get more answers tomorrow when the hospital sends over the final report of the sonogram.