10 weeks and counting

Well, time flies is what they say. We have under 10 weeks to go before we get to see our sweet little baby. When other people ask how much time we have left, it always seems they look surprised. Some of them think 10 weeks is quite a while and others just look at me as if I am far too large to still have 10 weeks left! Either way, 10 weeks seems like it will come in the blink of an eye. I am anxious, nervous, impatient...the list can go on and on. I am anxious because I really am very curious to see what our little baby is going to look like. Will he or she have dark hair, what color eyes, you get the drift? On the other hand though, I am getting very nervous. I am nervous about the labor and delivery. I love it when I tell people I am nervous they just seem to sweep it under the run as if its silly to be nervous that a human that weighs in at about 7 lbs is going to come out of my body through such a small place (if all goes well and I don't need a csection). Drugs seem to be the best answer or advice from everyone. The problem is that I am deathly afraid of needles and can't imagine getting an epidural in my spine! Nightmares, that's what the whole thing causes me when I think of the epidural. Who knows, I may walk in begging for it but until then, I am quite nervous. I am also nervous that we will be bringing home a tiny little baby that will be completely dependent on us and on top of that, one that can't talk! I have had plenty of time over the last 7 and a half months to consider what I want to teach the baby and ways that I will spend my time with the baby but at the end of the day, I wonder how much of what I think will happen will really happen. Too many stories, I suppose, from everyone that already has a child or children. Everyone has a story to add and it is never without that famous line..."just wait and see". Anyhow, I know we will do the best we can but I am still nervous, it's in my nature. Hopefully, the baby will be more like his/her father and won't inherit my inability to not worry!

Vacation '08

Vacation '08 has come and gone already! Our vacation this year was up to Portland and Seattle where the weather was wonderful. Austin temperatures this year have been horrible....reaching 100 degrees in May and no sign of relief in sight. The trip was very nice and I needed the time away from work for sure. I would say this years trip was slightly more difficult for me though. I am not sure if it was the increase in physical activity or the elevation but my feet and legs were swollen almost the entire vacation. They were quite unsightly to say the least. I seemed to be less patient as well which has been the case for some time now. This was the first flight I took while pregnant as well and that was not exactly comfortable either. I will be taking another trip up to Cincinatti for my first baby shower during week 33 which is just right around the corner. I am excited about that trip for sure though I am not looking forward to the flights back and forth.
Kinda sad that its back to the real world now that vacation is over! Until next year.

A couple of weeks testing my nerves.

Ok, I am now 26 weeks pregnant! I just came from a doctor's appt where she informed me that everything looks great with me and the baby, what great news. We are getting ready to go on our family vacation in a couple of weeks and I will have to go back to see my doctor the day before we leave to do a glucose test and have the doctor check my cervix to ensure I haven't started dialating.

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, I started feeling pretty bad. I had a horrible pain in my right, lower side. The pain started out a little concerning then progressively got worse throughout the day. Derek was planning to take one of his finals that day so I tried really hard to stay calm and wait it out to see if I would start feeling better. Around 5pm I tried to get out of the bed to use the restroom only to find I couldn't even sit up on my own the pain had gotten so bad. I thought I had appendicidous or a ruptured ovararian cyst of some sort. I had to call him in to help me and he told me that we should probably go somewhere to get it looked at if I was in that much pain. Long story short, we went to the emergency room and I was admitted to the hospital since I am more than 20 wks pregnant...common procudure for pregnant folk. After about 3 hours of monitoring the baby and making me wait for a doctor to show up, the told me that it was something called round ligament pain. I told Derek that there was no way in the world it could be pain from a stretching ligament due to a growing uterus! The pain was so bad I couldn't believe the diagnosis. I had packed my bags to stay for a few days at the hospital because I thought I was going to need surgery on something. Thank goodness the diagnosis was something so simple and non threatening to me or the baby. Several of the nurses commented on how cooprative our little sweet baby is. They said they had never seen such a good baby at nearly 25 weeks. The baby was easy to monitor which I guess they typically aren't at that gestational age. Hope the baby stays cooperative! :)

On a side note, shortly after recovering from the soreness of my expanding ligaments, Derek and I were alseep one night and out of nowhere....a knee, right in my stomach! Derek must have had a dream about something and kicked me right in the stomach pretty hard. It startled both of us and I wasn't able to go back to sleep for about an hour.

This is going to be one tough baby!!

Week 24

Well, this week marks the start of month 6. I have been able to consistently feel the baby move now for the last 4 weeks. This, of course, keeps me sane while I am in between doctors appts. It has been 3 full weeks now since I have seen my baby and thank heavens I can feel him otherwise, I am certain I would be driving myself and Derek crazy. In addition to being able to feel the baby move better I can also now observe her many kicks by looking at my stomach. It is incredibly interesting to me and I could sit for hours and just feel and watch the baby move. I wonder what the baby looks like and what he's doing in there. I just love it!

Week 21

Hi All, I just got back from week 21 sonogram...very exciting! Doctor says my placenta has moved up another 3 mm and my cervix looks good. One more appt. and she is going to feel confident that the 2 issues should be just fine. I must admit, I will really miss seeing the baby every week. I will have to go 4 whole weeks without seeing the baby. Kinda makes me sad but if that means that all is well, that's the important thing.

So, now on to the fun stuff. Last week I had the male sonographer and he had no interest in seeing anything but the cervix and placenta, boring! This week, I saw Linda again...thank heavens! She always checks the heartbeat and explores to make sure all looks well with the baby. She did a 3D scan today which is somewhat odd. She said it looks funny because the baby is still pretty skinny at this point in time. It was really neat though. The baby now has a sense of touch and books I have read say they begin investigating things on their bodies at this time. This must be true because during the entire 3D scan, he (or she) was touching his face and rubbing his eyes. I got to see him swallowing again which is really neat too. Cutest thing though was when he decides to investigate his foot. He raised his entire leg up and put his toes on his nose right while we were watching! I loved it!!! I have a great picture of it as well.

Everything looks great with the baby and things appear to be looking better for me as well. I am going to have a smile on my face all day and likely all weekend after seeing how cute our baby is.
What a miracle!

A sweet poem I found

I am not alone

Running errands and talking on the phone,
I am pleasantly reminded that I am not alone.
Little tiny hands, a precious rounded knee,
pushing and twisting that no one can see.
Oh sweet child kicking up your heels,
it is our little secret that only I can feel.
I look forward to your birth,
when I can kiss your skin,
but for now I will just smile,
as I feel you play within.

Surprise or no surprise? That is the question.

I should start by saying I am not a surprise kinda girl. Derek is not only a surprise kinda guy but a very adamant one that doesn't appear to be anywhere near changing his mind. He doesn't want to know the sex of the baby (though we both have our opinions). First and foremost, both of us are just so happy that we are going to have a baby and know that this is such a blessing it won't matter if the baby is a boy or a girl. I have thought about both scenarios as I am sure he has and I just can't say one way or the other which I would prefer. Little girls vs. little boys, how could there be an argument over which you prefer when both are so cute in there very different little ways.
Derek has opted not to participate in the many sonograms I have had (at least from week 16 forward since this is the time of genital development) so he wouldn't accidentally see anything that might reveal the sex of the baby. I, on the other hand, have informed the sonographer to not tell me anything but not to avoid the area on my behalf. This is my attempt at trying to sneak a look to see if I might "accidentally" find out if the little sweet baby inside of me is a girl or boy. I have had no luck! This baby seems determined to not show his or her mother anything! Those cute little legs are either folded up tightly or crossed nice and neat so Mommy can't see anything. The guessing game will have to continue for now.