Hello Third Trimester

This week marks the beginning of the third trimester! I can't believe 2/3rds of this pregnancy are over, but I'm not complaining!  This week my little man is the size of a rutabaga.  I'm not super clear of exactly how big that is LOL, but I know he's also probably upwards of 2 lbs now!  He can hear and open his eyes and everything! So multi-talented already!

So yesterday I had my check up and glucose tolerance test.  If I don't get a call by the end of the week I'll know that the glucose test came back fine, which I expect it to.  I'm glad that's over (assuming the test is normal) because I don't enjoy eating a hard boiled egg for breakfast followed by a really sweet orange soda that keeps giving me brain freeze.

I expected the rest of my appointment to be fairly routine--blood pressure check, measure fundal height, and listen to the baby's heartbeat.  My blood pressure was fine and the baby's heartrate came in at a solid 150.  However, I'm still measuring a little big, around 29 weeks as opposed to my 27 weeks.  Most likely, this is due to the stubborn little fibroid that was first mentioned at my 13 weeks first trimester screening.  My OB says that because I'm measuring larger, because I have the fibroid, and because I conceived while taking letrizole (femara--the fertility drug I was using when I got pregnant), they will now consider me high-risk and we'll be doing additional monitoring of the baby.

Basically, this means that I'll have an ultrasound in two weeks to check the size of the fibroid, and then starting at 32 weeks I will be seen weekly.  I will also have bi-weekly non-stress tests and biophysical profiles done.  I had a non-stress test with Tyler, it just involved being hooked up to a fetal monitor that measured his heartbeat and registered movements and any contractions I was having.  The biophysical profile apparently involves a detailed ultrasound that looks at several criteria:  heartrate increases, breathing movements, body movements, muscle tone, and amniotic fluid volume.  The baby will get a score out of 10 in these criteria.  If we get a bad score it could mean there is a problem.  They'll also be watching his growth carefully to make sure that the fibroid isn't restricting weight gain and watching for signs of preterm labor.

My ob emphasized that most of the time these fibroids don't cause any problems at all and that they just want to be extra cautious.  I'm glad that they will be watching things closely, but I can't say I'm not a little surprised.  I anxious to see what the fibroid measures at my next appointment and I guess I can just be happy that I'll get to see my little one on screen again.  I was wondering if I'd have another peek at him before the big day and apparently I'll get a lot more than that!

I am left wondering how this fibroid wasn't detected by my RE's office.  I had monthly ultrasounds with them, as well as an HSG test and an ultrasound when I was 6 weeks pregnant.  My OB even asked if I'd had an HSG and when I told her yes and that it was normal aside from my left tube not filling (which my RE attributed to cramping), she said it could have been that the fibroid is near the tube's opening and that is is actually closing off the tube.  She says it's not always easy to see a fibroid (especially one in the muscle, like mine is), especially in an HSG ultrasound, but she would have thought they would have detected it at some point.  I guess I can't be sure when this little bugger showed up, but it does make me wonder!

I also wonder what kind of concerns my OB has regarding my use of letrizole to conceive. She mentioned it when, but we ended up talking more about the fibroid and I didn't think to ask if she has any specific concerns or has seen anything worrisome in other patient's who have used the drug. I know it's not as widely used in the US as Clomid is (remember I maxed out on Clomid cycles and was using letrizole while we considered other more expensive treatment options), but my RE said it was very safe.  I guess I'll have to ask my OB at my next appointment.  The office is supposed to work on getting me scheduled for the next few appointments and then call me.

After I have the baby, they'll watch to see what the fibroid does and consider what (if anything) to do about it at that point.  Usually if they aren't causing problems, you leave them alone, but they can interfere with fertility, so we may have to address it at some point if we decide to have more children.

So, all in all not exactly what I was expecting, but the bottom line is all is well and baby and I will be watched carefully over the next 12 weeks.

Oh and yes, I believe this little one finally has a name...Alexander Jacob.  We all really like it and it lends itself to lots of possible nicknames: Alex, Xander, AJ...I'm leaning toward AJ personally.

'Til next time!

Goodbye Second Trimester!

26 weeks pregnant!!  Our baby is the size of a head of lettuce!  And his eyes may be opened for the first time!!  Maybe that explains the increase of ROLLING and SPINNING and HEAD-BUTTING I've been feeling!  A lot of girls in my due date buddies thread online have talked about the concerns of preterm delivery and it's got me very thankful that I've made it this far, since at 26 weeks the chances for survival soar to 80% from 50% and below earlier in pregnancy.  The strain of having a preemie would be terrible and scary, but it still lets me sleep a little better knowing that the baby would have a good chance! I've heard and read too many stories about late losses because the baby was too early. I can't believe I'm getting so close to the end of the second trimester!

In other news, it's still hot, which isn't really news as I'm pretty sure it's about this hot EVERYWHERE in the country right now.  We had a bad windstorm on Friday so I'm just thankful we never lost power or anything!  It's Fourth of July week, which means I only have to work three days!  Unfortunately it's a weird Monday, Tuesday, Friday work week, which means Friday will be long and boring, but I'll take it over the alternative!  One of my best friends is getting married on Wednesday, so we'll be celebrating that as well!  I stressed over what to wear, since my maternity wardrobe is pretty limited.  I considered buying a dress, but I ended up settling on a really pretty cream colored lace top and black capris--I hope it's not too casual!  Now I'm on the hunt for bright shoes and accessories to bring in some color.  Yeah, I know I'm running out of time.

I got Tyler to feel the baby moving the other day.  I'm not sure if he was freaked out or just not that interested in the whole thing.

Next week is my next OB appointment complete with glucose tolerance test.  My 8th wedding anniversary is also fast approaching!  It's going to be a busy July!

Feelin' hot hot hot...and not so hot

The National Weather service predicted a high of 105 degrees today.

I'm not sure if it's the heat, but I've been feeling crummy all day, just drained and nauseated and blah.  I'm beginning to think that even I may have underestimated the impact the heat this summer would have on a pregnant me.

25 weeks pregnant this week!  My little eggplant might be getting grilled in there with this heat, but he's getting more active every day!  In fact, I'm puzzled because I have been feeling him wiggle very low in my pelvis AND feeling bumps and thumps at the very top of my stomach--like the VERY top. I know he's not up there yet, so I can only guess that this is the result of kicks directed at the placenta that I can't feel and I'm getting some sort of shock wave from it or something. But I'd swear it felt like a fist or a foot!

Aside from today's not-so-hot state of being, I generally can't complain this pregnancy!  I have back pain and I'm still bothered by round ligament pains quite a bit (even though my OB said those usually go away by 20 weeks), and fatigue that doesn't seem to want to let go this time around, I feel pretty good for pregnant!  I guess when you spent nine months nauseated and miserable normal aches and pains and annoyances of pregnancy don't seem so bad!

Each week that ticks by makes me realize how much I have to get done for this baby!  He is still officially nameless.   We just haven't come up with anything we love yet!  We also have yet to really start his bedroom.  He will be sleeping in our room for the first few months in a bassinet, but I still want his room to be done well before he's born.  Our former office/spare bedroom is still full of junk, boxes, etc so we need to finish cleaning that out.  Then we need to take down the one wall of wall paper (Who does that?  Oh yeah, the lady that used to own our house), paint--right now I'm thinking about putting up a chair rail and painting a solid color below and doing stamps of dinosaurs or dino foot prints above--and of course bring in furniture.  We are going to swap out Tyler's bookshelf and use it in the baby's room because it's tall and not super sturdy.  We plan to transition him to a toddler bed before the baby is born (one less thing to do with a newborn in the house) and since that means he'll probably be getting out bed sometimes at night I want his furniture to be very safe.  We will move some shorter bookshelves into his room.  The changing table and at least one of the dressers will also move to the baby's room.  We will be purchasing a new chair or glider for the new babies room plus various decorative items.  We found a sort of baby dinosaur-patchwork theme set that I think we're going to use.

WHEW!  So, the to-do list is basically this:
-Clean out baby's room.
-Paint, decorate
-Transition Tyler to big-boy-bed
-POTTY TRAIN TYLER (that's ongoing, but I'm determined that it be done by the time the baby is born--Like I really have a say in that!)
-Go through baby clothes
-Check car seat to see if we can reuse it

I'm sure there is more but my brain is going fuzzy and I'm yawning so I'm done!

Viability

24 weeks pregnant and we have reached viability!  24 weeks is the earliest that most babies can survive if they are born early.  But no ideas, kiddo!  Keep on cooking in there!

Baby is the size of a cantaloupe this week!  Even though my ticker STILL says papaya!  I even generated the ticker again and it still says that, for the third week running. :-/ What's up with that?

My doctor's appointment last week was pretty uneventful. It was nice, for the first time, to not be worried about if they would find a heartbeat, since I could feel the little booger moving around!  As soon as my OB touched my belly with the dopplar, he kicked it! LOL  Heartrate was good, I've gained a couple of pounds now and everything else looks good.  My glucose test is in three week and then I start having appointments every two week!  I can't believe we're almost there already!

My sides ache since baby is stretching me out and I've having loads of fun trying to find a decent outfit for an upcoming wedding. :-P

In other news, my husband tore up the carpet in my mom's bedroom so we could lay new laminate flooring.  Unfortunately then she spent the rest of the weekend sick as a dog, even going to the ER at one point, so we didn't actually get to put the flooring in.  It only reminds me that I could never live in a house that was undergoing major renovations.  What a pain!  Hopefully we (lol he) can tackle it this weekend.  I've been watching Tyler the last two days, enjoying some time together while my mom tries to recuperate.  I realize that Tyler and I won't have that many more days with just the two of us! It's hard to wrap my head around that!

Thank you Gilbert, AZ

Dear Random Resident of Gilbert, AZ who stole or bought my debit card number,
   I hope you enjoyed your $355.07 shopping spree to Ross, TJ Maxx, and Marshall's.  I really appreciated getting a call from my bank's fraud department at 4:00 pm on a Friday about possible fraudulent charges on my account.  And I appreciated having to leave work early--missing out on some of my hard earned overtime and making me late going home and thus getting stuck in traffic, so I could go to my bank and fill out fraud paperwork.  Great way to spend a Friday afternoon.  On the plus side, my bank won't pay for those charges.  On the negative side, it could take up to 10 days for the charges to be completely reversed, which totally screwed my weekend plans (because, you know, they entailed spending money that my bank account now shows as unavailable).  I even tried to nail your ass by calling one of the stores, where I suspect you bought a $100 gift card.  My banker said he's done this before and the store cancelled the gift card, rendering it useless.  But apparently, the Ross store doesn't mind being out $100, so I guess you win on that too.  Luckily, according to the fraud department, you'd tried to spend another $200+ somewhere and it looks like you finally got denied, thank Jeebus!  I hope it caused you at least a tiny bit of shame.  Probably not, but I can hope.  Now I find out that regardless of everything I did, the charges have actually CLEARED my bank anyway.  Fantastic.

  So thanks for ruining my weekend just a little bit.  Oh, and I hope you get hit by a bus.

Bite me,
Melissa


Yeah so that happened.  Fun times.

23 weeks pregnant!  My fun food/baby size ticker is still saying baby is the size of a papaya, which is what it said last week.  Lame.  So I googled it and found a site that tells me baby is the size of a grapefruit this week.  Night time is starting to get more uncomfortable, with my neck and back starting to complain more and of course the never ending trips to the bathroom!  Baby boy likes to kick me in such a way that makes me feel like I need to "go" even when I don't.  No flutters and gentle pokes for this girl!  Nope, it's the old 80's version of Batman!  BAM!  POW!  My belly is poking out and I'm carrying very high AGAIN.  But I can safely say, I look pregnant and not just chubby :)  I've also been condemned to grocery shopping from one of those old lady motorized carts, because for some reason Sunday mornings and the grocery store equals almost passing out.  I think it's the heat, combined with everything I can possibly eat for breakfast not having enough protein or something in it.  I feel stupid, looking (I think) younger than my 30 years, certainly not hugely pregnant yet, riding in a cart with no signs of injury, but I suppose it's better than actually passing out and the embarrassment that would bring!  Plus then I can usually avoid feeling like a puddle of ick the rest of the day.  Not that it stopped me from being a complete couch potato yesterday.

Doctor's appointment Wednesday!  Shouldn't be too exciting, probably just a bp and heart rate check, plus scheduling the glucose tolerance test.  Yum I can taste the orangey sweetness now! :-P

Make Lemonade

22 weeks pregnant!  Baby boy is the size of a papaya.  I need to check one out at the store, since I'm not familiar with them.

Today, I had a pregnancy craving.  I wanted lemonade.  I went out to get some lunch at a local deli.  I ordered my sandwich and grabbed a cookie to go with it.  I paid for my lunch and realize I'd forgotten to tell the cashier I wanted a cookie.  Oh well, I figured I'd just put it back.  But then the very nice lady behind me insisted on buying it for me--did she spy my baby bump?  So nice, right?  So I got my food and a nice big glass of lemonade and left feeling pleased.

That feeling was short-lived.  I pulled into my parking space at work and my lemonade tipped over and the Styrofoam cup was impaled by an unknown object.  A horizontal geyser of lemonade poured out of the hole and spayed around the interior of my car, filling the cup and change holders and soaking the carpet beneath the radio.

I stopped and threw my door open, holding the cup outside.  After a moment I realize it was a lost cause, so I opened the lid and poured out the contents.  Then I pulled the rest of the way into the space and cleaned up the sticky mess as much as I could.

*sigh*

I went into work and ate my lunch, sans lemonade.  About 2 pm I realized I still really wanted some, so I made the long walk to the back of building to the vending machines.  We almost always have lemonade.  Not today.  Orangeade yes, lemonade, of course not.

*sigh*

But now you'll excuse me because my husband has just returned with dinner and a big glass of lemonade.

*happy sigh*

ETA:  I'm very sad to report that Bob Evans has the most horrible lemonade I've ever tasted.  Even sugar did not help.  They also forgot my cole slaw and prepared a completely inedible BLT.  I lose today.

Quite a stretch

21 weeks and plugging along!  I'm feeling pretty decent physically, but I'm really feeling some stretching in the belly area! Little man is making room!  I'm not liking to be on my feet very long, since my sides and feet start to ache.  Last weekend it was really hot and simply torture to be outside!  I almost passed out at the grocery store from the heat!  It's going to be a long summer, I have a feeling LOL!

Baby is the size of a banana this week--I'm guessing this is going by length lol.  I feel like baby is more like double that right now!  I think we're getting closer to a name decision, so stay tuned :-D