17 weeks

This has been the first of hopefully not that many "hell weeks".  The week when all my doctor appts pile up on top of an already busy schedule.  This week I had 3 appts, a vet appt for my diabetic cat that decided to stop eating, an easter egg hunt party, a birthday party and of course Easter this Sunday.   Next hell week will be late April, when all my appts once again pile up in front of a busy wedding weekend.

So Monday was my first cervical check appt.  I know I had them with C, but the were paired with a regular monthly u/s so they weren't as boring.  This was just going to be a 3 minute monitoring of only my cervical length, without the baby even visible on the screen.  Luckily the tech was cool, and when I asked if we'd be looking at the baby because we didn't know the sex yet, she said not normally but took a peek anyway.   So here it is:

No, I haven't looked yet.  The card is actually in the hands of our neighbor now.  She is going to put either pink or blue balloons in a box and we'll open it on Saturday if the weather cooperates.

Today I had my monthly OB appt, which wasn't anything unusual, my weight and blood pressure look great.  I told my doc. that I haven't been feeling real great the past 24hrs, but since my cervical check went great, the pressure I'm feeling is likely normal.  Maybe it is because I've really popped, or maybe my muscles are weaker because I haven't actually worked out in two weeks, but it feels like a cross between after you've eaten way too much and that sick stomach feeling after you get the wind knocked out of you.  Not fun and just enough "off" to keep that little voice of worry going.   My other irritating symptom that is new to me is itchiness.  I'm guessing it is probably because of the sunburn, but it wasn't that bad so it has to been hormones or something too because this is awful!   My back, chest, belly and the front of my upper legs itch all the damn time.   My doc. said to use Aveeno lotion but so far it doesn't help much.

And, finally, the good old weekly bump pic:

16 weeks - vacation!

We are back from vacation and overall we had a great time.  The day before we left and that first day were rough for me, but I did better than I thought and only really cried after dropping C off with my inlaws.   He was an angel while we were gone, and my MIL left a message for me first thing Monday morning letting me know that he went to bed and slept through the night without a peep that first night, so when I picked up that message during our layover it really made me feel better.  

 

So this was our 3rd time vacationing in St. Thomas with my friends, and each time has been great, but not without glitches.  The past 2 times it was just other guests that were near impossible to get along with, this time it was just bad travel luck.  Nothing huge, but I don't have many pictures to share because R's waterproof camera decided to stop being waterproof, so all we had were our phones.  Here is my 16 week bump pic, taken on the south terrace of the place we stayed.

 

So that was the day we arrived, and I really think I popped while we were down there.  R commented on it several times.  I am proud to say that I did rock a bikini a few times!  

 

I am not sure if baby hates flying or loves it, but movement during the trip was pretty sporadic, except during flights....when baby moved almost non stop.  The very first leg of travel brought on some cramping too, but thankfully that was my only worrisome moment.   I will also say that the increasing number of differences between this pregnancy and Cs are making me start to think girl.  With C I had to be very careful of sunburn, but I got the most beautifully even tan I've ever had in my life.  This one?  Random splotchy burns no matter how many times I reapplied the 50 spf.  At one point it looked like little baby fingers/handprints all over my back.  My friend thought that was cute, but it creeped me out.

Movement!

At last!  I realize in the grand scheme of things it is still early, but I've been feeling the swishy rolling-like movements for almost 2 weeks now, so I've been waiting!  Just like with C, I thought I felt a thump here and there the past week, but nothing definite.   Just as I sat down to go over all the information documents we are taking/leaving, etc, I felt a poke, and then another, and another.  Feels like someone is poking me gently with their finger from inside.   Perfect timing too, just as I'm feeling really, really sad about leaving C, it is like this one is speaking up and saying hey, I'll help you through it!

15 weeks

Ugh...this week has been rough!  As we are closing in on vacation, I've had a ton of stuff on my plate and last week I was doing a great job of getting stuff accomplished.  Good thing too, because Sunday I was hit with a nasty cold and more or less stayed in bed most of the day.  Tuesday I thought I had it beat, then yesterday it was so awful I was nearly in tears.  I *think* I've seen the worst, but we shall see.   Nothing knocks me down a few pegs on the positivity ladder faster than feeling like shit and not being able to breathe without pain.  I actually felt depressed for a little bit earlier in the week, but I managed to pull myself together enough to do a few things that on my endless list that cheered me up.

Saturday I've got a bridal shower, a baby shower and a St. Patty's day dinner.   Did I mention R will be out of town?  Yeah, I'm probably insane, but my mom is watching C for the bridal shower, so at least he'll have had a nap.  Anyway, this is my first opportunity to show off what little bump I've got going and I decided last week to pull together a pretty cute outfit.  I started with a green dress that I bought a month or so ago, then found the perfect belt on amazon, already had the necklace, and I made the earrings Tuesday night.  I love them...so pretty and sparkly.  Shiny things make me happy.  Don't hate.

And speaking of things that make me happy, the other week a friend posted on facebook about Coach Outlet's sale....so of course I looked, just to see.  In general, I am not a designer girl.  I'd like to be I suppose, but my wallet doesn't agree (nor does my logical side).  But since we had just broken down and invested in fancy smartphones...I bought a little wristlet wallet.  But in order to do that I had to give them my email, and then they had an even bigger sale....
So after trying to ignore the 50% off clearance email for half a day, I looked again...and found that the $300+ baby bag that I see everyone carrying was now $136.   I mentioned it to R, thinking I'd get "the look", but he basically said go for it, so I tried to add it to my cart and it wasn't available!  BUT, I called the two outlet stores somewhat nearby and one had one, so C and I took little road trip down to the beach.

 

And while we are on a picture roll, here is my weekly "bump" and the pic I put up on facebook this evening!

 

T minus 3 days before we drop C off at my in-laws and head for St. Thomas.  Excited but hoping I can hold myself together over leaving him.

14 weeks

Its funny...I really thought I was starting to show, but my weekly picture really doesn't look all that different than last week.

My butt looks like it grew 3 sizes again though....stupid camera.   I had my first round of Braxton Hicks at 13w5days....much earlier than I expected but there was no question that is what I was feeling.  A sudden tightening like my whole uterus just turned into a ball, but with no pain.  It happened twice and then nothing.   In the evenings when I'm resting on the sofa I'm getting odd sensations too, somewhere between uncomfortable clothing and flip-flopping stomach, even if I'm wearing loose pants and not feeling any m/s.  I am pretty sure this is the precursor to real movement because I remember this around 15-16 weeks with C.

Announcing to my friends didn't really go as planned, but that seems par for the course this time through.  Of my 5 close friends, one moved to Texas last month, so obviously she could not be there in person, but the remaining 4....one had to work, one texted an hour before the party that she was sick, and one wasn't sure she'd make it at all (did end up coming late).   So I went ahead and put C in his big brother shirt for the one friend that did show up and ended up texting everyone else.   At least that is it for planned announcements because I'm over it.  We'll put it on FB in the next week or so.  I was going to do it this week, but a friend just had her 2nd failed IVF for #2 and I feel it is in bad taste to do it right now even though she already knows our last cycle worked.

13 weeks - 2nd tri!

Late in posting, again, so at 13w4days I'm officially in the 2nd trimester!  Starting to feel a little better and I've actually had a few 4-6 hr stints at night without waking up to pee.  Of course, when I do wake up I'm all crampy from a full bladder but at least it helps in the sleep department.   We've lifted the gag order on family, so word is now beginning to spread.  I think I waited a little too long to tell my friends though:

 

And that was 4 days ago before eating any breakfast...another quarter inch and my belly will be preceding me into a room.   Oh well, we are having people over for my birthday tomorrow anyway, so I think I'll just throw the Big Brother shirt on C and see who notices what first.  For people who don't know I've been working out and trying to lose weight pre-baby it still isn't noticeable.  I wore a fitted shirt to my book club last night and only 2 people out of 14 said anything and even then it was a "are we okay to assume what we think?" question.  Another person told me I look great so I guess it is a crap shoot whether it will be immediately obvious to my friends.

 

And I'm still fighting with the bella band muffin top for now.  My neighbor re-lent me all her maternity clothes again, but bottoms wise everything is too big, particularly at this point.  Motherhood Maternity is also all over the place with their fucking sizing BTW, so I can't even order online.  I've got 2 pairs of borrowed size large pants that basically fit if I roll the waist down (otherwise they are penguin pants), one pair of my own mediums that look okay except very bunchy around the waist....so I think I'm stuck somewhere between medium and small.  And don't get me started on jeans...they all suck.