may 5- connected

i'm now officially a member at thebump.com and babygaga.com. (thanks for thebump recommendation meghan- it's great!)
i've already found 2 other people with APS. what a small community we are! i haven't gotten to chat with them much yet, but hopefully we'll get to talk more soon. at least this will give me a chance to connect with some other high risk moms.
and, of course, everyone who's pregnant loves talking about being pregnant! sorry to all my non-preggers friends if i'm boring you to tears with my posts of yeast infections and waddling... it just seems to be an all consuming, life altering experience. i don't know how you working women do it! it takes just about all the energy i have to:
firstly, grow a baby
secondly, feed and groom myself,
finally, spend whatever's left on my husband/house.

i guess i also really identify with being pregnant. it's a cool thing that women can do- ok? i tried to explain to thadd that "i don't try to put on 80lbs of gear and jog 12 miles... that's for men to do!" so... he has to give me just this little thing that i can do that he can't. :) THEN he gets it! and i've got about 14 more weeks of the "i'm pregnant" response... hopefully i can then use the "i just had a baby" response. what's the timeline for that one, anybody know?

april 27- a blog i stole from someone

this really hit home... hope you enjoy it!

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I need to publicly apologize to every woman who has ever been pregnant since the dawn of time.

We have mocked you. DH and I. Relentlessly. What’s with the sweatpants? Why are you waddling? Stop touching your belly like it is precious!

I’m sorry. I’m not waddling yet but I always thought it was just laziness that made pregnant women waddle. Now I know that your hips feel like they are an extra 10 inches apart and you have a log between your knees. I have to feel like I’m walking pigeon-toed to be walking normal! And your hips just hurt. They are definitely moving around and just don’t seem to sit right anymore. And, I’m not even big yet!

My belly is precious! I love touching it. It is like stroking my baby and sending her waves of love from my hand inside. It isn’t to get attention from anyone but my baby.

Sweatpants…ok I still think this is terrible. Wearing sweatpants in public if you aren’t going to the gym should be punishable by 5 years community service. Seriously, there is no reason not to look good when you are pregnant. There are lots of elastic waist pants that aren’t sweatpants - get some! Sweatpants are for home and gym - that’s it!

That brings me to another pet peeve. I hate when pregnant women say “oh, I’m so fat. I look so ugly. My husband must be so turned off.” SHUT UP. You aren’t fat, you are building a human being. Remember those layers of fat are gifts from Heaven to ensure your survival and that of your baby. You don’t look ugly, you look pregnant. A belly huge with life is more beautiful than a flat belly full of celery and diet coke. If your husband thinks you look ugly then he is a jerk. I’m sorry, pure and simple. Your husband should be enamored of your beautiful body and the amazing miracle it is producing. Seriously, if your husband is that callous of a person are you sure you want him to father your daughters? What you think about effects how you feel and what you do. So, shut up and stop saying you are fat.

I am the culmination and continuation of centuries of motherhood. I am nature at its best. Round and lush and beaming with the miracle of life. You are too. Don’t forget it.

Even when you waddle.

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!

feb 6- watching wiggles

it was so amazing over the past few weeks to see the gummy bear grow arms and legs, and then today... to see them moving around!
i had a stomach virus last week. which is not what you want- trust me. apparently i have to get it about once a year. so i spent about 12 hours in the hospital and got 4 bags of fluids. my bilirubin levels were elevated, so i got to get transported to the hospital (from the clinic) in an ambulance. woo-hoo! riding backwards in an ambulance, pregnant, with a stomach virus, on hawaiian roads.. this is also an experience i'll tell you to skip.
they never did find out why my levels were elevated... said it just could be random. so hopefully everything is good with that.
i'm still having some odd cravings and aversions. i guess i'm just going to have to get used to passing on steak for at least the next few months. i've started eating ketchup on my eggs- which i haven't done since i was about 13. and i really can't stand the taste of soda. i keep thinking "mmm.. i'd really like a coke" then i get it and i can only drink a couple of sips.. it's just too sweet and syrupy. ick.
thadd is convinced that the fleck is a girl. mostly due to the fact that i've been a little moody. just a little. with max, and all my prior pregnancies i've been super sweet and so considerate. just as loving as can be. notsomuch this time. :) but i'm trying to not go all crazy pregnant woman on him. :)
i've been having really crazy dizzy spells lately too. i guess i'm like a victorian era woman... just swooning while i'm with child. the doc said it's normal. probably due to all the extra blood my body is starting to have to pump around. he said just not to exert myself, get up slowly... the usual.
i am still periodically having spotting. in fact i was very nervous about my ultrasound today.. that things might not turn out so great. but they did. and the doctor said that some people spot their whole pregnancy.. etc.etc. blah blah... doesn't make me feel any better... blah blah. but at least i'm confident for today. and that's really what i have to do. just take it one day at a time.
as i mentioned above... the weekly ultrasounds should make you jealous. watching the baby grow in such a detailed way is really an amazing experience. we're really happy to be able to follow this baby so closely.
i've had my ob registration appointment. (where they order bloodwork, and you do a ton of paperwork.) and will have my first real ob appt. on feb 20. i got the bloodwork done today. i think they took a pint and a half.
my computer is still on the lam. but i should have it back hopefully early next week.. so i'll be able to keep more updates on here.
again, thanks for all of your support!
i scanned in all my recent pictures- but the lab here on base doesn't have a very good scanner. i'm just going to wait. sorry! i promise to have them up next week! 4 more pictures then!