Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Week 15! It's finally time to meet with my midwife this week for our first prenatal. I can hardly wait to hear a HEARTBEAT!!!! Right now I'm crossing my fingers that it's only one - like my last pregnancy I'm kind of big. But there was only one Athan, so I'm assuming there is only one this time, too. I guess I will know for sure in about 36 hours.
I can't find a good picture for this week, so you are stuck with this:


So. I'm feeling rather good still. 15 weeks seems like a milestone for me, and I'm not sure why - it's not a half way or 1/3 way point, but the number just feels good. More meaningful than the last numbers have been. I keep bumping my belly on things - I think I have more clearance than I actually do. Today I bumped it on the wall twice, 4-5 times on the kitchen counter, once on Alyssa, and I don't even know how many times on Athan. Baby is only as big as an orange; belly is big as a watermelon.

I've been reading a few more books for the dissertation, and one that has been really great is "Women Giving Birth" which is a collection of interviews with Dutch women giving birth at home in standing & squatting positions. It's also filled with pictures, which I showed to to Athan. He is really excited about being at the birth, and I want him to be prepared for the reality. Even though I am planning to give birth in the tub, who knows how things will play out. I want him to understand there will be noise, there will probably be blood, there will definitely be fluids. I love that he and Gabe both want to be there - I may have mentioned Gabe has asked if he can cut the cord. I'm excited to have them participate, and to be there to welcome their new baby sister. Or brother. But hopefully sister.

I got the baby dresser/changing table moved today, and got a real dresser moved into my room for myself (I've been using the changing table as my dresser since we moved. Not really adequate). I even put all the baby stuff away in the dresser. I'm terribly unprepared, lol - I have about a days worth of clothing. Maybe two if it's a slow day. Good thing I still have 25ish weeks to prepare.

I was getting all of the paperwork ready for Thursday's appointment with Cathy (midwife), and it started an interesting conversation with Joe. I forget that he hasn't lived in this natural birth world - this is his first rodeo with the non-mainstream pregnancy & birth experience. He said "I don't even know what a midwife is." Totally valid thing to ask about. And it was a good reminder for me that I need to be talking to him about everything along the way.

I'm hoping to make a mid-week post with a recording :) week 15.5 coming soon!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Week 14 :)

OK now I can say I am officially over the nausea, without knocking on wood or anything else. Still dealing with the long list of allergies I mentioned last week - even had one of my awful big break-outs which appears to have been from some butternut squash. I'm hoping to get some of the allergies cleared up with my angel (aka my accupuncturist) tomorrow. I am REALLY missing fruit, and being able to eat things with eggs in them would be nice (even though the idea of eating an actual egg still makes my stomach turn).



The first maternity thing I bought was a dress - this Friday marks the start of a string of summer wedding I will be attending, and I knew that nothing in my closet was going to fit me for all of these events. So the dress will be on her maiden voyage as Troy & Candace tie the knot. I'm grateful to have an appetite to take with me to all of these events as well!

A friend of mine had her baby last week - at 29 weeks. Poor little guy was 3lb 1oz, and is in the NICU where he will probably stay for the next 10-12 weeks. Another friend just had a client deliver at 22 weeks, the baby lived for about 40 minutes. It has me alert to all of the things that could go wrong. It's hard to not think of those things when someone else is going through the trauma (in the case of the 29 week pregnancy it was extreme preclamsia). Fetuses are so delicate in so many ways. They need every week of those 40 weeks to be able to fully thrive at birth. Of course 38 weeks is considered full term, but those extra 2 weeks make such a difference in weight gain, immune development, and lung development.

Having the allergic reaction was scary for me - I had to call my midwife to see about taking Benadryl, which is my go-to solution for the hives, itchiness and occasional shortness of breath. I don't take ANYTHING when I'm pregnant - not so much as an aspirin for a headache - so it was a big deal to know there was something that I needed. She assured me that it was safe, so long as I'm not taking it all the time. And of course breathing & living is pretty important - my alternate would have been to get to the ER to have them give me something safe for the baby. Having gone through that experience makes me even more anxious to hear this baby's heartbeat - I need to know that everything is OK and normal. I'm definitely growing, and feel the occasional bounce on my full bladder, so I know s/he is in there, doing what s/he should be doing. But some external reassurance would be nice right now. In fact, I need to call Cathy now & get that appointment set up!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Week 13.
To start out on a positive note, I feel SOOOO much better. I have energy most of the time (can still use a daily nap, though!), I haven't felt nauseous for 3 days (knock on wood), and I even felt the baby move - like little fizzy carbonated bubbles in my uterus. I over-did it on Friday & Saturday, so Sunday I spent the day in bed to rest & re-hydrate. Totally worth it, and by Monday morning I was up and ready to rock. I did make sure I took lots of little breaks & drank plenty of water, so I didn't end up back in bed today!



On the less positive side, I saw my accupuncturist again today, which was wonderful except we were trying to isolate the rest of my food allergies. Awhile back, before I got some of my health issues under control, I was allergic to everything. But that was because my body's systems were so screwed up they were rejecting everything. I'm still having skin issues, so we decided to test things again and see what I am actually allergic to at this point. Here's the current list:

Wheat
Peanuts (these two we figured out 2 weeks ago, taking them out of my diet did nothing for my skin)
Beef
Pork
Bison
Veal
Fish
Shell-fish
onions
garlic
eggs
pepper (including the seasoning, which I hate anyway)
cilantro (known this one for awhile)
apricots
cherries
plums
peaches
apples
bananas
oranges
lemons
limes
grapefruit
pineapple
berries
grapes
etc... name a fruit, I'm allergic. except avocados.

So basically, I am left with protein powders & chicken, dairy (thank the goddesses for that!), avocado,  brown rice I can't digest white rice), nuts except peanuts, and vegetables. Did I mention that I'm pregnant and starving??? Not to mention that it's summer & all the yummy fruits are starting to come in - I've been eating cherries off the Sego Lily tree like mad! I can't eat my normal Luna Bars that get me through the day because they all have berries or lemon. I'm going to be living on plain yogurt and celery with almond butter. Fortunately we are going to try some allergy elimination next week, starting with the fruits, to see if we can clear at least some of that up. Cross your fingers for that one, I can't live without my fruit!!!!

The other thing I am noticing is that I really dislike this stage of pregnancy. I'm showing, but just barely; I no longer 'feel' pregnant because I am not throwing up, my boobs don't hurt, and there is no baby kicking me in the ribs yet. It's my worry period - until I have heard a heart-beat (hopefully next week!), and then get to the stage of feeling baby moving around in there all the time, I start to question if I'm actually pregnant, or if I just had a REALLY bad flu. I know that's silly - I have pictures of the positive pregnancy to test to prove otherwise - but I went through this same thing with Gabe & Athan (With Corbin I threw up way into month 5, when I could already feel him moving, so I didn't experience this 'dead zone'). It's the ONLY thing that makes me want an ultra-sound - just to prove to myself that there is an actual living creature in the extra bump on my belly. I won't get one unless there is some concern & real need for it (like when we thought Athan might be twins because I was measuring so huge!), but right now, in these few weeks, I want to see this baby. But only while s/he is still inside me, of course!

That's about it for an update today. I am excited that my 'baby' turns 6 tomorrow, so there will be much celebrating, I am sure! Hard to believe there will be such a gap in my kids' ages. It's nice though, no babies to chase while I am raising this baby!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Week 12! First of all, thank you to those couple of you who sort of freaked out when I didn't post on Tuesday - it was really sweet that a) you noticed that Tuesdays are my 'new week' day, when I usually post, and b) you were worried. Be assured, everything is perfectly fine, I've just been a little busy with summer starting over here!



Last week at accupuncture I discovered I currently have a wheat allergy. Pregnancy induced, I am hoping. It totally changed what I have been eating - what I have needed it a bunch of carbs to soak up the stomach acids and reduce the nausea. Most of what I have been eating & craving is now off limits, though I have been doing a ton of gluten-free baking, so I haven't had to go completely without my comfort foods. It's been tough though, as I still spend about 1/3 of my time needing to eat whatever pops into my mind (since anything else will make me sick). The good news is that my digestion has improved a ton; the bad news is that my skin has not cleared up at all (which was the original reason I was getting tested for allergies). Apparently there are other culprits, hopefully my diet won't get too limited for the time being. I might have to just say 'whatever' to some of the allergies to keep myself fed for the next few weeks at least.

I keep waiting for that second trimester energy to show up. Monday Joe & I walked to the mailbox & back and I thought I was going to die... Of course it is about a 3/4 mile round-trip, maybe more, and uphill the whole way back. It was HOT on Monday, too, but mostly it was just a matter of all that extra pregnancy blood volume, and the exhaustion & dizziness that comes along with it. I felt pretty good going down, but coming up was tough. I have had more energy overall though, I guess, what with all the baking & ice cream making & laundry doing. I washed all of the baby stuff I have - this baby will have warm feet & diapers, but currently not much else lol. I have diapers, socks, and 4 onsies (3 long sleeve, 1 short). Oh, and I have 3 slings, so he/she will be carried in style. I'm thinking some clothes might be in order at some point....

Athan loves to ask me every day 'how big is the baby now?' He is excited to hear when I have a new answer, and loves the whole fruit comparison. This week, we are plum sized, and he thought that was fun because 'plums taste a lot better than limes.' He is so sweet, he sees things all the time that he thinks we need when we have the baby - especially Halloween costumes. I was looking for summer craft/science ideas for the kids on Pinterest and he was sitting with me, every baby picture he saw he would make a comment about how we needed to make that/get that/do that with the new baby. He is truly excited about becoming a big brother!