Oh Yeah, Also, My Update

Friday and Saturday I had Braxton Hicks contractions all day, like regularly, like every three to six minutes. Friday it was enough that I went home from work, laid down, drank about 5 truck driver mug sized waters thinking maybe I was just dehydrated, and laid around timing myself letting poor Mike yet again take care of everything else. (Three cheers for being in the third trimester with a hubby off for the summer!)

Three calls to my OB later, and we determined I was probably "fine" and didn't need to come in, but certainly if things got worse, I had "bloody show" (I mean, REALLY, can't we just say "see some blood"?) or the baby wasn't moving, come in. None of these things happened so lest we ruin our Friday night sleep or the rest of our weekend, we just went on like normal and waited for them to subside or get worse. Plus my Mom was here and she agreed it was probably just false labor and MOMS KNOW EVERYTHING so I felt better not going in.

By Sunday, they subsided and I was back to my normal "contract when I stand up or lift anything" mode. Which seems reasonable. But honestly, I had been getting a little freaked out when they had been coming like clock work and really really wondered, was this it?

Luckily, I now have the lovely weekly appointments, which this week, really was lucky. So today, she took a swab of something that by tomorrow, will either confirm I'm for sure not in any early labor ... or confirm that I "might be" in which case we literally will know nothing more than we know now. Which is that I'm a "finger tip" dialated and looking like I'm "getting ready" but that's about it.

Truthfully, I know I should be patient and make it 40 weeks but I have no interest. Like last time, I am just getting to the point where I want her here, safe, and just want to move to the next phase of this thing which is establishing life with new baby. The preggo gig is wearing thin .
I would love to get to 38 weeks and just have her POP ON OUT TO MEET THE FAM!

Frankly the suspense is killing me at work, too. I keep thinking I can go on like normal and it's become increasingly obvious that I won't accomplish 1/2 of what I thought I might before I leave, between doc visits and just limitations on those really long days. Which I don't think anyone but me expects of me. So I've lately shifted focus into documenting how I do things and training someone to do a lot of what I do. The PR firm employee version of nesting?

On the home front, all I want to do is wash and put away baby clothes, cross things off my baby to do list and most amazingly, read baby and preggo books for the first time since, like, my first 10 weeks of pregnancy with Matthew. I have been so laissez-faire, "oh yeah, due in August, anyway that's a nice blouse you have on!" and suddenly I'm all BABYBABYBABY and the paranoid part of me just wonders, is it a sign? Anyway it prompted me to start packing a suitcase, chat with my mom about her visit days, and fold about 100 billion onesies after washing them in non scented stuff. SHOUT OUT: Thanks to all of you ladies who have purchased or loaned me so many kick A girl baby clothes. I was practically beside myself with glee folding up so many many tiny pink THINGS last night.

Last point: my non-stress test was perfect again today, so was her fluid. We are both doing swimmingly, thank you. Somehow that still didn't get me out of any future monitoring and, in fact, in light of this weekend's contract-a-thon I have now scored myself another OB appointment next Monday where formerly I had none.

I realize so many people have dealt with SO MANY more appointments and genuinely scary pregnancy situations. I should not complain. I truly do know this is "nothing" and I'm blessed and we're lucky. I just, you know ... want life to be a little easier again. Which I am thinking might happen sometime after the baby gets here ... like 2014.

Today's Appointment, By the Numbers

157: The baby's heartbeat, which just sounds so damn awesome every time I hear it. Down from 169 on Valentine's Day at our last screening ultrasound. Mike loves to try and predict the sex from this. He read like one BabyCenter.com article and is now sold that higher means girl. But is 157 high or low? We knew it would drop from 169, so is this just in line with that?Apparently baby wants to see if Daddy can do calculous, because I don't think there's any way to figure it out from our pattern so far.

5: My lbs. of weight gain. Ha ha, Dr. Sucker. Too bad for you that you started counting after the first 3-4 went on because yes, on home scale from time I got pregnant, I've gained 9. And I do realize that's worse than I reported yesterday - every day IS worse than yesterday.

8: Approximate minutes I was with the doctor today.

15: Approximate time for them to make my next bleeping appointment and fill out the Quest blood paperwork.

185: Minutes spent in transit to and from and parking for my appointment.

But on a less snotty note...

4 1/2: Number of weeks until we find out boy or girl! I was waivering, but today I got butterflies just thinking about finding out so soon. AND - for those who know I've been struggling - I had my first glimpse of excitement at the idea of either girl, or boy. Yes we all know I'm a terrible mother because I have expressed a preference for an irl-geh. But today I imagined finding out and watching Michael learn he's having another son, and realizing we'd have another little stinky boy running around, and I realized I can picture it, after all.

Good Appointment, Bad Appointment

Had my second doctor appointment today. Here are the reasons it was good:
1) Heard cute baby heartbeat of 170 BPM - you go, girl (or boy)!
2) Was happy with only 1 lb. weight gain despite the significant eat-a-thon that's been happening here
3) Doctor gave me the "you now are past the risk of miscarriage" green light
4) Doctor very happy I am "growing and doing great so far!!!"

Also she was in her Good Doctor mood today. (Sometimes, with Matthew's pregnancy, Crabby Doctor came instead and those appointments weren't as fun. They were much less smiley, and good jobby, and tended to center more around how I've gained too much weight. Sometimes the words "BMI" and "obese" were used.)

But here are the reasons today was not so good: actually, I can save space, it's really one big reason. THEY LOST MY APPOINTMENT AND SO I WAITED FOR ABOUT ONE AND HALF HOURS.

I was so impatient, I am surprised I didn't jump the counter and strangle the ditzy front desk lady (who I just know never put my appointment into the computer after she wrote out my appointment card last time) with her own phone cord. The whole time I'm sitting there reading this new magazine for women, Pink, all about high-powered careers. Thinking I won't have a medium or low-powered one if I couldn't get the hell outta there and back to my conference call.

Anyway - in life - all things in perspective. Please know I am thrilled with my appointment. Just, you know, not the 3 hours event it took to get me out there, wait and get to work. For the five minutes I spent with Good Doctor.

A Real Update

We had a perfect healthy ultrasound on Monday - whoo hoo! Got a little 90 BPM heartbeat, which is normal for a couple more weeks. Matthew's was 160+ on his first ultrasound at 8 weeks, while Little Rice Krispie Muldrow was only 6 weeks so the doctor said that was normal.

And yes, our child is a Rice Krispie. Didn't even have the little arm/leg blobs - yet. Course that was 2 days ago ... who knows she s/he is up to in there now.

Well, actually, I know - making me SICK. I am having pretty strong nausea from the time I first wake up, until I get to work. I have to wait around eating crackers in bed for 1/2 hour before I dare stand up (or really even sit up) unless I want to cruise straight in to barf.

Not a big fan of barfing - and once I start, I don't stop. But my "moving slowly" in the morning unfortunately means sticking poor Mike with the sole child care/pet care in the morning, and also being a bit late to work.

But so be it; we knew another pregnancy would bring some inconvenience, and hopefully it only lasts another 6-7 weeks at the most. Moving slowly, by 7:30 I feel good enough to shower and get to work. By about 9, I feel like eating, and I'm really into fruit or fruit yogurt; bread is sadly out. Eating stops the cycle, I just can't stand the thought of it until I get to work.

And then really all day, my stomach is still "off" all day. Which is different than Matthew (GIRL????).

But not complaining. I know people who throw up all day, every day. Even once every day would be too much for me. If we can keep this to nausea in the mornings, I will not complain too much.

Besides that, I do get tired at night - but not exhausted, and I'm not noticing it at work. I'm busy, which really does help. God, last time, at GE, I was so bored I felt a physically overpowering need to crawl under my desk and nap - daily. At work now, I find my carefully planned second cup of coffee around 3 p.m. is all I need to get through.

Course night is another story. I'm going to sign off now, as I'm feeling a bit like the walking dead. My perkiness ends about 8 p.m. so I don't know what the heck I'm doing up at 10:45.

Pregnancy in 2008 So Far

So far, so good! I am still feeling sick in the morning, but no barfing and it totally goes away after I eat. Which I don't feel like doing, which is sad because my morning english muffin with cheese or waffle with peanut butter standard is a highlight of my entire day.

Now it's plain toast, one piece, and even that I find myself not finishing. Just don't have the appetite*. But I gotta get a base in there to buffer the coffee which yes, I am still drinking (half caff at least).

Tomorrow morning I get more blood drawn for HCG levels again. Monday I get my ultrasound. Babycenter.com tells me that early ultrasounds may not show heartbeats, and if not I shouldn't worry. Even though heartbeats are usually visible by 6 1/2 weeks (4 1/2 weeks after conception, wow) if your cycle is longer you might have to come back the next week. (Perfect, because that is super convenient with me and a job and highway 40.)

Technically, I will be exactly 6 1/2 weeks on Monday. But based on my 31 day cycle, I won't be. Don't know what we'll see - and it WILL freak me out not so see something.

So, all together now, let's hear it for a heartbeat!

*After dinner, I have that appetite and then some and an generally now feeling the need for two dinners - then dessert. I don't always give in, but I always shop around the kitchen for quite a while each night, planning and debating what secondsies might be.

So Far, So Good

My HCG levels are fine - "everything's looking great!" - but Dr. Morley still wants me to repeat them again next Thursday. That way she'll have them before Mon. the 7th ... my first appointment and my first ULTRASOUND!

Now, I am super excited to see the baby and see the heart. And Mike's coming, too. Just one little glitch - I was a day off on calculating the first day of my last period. When I change that, plus factor that my average cycle is 31 days not 28 ... apparently my due date is Sept. 1 not Aug. 28. So I'm nearly a week off where I thought I was, and I'm hoping it's not too early for the ultrasound.

Think I read that ultrasounds can detect pregnancies as soon as the baby's implanted. And the heartbeat should start next week. So hopefully there will be something to see so Dr. Morley will not think I have pulled one over on her to get in early. Which, actually, I would be tempted to do; waiting nearly until eight weeks for Matthew's first appointment sucked!

My stats:
Nighttime pee trips last night: 3
Nausea: Mid-grade but mostly only in morning
Appetite: Sometimes non-existent (how could I not have finished my First Watch croissant sandwich?); sometimes lumberjack sized (last two nights, strongly felt I needed two dinners)
Caffeine restriction success: Well, anyway...