26 weeks!

So I just wrote out a quick update and posted it....to the wrong blog.  No idea how that happened, but I added it to a group Infertility blog that has been inactive for close to a year.  I suppose that part is good, because otherwise that would have been reaaallly awkward with the belly shots and blantant pregnancy AW.

Anyway, no nursery pics yet...due to lack of good natural lighting in the evening we decided to do the rest of the painting this afternoon (or now weekend since it is dark and rainy today).   So this post will be pretty short, sadly I have a funeral for R's great uncle this afternoon.  It was reason enough to break out my first maternity dress outfit though, which actually looks really cute.

Look, the first time my knees have seen daylight in public since last October!

And the belly shot.  I'm not sure if it is the dress or that I've really grown, but I really look pregnant today!

down to double digits!!

99 days left!!!

The nursery is almost done.  When I say done, I mean the painting is almost finished.  I don't expect to have any furniture in there until late May or possibly even June.   We did buy a glider this past weekend.  We went to several furniture stores with the idea that buying a good glider from them would be better so it could eventually transition into a family room.  Turns out, at least in this area, Dutailier still holds the corner on the glider market no matter what store you go in.  So we decided to just look at the ones they had in Babies R Us, so at the very least I'd know which models we didn't want when I checked online.   We ended up going with this glider:


It seemed just as well made and sturdy as similar models in the regular furniture stores and the in stock fabric was something I liked.  Maybe the finish won't hold up super long, but I think we got a pretty good deal.

25 weeks

Overall I'm feeling pretty good, but sleep sure has been alluding me this week.  I'm not sure what it is that has suddenly changed, but I can't even roll over at night without feeling like I need to get up to go to the bathroom.   I even called the nurse to get checked for a UTI just in case because I had some lower ab discomfort last weekend too, but I haven't heard anything so I assume that is fine.  I'm pretty sure the cramps were just growing pains, but I'm not really bigger.

This past weekend we moved the last of the stuff out of the room that is to be the nursery and started repainting the closet doors.  We are hopefully going to get the first coat of wall paint done this weekend, but I doubt we'll get to the second part (high gloss stripes of the same color).  We settled on Valspar River Mist for the color...not too aqua, but at the same time not too baby blue either.

R is becoming a Craig's list junkie...he has been forwarding me links to giant baby garage sales.  There is one tomorrow that I might check out (not just baby stuff though), and really extensive one next weekend that I plan on checking out with my friend.  Hopefully I can find some nice spring maternity pants, because I don't really have anything in my loaner stash that fits yet.  And I think I've said before, I prefer the full panel style over the under belly ones, particularly now that I'm bigger.  It just gets really uncomfortable to sit with this heavy elastic band pushing on your lower belly.


Only 4 more days until I hit double digits!  35/35 is going to be here before I know it.  Also only a few more days until I am supposed to submit my notice of resignation intent at work....and come clean to the rest of my co-workers.  I am amazed the nosy secretary hasn't said anything yet.  It will be interesting to see if they are surprised or not.

24 weeks! Viability!

We made it!  24 weeks is has been the big milestone all along.  The next milestone is getting to full term.  From here on out, we have a chance if this little guy decides to come early and every week means a stronger baby.  Only 3 weeks left until 3rd trimester!

So I think the belly is really starting to grow out rather than just up.  Since my growth has been so gradual, I don't realize all the time how much I've really grown:

 

And to think I felt bloated and huge at 12 weeks.  Ha!

Movement is starting to get crazy now.  Those little feet are still almost always up under my right ribs (at least it feels that way).  Last night R was even able to feel his first cluster of kicks, rather than one that was over before he even realized what he was feeling.   Seeing it from the outside never ceases to amaze me.  Even though I feel him so much on the inside, somehow being able to see my belly move and know it is my baby on the other side making that happen is just so much more real.   Pretty soon I think I be at the lopsided bump phase depending on where he is positioned.  I felt my first slow roll from the outside the other morning.  I couldn't tell if it was a head or a butt, but this little lump pushed its way across my side.   Last night before bed I felt an elbow (?) slowly move up my belly.

I think I may have had some Braxton Hicks, but I don't know what they feel like, so I'm not sure.  It usually happens once or twice when I'm walking for exercise, and then recently it is happened at random times even when resting.  It feels like a tight fist in my lower abdomen, but the rest of my uterus doesn't feel hard at all, so I wonder if it is just baby curling into a little ball down there.  It isn't painful, at the worst it feels like when your bladder is too full.  I'll mention when I talk to the nurse tonight (part of a healthy start program through my insurance, I get weekly calls from a nurse now to check up on me and answer any questions) but I'm not concerned.

My next u/s is in about 2 and half weeks, and I get to have my 1 hour glucose test on April 8th.  I'm pretty sure I'm fine.  With a diabetic sister and a diabetic cat, I could certainly test myself if I felt like it, but it still wouldn't save me from that nasty glucola.  After all the crap I've been through in the past two years, I'm pretty sure it won't be that bad.

Happy St. Patricks Day!!

Fetal echo went well!

And I'd like to introduce the sweetest face in the whole world.

The MFM doctor turned on the 4D feature at the end of our scan.  He is absolutely adorable (and that little hand is still up by the head!).

Everything looked great, I learned some new things, and baby is definitely a boy. He is measuring 24w4days and weighs about 1lb7oz!! Chances are I will end up having a June baby, with an adjusted uterine age EDD of 6/28, but my true EDD is still 7/7 because while baby is bigger, he isn't actually older.


They took all the heart measurements first...HB was around 135 because he was napping. That took up the majority of the appt. The nurse was very nice and explained beforehand that it would take awhile and not to be concerned if she got quiet because she would have to do a lot of concentrating to get the right measurements.  Honestly, by 45 minutes into it, I was almost bored.  Most of the screenshots were close ups of ventricles, arteries, heart chambers, etc., so I couldn't even see baby moving around while she measured.

They did a cervical length check since I had a history of uterine abnormality (septum removal). The first thing I noticed was this odd looking black ball in what looked like the middle of my cervix. The tech said it was probably a contraction, but she'd bring in the doctor to be sure. I could see where the cervix still looked long and closed, so I wasn't freaking out, but it certainly was a bit disconcerting. The doctor explained (complete with hand drawn diagram) that the "ball" was really an empty pocket of the uterus caused by two focal contractions, which are localized muscle spasms in the uterus often caused by too much poking and prodding. When these happen during an u/s, they can look just like fibroids as the muscle is all knotted up.  I just happened to have them in mirrored spots on either side of my cervix, making it look like part of the cervix. These can occur anywhere in the uterus and aren't anything to worry about.

Final SCH update!!:
Before she finished up the abdominal scan I asked her to check my SCH and it is officially gone!! She looked, I looked while she scanned, and the doctor came in to look. The sack and the uterine walls were well defined and looked great, so in the dr's words, I'm "just normal" now. Yay!  Such a relief to know that I don't have worry about anything shifting.  I've spent so much of this pregnancy being abnormal/high-risk, I don't even know what normal pregnancy rules are like.  At least I know I will be free to swim in St. Thomas!  I have a regular OB appt on Friday, where of course I will be sure to get an "all clear" first, but it will be nice to be able to push myself a little in the regular activity department.

slacking on the blogging (22 weeks!)

So I'm about 4 days late with my weekly update post, but I accomplished a lot in the meantime!

- Signed up for birthing/labor class
- Scheduled appt. with home nurse for pre-term labor education (free service from Aetna)
- Started the registration process for cord blood donation
- Set up registries at Babies R Us (BRU) and Target

Registering has been a major headache, but to start my saga off on a good note, someone bought my Pack N Play already!  I've only had these set up for 2 days and something is already bought.   I am so excited!   Here it is...Graco Kinsley from Target.

Love the pattern.  It took me forever (okay, a week of constant searching) to find a pattern I liked that included the PnP, carseat, swing, and high chair....or at the very least the infant car seat and PnP.  Originally I fell in love with Graco's Broadstreet pattern, but naturally it was being discontinued when I started seriously considering what to register for about a week ago.  So I searched the car seats on Graco's site, checked out the patterns available at BRU and was about to settle for a pattern with a slightly heavier carrier than we originally wanted (Snugride 35 vs regular Snugride) when I searched under the Pack n Plays on Graco's site and found the one above.  It does come with the full travel system as opposed to just the carrier, but the stroller is pretty easy to fold and will be nice when we do want something a little heavier duty that the Graco carrier frame I am also registered for.    Of course, moments after swearing to my mother I wouldn't be caught dead registering at Target, I discovered this pattern was only available there...so I ate my words and registered at the store from hell.  I'm keeping my registry there fairly small, and just hoping that everyone includes a gift receipt if they buy off registry or online because Target only allows up to $70 of returned merchandise within one calendar year...so if I get 2 of a larger item by accident (because they are notorious for screwing that up too) I'm stuck.  That pattern is totally worth the risk though.

And here is my 22 week bump pic from a horrible angle, but I didn't feel like a re-take. 

Tomorrow is our fetal echo.  I can't wait to see our little guy again.