Baby Tie Breaker’s Heartbeat at 19 weeks

We’re exactly 19 weeks today.  Baby’s heart rate was 143 beats per minute.

belly shot - 18 weeks, 5 days, side view

belly shot - 18 weeks, 5 days, front view

Excuse the photo quality please.    My photoshop is broken, so they’re straight off the camera with no editing or cropping.

I feel like I’m bigger this time than I was with Kat at 18 weeks, but still not as big as I was with Jag at this same time.  (I think the dress makes me look a little bigger than I am, but not by much!)  For the record, Jag was born 11 lbs, Kat was born at just over 7 lbs.  Maybe this next one will be somewhere in the middle!

I’ve had an issue with headaches for the last couple of weeks.  Almost everyday, a throbbing and painful headache that hurts worse if I move.  Tylenol doesn’t touch the pain, and nothing else seems to help either (laying down, drinking more water, turning down the a/c, getting more sleep, new pillow for sleeping, etc etc etc).  I brought it up today to the doctor (a new one to me – a younger lady, very nice, I liked her a lot).  She didn’t have much to offer in the way of relief.  We went over other possible symptoms, none of which I have, and came to the conclusion that maybe they are tension headaches.  She suggested massage.  And if I’m still having the headaches in a couple of weeks, we may talk about referring me to a specialist.  I hope it doesn’t come to that.

They want to schedule our big ultrasound for 19 weeks, so only 2 weeks away!  I scheduled one at the front desk for September 10th, but I was trying to pick up a ziploc bag full of M&Ms that Kat had spilled on the floor and wasn’t paying close enough attention, and I somehow agreed to a 2:45 appointment, which is exactly the time I should be picking Jag up from school.  I’ll have to call tomorrow and reschedule.  Once again, we won’t be finding out the gender of the baby so don’t mark your calendars – no big news will be announced.  We’re no fun, huh?  ;-P

I wanted to keep the two tones of yellow paint that we already have in the room, I love them and they work perfectly for a gender neutral nursery.  So I’m working out from those.

Here’s what I have so far:  obviously, the paint colors.  Fabric swatches for the bedding (green w/ white dots for the bumper, white w/ embroidered bugs for the skirt).  And black painted finish for the crib (that’s not the crib, I used the back of one of my bar stools so I could get an idea of how it’d look).

It’s not at all what I originally imagined, but I think I love it!  Let’s see now if I get tired of it before it’s time to decorate (aiming to get started on the room in October, after our anniversary).

14 weeks 5 days

I think it might be time to say buh-bye to these jeans!

12w1d

 Popped out just a little! 

Specifics… still down 8.5 lbs, all my blood labs came back perfect from the last appt, even my iron is good (shocker, I’m always anemic in the first tri!).  Baby’s heart rate was 166 bpm.  Blood pressure was slightly high, they’re going to keep their eye on it, but most likely nothing to worry about.

Re: the subchorionic hemorrhage – they feel strongly that since it was a small spot to begin with, and because the spotting has been gone for almost a week, that it’s most likely resolved itself.  Unless there is any more bleeding (not enough to soak a pad, but enough to just need a pad), they won’t look again until the standard 20 week ultrasound.  I feel good with that plan – never thought I’d say this, but I hope I don’t need an earlier ultrasound!

No vbac this time around.  I’ll admit I’m a little bummed, but I knew it was a good possibility they wouldn’t let me try.  It’s okay, I could have worse problems!  They’d like to schedule the delivery for 39 weeks, so looks like it’ll be a late January baby!  I predict a pregnant lady freakout on Dec 26th, harping on Jason to get this Christmas crap down NOW just incase.  ;-P

That’s about it!  Oh and I put on my first maternity outfit this week.  I look like such a dope!  In regular clothes, I was so uncomfortable, and I had one pair of denim capri pants left from Kat’s pregnancy, so I put those on and a new little maternity top from Target (nothing tent-like, or billowy, stretchy and kind of fitted) and I look ridiculous.  Like I’ve got a beer gut more than I’m pregnant.  That’s what I get for trying to wear maternity clothes too early.

As it is, here is how my day feels: wake up, feel tired and nauseous immediately. Choke down some soda (desperate for a little caffeine to help me wake up), choke down a bowl of cereal or a bagel and start to feel less nauseous and less tired. Lunchtime: feeling nauseous again. Make myself eat a little something (anything, whatever we have that doesn’t make me gag) and drink some water. Feel less nauseous again. Around 2pm or so, energy crash. Hard. And when I’m extremely tired, I’m extremely nauseous, so make myself munch on a few crackers and drink more water. No naps because I have two kids at home! Dinner time: nauseous, still tired, nothing for dinner sounds good and even if something does sound even remotely good, it ends up tasting bad to me. Drink more water. Lay on the sofa and watch tv. Sometimes if I stay up past 9pm, I get a small second wind and feel okay, so I’ll have a bowl of low fat vanilla ice cream (calcium!). Then off to bed where I lay, nauseous, until I’m able to fall asleep. Wake up the next morning with aching back and hips, and start the day all over again!

One good thing that’s come around in the last few days – water tastes good again! For weeks, drinking water made me nauseous. I was only able to handle fruit juices, sodas and lemonade. Oddly now, when I’m not feeling well, a big sports bottle of ice water makes me feel much better.

I noticed today my tummy seems to have popped out just a little. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, and if it will show up in a photo, but next time I’m dressed, I’ll take another belly pic. (I’m spending more time than I should in yoga pants and old tshirts these days.)

I also lost another couple of pounds, for a total of 8.5 lbs in the negative. This actually surprises me a little because I feel like I’m able to eat more than I did a few weeks ago. But it’s still not as much as I lost in the first trimesters of the last two pregnancies.

My one and only very strong aversion that I’ve had is coffee.  Can’t.stomach.coffee.  The smell is enough to make me gag.  Yuck.  Anyone who knows me knows this is bizarre – I’m usually a hardcore coffee drinker – good, strong, black coffee was a daily staple.  I hope this passes, I miss my morning dose of caffeine.  (And on the topic of caffeine during pregnancy, last time I was allowed 2 servings a day, but this time they told me only 1 serving a day – bummer!)

As I sit here typing this, I’m kinda hungry for the leftover chicken enchiladas and rice from our dinner at the mexican restaurant last night.  That might be my breakfast.  I could have worse things, right? 

I otherwise don’t have pain when I sleep, so I’m not thinking of a new mattress, but I’m considering something like a memory foam mattress topper.  I’m going to need something to get me through the next several months – mama needs her sleep!