Appointment: 18 weeks, 3 days

Written Saturday, November 22, 2014: 19 weeks

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Today was supposed to be the big 20 week ultrasound day, but the office called me to reschedule until after I hit the 20 week mark. I will admit I was pretty bummed, but I was surprised they had let me schedule the ultrasound that early anyway…It ended up just being a quick check-in with the doc.

The appointment was set for 8:55am, but Andy and I were early and arrived around 8:45. I left my sample and got called back probably around ten till 9. Per usual, I was weighed (I think I’m up 4 pounds at this point?), asked questions about symptoms, and my blood pressure was taken (still holding at the 100/60 mark).

We went to another new exam room and waited for probably 5-10 minutes. She came in and asked how things were going. I obviously explained I had been in a car accident and had a few other questions for her. The reason why I like her so much is she doesn’t belittle any concerns I have but is still really laid-back and eases my fears. I don’t think I’m a needy patient, but she is really good with bedside manner.  Even Andy mentioned that he felt better after we left.

She said I shouldn’t have any reason to be concerned about anything. She got out the Doppler and right away heard action. She said that he/she was really moving in there because she could hear it! Heartbeat seems to be holding steady at 160 BPM.  I had to pee again, and we were out of there by 9:10!

I’ve said this before, but for real, 2 weeks until the big ultrasound! I am pretty anxious to find out the gender so I can start buying all the nursery stuff!

12-16 Weeks

Written Sunday, November 2, 2014: 16 weeks, 1 day

  

I don’t feel pregnant at all. There is pretty much nothing going on that is different than my non-pregnant self. I’m not particularly moody. I don’t think I have any specific food cravings, although sometimes certain foods sound good (don’t people have that anyway?).  From weeks 12-14 I had a few tension-type headaches, but they were fairly mild and I’m not even sure they were pregnancy related. I’ve had sporadic round ligament pain since week 9, but it’s usually fleeting and bearable.

One thing I have noticed is that I’ve had more acne than normal. At first I thought it was just a phase, but it continued for a few months, so I definitely think it’s somehow linked to the progesterone. Things seem to be clearing up a little, though (maybe wishful thinking?). Luckily it’s not awful, but it’s definitely been more than my norm.

At 13 weeks I started to notice a more pronounced “bump.” I say the word bump lightly because it’s more that my stomach is rounded out like a normal person’s.  I still notice that it gradually increases as the day goes on and is most pronounced after dinnertime.  My boobs are perhaps a bit fuller, but barely. Still no weight gain. I’m still not sure if I’ve felt any kicks. I feel more happenings around there, but I’m pretty sure it’s all just bubbles. My doctor said I probably wouldn’t feel anything until 18-20 weeks.

Note: Above picture was actually taken at 18 weeks because I'm lazy

I mentioned in my last post that I had a car accident. Basically I was turning off a major road and the car behind me rammed into me at full speed, with no obvious regard for my turning signal. I was okay and able to call Andy right away. He met me at the scene before the ambulance even came, at about 2:30pm. I told the EMT woman right away that I was 14 weeks pregnant and asked if my baby would be okay. She immediately assured me that the baby is so cushioned that he/she was probably just fine. Thankfully Andy was there to ride with me to the hospital. Obviously they needed to check the baby and also wanted to make sure my other body parts (back/neck) were okay.

For someone who was pretty darn calm right after this happened, being put in a neck brace and on a stretcher was horrifying and embarrassing. I did start to cry because I was terrified about losing the baby and in shock that this happened to me.  Thankfully the EMT people were pretty stellar.

Upon arriving to the ER, I was put in a room and got a quick check. I remember two ladies in the room doing things and also Dr. Rust. He poked around my back (all the while I’m restrained in a neck brace and told not to move), and everything seemed to be fine. Right away a nurse checked the baby’s heartbeat with a Doppler. She found it pretty quickly. When I asked what it was she said some weird statistic that was not in beats per minute so I have no idea what that meant. Shortly after, the ultrasound tech wheeled me to her room. She right away said she found a heartbeat, but I couldn’t see the screen because I was lying flat. She mentioned that he/she was really moving and commented how my bladder was really full. I couldn’t pee because I was still strapped to a bed! She pretty much gave no hints, but said things seemed okay but the doctor would give the final okay. Andy was in the room with me, so he could see the little guy/gal and said he saw a number on the screen say 163 – I assume this was a heartbeat considering at the doctor that afternoon it had been 160.

I went back to my ER room and was shortly taken for X-Rays. Because of the pregnancy, they didn’t take any of my lower back, but covered my belly and did a few of my clavicle/neck/shoulder area. They kept commenting how easy it was because I was thin.  After going back to my room, Dr. Rust came in and said the X-Rays looked good so I could ditch the neck brace. The ultrasound tech came back and said that the doctor wanted her to do an internal ultrasound to make sure that my cervix wasn’t dilating or shortening. She mentioned that things might’ve looked different because my bladder had been so full. Finally I got to pee. At this point, Andy was making phone calls and answering questions for me to the nurses, so I was in there by myself. I mentioned that I have the world’s most tilted uterus to the tech and she said if she would’ve known we probably wouldn’t have had to do the internal. Those things are so darn uncomfortable for me. At this point it was probably 4:45pm.

So far, things had been moving at a good pace and we hadn’t had to wait at all. But we waited for over an hour for the last ultrasound results. Talk about terrifying. I guess they had a busy day and were just behind reading things.  During this time, a nurse came in to confirm a few things, but was pretty quick. Dr. Rust finally came in at about 6:00 and said that the baby looked good, there was no blood around him/her, and that we could leave.

My parents picked us up since we didn’t have a vehicle there. We drove through DQ to get me some dinner and went to our house. We hadn’t spread the news about the baby, but it didn’t feel right knowing the people at the hospital knew when our families didn’t. My mom pretty much already knew. When I called my sisters both of them knew too. (I told Andy this was going to happen – ESP or something). He went over to his parents to tell them the news.

For the next few days, I was even more terrified than I had been at the hospital. Maybe this is dramatic, but I’m an expect-the-worst type of person and that was my coping mechanism. My OB office said that since I got checked at the hospital that there was no need for me to schedule an earlier appointment, so I have to wait a whole 4 weeks to get some reassurance. I don’t think I will take a normal breath and until after November 18 – heck, I will be this worried about the kid forever.

My neck was really sore for a few days, but improved pretty quickly. I’m not in any pain, but my back/neck feels like it needs a good adjusting. At my next appointment I’m hoping to get an OK to see a chiro. I hope this is my one-and-done on the car accident front…

Two more weeks until we know if the kid is on track! And we find out the gender… holy cow…

                  13 weeks                                                                    18 weeks

The Third Appointment: 14 weeks, 3 days

Written Friday, October 31, 2014: 15 weeks, 6 days

  

I’m writing this a week and a half after it happened so I’m sure I’m missing details. Oh well. My third appointment was scheduled on Tuesday, October 21 at 14 weeks, 3 days. It had been a busy day running around doing errands, but I made it with plenty of time to spare for my 1:10 pm appointment.

First I gave the front desk lady (Elizabeth?) my bill and told her I had gathered all of my insurance information for the billing lady.  Then I went to leave my sample and went back to the waiting room.

I was called back on time and did the usual weight/blood pressure thing and both were exactly the same as the last appointment. I was hoping I had gained at least a pound at this point but I guess not. Blood pressure was still holding at about 100/60. Nobody wears nametags or says their names so I’ve stopped even trying to document that.

I went into a new exam room (seriously they are all so different!) and waited just a few short minutes for Dr. Emm. She asked the usual questions about how I’m feeling and got the Doppler ready. She found the baby’s heartbeat pretty quickly. It was 160 – still similar to other appointments, but slowly creeping down it seems. There was a mix-up with the blood draw that I left at my previous appointment. For some reason it had not been uploaded to the computer, so she asked around for some clarification. I was just curious what my A1c turned out to be, but she was really not worried about me getting gestational diabetes. She gave me the usual spiel and I was ready to schedule my next appointment.

I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to wait till exactly 20 weeks to do the big ultrasound, because I wanted it done before Thanksgiving. My 4 week follow-up fell on Nov. 18 when I’m 18 weeks, 3 days, so they said it was no problem to do it then. She gave me the directions for ultrasound prep and I asked to see the billing lady. She was gone or busy at the time, so they told me to do it at my next appointment. Looking back, the stars were really aligning against me already…

I called Andy on my way out and gave him the update. He asked if I was doing any shopping while in Bloomington, but I was really ready to get home and get things done there. So, I started my trek home and proceeded to get rear-ended and have my car totaled. What a fun 10 days it has been!

Since I turn 16 weeks tomorrow I’ll give you that whole saga in my post then…

8-12 Weeks

Written Sunday, October 5, 2014: 12 weeks, 1 day

We’ve made it through the first trimester! Things are moving at a good pace, that I really can’t complain.

I’m feeling good. I was starting to wonder when I would start to feel like my normal self with any energy, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. This week I actually made dinner a few times and washed dishes on a daily basis. The laundry and cleaning are pretty much caught up too! Once I hit the couch, I pretty much don’t move and I’m still falling asleep well before 10, but that is a good routine to have. I feel well rested in the morning and have been waking on my own. But seriously, I don’t know how anyone makes it through that level of tiredness when they already have one or more children to care for.

My appetite has returned to normal. I’d almost venture to say my appetite is great. I’m not really having cravings currently, but my foods of choice the past few months have been of the convenient variety. I can count on my hands how many bags of “junk” or snack foods I’ve purchased since we’ve been married, and about 90% of them have been since my pregnancy. I’ve even been buying frozen Healthy Choice to take to work because I’ve been lazy about packing and nothing sounds good. Good thing that phase is ending. All I want is a cold turkey sandwich. Curse you, listeria! That will be harder for me to continue without than alcohol could ever be.

Andy and I aren’t super social people to begin with but we seem to be leaving the house minimally lately. For the most part, I was too tired to be motivated to do much. Now that I am getting that energy back, it’s still a routine we are sticking with. It seems that anytime we see people, we get asked about when we will have kids already. I will never understand why this is an okay question to ask and would like to avoid it completely, even if I have to become a hermit to do it.  The range of people asking us seems to be growing and conversations about it go more extensively than they did before. If you have family or friends that talk about your sex life in front of you (or not in front of you), I’m sorry. I feel your pain. I’m not sure what people expect us to say. 

But I’m still not budging on sharing the news. I like being the only ones to know. I’m pretty sure the people that are closest to me have an idea that’s something is going on anyway. I could talk about this for days…

As far as my physical appearance, I am noticing some changes. I wake up in the morning with essentially no bump, but by the time I go to bed it can be outrageous sometimes. I don’t wear tight clothes, so no one other than me can tell. From the front and sides I look completely normal, but when I look down at my belly I see a definite difference. We have 7.5 weeks to go till Thanksgiving, which is our goal for sharing the news (we will be a few days shy of 20 weeks), so I don’t think we will have a huge issues keeping it until then by looking at my bump progress so far. We’ll see how it goes.

Our next appointment is in just over 2 weeks. The appointment after that we will find out if this kid is a boy or girl! So crazy!! At some point I’ll get around to doing a gender myths post, probably just before that appointment.  My gut still says girl. Andy is sticking with boy.

               8 weeks                                                                          13 weeks

The Second Appointment: 10 weeks, 3 days

Written Tuesday, September 23, 2014: 10 weeks, 3 days

I had another appointment today, but since Andy is in the field I went by myself. I was about 15 minutes early, so got checked in and the front desk miss sent me right back to the bathroom to leave my sample. I sat in the waiting room till my appointment time and got called back right away by Mary, a nurse. We went back to the same large exam/meeting room that I was in last time.

Mary had called me the day before to get through some of the questions in advance – mostly demographic information, but some baby-related stuff like how much Andy and I weighed at birth. But to be honest, she pretty much asked them all over again at the appointment. It wasn’t a big deal, though and she was friendly. She gave me a bag of papers and goodies, told me that today was a pelvic/pap exam and moved me to a smaller exam room.

I sat for probably 10-15 minutes, and I won’t lie that I was stewing a little. I know that no one loves exams down there, but I particularly loathe them. And I’m not a fan of checking things just for the sake of checking and prefer minimal invasion. Finally Jackie, the nurse practitioner came in and she was of course lovely and I relaxed.

We first cleared up a few issues with my due date (it had never been updated, so it was kind of a mistake that they scheduled another appointment so soon – oh well!). Then we moved on to family history. Andy and I both have insignificant family histories so that was quick and easy.  She briefly reviewed the genetic testing options. I’m not interested in wasting money on any of them because we have no indications that this pregnancy won’t be healthy, and even if he/she has some genetic issue it won’t change how I treat the pregnancy. Jackie said that she never tested with any of her kids and again made me feel super relaxed. I had a few other specific questions about flu shots, activity, etc. and we moved along.

Thank the Lord she did not make me do the pap. I pretty much told her I didn’t want to do it and she agreed. She did another general physical exam of breathing, boobs, whatever before getting the Doppler. I knew that it was a little early to hear the heartbeat so I wasn’t expecting this to work. She fiddled for a while but no luck because I guess I have a well-toned stomach. She moved me next door to the ultrasound tech’s room to get a bonus peak of the little dude.

I forget her name, but she had shut down for the day already, and had a tough time getting the thing to reboot.  She did try an abdominal ultrasound, but nothing was showing up because I guess my intestines were blocking the view. That meant another internal, which I accepted and let her get prepped.

In the meantime, someone from the lab walked over and took a blood sample. Did I mention that they’re doing an early A1c since both of my sisters had gestational diabetes? And at my previous appointment, my sugar was 140 because I had a plate of ravioli at Avanti’s beforehand. Oops! I’m still not worried.

Speaking of worries, maybe I’m in a particularly good mood or something, but I have had pretty much no fears about this kid as of late. It’s so weird and unlike me.  Even when Jackie didn’t find a heartbeat with the Doppler I wasn’t at all concerned. It took the tech probably 10 minutes to get the machine up and running, but as soon as the wand was set she found a heartbeat right away. It measured 179, right about what it was last time.  There was a separate screen attached to the wall that she pulled out so I could see.

This kid was really moving. The tech commented on how this was particularly a lot of movement for this stage. It pretty much looked like him or her was jumping on a trampoline that was my uterine wall. It’s so cool and weird that all of that is happening in my body and for the most part I’m oblivious.  I took my pictures and bag of goods and was on my way.

Next appointment is in 4 weeks exactly – I’ll be in the middle of my 15^th week!