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Pregnancy Week 15

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Our second week in to the second trimester and I actually started feeling normal, for the first time since we got pregnant. Still tired, I feel like that part’s not going to shake. Twelve hours of sleep a night is not abnormal for me and something I actually crave by the time I crawl all limp-eyed into bed at night. But when I’m awake during the day I have more energy than I have had, which is a really nice feeling. I also don’t feel the nagging, constant hunger that has taken up residency in my gut since August. When I do eat, I’m eating less as I fill up more quickly. But the between meal snacking isn’t as persistent as before, and again, it feels nice.

Unfortunately, new symptoms arrived this week. I thought the aches and pains weren’t supposed to show up until much later, but I guess that’s happening now. I think it was Thursday night that I literally had the worst night of sleep of my entire life. It didn’t matter how I positioned myself, nothing was comfortable. I had charlie horses, nightmares, heartburn, aches, pains, and apparently a conversation with Shelton about kids and marshmallows. It was miserable. During the day, I’m just achy. If Shelton places his hand on my back in the evening I feel like I could swallow his hand with my muscles – the pressure feels that good.

Some days the achiness radiates more from between my shoulders than elsewhere. I attribute that to the new set of breasts I’m hauling around. Last week I bought my first double-D bra. And unfortunately I feel like that’s not the end of the growth spurt I’m experiencing. Other times the pain radiates from my tailbone/lower back, and that’s the pain that feels nearly impossible to get rid of. It gets to the point where it hurts to walk, and of course sitting doesn’t help. This morning Shelton commented that the shape and curve of my back had changed. Clearly my body is shifting and changing in ways neither of us expected.

That was really about all that happened in week 15. Today we began week 16 and hoping that it goes just as smoothly.

Tags: pregnancy milestones, pregnancy symptoms, pregnancy week by week
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Lee Press-on Nails and Porn Star Boobs

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Ahhh, the changes your body goes through to make a baby. It’s glorious, isn’t it? Everyone’s always talking about this miracle and the process. Please! This is such an inconvenience. (not the baby, the body)

Look, no one can appreciate being pregnant more than me. I don’t take one ounce of this for granted and I truly am embracing this entire experience because it’s never ever happening again. (Unless this “miracle” baby Shelton keeps talking about happens. You know, the day after our kid moves to college we find out we’re pregnant!)

But does it have to be like this? This week I’ve entered the achy phase. Isn’t it too soon for this? Nothing is comfortable. Lying down, sitting up, on my butt, on my knees, to the left, to the right, this chair, that chair, that couch, the floor, the hearth, pillows propped, ….. NOTHING is comfortable. My back, shoulders, tailbone, hips, pelvis, legs, head, they all hurt and ache constantly. I had a little realization last night that maybe my hips/pelvis are starting to shift. But again I ask, this early?

Shelton said I’ve been groaning in my sleep. Clearly uncomfortable.

Part of the problem I can state for a fact are my new porn star boobs. A while back I mentioned getting reacquainted with my breasts (such a delicate word). If only I’d known then what I know now. These are straight-up porn boobs. And being that the majority of my adult life I’ve carried a respectable set of Ds, I had no need nor interest in gaining anything else. I can understand how a girl with As or even Bs might be ecstatic about this new addition to her anatomy. But I’m not impressed. To be perfectly honest I’m overwhelmed. What in the hell am I supposed to do with these things??? Surely they are creating some of the strain my back.

I’m in awe. Brava Mother Nature, Brava! Now, we’ve seen what you can do, clean up your mess!

One change that I’m not too disgruntled about are my fingernails. In a few recent photos my fingernails have been in the shot for whatever reason and I’ve really been caught by how nice they look. These are long and strong and look like girl fingernails (something I can’t usually say for my kindergartner hands). Kudos to you prenatal vitamins and pregnancy hormones. I can remember when the Lee Press-on nails came out when I was a kid. I used to tell my grandmother, who has the best nails in the world, that’s what I thought her nails were. So I guess I finally got my Lees as well!

Tags: pregnancy milestones, pregnancy symptoms
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Pregnancy Week 14

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

OK, so it’s official, we are in the second trimester. Woo woo! Huge relief. We both feel like a bit of weight has been lifted, and yet we know we’ve still got a long way to go.

The whole thing is still unbelievably surreal to us both. The only thing that slaps us into reality is my ever-expanding belly. Yes, it’s getting rounder and rounder by the day. For now it’s a perfect little bump, nicely centered. I do hope it doesn’t expand on a horizontal plane. Nevertheless, being pregnant still feels foreign and intangible to me at times, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever get past that. I think of everything we’ve done and where are lives have gone in the five years we wanted/tried to have a baby. It’s then that I realize how truly long we really did wait to get here.

So we embrace. I just keep reminding myself that this is all worth it.

I do have a new pet peeve (as if my list had room for any more!). The psuedo “I told you so comments.” For instance, I say I’m so hungry all the time. And people reply with – well, this is what you asked for. I say I have heartburn that would make a dragon cry. And people reply that this is what I signed up for. I mention that none of my clothes fit. And people kindly remind that I knew what I was getting myself in to.

“No shit!” is what I want to scream back. As if I needed a snarky reminder of exactly what it is we got ourselves in to. I’m pretty sure I was there the day I handed the clinic two credit cards and a check to make our lump payment of more than $10,000. So, I’m pretty sure I knew as she was swiping and stamping that I wouldn’t feel well, that my skinny jeans wouldn’t fit for a while and that I might be all around uncomfortable for a period of time. But again, I also know just how very worth it all of this is.

Anyhow, can anyone else tell the hormones arrived? I laugh and I cry and I get really, REALLY frustrated.

We did have an appointment last week (read week 14 OB appointment) and got the a-OK from the doctor. My weight is progressing normally and everything else checked out perfectly. You can’t ask for more than that. And I started pre-natal yoga which I’m so pumped about and will take every Monday.

It was a fairly uneventful week. I just keep growing, and eating, and sleeping, and popping Tums like Halloween candy.

Tags: IVF, pregnancy milestones, pregnancy symptoms, pregnancy week by week
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OB Appointment – Week 14

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

I had my second OB appointment this week with Dr. W. I had planned this one specifically leading in to the lunch hour so that Shelton would finally be able to tag along and meet the doctor. Unfortunately, a last-minute lunch appointment kept him away. I was oddly bummed about it. I think I got so used to him being by my side at every single IVF appointment. I assured him it was OK, and it was, but I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed he wasn’t there.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at this appointment. I thought I’d go in, undress and slide into the gown for my exam. But alas, I got to stay fully clothed this time. The nurse quickly found the heartbeat, a raging 146 bpm!! There was a lot of extra noise that she called “punches,” as if the baby were knocking on my stomach. It basically indicated there’s a lot of movement going on inside. It’s still kind of strange to me that there’s A PERSON inside my belly, a very active person, and yet I feel nothing. If I eat too many enchiladas I feel a lot of movement, you know?! But a whole baby and I’ve got nothing. Both the nurse and the doctor asked if I could feel anything yet and I said no. They explained it’s still too early, but maybe four weeks away from those first flutters. How exciting!

This appointment was the first time I’ve been able to answer “NO!” to the question “Do you have any bleeding?”. What a friggin’ relief. I’ve had some very mild spotting sporadically, but the scary six weeks of bleeding is OVER!!!

I got my H1N1 shot. Having had the “regular” flu shot about a month ago, this one was super easy. I felt no pain the following days. The other shot was just painful!

I also got clearance to start pre-natal yoga, which I did on Monday and LOVED!!!

Dr. W told me that we can likely find out the gender in early December, around my 20th week. That could be my next appointment. I think we’re still riding the fence a bit. The compulsive planner in both of us will likely take over and we’ll give in and find out, provided the little monster cooperates. There’s also something really special about saving it until the end. I mean, you don’t buy a book and immediately read the last paragraph. You don’t fast-forward a movie to the last five minutes. You anxiously ride it out. But while I’m watching a movie I don’t have a room to paint and clothes to buy. So alas, we’ll probably cave.

Not likely to be the last time this set of parents caves!

Tags: OBGYN, prenatal yoga
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Finding my Mantra in Pre-Natal Yoga

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

I have been waiting so long for last night!! I went to the doctor yesterday for my four-week check-up (and all went well), and since I’m in my 14th week now, asked if I could start yoga. And he gave a resounding yes, and praised the fitness benefits.

I didn’t do yoga before. In fact, I’ve only been to maybe three yoga classes ever, and that was during college. And I was too immature for it because I’d snicker every time bodily noises escaped into the room.

But being that I’m more in tune with my overall health and wellness than I ever have been before, I couldn’t help but pay attention the pregnancy benefits of yoga. It facilitates a deeper connection with yourself and your body, cultivates a sense of calmness, learn how to properly breathe and channel attention away from pain, and it’s a low-impact method of exercise that can tone, relieve aches and pains, and strengthen muscles. Name a pregnant woman who couldn’t benefit from all of that!

I enlisted a well-versed yogi friend to research the yoga studios in Wichita and landed on one that she highly recommended.

So in preparation this week, I bought my yoga mat and read-up on what I needed to know as a yoga beginner. The no eating rule beforehand was proving to be a challenge and I finally had to give in to a cheese stick and apple. I was so hungry and I knew I wouldn’t make it through otherwise.

I loved the class! And I’m looking forward to many more over the next five or six months. The instructor is fun and enjoyable, keeping the class lighthearted. There were four other women and they made this newbie feel very comfortable. There was even a fellow Sooner in the bunch! We had a sort of open forum for pregnancy questions – everything from gas and heartburn to charlie horses and cravings. I was definitely the least far along, but it was kind of fun to see where I was headed. We had to come up with a mantra to repeat to ourselves as we inhaled and exhaled. Mine was “This is all worth it,” I think an appropriate reminder that the shots, puking, headaches, constipation, giant porn-star boobs and the like will all be a faint memory, and worth it, when we finally bring our little baby home.

I left feeling refreshed and excited. I can definitely see how this is going to help me get through the rest of this pregnancy, but also the labor and delivery.

Tags: Healthy Lifestyle, prenatal yoga
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Pregnancy Week 13

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Yesterday we started our second trimester, and I cannot even begin to express the sigh of relief that exhaled from my lungs as I woke up. I know we’re not out of the woods completely, but we’re through the thick of it. I won’t consider us out of the woods and 100% until this little monster is at home with us, and I’ve counted all of the appendages ten times.

But, this post is not about the second trimester, it’s about the final week of our first trimester. Week 13.

I spent Sunday-Saturday in NYC. It’s a trip I take three or four times a year for work, and one I always look forward to. I work at home, so my days are spent with me, the dog and my laptop. I work with the best group of guys and I thoroughly enjoy getting a chance to work in the same room with them. And have real conversations.

On any other trip to NYC, I come home completely exhausted. It’s a completely different pace out there and I’m gung-ho and ready to take it on the first half of the week, but by Thursday I’m fading fast and the airplane never delivers me home soon enough. So I had my apprehensions about taking on this trip pregnant. I have more good days than bad days, as far as how well I feel. But good days can turn on a dime and I knew we didn’t have time for me to be laid up in bed. So my first plan of attack was to take my anti-nausea pill each morning with my pre-natal. And I like to think it worked because I didn’t get sick once. (Well, once, but completely unrelated.)

We also do a lot of walking. A lot. And I have days where a lap around the grocery store can send me in to a three-hour nap. Fortunately, I now stay in Brooklyn, rather than Upper East Manhattan, and the pace is slower. It probably also helped that I didn’t drink every night I was there.

I managed to stay well fed. And if you keep up with my pregnancy story at all, you know that that is a must because I eat round the clock. I took a trip to the grocery store and stocked up on healthy snacks. And then made sure to get my breakfast, lunch and dinner each day. The food there is always amazing and so delicious, and I love how each restaurant seems so authentic, handmade and like they really put their hearts into the food.

I did have one lunch that could have gone badly. On the walk to the restaurant I could feel my blood sugar crashing. I was getting the shakes, so I reached in my bag and started munching on some almonds. By the time we arrived at our table, I was sweating and light-headed. I asked the waitress to bring me food, anything, now! She did and I inhaled the chips, salsa, bread and butter that she delivered. Then I plowed through my lunch and felt back to normal. I hate, hate, hate that blood sugar crash feeling. It’s like there’s not enough food, soon enough that can pull you back to safety.

This past week I also discovered the club soda & cranberry juice. When everyone around me had glasses of wine and beer, and I jealousy smelled the aroma in the air, I got to sip on a fun-having drink, too! (I’ve since named this the Mama Cocktail.)

I returned home Saturday evening, in time to see my Sooners beat the Jayhawks!!!, and I collapsed. I rolled up into a corner on the couch and I didn’t move the rest of the night. I’ve also been home for two days now, and knock on wood, I don’t seem to be getting sick. I was concerned with flying in the germ tube that I’d come home with some horrid strain of some disease. I feel like I’m in the clear, and I’d like to thank my incessant handwashing (my hands are so dry they hurt!) for keeping me healthy.

I also brought a little more home with me than I left with. My belly. BIG changes in that this week and Shelton was just awe-struck when I lifted my shirt to show him the expansion project I underwent while in Brooklyn.

Now that I’m home, I’m starting to feel better and things feel like they’re slowing down from the insanity of the first trimester, I’m so anxious to get back on track with my eating. I went WAYYYY off the deep-end and I can’t even tell you how much I’m looking forward to salmon, brown rice and veggies tonight!

Tags: photos, pregnancy travel, pregnancy week by week
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