23 weeks

I'm 23 weeks today, and I'm freaking out. I got my weekly email that said I should be feeling strong karate kicks by now. I'M NOT!!!! and the email said if i pushed on my abdomen and moved it to the side, baby would respond. HE DOESN'T!!! so now of course, i'm worried something's wrong. I haven't felt strong movement in a day or so. I thought the worry would gradually go away as the pregnancy went along, but so far it hasn't. and man, you think crazy thoughts when you get worried. Things like- what if i rolled over too fast in the middle of the night and hurt him. or, what if we jinxed the pregnancy by buying nursery furniture and clothes for him already? and the craziest thing by far, is everything you'll do to try and make baby move. I've drank hot cocoa, cold juice, done jumping jacks in the bathroom at work, poked my belly, yelled at the baby in the car... and all i've gotten is an annoyed little thump. I want him to wake up and kick the bejeesus out of me.

Noah, you worry your mommy and you need to wake up and start moving around.

and now it's time...for an update!

It's been awhile since i've updated. So, first thing's first! I had my ultrasound on 12/3/2007. Aside from having to hold 16 oz of fluid in my bladder while the baby jumped on it, the experience was pleasant.

andddd... It's a boy! He was weighing 10 oz at the appointment, and his heartbeat was 133.

I had my 21 week check up on 12/12/2007. We received the blood work results (everything is good!). The ultrasound results were good too, but they couldn't get all the measurements they wanted. So- we go back for another ultrasound next week. Baby's heartbeat at the appointment was 140- higher then usual, he's getting bigger and stronger too.

I'm getting bigger too. Here's the most recent belly shot we've taken.
taken at 20weeks5 day

blech

being sick while pregnant is NOT fun. I left work early Friday. Was aching so bad I was crying. it hurt to move even. I got home and started puking. took a hot shower and got into pjs. tried to lay down but that hurt even worse. so all weekend was pretty much me lying around in pjs trying to keep some food down and get some rest. and of course, the whole time i'm worried i've hurt the baby somehow. everytime i cough it feels like my uterus is being stretched out :-(.
i still feel the baby moving around some so I'm pretty sure everything's fine, but i'll feel better once i'm over this sickness.

the ultrasound is next Monday. they'll be able to tell us if the baby's healthy and growing correctly, and hopefully tell us the sex of the baby as well. if it's willing to cooperate. and so far, it's been stubborn so I don't think it'll cooperate. but i have a gut feeling it's a little boy.

Doctor's appointment

The appointment yesterday went well. The doctor said she'd guess it's a boy based on the heart rate. We can get our ultrasound between 18-20 weeks, so not too long before we'll know for sure!

I've gained a total of 7 lbs so far, so I'm doing okay with that aspect so far. I asked about my ankle pains and she said my balance was being thrown off by my hips shifting and the belly and it was normal to experience leg and ankle pains. the muscle spasm in my back is also considered perfectly normal.

So I'll schedule the ultrasound, and then my next appointment is December 12th and I'll see a different doctor then, I still have 2 to meet.

My doctor's appointment on Friday got rescheduled, so now it's tomorrow. I'm anxious, I want to hear the baby's heartbeat so badly.
I got a stethoscope on Sunday, and I can hear the baby moving around in there but i can't locate the heartbeat. I'm still not positive i'm feeling the baby move, but i'm pretty definite.

everything else is still going fine. My belly is growing, but I still just look a little chubby. which is odd since my scale said i've lost weight. We'll have to see tomorrow.

thoughts

This weekend was rough. I got very overwhelmed by a lot of things and took it all out on Joe. I finally broke down and just sobbed, then was able to talk to him and tell him how scared I am over so many things.

Also, I'm pretty sure i'm feeling the baby regularly now! I can't wait for the appointment on Friday to find out everything's allright and to hear the heartbeat. I think we get to schedule our big ultrasound this appointment too. so hopefully right around Thanksgiving we'll know what sex our baby is.

I still get hit randomly with how much I love this little baby. It's odd to love something so much and not even really know the baby yet. of course, there are times I feel horrible and hate what the baby is doing to me too. The emotions are not fun, and having to pee 80 times a day/night is definitely not something I look forward to. but the fact that i'm growing a baby that Joe and I made together amazes me everyday. I can't wait to meet him/her!

Good News!

We found out Friday that Joe is NOT a cystic fibrosis carrier! It was a huge relief for both of us, and made our weekend together that much better not having it hanging over our heads.

On the downside, my emotions seem to have gone into overdrive. I yell at Joe a lot more then I should, and I get very easily frustrated with everyone and everything. The cats are driving me nuts. Maestro has something wrong with his butt, and he's leaving poo stains on the couch. It's not safe for me to be around- so Joe is going to have to take him to the vet and see what they can do. I'm ready to just get rid of all of them. They destroy my house (they've already scratched up my brand new table!!!!), they stink, and they're mean. At least Teller is mean. Penn is just trouble, and Maestro is just evil. He doesn't bite like Teller does, he just glares at you- and he smacks me. Anyone want 3 cats?

My tummy is starting to expand, I'm still waiting to feel the baby move. I think I felt something, but it's just too hard to tell right now. I'm waiting anxiously for my next doctor's appt, we should definitely be able to hear the heartbeat at that appointment.

Oh- and I officially made it out of the first trimester!

doctor's appointment

I had my second pre-natal checkup on Friday. It was a bit stressful for me... I was told I'm a cystic fibrosis carrier. Joe has to be tested now, and there's not a big chance that he'll have it too. But it's still really scary for me. I just feel so utterly helpless. There's nothing I can do to change the fact that I'm a carrier, and if Joe is too, then there's nothing we can do if the baby does have it. I'm praying hard that he's not a carrier. If he is, there's only a 25% chance that the baby would have it. I always dreamed of a big family, but if we're both carriers then this will probably be our only baby. I couldn't put any other babies at risk knowing ahead of time that we both carried it.

Aside from that news, everything is going great. I'm measuring a little ahead of time- 14 weeks, and i'm at 12 weeks. but not enough that the doctor is concerned, they're keeping my due date in late April. They weren't able to hear the heartbeat so they did a quick scan to see it. The baby was laying in there sucking away on his/her thumb. It's still sitting pretty low, so they couldn't hear the heartbeat through my pubic bone. I've gained 3 lbs so far, right on target.

and- my morning sickness seems to be going away somewhat- I only get nauseous if I wait too long to eat now. I can feel the top of my uterus if i lay down, it's neat to know I'm growing a little human in there. I can't wait to feel the baby move for the first time!!!

My next appointment is November 9th.

thoughts

i can't focus on anything, and i think the baby is eating my brain. i just feel 'spacey', and i'm soooo tired. i would love to just curl up on the ground and take a nap right now.

i want icecream- but not just any icecream, i want DQ dipped cones

I don't think we've cooked or gone to the store for real food in like 3 weeks. i can't go into a grocery store without gagging.

my chair is really uncomfortable, i'm going to have to talk to someone about getting a different one.

we need to schedule vet appts for the cats

i have a busy weekend. jewelry party friday, reece's birthday party saturday, brunch with the girls on sunday

my back hurts, i may give in and take a tylenol :-/

11 weeks, 6 days

I haven't been updating this as much as I wanted to.
I had a sonogram on 9/24/2007, the baby is healthy. It was amazing. We saw the baby moving around, we saw the heartbeat, and the tech was able to get a good picture for us. They determined i was 9-10 weeks at that point. Due date is April 24th, 2008. So I was right on with my dates and the doctor was too early.

Morning sickness still sucks, but it's a bit more manageable. I'm hoping it'll go away in the second trimester. Aside from that and being exhausted, pregnancy hasn't been that bad at all.

Mom and I picked out fabric for the nursery. I picked a fabric that has pale green Mother Goose characters from Hey Diddle Diddle on it. I'm going to ask my grandma to paint some wall hangings from that too. Mom's going to make a quilt and curtains, possibly a pillow too. So now i have to get going and pick out a crib. and we need to call Home Depot to put a door on the nursery. I also need to get Joe to paint the nursery for me, once we patch the holes in the wall from the previous owners shelves.

Next appointment is this Friday, I think we get to hear the heartbeat then.

week ???

I had my first doctor's appointment yesterday. I'm fine and healthy, but the doctor couldn't figure out exactly how far along i am. He was saying 10 weeks based on my last period, but i said i'm not that far along. I guessed about 7. During the exam he said I'm further then 7 but not quite 10... so he's sending me for a sonogram. I'm excited, we'll get to see the baby early :-)

They had to tell you about all of the prenatal screenings and that scared me a bit, but we wouldn't terminate anyway so I think I'm skipping most of them. I'd be more worried if there was a false positive then if i just didn't know. I may get one for spina bifida if it's offered that way we can make sure we'd have the correct surgeons at the hospital to minimize effects.

I'm getting bloated and my feet are swollen. Other then that, i look the same. I did wear my first maternity pants today and they are SO much comfier then my regular pants. I still have some morning sickness and food aversions, but I'm feeling pretty good.

I fly out to Charleston on Sunday morning, Erin and I are going on a 5 night cruise leaving Monday afternoon. Joe's being great considering i'm flying out on our first anniversary. He's been wonderful with the pregnancy and everything else too. I'm really lucky.

pregnancy

so far it's been an interesting ride. I have days where I feel wonderful, and days where I barely want to move out of bed. I get morning, noon, and night sickness. i live on Tums and toast, and sprite. My pants no longer button. Today's the first day i'm wearing a maternity shirt too.
i went to Boscov's to get measured for a maternity bra, and the lady just went "oh my lord! i don't think we carry that size". *sigh* on to special ordering bras now. i've started looking at nursery stuff, and i've started a wish list at babies r us...but i'm not even sure i'm going to register there.

My dreams are crazy now. i had a dream the other night that i cooked beefaroni, and it was so vivid i could see the can of beefaroni! last night i had a dream that i was at my baby shower and there were people i hadn't seen in years. very odd pregnancy symptom.

My cravings now are for sweet things- which means my teeth hurt :-P. still can't go near coffee, and now i can't have turkey lunchmeat.

Erin and I are going on a trip next week. location still undecided. somewhere away from people where we can just relax for a bit. i'm looking forward to it.

and baby makes three...

Joe and I are expecting a little addition to our family! We found out we were pregnant on 08/13/2007. I have my first doctor's appointment on 9/12, hopefully we'll get a due date then and determine how far along i really am. i *think* i'm around 5-6 weeks along.

It's been exciting and scary. I'm so thrilled to be a mommy, but so afraid that i'm going to do something wrong and hurt the baby.
anyways, i wanted somewhere to journal my thoughts and symptoms. i have two pregnancy journals but they're fill in the blank type books.

I've had morning sickness all day long. it went away when i got a cold, but that was mainly b/c i couldn't smell anything to set me off. Now that the cold is gone, the m/s is back in full swing.

My already enormous boobs grew another cup size. If they're growing in the first month, i may have to start making my own bras!

I can't stand the scent of coffee. I miss it a bit, but then i smell it and remember why i'm not drinking it.

i've been craving soft pretzels and corn dogs...and onions.

Joe's been awesome so far at helping me out and dealing with the crazy mood swings (they just started this week). He's patient and just a bit over protective.

i think that's it for now.