may 27- doc appt

today was my appt. my regular doc that i've been seeing every 2 weeks didn't have any openings, so i saw another doc who i really like. here's the updates:

bp- 138/97 30 minutes later- 141/96
weight- 190
fundal height- 24.5
fetal heart rate- 144
i do not have gestational diabetes- yipee! praise the LORD!!! one thing i DON'T HAVE!
my anti-d antibody is now officially negative!
i have to start on iron supplements now.


as you probably noticed the blood pressure is above the "mark" for when to be worried. (140/90)
this, accompanied by the headache that i've had for about 5 days now, the transient abdominal pain, as well as the swelling led the doctor to want to do more tests. so, i got sent to labor and delivery triage today after my appointment. blerg.

and, since my bp was elevated they were nicer to me than usual. i've gone round and round with these people in the past... i'm sure, in their defense, they see many a crazy pregnant woman... but i have a history of eclampsia/hellp syndrome and am high risk due to my APS- so they need to cut me some slack! by the end of the visit they were less than pleased to be helping me. (and i was less than pleased to be there almost 5 hours later!!)

this is what happened. before triage i went to the lab and had a blood draw for my liver, as well as a urinalysis. (they check for protein in the urine.) then i went to triage and checked in. they took my bp there, lying down, on my side, (as opposed to sitting), and it was normal every single time. not even elevated! so weird! i think the final one was 116/62. they also monitored wren's heart rate and she was fine as well. all of my labs came back normal. so that's good news!
i explained that i've had this headache, worse in the mornings, for several days now, and that it doesn't go away. went through this big rigmarole to get a Rx for compazine/benadryl and then remembered that thadd and i drove separate cars!! so i couldn't even take it! (and i have an Rx at home, and my headache was really only at a 2/10... not even bad... it's only really bad in the mornings- which i also told them.) so... they let me go even though i had a headache, said to come back if anything gets worse.
hehe... i've heard that before. cue the eerie foreshadowing music... all of my labs were normal 2 days before i was in liver failure with max!!

sidenote: you probably don't remember, but my fundal height was 23.5 last time. the first time he measured it today he got 24. then i told him what it was last time and he said "let me do that again" and got 24.5.... the margin on the fundal height measurement is +/- 2 weeks per centimeter. sooo.. i'm 26.5 weeks, and in a perfect world my fundal height would be the same... as it is, it's within the limits of normal... but still low. :(

he did give me more confidence that i'm probably not going to have to have a c-section tomorrow or anything. that even if they give me the steroids that they really want to try and wait to 32 weeks. but, that it still could happen that they have to take her sooner.... please keep me and wren in your prayers. we appreciate all of them!

tomorrow evening i'll have another post to update after our growth scan.

may 15- good news + bad news = fair news

so, today was my growth scan... and we didn't exactly hear what we wanted to. we'll start with the good news:

wren's organs are all fine. kidneys, heart, brain etc. everything is where it should be, doing what it should be doing. :) what a blessing!!!
her stomach is measuring right on target for gestational age. the doctor (not the normal high risk i see, but the one over her who monitors my case) said that babies in stress typically measure small around the belly, and larger in the head. this is because all of the nutrients go to the brain/heart, and they don't put on the belly weight. so it's a good sign that her belly is round.
her blood flow to all of her organs is good. as well as the blood flow through the umbilical cord to her. (this was how we lost max, a blood clot in the umbilical cord.)
the placenta is fine, and all the fluid is at normal levels.
she measured in the 18% today. they said they don't start to worry until babies get under the 10% range.
thadd and i both were small babies... so she has this going for her. if she continues the "growth arc", and just stays a little smaller than normal, but growing... then everything is peachy!
my monitoring will now be a growth scan every other week... and doppler ultrasounds twice a week.


the bad news:

every other measurement (other than the stomach) is about 1-2 weeks under size. the doctor said that this is due to my APS. of course it is no surprise. we expected that she would have growth restriction at some point. we just wish it wasn't showing up so early. if you remember, at the first ultrasound she measured perfectly! which is think is one of the reasons they know that things aren't as they should be.
at my next ultrasound, in 2 weeks, should wren's growth not show the "arc" that they want they will decide a course of action. this could mean one of 2 things. 1) outpatient steroids, with even closer monitoring and possible c-section following at some time. 2) being admitted to the hospital for 24 hour monitoring and given steroids and having a c-section.

the other good news:

the doc said that she could totally make it. she seemed really positive that everything would be ok if they did have to take her so soon. (even now.) of course there are risks, and problems... but with wren having no other problems there's a good chance for her. especially at 27-28 weeks!
it is a bit of a shock for me though... to think... that i could have this little girl in 3 weeks... i don't really know how to process that information! i'm not all that worried about her, i think she'll be ok. i'm not letting myself think about all the complications of coming so early. but, more just the fact that i thought i was going to have about 3 more months... and now it could be 3 weeks! wow. (i need to unpack my house, clean, decorate, clean, buy baby stuff, clean, unpack some more, rest up, and get ready for a possible hospital stay, followed by weeks of visiting my little bird in the nicu. :/)

we got several really cute pictures. thadd's convinced that she has my chin-poor girl! and we even got a 3d one. the tech got some cute shots, but printed out one that wasn't my favorite. (thadd said that wren looked a little like the elephant man.hehe...) but it was really neat to see her in 3d! give me a week to get the pictures up. my house is a wreck (from moving this past weekend.) and i'm still having to use someone else's scanner to scan them in! (my stupid "all in one" clearly doesn't include "scanning" according to the common definition!)

i'll continue my lovenox at 60mg/day and baby aspirin. you guys continue in prayer...

april 20- appointment today (on thadd's birthday-what a present)

so, here's the new news.

bp- good
fundal height- 21 (perfect)
weight- +5lbs (wow, better cut back on the cheetos!)
fetal heart rate-good

anti-D antibody update- it's continuing to go down. it's definitely because of the shot i got in jan. YAY!!!

today i had a TON of questions for my doctor. here's the overview:

-can i do shots in my butt? this was SO funny. when i asked her this question she sort of looked at me a little sad and said, "well, usually not because it has to go into fat, not muscle." to which i replied, "have you seen my butt?"... haha! like it's all muscled out or something. i assured her that, yes, i could find a chunk of fat on my butt to put the injection in. how hilarious! muscle. ha!
-what can i do for hemorrhoids? good 'ol tucks and prep H. here i come!
-what can i do about peeing myself when i sneeze? yeah. so this happened to me the other day. sheesh! i was like "isn't this supposed to be AFTER i have the kid????!!!" but, alas, she said it's really normal due to the shifting of my uterus on the urethra. apparently that weakens the mechanism which keeps us from regularly wetting ourselves. nice, huh? (don't worry, it was only a drop!) haha..
-how will my APS affect my labor? it shouldn't affect it at all! i should be able to have natural childbirth, (as natural as i want it :)... short of pitocin to induce the labor initially.
-why will i be induced? this is mainly for control of my blood thinners. they don't want me to go into labor unplanned and still be taking my regular dosage of blood thinner. being induced, in and of itself will raise my risk of having to have a c-section. i'm totally against this (unless it's necessary), and thadd's with me on it. we really want to do what we can to avoid this. we may decide not to be induced depending on wren's health, my health, and further research.
-sexy pelvic brace- it works like a charm!!! (not so much for sexiness, but for pelvic pain.) and yes, kate, i'm going to wear it! my pelvic pain has been intermittently TERRIBLE. i've heard from some of the ladies i know that this is just caused by the weight of the baby on my pelvic bone. i don't know if wren is just low or what, but sometimes i just can't get rid of this pain! i recommend this "hip band" for all ladies who have this pain. it's amazing!
-cystic fibrosis screening? i haven't taken it yet, but i'll take it this week.
-blood thinning test? did one test today, and will have one every few weeks.
-am i at risk for preterm labor? not any more likely than the average pregnant woman. which means be aware of my body, but i don't have to fret about it.
-at what weeks can i relax about the baby's health? she said that at 24 weeks i can breath a very small sigh of relief. this is when the baby is considered "viable". at 29 weeks the lungs are much more developed and wren will have a much better outlook for her health- this is a small sigh of relief. at 32 weeks i can breath a real sigh of relief! this is pretty much the same as 40 for the baby. all the organs will be developed and the prognosis is just as good! yay!
-should i make any preparations for early delivery? she said i should go ahead and do the walk-through at labor and delivery in the next month or so... so we're going to plan on that. also, we're doing hypno-babies... and we're ordering that this next week to get started early.

that's the new news! thanks for caring... thanks for prayers!

april 16- get ready for pink!

today we found out you're a girl!

we've already transitioned in our minds to being the parents of a girl, and how that will be different. (although i'm sure there will be more adjusting mentally to be done over time.) we were really in the mindset of parenting a boy. just because that's what we'd always hoped to have first... and then knowing that max was a boy... it's just different to think "we're having a girl!
but it is also exciting. it comes with so many different opportunities and challenges. we can't wait to get started.

here's the overview:

-everything's PERFECT! literally every aspect of the ultrasound was 100% normal. as though i didn't have APS at all! we couldn't have asked for a better result.
-the quad screen came back negative. (it's not that trustworthy anyway... but good news nonetheless)
-the only thing that didn't measure over 20 weeks was the femur. when i asked if that was ok, the lady doing the ultrasound laughed and mentioned that neither one of us are very tall anyway. hehe.. so it makes sense that our kids would be shorter.
-all the organs were good. spinal cord good. brain good. placenta good. cord good.
- she weighs a pound now. how exciting! she weighs already more than max did when he was born. it's hard for me to think about... but... it makes me happy too. just to know that she's so much healthier than poor max was.

she spent the majority of the time doing flips and putting her hand to her face. she also had her mouth open almost the whole time! i guess she'll be like me someday! (or maybe like her daddy- singing all the time.)

we have some really cute pictures that i hope to have up by mid-next week. thadd says she looks like me already. (her feet definitely do! i have long skinny toes.. thadd's feet are...well... a bit more hobbit-ish. :) which is funny because max, even at 21 weeks really did look like a morris. we both think he looked a bit more like thadd's brother, titus, than thadd... but still, he looked a lot like his dad. (and he had hobbit feet and connected earlobes just like his dad for sure!) so i guess, time will tell. she would look a little weird if she came out looking just like her male relatives... i think there's some sort of general rule about that... hopefully the girls will look like girls, and the boys boys. :)

after the ultrasound we went to borders to pick out a book. for max we picked out "where the wild things are". (this was one of my favorites!) for this little girl we got "oh the places you'll go".... another favorite of ours. (though thadd is a little worried about gender ambiguity. it says "guy" a few times. i think it's probably ok for a girl too.)



thanks so much for all of your prayers and well wishes. i know that they truly made a difference. now i'm just taking it 4 weeks at a time from here. i'll have my next ultrasounds at 4 weeks apart. then after 30 weeks, i'll have non-stress tests twice weekly and ultrasounds weekly. they'll induce me if any clots show up to save the baby...or, on the terrible off chance i get eclampsia again, to save me. full term for me will be about 38-39 weeks... which will change my delivery date to somewhere close to the august 23.

april 1- anti-D update

i just got an email back from my doc. it seems it is the anti-D that i tested positive for after all. this can be caused by blood transfusion, miscarriage, birth, etc. but you can also test positive for it after the rhogam shot.
i had a rhogam shot in january when i was having the spotting... and it usually lasts about 12 weeks. the last 2 blood tests that i've had show that the levels are decreasing. according to the doc this lends itself to the possibility that i'm only testing positive due to the shot i received. i'll continue to have blood work monitoring the levels of anti-D in my system until they are at 0.
really, i'm already giving a pint every time i go in, i'm not too worried about one additional test at this point. right?
keep praying!

march 20- doc's news

today i had my appointment... the last one until my ultrasound. here's the news:
bp- low and fine
weight- +3lbs (which the doc said is just about right)
heartrate- 150/minute healthy and strong

the bad news is that i have some sort of antibody. (yes, another one, other than the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome.) i'm working on finding out what it's called. i was a little shell shocked when she told me about it, and didn't get the name. apparently it's similar to the rh- antibody that women can get while pregnant. the doctor said that many women get similar antibodies, and as long as the level stays under 16 that it doesn't affect the baby. right now my level is at 1- the lowest it could register... so she didn't seem worried about it. if my levels rise then she said, worst case scenario, that they would give the baby blood transfusions through the umbilical cord. (but, she said that they'd never done that in the history of the hospital, that no one has ever needed it.)

apparently this antibody is caused most commonly by blood transfusions... which she assumed i had had. (i could be wrong, but i feel like i would remember that!) she said it less commonly can be caused by miscarriage. which, apparently happened when we lost max. (she checked back in my records and i didn't have the antibody during my pregnancy with him.)

looks like i'll be having more blood work done more frequently to monitor the antibody. i had several vials drawn on friday... haven't gotten the results back yet. i'll post when i have news.

seriously, how many obscure problems can i have? am i battling with natural selection here? :/

on the upside, if it weren't for the growing bulge in my belly i wouldn't even think i was pregnant. other than being a little more tired than usual, i'm almost completely free of side effects.
oh! but i did forget to mention i'm losing entire hand fulls of hair. eeek! i've heard that it will fill in a little more in the third trimester.. if not, i'm not above some hair plugs!
and.... i guess i also forgot to officially welcome- HEARTBURN! i'm bucking the system though... still eating all sorts of spicy food that i love. i mean, if a roll gives me heartburn, why not enjoy a burrito?:)

march 7- doc says... (please feel free to comment. anything to keep this from feeling like a diary.)

my appointment yesterday went well. we got to hear the hearbeat... along with lots of indistinct swishing, which the doctor said was the sound of active baby kicks.
i pretty much did everything but get on my knees and beg for an ultrasound. to no avail. its just not going to happen for at least 3 more weeks. (sigh) i explained to her that it was really just for my peace of mind... i guess that's not a medical reason. :) but she assured me that my monitoring will go up significantly after that next ultrasound. once i get closer to my third trimester.
for now, i'm still having bi-weekly appointments. i've got the next two scheduled... and i'm scheduling the ultrasound next week. (for about 3 weeks out.
the doc was great about answering my questions- many of which i got from concerned friends and family. (as though i'm not neurotic enough! haha!) here's the verdict:

passing out- probably just normal pregnancy related wooziness... but she's checking my blood for iron and such... as well as putting in a consult with neurology. (she was pretty sure it's nothing serious- but better safe than sorry i guess.)
bp- at the appointment my bp was 128/87 which is closer to how it's been running normally at home. she said that's fine. (and so is 100/52 for that matter.) that as long as i'm under 140/90 we're good.
abdominal pain- could be just normal "aches and pains" of pregnancy. but she's going to double check my urine to see if it's an infection. (doesn't feel like one.)
frequent headaches- normal.
shot location (my belly fat is already getting hard to grab onto as it stretches out)- she said i could do the back of my arms. ouch! or the inside of my thigh. double ouch! i'm sticking with the belly for a few more weeks!

i actually weighed in 2lbs less than my last appointment. (which surprised me since i've been eating like a cow lately. that nausea went away and it was like "bring on the buffet!") she said that's ok. she's just going to double check at the next appointment- because i should put on a few pounds in the next few weeks for sure.
and i had a question about my due date. since we graduated from the infertility clinic on the 17th of feb. we should have been about 12 weeks at that time. when i called the nurse (after the whole passing out incident the other day) she said the computer had me at just 13 weeks! i was like, whoa! i'm sure i'm further than that! (secretly i'm dreading it! what if i have to go through weeks 13 and 14 again! i'm always hoping to jump ahead as far as possible... get past 25 weeks as soon as possible.) so i asked the doc about it when we were in yesterday. she did the math again, based on one of my earliest ultrasounds (because my 42 day cycle isn't all that reliable) and put me at 15 weeks today. (which is only a few days off from what i thought i was. new due date: august 30
i'll update with the blood test results, as well as the urine, when i get them back.

coming in 2 weeks..... quad screen & sugar test.

march 1- the cart before the horse or something like that

over the past week or so it has become really important to me to work out the "plan" for my pregnancy. i've got a whole new list of questions to ask my doctor this friday at my appointment... and i've been thinking even further down the line to my birthing plan.
that's where the cart before the horse thing comes... er... the plan before the 2nd trimester is even halfway over! i don't even know the sex of the baby, and already i'm asking thadd- do you want to circumcise him..er...if it's a him? and, he absolutely LOVES watching births on youtube.. you wouldn't believe the amount of skin we've seen in the last week. now, i'm all for educational videos and such.. and i've really been able to glean a good bit of information from seeing some different things... but you will NEVER find a full frontal picture of my child crowning on the internet. (unless, of course, the off chance that i become rich and famous and someone might sell it to a tabloid to make millions of dollars... and then... i guess.. you might find it if you googled me or something.) this may be a little too personal- but how do they get completely hair free for these videos- really- i want to know... some of those ladies..well.. let's just say, with a big belly like they had, i was impressed! :)
so, here are some of the things i've come up with:
(with a caveat that i'm probably going to come up with a hundred more, and change my mind about some.)
----i REALLY would love to have a water birth... but that's probably not going to happen because of the risks involved in my pregnancy. the birthing isn't so risky, from what i understand. it seems to be everything leading up to the birth... when i need so much medical following. i would recommend it to anyone i know (having never done it and only seen videos) because the mothers seem so calm, the babies are so relaxed after they're born, and frankly, it just seemed like the blood wasn't just all over the place. the spurting blood sorta grosses me out. also, your chance of tearing is apparently like nil. which sounds good to me!
----i would like to give birth in the squatting position. i know it seems a little weird- but the way it felt when i was in labor with max seems to really lend itself to that position... just the pressure... it seems like being on my back wasn't the best option. thadd says, "so.. you're going to like, poop the kid out?" haha! i LOVE that man! yes, i'm going to poop the kid out.. that's the idea- get em outta there!
----i want to go au natural... (just meds- not my grooming habits.. i'm still using deodorant and shaving) that's the plan. i'm pretty set on this part. i know that childbirth goes much faster without epidurals, which lessens my risk for the baby to go into distress and also my overall risk for a c-section. i'll have a c-section if it's an emergency... for some reason something happens.. but i really don't want to have to. and the IV meds they can give you also drug the baby.. which seems a little weird to me. a really cool gal i met described labor as "a hard day's work". having been through a tiny bit of what labor really is, i appreciate that description. she said it's like knowing you have to get up and dig a ditch. it's going to be a long hard day, and it's gruelling work... but you know it can't go on forever- when it's done, it's done. :) and you have- A BABY to show for it! i'm not militantly against epidurals or whatever... it's just not for me. sometimes i wonder about things that have become so commonplace in medicine... if someday people will look back and compare it to leeching or something. sort of how episiotomies were commonplace just a few years ago, now almost all doctors only perform them in emergencies... most siding with the idea that our bodies are made to stretch, in most cases they will, and tears heal faster with less infection than incisions. (i read it in a book, i think that makes it true. :) the idea that our bodies need all this medical intervention (well, OTHER than mine!) to have kids is absurd. god made us to pop out some kids! and pop out some kids we (usually) can, with little problems, in the comfort of our homes, with a trusted friend or doctor there to help. (but, i have to say, i wouldn't want the job of cleaning up that mess in my house- i've seen that stuff on youtube. i think i'll go to the hospital. it's like eating out- someone else does the dishes.)
----i don't want a c-section or really any interference (forceps, episiotomy, etc.) unless i absolutely need it. i really would like to find a doctor who could act like a midwife. because i really need a doctor- cause there's the part where i might have a seizure and a blood clot and die- but i want a midwife. i'm not sure how these things will play out in the months to come.
----i don't mind IV fluids. but don't really care one way or the other. i suppose i might have to go on mag again... so i guess it's better that they already have the IV in. ick.
----i would like a doula. my mother in law has done this for several ladies... (most recently my friend meghan, my husband's cousin's wife, just a few days ago)...i just really like the idea of having someone who sees my side of things. not that my husband won't... but... he won't. other than the undecided doula and my husband we haven't decided who we want in the delivery room. thadd has pretty much put the ball in my court, "it's your show"... haha! no videos on youtube please! but i think as delivery becomes more real it's a question he might take more to heart. i see how people have a hard time deciding. it's sorta like a wedding list! it just keeps growing and growing... (should people come in from out of town to come? do we have a rehearsal? i guess i could just record it and show it at christmas.. does that count? :)
----i guess i have a lot of research to do about fetal heart monitoring... and some other things.. some of the stuff i'm seeing in the books and on the websites i just don't have a preference for or against.
---- i think i would definitely like an enema. i mean... who doesn't? i just don't think i could push with all my might when a little voice in the back of my head is saying "remember what you ate!"
----low lights, soothing music- quiet and calm is really for me (can i get a room next to someone who feels the same?)
----i would like to have drinks in the first stages of labor. i guess for some reason this might be a question... yes, if i'm thirsty, bring me a drink please.
----i think i'm going to look into hypnobabies... you buy a video or cd or something.. it's not over the top fruitcakey... it seems like it's more about focus and relaxation... i'm planning on looking into it, and maybe i'll use it.
----i do not want to be induced, or have my water broken. if i'm full term i'd like to walk around.. maybe do some jumping jacks or something... get the blood flowing and the baby coming that way. unfortunately, there's a chance... a pretty significant one... that i might not be able to wait until i'm full term... in which case, i suppose i'll have to be induced. but only if i must.
----i'll need some help with this one.. what's with the pushing and not pushing.. and feeling the need to push and pushing all the time...etc. don't you always push when you feel the need? maybe i missed something. do they make some women push when they don't feel they need to?
----thadd's still up in the air with the cord cutting... he wants to do it.. but he's not so good with blood... and there will be blood. :)
----we have decided that we won't be vaccinating our children. (at least not until they're much older) this is a constant debate right now in the public arena... with people passionately on both sides. given the information that we know, we've decided that the risk is not worth it. i've actually met many families who wish they hadn't (due to changes developmentally in their children), and many young families who are using the information out there to make informed decisions not to vaccinate. until then i thought we were the only ones. if you're passionately for it i would recommend reading everything you can about the topic and evaluating where you stand from the current information available. if you're passionately against it, i would say the same thing. but, luckily, we live in a country where we have so much information at our fingertips, and can use it to make our own decisions about medical treatments. :) so if you vaccinate- here here! and if you don't- here here! just make sure you know what's up.
----i think i would like someone with the baby all the time. maybe it's just that nervous nancy in me.. but the idea of them taking my baby away for a while to clean him/her up, or do whatever it is that they do.. just freaks me out. (like they might lose my baby or something? i know, it's crazy!) it's probably just my current fears about losing this baby that are giving me some attachment issues. but, for now, i feel that i would want the baby with me all the time.. and thadd with the baby if they absolutely had to take him/her away.
----i'll be breastfeeding... assuming my milk is good. with max it definitely came in! i think the top of my head might have been visible over the wall of mammary! so i don't have any fears that it might not come in.. but, you never know what can happen. so, the plan is breastfeeding, and pumping. (i'm not getting up EVERY single time- right?) i sorta feel the same way about breastfeeding that i do about labor. god designed us so wonderfully... our bodies do just what they should (again, USUALLY) to support our babies. i wanted to breastfeed, but mostly because it just made sense to me... that's what boobs are for right? :) but then i was glancing though the book the hospital gave me and it lists the benefits for the baby and the mother... i was amazed at some of them! i'll be posting about breastfeeding later.. it deserves it's own post.

i think i might be momentarily focused on the end because i'm so afraid of the journey there. this little fleck still has a long way to go before we can welcome him/her into the world... and thinking about that makes me more scared.. thinking about and planning the delivery like it's just around the corner makes the pregnancy outcome seem more positive. like if i plan and plan nothing can go wrong. so... kegels and olive oil here i come....
that's all i can think of now... but i'm sure there's more... feel free to tell me things i've forgotten, or, if you think i should do it differently. i'll politely reply, take it into consideration, and then do what i want. (and again, it's like planning a wedding! i should serve those little mints. those always make me happy!)

feb 23- the appointment

everything went well today. i got a full exam, ick, and everything was where it was supposed to be. they did a pap too. (like, seriously, how many of those things does a girl need?!) my boobs are ok... but i'm supposed to start getting mammograms in a few years, since every woman in my family has had cancer.
after the exam part, i got to go into the dr's office and talk to her for a while about how things will go this time around. she was sooo great. i really love the dr. i have, and she answered all of my questions and is really longsuffering with me.

the game plan:
appointments every 2 weeks for the remainder of the 2nd trimester.
ultrasounds once a month for the remainder of the second trimester.
continue on lovenox and baby aspirin everyday.(my belly says ouch)
taking a set of liver panels and a 24 hour urine sample to get a baseline for comparison later.
possible quad screen. (thadd and i haven't decided if we want that this time around or not.)
beginning 3rd trimester bi-weekly ultrasounds, and fetal heart monitoring at least weekly.

feb 17- 12 week graduation!

today we graduated from the infertility clinic to the ob clinic. yay!
(with our socialist healthcare plan it's all free- which is nice, i won't lie. but we can't be seen in the ob clinic until we're more than 12 weeks along, even though we're high risk. and that appointment i had to book more than a month out. absurd! don't vote for socialized healthcare! so the infertility clinic was awesome to see us weekly through our first trimester.)
it was an AMAZING ultrasound experience! i know i've said that every single time. but, well, it's true.
friday is my next appointment.
i keep promising to post pictures... and i'm about to start!

feb 16- a tiny bit heavy in the belly

so.. as you can tell from my previous and extra long post... we have our computer back!!! yay! which means it will only be a matter of time before i'm able to properly scan in and post all my ultrasound pictures to date! i have another doctors appt tomorrow. so i'll have another one then. (i should also get the results from the pint of blood they took from me last week.)
on the ickiness front i'm doing better. the nausea is almost completely gone. i'm just really dizzy and tired all the time. i think i'm supposed to feel more energetic soon.... right? :) i still can't really stand the smell of meat... particularly cooking meat at certain times of the day.
i am having trouble sleeping... insomnia and restlessness in full force! it's like wow- where's my snoodle? (i've already got thadd's agreement that it's coming out of the march budget. sleep is just way too important to miss.)
on a high note my excessive ear wax has calmed down a little. haha!
a few days ago i actually had the "heavy" sensation in my belly for the first time. i don't think i noticed it with max... but i'm conscious of every detail with the fleck. it's actually a neat experience to feel everything a little sooner, and know what's going on with my body. (and the baby) my sister has me all neurotic about feeling the kicks. she's convinced i should feel them like... this week! (i looked up the "normal" and it said between 14 and 26 weeks.) i think i still have some time to go. :)
so i'll keep you all updated on a much more regular basis. and soon i'll be posting belly pics. thadd's actually really excited about watching my belly get bigger. (or maybe he's excited because that means the BABY is bigger!) he's chasing me around with a camera. you can definitely see a little pooch (below my fat pooch.) right above my pelvic bone... and it's hard as a rock! what a crazy thing- to have a little person growing in my abdomen!