Lookin' Amazing!

Originally written June 22, 2012


So on Thursday, Adam's brother, Jon, came over since he was off work to hang out for a little while. When he got here, I opened the door to let him in, then ran back up the stairs. I stood at the top talking to him while he took off his shoes. When he looked up, he said, "Wow! You look amazing!" I was taken aback, since I was wearing stretchy yoga pants, and a shirt that I'm pretty sure has a hole in it. I gave him a confused thanks, and he said something about how I just had a baby, and I looked great. Well, Nora is 10 months old now, so I didn't just have a baby, but what he doesn't know is that I'm also 10 weeks pregnant. So I guess if others think I look good for having a 10-month-old, then I guess they probably won't be able to tell that I'm pregnant, even though I feel like I'm getting bigger and looking more pregnant than I did with either of the girls.

How far along?: 10 weeks 5 days
Total weight gain/loss: Still holding pretty steady... I was told the other day that I'm underweight and need to gain 38-40 pounds. I told her, "Good luck with that."
The Bump: I asked Adam about it the other night. He said, to him, it's there, but he knows. He said if he didn't know, he wouldn't think twice about it.

10 weeks

To be fair, here's one without Nora
making me look even bigger!

I thought I'd let you see what I looked like at roughly the same point with Nora and with Danni. You really do show sooner with each kid... :(
What I’m excited about/looking forward to: At this point, probably finding out the gender. We went garage sale-ing today and I bought a bunch of boy's clothes. I feel bad spending money on the stuff when we could well have another girl at this point (in which case, we really don't need more clothes!). Next Friday, we also have the first trimester screening. It's not that I'm dreading it, but I guess I'm just not excited about it.
Maternity Clothes: Nope. My belly band seems to have disappeared somewhere between my sister-in-law's house and our house though. I know I'm going to want it soon, so I'll either have to find it, or buck up the money to buy another. :(
Symptoms: With both girls my sciatic nerve pain pretty much went away, but this time it seems to bother me more. I guess that's not really a preggo thing, but I'm sure being pregnant has something to do with it. I've also noticed my c-section scar from Danni is getting tender again. I don't remember that happening with Nora though.
Belly Button in or out?: It's still half-out... though the other day I think I saw it all the way back in... maybe it was the way I was sitting... or sucking it in or something.
Food Cravings/Aversions: I really seem to love turkey & salami sandwiches with mayo, mustard, and pickles. If it's missing one of those ingredients, it's just not as good. (Don't worry, I toast the meat before I eat it... It's like eating a Quiznos!) :)
What I miss: Falling asleep easier without leg pain. I've started doing some stretches that the doctor recommended, and that seems to help.
Milestones: As of yesterday, our little cutie's face is "well-formed," though his (?) head is half the size of his body.

More Worries for Dad

We went to a wedding on Saturday, and the bride & groom (Brandon & Becky) hosted pop and beer all night. So Adam & I kept getting cherry coke. At one point I made a comment about how I must be over my "quota" of caffeine for the day. (You're only supposed to have 250 mg a day.) Then I added that since I never drink coffee and rarely ever drink pop, that I'm sure its fine. Adam wasn't so convinced, and said I should switch to Sierra Mist. I didn't like it as much, but I did. Adam tells me he's not worried or scared. Though it's little things like this that let me know that he really is, but doesn't want me to know that he is.

Worried Daddy

We have an electric heating pad on our bed (really it's just for me, as I'm always cold). With Danni and with this one, I've been reading some pregnancy books. Two of them say not to use electric heating blankets, but each has a different reason. One says that they don't know the effects of the "electro-magnetic waves" on a developing baby. The other says that over heating and your body temperature rising above 102 degrees (from heating blankets, hot tubs, hot baths, etc.) is not good for the baby. But it says right after that, that typically people start to feel over heated and get out of the bath or hot tub, or kick off the blankets or turn the heat down.

Both with Danni, and with this one, I have been turning on the heating pad while I am getting ready for bed. Then when I'm done reading and ready to sleep, I turn it off. Adam just realized the other night that I was lying down while it was still on. He was very stern in telling me that he really doesn't want me to be using it. We really don't know what made Danni's organs flip for sure, and he said he wants to take every precaution to make sure it doesn't happen again. Looks like I'll have to cuddle up with him to stay warm!

9 Weeks, 3 Days

First Official Appointment

We had our first "official" appointment today with Elisabeth Berry-Jensen. We opted out of a couple tests: blood draw/ OB check (I'll have Perinatal do it next week with the quad screen), and a pap (I guess ACOG now recommends every two years in your twenties, if they've all come back normal, plus we didn't want to risk more spotting since it just stopped about a week ago).

She went over the ultrasound results with us, and said that we would go with the August 15 due date that the ultrasound predicted. She mentioned the hemorrhage, and said that it is very possible that it went away. I told her that I would ask Perinatal to look next week at the ultrasound.

One important thing for us was the possibility of a VBAC at Woodwinds. Elisabeth said that just last Wednesday they had a meeting about it, and they're looking to change their policy. She said things would be changing a lot in the next couple weeks/ months, but she would keep us updated. She also told us that Health Partners allows VBACs that are just attended by a midwife, and we would not have to worry about an OB (like we would right now at Woodwinds). But she did say that a water birth was not an option (though water labor still is).

She did a quick "check-up" on everything else, and then pulled out the Doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat. It took her a while to find it, and I started getting a little nervous (Carrie had found Danni's right away, though Danni was 2 weeks farther along). But I think she was determined to find it to help put our minds more at ease. And she did! The baby's heart rate was 165 bpm. (Looks like we're having another girl! Though we should be able to confirm that next week at the ultrasound.)

After the appointment we went to Walmart to pick up a couple things, and of course, I stopped in the baby section! I found one cute girl's outfit (Winnie the Pooh, of course), a little denim jacket, and a "baby's first new years" onesie. Adam let me buy the little girl's outfit, saying that if we had a boy, we could give it to one of the other pregnant ladies in the family.

9 Weeks, 3 Days