Tag: pregnancy

Merfbaby is 16 weeks!

I signed up for a weekly pregnancy email from The Pregnant Chicken, and my email yesterday told me Merfbaby is the size of a grenade  Now we’re talking!

Merfbaby is 4 1/2 inches long and has started growing toenails! The heart is pumping 25 quarts a day.

How I’m Feeling:  Good, but this week was exhausting. It was a really busy week at work, with a very late night on Monday…I collapsed into bed at 1:00am. I was dragging all week and went to bed early whenever I could, so I finally feel caught up on sleep. I have a lot I want to get done this weekend, but I’ll see how I’m feeling. I’m trying to put rest and sleep over busy work, but it’s hard when I want to get so much done around the house!

Belly/Weight:  At my appointment yesterday I showed a 5 pound weight gain fro my last appointment. I asked the doctor if that’s ok and she said aiming for 1 pound a week is good. My tummy is sticking out a little more this week and it feels firm…creepy? Yea.

Life Changes:  Still wearing normal clothes, but I have to start choosing some longer tops since my shape is changing. I tried to get more sleep this week since I was so exhausted from work, I’m looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow :)

Movement:  Still not yet. It was funny at the appointment yesterday seeing the baby moving around on the ultrasound but not feeling any of it!

Sleep: I still have 1 – 2 potty breaks in the middle of the night, but this week I had a harder time falling back asleep after crawling into bed. Merfman’s back into his production schedule so between his odd hours and the potty breaks I’m not sleeping well.

Cravings:  Still OJ. Not lemonade so much this week. And protein. My appetite is back and I go from zero to hangry, fast. I’m trying to get more protein into my daily meals. Lots of dairy, beans, rice, some fish and peanut butter, and lots of eggs. I also asked my doctor about adding protein powder into my smoothies, I think that will help too.

Exercise: Monday I did a ton of running around and carrying various items back and forth for work. I was sore most of the week – arms and shoulders so I took it easy on the work outs. Don’t worry, I didn’t lift anything heavy. I ordered a new swim suit from Swim Outlet since my current stash doesn’t accommodate for the growing belly. PS Maternity Swim Suits are U.G.L.Y. I just ordered a regular suit 4 sizes larger than my normal. If toward the end I need to order up another size or two I will.

Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week:  Merfman got to come with me to my doctor appointment on Thursday! He’s never able to come, so it was fun having him see Merfbaby on the ultrasound. I had been wondering if this might be the week they tell us the gender. At 12 weeks the technician wanted to tell me, but I felt like it was too soon to tell, even though they said they were 95% sure what it was. Plus, I was alone so I asked them not too. So, this week we were looking forward to maybe finding out. We were put into a room at our appointment that didn’t have an ultrasound machine so we thought we wouldn’t get to find out. The doctor opened the door and asked if we’d like to find out the gender! She said she couldn’t make any promises, but she would give it a shot. We asked if she found the gender, that she write it down and slip it into and envelope so we could open it later. Well….Merfbaby was being shy and she couldn’t get a good look, plus the cord was in the way. Womp. I have another ultrasound at the end of this month, so maybe we’ll find out then!

On My Mind:  I’m halfway through reading “Baby Wise,” so I’ve been thinking a lot about the feed, wake, sleep pattern for the baby and I during the first few weeks. We want to get the baby into a rhythm soon after birth to help for our sanity, as well as Merfbaby’s. I’m a little nervous about the first week or two after birth. I can only imagine what to expect, so I’m trying not to over think it. I really want to breastfeed, and I know that can take a little while to get the hang of. Next up on my reading list is “Baby Whisperer.”  So many Mom’s have recommended it to me, so I’m excited to get reading! We also selected a Baby Class to take starting in mid-April. We’ve chosen the Bradley Method classes since they focus on natural birth. The instructor explained the classes in a way I completely related to. She said, you would’t run a marathon without practicing, or show up on game day never knowing what to expect. Duh. As an athlete that totally made sense to me. I know there’s not a lot you can do physically to prepare yourself for the crazy that it labor, but the more I can understand about the progression of labor the better for me.

So, the news is out and it’s so nice to FINALLY talk about Merfbaby!

We found out on November 14 and I was just 4 weeks at the time. Really early! So early in fact, that when I took a pregnancy test the positive line was almost not visible. I took the test, then called Kelly up to see the result – we both sort of looked at each other and said, “well, I think we’re pregnant?” Ha! Not the dramatic scene you were hoping for, eh?

2 weeks later I went to the doctor, took another test (positive) and was referred to an OB.

At 8 weeks we met our OB, who we both really like. She’s very calm and easy going. I also like that the practice she’s with is all women and they share weekends during the month. Meaning, if I have the baby over the weekend and it’s not “my” doctor’s weekend I’ll know the other women that would be there for the delivery. Merfbaby is going to be born in the same hospital where Merfman was born XX years ago ;)

So, at the 8 week appointment we got to see our jelly bean Merfbaby.

 

It was so cool to see the heart beat and know that there’s really something going on in there! I was starting to “feel” pregnant at that point, the nausea kicked in almost exactly at 8 weeks. I had many, many dinners of Saltine Crackers and Ginger Ale. At one point I couldn’t take it any more and made a trip to the health food store to buy some Ginger pills. Those helped BIG time. I had good days and bad days, mostly it just felt like being hungover for days and days on end. No fun. But I knew it could always be way worse so I tried not to complain.

We told our parents and families on Christmas. We told Merfman’s parents on Christmas Eve, and my family on Christmas Morning. We gave each of our Mom’s a card and inside the card was a copy of the above ultrasound and we wrote “Merfbaby, coming July 2013.” Everyone was really happy, it’s the first grandchild on my family’s side, and oh has Momma-son been waiting ever so patiently to be a Grandma! Merfbaby will even have 2 Great Grandparents!

Over the next few weeks we told close friends, co-workers and then the INTERNET. We all know, until it’s announced on the interwebs, it’s not official.

I had two more ultrasounds on my 12 week mark – my rollover happens on Thursdays. I’ve had my blood work, and the first part of the Down Syndrom Screening and everything is looking good. I was really fun to see Merfbaby at the 12 week appointment, it looks like a BABY now! I had one ultrasound in the morning, and Merfbaby was sleeping on its back. After some poking from the tech Merfbaby squirmed and then rolled over with its back to us. My second appointment was after lunch (and a PopTart) and Merfbaby was jumping all over the place! I promise I’m eating healthy though :)

I’ve been feeling pretty good for the past few days (knock on wood) and the nausea seems to be just about done. My energy level is back up to almost normal, although I do LOVE a good afternoon nap :) I find that at the end of a long day I’m exhausted and I’m sleeping pretty well. I’m a tummy sleeper so I’ve been working on side sleeping since I was 8 weeks. I’ve also noticed that I may need to invest in some more pillows for comfort’s sake.

I’ve read one book so far, “The Girlfriend’s Guide to Pregnancy.” It’s not the most medically based – but it’s a good intro to all the fun things involved with growing a human. I ordered “Baby Wise” on Amazon and it arrived last night, I’m looking forward to reading that. I’ve also heard good things about “Baby Whisperer” so I may order that too. I don’t think I’m going to ready “What to Expect…” I’ve heard it can be really dense. Any other good reads?

What else…

Oh!

Merfbaby is due July 25, 2013. 3 DAYS before our 1 year Wedding Anniversary. We keep saying we’re going to either celebrate our anniversary in the hospital, or with with a Merfbaby in our arms!

We plan to find out what flavor we’re having too ;) Since I go to all the baby doctor appointments solo (yay for Merfman working on a TV show!)  I’m planning to have the doctor write down the gender on a paper, and put it in an envelope for me. Then, Merfman and I will open it together. We don’t have any preference boy v. girl all we care about is that Merfbaby is healthy.

We’ve talked a little about names, but we don’t plan to share that until Merfbaby arrives.

I don’t know if anyone is going to read these (besides Momma-son) but I’m planning to write updates to remember the pregnancy and all the changes going on.

We’ve taken a few “bump” photos, I’ll try to post those soon. There’s not much to “show,” ha!