We're down to the single digits! Less than 9 weeks to go!

I'm 31 weeks and 2 days today, and I'm still feeling pretty good! I do notice myself slowing down a bit and getting tired a little more easily, but I'm still working, walking and doing yoga without any problems, so I'll take it! I must admit that my emotions are up and down like crazy, but that may or may not be pregnancy related.  That's sort of always been the case with me. 

On the bright side, with the fatigue returning, I'm sleeping better.  I still wake-up several time through the night to pee, but I'm not having as much trouble getting back to sleep. At least, not for the last few nights anyway.  As long as I have the TV on something total boring so my brain doesn't start going, I can usually drift back off within a few minutes.

My only other complaints are the tailbone pain (OY!) that I have when I sit for extended periods of time, and some restriction of movement just due to the size of my belly.  The one place I'm really noticing it is getting in and out of the car. It's not exactly "difficult", but it does take a little more effort than normal.

Baby is moving around a TON and just LOVES to prop her feet on my ribs.  Sometimes I swear she's trying to get out.  Bub keeps telling her "NOT YET"! She loves to wiggle and squirm when I'm in the tub, or any time I'm lying down. Although, she's moves a lot pretty much all day, so it may just be that I notice it most when I can concentrate on it.

We've been able to get a really great start on the nursery and find myself peeking in there at random times, just to look at it.  I can't wait until I have the little person that belongs in there. We still have lots to do and lots to buy, but we're finally making some progress!  We still don't have a middle name yet... we're still working on it.

I'm feeling too lazy to take a picture today, so a belly pic from last week will have to do:

30w1d - March 27, 2012

30 week appointment stats...

Blood pressure: great

Baby's heart rate: normal (155bpm)

Baby/belly growth: right on target

Weight gain: Nothing since my last appointment - 11lbs total  (My doc gave me a little trouble for this so I'm making sure that I gain some for my next appointment.. lots of Easter chocolate!)

Concerns: Sample # 3 sent to the lab to check for a bladder infection. I'm not showing any symptoms, but my protein levels are a little high I guess, so they're just making sure.

Next appointment: 32 weeks (April 12)

Feeling.... large. An update from a bad Mommy blogger.

Okay... I fail at Mommy blogging.  Time for a major update.

Firstly, I'm getting big.  I've been about as good at taking belly pictures as I have been at blogging.  Honestly, it's because a lot of the time I don't love the way I by the end of the day and I don't particularly want a picture to commemorate it. But, there's definitely no hiding the fact that I am now officially pregnant (28w5d today) and I do absolutely love my growing belly.  So.... here's me the other morning

28 weeks, 1 day- March 13, 2012

Confession: I find myself checking my reflection as I pass by store windows, or the mirror in our living room. I really and truly love my belly, and there's a small part of my that still can't believe that I'm actually pregnant. It's pretty amazing to watch my bump grow.

Okay, belly pic- check. Next? General update:

I'm feeling pretty lucky because I feel pretty great most of the time. I'm still nausea free for the most part (a get some indigestion and tummy upset here and there, but nothing I can't handle).  I have a lot more energy than I did in my first trimester, and take far fewer naps.  I wouldn't say that I got a 2nd tri energy "burst", but there's a noticeable improvement lately.  My back is starting to ache, and my tail-bone gets really sore when I sit for long periods of time, but again, nothing that I can't handle at this point.

I'm trying to use this 1/2 day work schedule to my advantage and have been getting out for longer walks with the dogs in the afternoon.  I've also started a pretty intense love affair with yoga that is sort of taking over my life.  Seriously... EVERYONE should be doing yoga. The stretch, the de-stress... it's pretty amazing. I go to class once a week (Saturday's at Bliss with Kim... she's awesome) and then I have some DVDs that I do at home 4 or 5 days a week.  I feel great during and after and I really hope that I can get back into it post baby as well.  I've heard awesome things about how yoga can really help with pregnancy, labour/delivery and recovery, so I'm trying to be diligent with it.

Sleep is still an issue. I've resigned myself to the fact that, that won't change.  I've been having trouble sleeping since the beginning and the stress, growing mid-section and middle of the night bathroom runs (4-6 times a night) don't help.  My Mum bought me a body pillow and it made a huge difference, but I'm still asleep early, up a lot through the night, and then awake fairly early as well.

As for baby gear and the nursery... I think that warrants its own post. Until then, let's just say that I have a lot to do in the next 2.5 months.

Health wise: here's where we're at as of my 28 week appointment:

It was our first appointment with Dr. M who will (hopefully) be delivering for us. She's a family doc that works with Dr. F (my regular family doc), but who also happens to deliver babies.  My first impression was that she's nice, easy to get along with, and good at what she does.  I was comfortable with her, and will be seeing her every 2 weeks from now until the end of April when we start weekly visits, so I'm sure I'll get to know her quite well.

-Blood pressure- great

-Baby's heart rate- normal

-Baby/belly growth- normal

-1 hour Glucose Tolerance test- passed

-Weight gain- around 11 pounds since my 1st appointment (at 9 weeks). I gained 4 between my 25 and 28 week appointments! That's the most weight between appointments and was the shortest time span... yikes!. 

-Concerns: I've had to send samples to the lab for the last 2 visits to test for a bladder infection.  I know the first was negative, I haven't heard back on the second.  I also started having some braxton hicks contractions last weekend, but the doc said it may be normal or could be related to this bladder infection they think I may have. She didn't seem concerned though and I'm not worried unless she is.

Next appointment: 30 weeks (March 28th)

Names: We have one. That's all I'm going to say for now. I''m tired of hearing every one's opinions on every decision we make baby wise, so we're playing this one close to the chest until she arrives.  What we don't have is a middle name. We're working on it.

Other than that, things are going well. I've started to experience that "magic" that was so lacking in my first 18ish weeks. I spend a lot of time watching my belly move and waiting for kicks and stretches. It's pretty incredible.  I'm just so excited to meet her that I can't really stop thinking about it..... 11 more weeks! Ah! I have so much to do.

Another post is soon to come.



4:1

I am exactly 20 weeks today! It's kinda crazy to be half way. In some ways, I feel like I've been pregnant FOREVER and in some ways it seems to be going by really quickly. 

I'm certainly showing, but I'm not huge yet. I was actually getting concerned because I'm smaller (bump wise) than many of my friends at the same stage.  BUT, then I remembered that everyone is different and I tried to move on. I'm sure I'm gaining all over... I feel like a heifer, but I've been staying away from the scale.  My new rule is to only weigh myself at Doctor's appointments.  No point in depressing myself.

As for symptoms, I'm still pretty tired, but I'm having trouble sleeping at night so I would imagine that is most of the problem. It became uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach in my 19th week, so that's adding the my night time troubles. My nausea is pretty much gone, but I often feel a little yucky after dinner or any big meal.

I started feeling the first hints of movement around the 18 week mark, but I wasn't totally sure it was the baby.  Then, on Friday January 6th (18w4d), I felt the first absolutely for sure baby kicks. I immediately sent a text to my husband saying: I think someone just kicked me. His response? YAY! I had to laugh because if anyone every saw those texts out of context, they would really wonder what kind of husband I have.

By far the most exciting piece of news we got this week was that we're having a baby girl!  My poor husband will now be outnumbered by a ratio of 4:1 in the house since both of our dogs, our first babies, are girls.  I have to say that while I'm super excited, I'm not at all surprised.  I just "knew" right from the beginning.  Even before I got a positive pregnancy test, I went out and bought a little pink sleeper.  I can't really explain it... I just knew.  It was so cool to see her moving around. She even waved at us, which the tech recorded for the video we got.  For most of the ultrasound (almost an hour) she was curled up on her tummy, looking very comfortable.  Ironically, this is also my favorite position, which is no longer a possibility for me.

It's really nice to be able to say "her" and "she" instead of "it" or "the baby"... and I feel like we can finally start buying/sorting through some of the stuff that has been handed down to us.  For an obsessive planner, this is good news.  I think it's still going to take some time to really sink in that in less than 5 months I will be a Mom to a daughter, but I'm getting there and I can't wait to meet her.

General Stats:

As of today: 20 weeks

Baby Size: Cantaloupe

Next Appt: January 20- regular doctors visit

Look! I'm really pregnant!

Where'd that come from?

16 weeks (December 19, 2011)

Weeks 13 and 14 - making it real

I've been remiss with my baby blogging, and I'm feeling bad about it.  I hadn't really been posting because I've been crazy busy with school and winding things up at the office.  Lots has happened in the last week, so I thought I better take a few minutes to update.

*Update on the job situation: I still haven't found anything, but I'm getting close to being at peace with it.  Definitely feeling a bit better about the whole situation.  It will work out. I have an amazing family.*

So, quick recap of the last few weeks.  My nausea really started to subside around week 11, but has reared it's ugly head here and there since then (yesterday was once of those days). However, I'm feeling much better overall.  Food aversions are down to a minimum, tea and I have made up, thank god, and I haven't had to eat quite so many saltine crackers.  I'm still pretty tired and sleeping is still difficult, but I can handle that so long as I'm not feeling barfy all the time.  I'm thinking that my physical improvements have a lot to do with my emotional ones. I'm still not 100%, but I'm coping much better and I think that's helped a lot.

I had my first legit MUST HAVE IT NOW craving last night that had Bubba at the grocery store at 9pm to buy supplies to make ice cream floats- vanilla ice cream and orange pop.  Unfortunately by the time he got home, I didn't want it anymore.  Apparently I'm going to be one of those pregnant women.

Now on the the fun stuff (See? I'm not all doom and gloom!)

We had our first ultrasound at 13 weeks - November 28th.  Aside from the absolutely awful bursting bladder feeling, it was pretty awesome.  Baby was measuring 1 day ahead at 13w1d and moving around like crazy. We got a perfect view of everything, aside from the tell-tale boy or girl parts.  I think the strangest thing was to see the tiny little heart beating away on the monitor.  Very surreal and very cool.

My very loving husband made sure to point out that the baby definitely has my big head.  He's such a charmer.

I'm certainly growing as well.  I'm at that awkward in-between stage where my clothes are really uncomfortable, but I'm not really big enough for maternity clothes yet.  I just look (and feel).... fat.



13 weeks- November 28th 2011

So after the excitement of getting our first peek at the baby, I had a doctors appointment yesterday, December 5th, at exactly 14 weeks. We finally got to hear the heart beat for the first time.  The doctor mentioned that we have a "very cooperative little person".  There was no searching for the heartbeat.  She put the doppler down and there was the steady thump thump thump... no searching.  All I can say is that it was a-maz-ing, and really weird.  It really hit home that there is another human being with functioning organs actually taking up residence inside me.  

The doctor said that everything is great.  The ultrasound results came back fine, my weight and blood pressure are right on target and that we "both look very healthy".  It's definitely nice to hear.

Doctors Visit Stats:

Date: December 5th, 2011

Baby's heart rate: 140bpm - Doc says that's perfect

Weight gain: 1 pound since last doctor's visit on November 3

General Stats:

As of today: 14 weeks, 1 day

Baby Size: Naval Orange

Next Appt: January 16th - 20 week ultrasound (can't wait!)