20-week ultrasound
Monday, January 18, 2010
20 weeks, 1 day pregnant
Darling Husband and I had the big 20-week ultrasound this morning, and it didn’t go exactly as I had expected …
The Good:
- We got to see Little Baby again, for longer this time!
- He/she really looks like a real baby!
- We had a nice technician (I’ve heard some of them are jerks)
- She pointed out his/her hands, arms, legs, belly, head, etc.
- It was cute to see him/her roll over and move around
- Little Baby had cute skeleton hands and a weird bendy-looking spine like a sea-snake
- … oh, and a gigantic head. I’m not looking forward to birthing such a big head, but it’s kind of cute, since Darling Husband and I have big heads. Awww, genes.
The Bad:
- Little Baby was not cooperating — stubborn like Mommy (and Daddy). When the tech was trying to get photos of the heart, he/she scrunched up and wouldn’t let her get a clear look from all the angles.
- The technician had me pee at that point (woohoo!) to try and encourage Little Baby to spread out a bit, but no luck. That is one stubborn child.
- We need to go back in two weeks so they can try to look at the heart again. I’m trying not to worry, but … I can’t help it. I’m worrying. I wanted reassurance that everything was fine today!
The Ugly:
- I was very concerned about having to hold my pee for so long, so I followed the instructions carefully. My appointment was at 10 a.m., so at 8:45 a.m. I took my final pee, and then drank the 500ml of water (even used a measuring cup, so I didn’t get a drop more).
- I had to pee by 9:05 a.m.
- I got squirmy around 9:10 a.m.
- By the time we got to the hospital at 9:40 a.m., it was hard to walk.
- We weren’t called in until 10:50 a.m.
- I couldn’t pee until 11:15 a.m. (and yeah, it was the longest pee of my life)
Part of me is worried that we have to go back, but a bit of Googling brought up a very comforting message board thread with other women who went through the same thing. They felt the same as me — worried, concerned, etc. — but it turned out, their babies were just stubborn as well. So I’m trying to stay positive.
Blackjack, baby!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
20 WEEKS PREGNANT!!!
I’m fired up this morning!
I’ve hit 20 weeks!
I’ve hit 20 weeks!!!
That means I’m officially in Week 21 (which, as we know, is the way impatient people like me prefer to count it).
It’s my Blackjack week (21!), and a couple of important baby milestones are on the schedule:
- Today: Attending a special baby event at the department store at which we’ve registered. It’s supposed to have safety demonstrations, giveaways, information, etc. I’m also hoping Darling Husband and I can add a couple of items to the registry while we’re there — things that we’ll want gender-neutral, for future kiddos.
- Tomorrow: Our 20-week ultrasound! I’m super-excited to see Little Baby’s sweet face again, especially because this time we’ll probably get a longer glimpse. There is also a really, really small possibly that we’ll be able to tell the gender (hamburger or turtle, remember) or that the technician will be a softy and tell us (even though they’re not supposed to tell us).
More to come later, once I’ve been thoroughly overwhelmed with the amount of items for which we’re “supposed” to register.
Weekly re-cap
(Jan. 10 to Jan. 16)
Symptoms: Heartburn (so intense that required getting a prescription), snoring, sinus weirdness (that wakes me up at the crack of dawn), obsessive nesting (in the form of sewing baby stuff),
Body changes: POPPING in a major way, finding it hard to bend over/roll over/lie on my back.
Energy level: Still high. I accomplished a ton of sewing projects (wipes, bibs, burp cloths), attended several more family events (when you marry into a big family, this is your destiny), started two online registries (more about that soon) and even cooked (sometimes).
Cravings: Grapes (again). Oh, and some sausage patties and hashbrowns from McDonald’s (a bribe from Darling Husband to get me to the second family gathering in 12 hours), and it was possibly the most delicious breakfast I’ve ever eaten. Yes, I love McDonald’s breakfast — judge away.
High point: Going to our third OBGYN appointment and hearing that all of our maternal serum results are great! Oh, and being called “small” was great for my self-esteem.
Low point: Slight worry when I asked about the pee test, and was told I had had trace amounts of protein in my pee during the previous visit. But I was told not to worry, and this month’s test was negative, so I’m not going to dwell on it.
Paranoid moment of the week: After I told ob OBGYN about my crazy-bad heartburn, she prescribed some mild heartburn medication and told me it was totally safe during pregnancy. Even so, I hemmed and hawed for a bit before actually taking the first pill, because I’ve been so careful not to take any drugs during this pregnancy (except for the occasional Tylenol).
P.S. Eventually, I began taking it, and it’s worked wonders. Just might be the Eighth Wonder of the Preggo World, next to giant-but-comfy maternity undies.
Kick me … please?
Saturday, January 16, 2010
19 weeks, 6 days pregnant
Remember how I first felt Little Baby moving around in Week 15, and I was all, “Ohh, the baby’s moving! Sunshine and rainbows, I’m so happy!”
Well, back then — you know, waaaaay back a whole four weeks ago, it was considered “early” movement, and I was super proud to have felt it. I didn’t worry about how often I felt it, because either way, I was ahead of the game! Some people hadn’t even felt their babies move by that point, yay me, etc.
Now that I’m in Week 20, it’s a different ball game. Some people are feeling hardcore kicks and punches from their little bambinos, and I have just still been feeling “pokes.”
But what counts as a “kick”? I read it as a somewhat violent motion, that you go, “OH! There’s a kick!” What I feel are tickly feelings or little nudges and pokes — I wouldn’t call them kicks, but is that what other people are calling them?
The bottom line is this: sometimes it seems like I’m feeling Little Baby less than I have in previous weeks. And it’s got me worried, of course. Bouncing worrying is what we Tiggers pregnant women do best.
I’ve been Googling “week 20 pregnant fetal movement” until my fingers are practically falling off, reading message boards to see what other preggos have felt in their twentieth week, and generally obsessing.
I do feel Little Baby every day, I think, but some days his/her presence is barely noticeable unless I drink ice-cold water or something super-sugary. Are those the days when he/she is facing my back, making it harder to feel the little taps? Is he/she just napping a lot? Lazy?
Maybe those gentle nudges mean he/she is a sensitive soul and doesn’t want to hurt Mommy? Awww …
POP! goes the preggo
Friday, January 15, 2010
19 weeks, 5 days preggo
I will always remember Week 20 as the week that I got slapped in the face with pregnancy. Not in a bad way, but in a “Holy crap, I’m pregnant!”/reality-is-setting-in kind of way. It’s been pretty cool, actually, to see myself change so suddenly!
Just in the course of this week …
- I popped. My stomach went from yeah-she-is-probably-pregnant-but-not-enough-to-say-anything to a full, rock-hard, undeniably round pregnant belly. I still can’t believe how it seemed to pop overnight. It’s hard, people! And roundddd!
- I began grunting. Yeah, it’s super-attractive. When I get up from a seated position, or sit down, I automatically let out a little grunt from the effort. The cause? My newfound beachball stomach (see previous bullet point).
- I can’t bend at the waist. When I drop something and need to pick it up, I bend at the knees and sort of lower myself to the ground. And yeah, grunt.
- It’s hard to roll over. I used to toss and turn and move around all night. These days? Once the pillows are in formation, I fall asleep on my right side — and stay there. When I wake up for my middle-of-the-night pee break, I re-arrange the pillows and go back to sleep on my left side. Moving around is too hard, and well …
- I can’t lie on my back. Seriously — can’t! I laid down on the carpet the other day to play with Little Dog, and when I tried to get up, I felt like I would tear a nerve in my back. It’s weird.
- I feel like there’s a bowling ball in my shirt. I always wondered what it would feel like to be pregnant, and so far, I think the answer is “bowling ball.” When I walk across a room, I feel like my normal self, except for a huge round weight right in my stomach. The extra weight literally feels like someone strapped something around my middle.
It’s been quite the week, hasn’t it? Right now I am especially grateful that it’s Friday afternoon. I’m looking forward to resting this giant belly on the couch!
As featured on …
Heather's Handmade Life 