Wednesday, September 28, 2011

21 weeks

How Far Along: 21 weeks
Weight Gain:12 pounds (Things are out of control)
Aches, pains and other: This baby is low, low, low, low, low, low, low and that is causing a lot of pressure on my lady parts.
Milestones: Hmmm, none this week.


My weight gain is defying the laws of physics. I have been eating calories in the range to gain 1/2 to 1 pound per week, yet I have managed to put on 5-6 pounds in 2 weeks. I know water retention and all that but man it is crazy. This is the exact same point that in my last pregnancy I gained a huge chunk of weight so maybe this is just how my body does pregnancy. Bulking up for the growth spurt to come.

This little guy is very low. Having an anterior placenta that is positioned more at the top of my uterus is keeping the man down. When means he is right on my bladder all the time. I've got no capacity there. I can't imagine what it will be like in another 20 weeks. He is also getting very active, lots of kicks and punches. I love it. I don't think I could ever get tired of feeling baby movement. 




Tuesday, September 20, 2011

20 weeks

Halfway. Well, for people who have 40 week pregnancies it's halfway, I still have another week before I really think I am more than 50% done.

How Far Along: 20 weeks
Weight Gain:10 pounds (wha?!?!?!)
Aches, pains and other: Heartburn, heartburn,heartburn.
Milestones: It's a healthy boy!



Umm, remember last week when I was only 6lbs up total. Did I gain 4lbs in one week? Maybe. I didn't really track last week but I don't think I over ate by 14,000 calories. I'm blaming the pregnant lady's stand-by, water retention. My weight can seriously fluctuate by up to 5 pounds in a 24 hours period these days. Luckily, Fall has come to town and I am actually doing some walking. I've also decided to sign up for a Saturday morning prenatal yoga class.

And yet, I don't feel like my belly is really getting that much bigger. I'm not worried about the baby or anything, I know that it is growing fine. But when I look at my 16 week belly shot versus my 20 week, I don't see much difference. Not a big deal, I will be ridiculously large in no time. 










It's a.......

Leading up to my big ultrasound yesterday I, like many knocked up chicks before me, consulted many old wives tales and even a novelty to help me determine the sex of this baby. I don't do well with not knowing these kinds of things.

I looked at heart rate, chinese gender prediction, whether or not this baby was stealing my beauty, etc.

Then I broke down and shelled out $30 for this in a moment of weakness. I resisted it when I was pregnant with my daughter but I was weaker this time around.

Finally, after counting down the weeks, the days, the hours, the minutes, we finally had our big ultrasound yesterday.

First off, let me say that the baby is PERFECT! That is absolutely the most important. The growth is right on track, there are the right number of parts and everything is where it should be. You never, ever get tired of hearing the doctor say, "Everything looks perfect".

And now for the results

Old wives tales average= 60% in favor of boy.

Intelligender=






Ultrasound says= BOY!!!!!!!! 

Not a money shot. We don't do privates on the internets.
I can't believe it. Even though I thought it was a boy, it was still a shock to hear it. It is so exciting to be going on a whole new adventure this time around. I was prepared for a little girl last time because I used to be a little girl. A boy. OMG. Dirt and noise and craziness. I can't wait to meet him.

Extra good news, now I get to shop because we don't have any clothes for a boy. We don't even have anything gender neutral as far as clothing goes except for some white onesies. I'm greasing up my credit card as we speak.










Monday, September 12, 2011

19 weeks

How far: 19 weeks
Weight gained: 6 pounds according to my scale. 4 according to the doctors
What's happening? Baby is growing, moving. I'm really starting to notice a change in my gait.

Doctor visit this morning. Nothing exciting to report. I did get the go ahead for a VBAC assuming my body knows how to go into labor. So, yay!. I really don't savor the idea of recovering from a c-section while trying to care for a toddler and newborn. I can't lie, I also just really want that birth experience.

All the water, I took on last week went away this weekend. Just in time for my Dr. visit weigh-in. My last weigh in was inflated by the salty movie popcorn I had eaten the day before. As a result I weighed in today at the same weight I did last appointment. The reality is that I gained about 2 lbs over the last month. Which is perfect. I'm really aiming for about .5 lb per week. That is plenty for the baby without adding to my already ample fat reserves. My Dr. is pleased with my weight thus far. All of my stats were good and despite being 38 and "elderly", I am having a perfectly healthy pregnancy. Just like my last "elderly" pregnancy.

7 days until the big ultrasound!!!! Pink or Blue?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

How far: 18 weeks
Weight gained: 8 pounds (gah!)
What's happening?: Round. Ligament. Pain.   Oh my god, I do not remember it being this bad during my last pregnancy. I feel like I've gone a few rounds with Jillian Michaels but only between my belly button and hips. Oh, that sounds a little dirty. Not like that. The pain. The pain.






I can't believe I'm closing in on half way. This pregnancy has been flying by even though each week seems like an eternity. According to the scale this morning, I gained 2.5 pounds in a week. That may or may not be the case. My parents were in town and my very Southern mother cooked the whole time. I ate a lot of bread. We'll see how the scale looks for the rest of the week before I kick myself for those biscuits and gravy.


Saturday, September 3, 2011

Pre-baby to do list

Honestly, I can't even think of that much to do. With pregnancy number 1, the to-do's seemed overwhelming, but this time we already have a shitton of baby gear. We have childcare lined up. We have loads of baby crap. We have loads of feeding, nursing, etc crap. Wow, preparing for baby number 2 is a lot less time consuming than getting ready for the first one. Of course, I have about 115% less free time to prepare for this one than I did for Caroline, so I guess it all evens out.

1.  Switch my stepson  to the current nursery and turn it into a tween boy room and switch current teen boy room to nursery suitable for a toddler and an infant, possibly of different genders.

Not my actual baby room. I wish
Actually, this one makes my head hurt with the enormity of it. But it has to be done. Our house has four bedrooms but one is 2 floors below the others in the basement. Obviously, we can't put either of the little kids there and stepson isn't quite ready to be that separated from the rest of the family at night. Plus, I'm not ready to give up having a guest room. So, Caroline and the new baby will share a room for about 2 years (unless we get a new house between now and then). The current nursery is tiny and there is no way to fit two kids in there. Stepson's room is much bigger and unfair or not, he is only here part time so the switch is non-negotiable. But there is so much to do. I can't really start until I know whether we are having a boy child or a girl child and I know what to do about paint and decor, so I can keep my head in the sand about it for a couple more weeks.

The hardest part of this task with be cattle prodding DH into action...during football season. 

2. Get new furniture and bedding for new baby.

Easy enough. Just need to know the sex of this thing.

3. Clean and sanitize entire house.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. As much as I want this done, the only way it will happen is by hiring a team of industrial cleaners to come in and hose this place down. I just don't have the time or energy to tackle such a huge, futile task.

4. Buy new diapers.

My favorite task on the list. We cloth diaper and like many other cloth diaperers, I am addicted to buying fluff. I've been on the clean and sober, no fluff, wagon but now I am happily jumping off! I'm trying to be sensible though. Since I still have 5 months to go until the baby is born, I am only buying during sales or other incentive type events. I love DiaperShops.com because they always have a coupon for discounts or free diapers, but I'm trying to hold out for the really good deals. I'm also looking into renting newborn cloth diapers. If this baby is like Caroline, it won't fit into newborn size diapers past about 2 months and I'm certainly not investing in purchasing new ones, but I want my itty bitty in fluff, so rental looks like the best option. It would probably be cheaper to use disposables until it is big enough to fit in to one-size diapers, but we chose cloth diapering for reasons other than cost (though the cost savings are significant).

5. Stock freezer with meals. 

I didn't do this last time and regretted it. This time will be different. I'm hoarding recipes on Pinterest and plan to start prepping just as soon as the weather cools and it isn't a million degrees in my kitchen. Again, this all must be done with a toddler attached to my leg just to add a little extra challenge.

6. Buy boy clothes

 If it is a boy.

What else? I don't know. Spend time with Caroline? Always. Sleep? As if. Dates with husband? Whenever we get the chance. I know I must be missing a ton but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is.







Friday, September 2, 2011

Where's my cane? Where's my teeth?

Elderly multigravida. Second or more pregnancy in a woman who will be 35 years of age or older at expected date of delivery."

If you are over 35 and pregnant, sneak a look at your chart sometime. You will see the word "elderly" on there. What? Elderly? Yep, in the world of obstetrics, once you reach the ripe old age of 35 you are elderly. Seeing that word is, disconcerting, upsetting, offensive, tear inducing. It's just a medical term but why the eff did they have to choose that one. Elderly!! WTF?


Is there some sort of AARP for Elderly pregnant women that enables us to get discounts?