16 Weeks

Yesterday I completed 16 weeks!  So here's some more info on where things stand....

How I've been feeling? 

• My main issue is getting headaches.  I got a prescription after my last appointment and it works wonderful!  I'm just sick of getting them at least twice a week, but at least the medicine works. 
• I had a few days a couple weeks ago where I had some nausea in the mornings, but started eating a few crackers before getting out of bed in the morning and that fixed it. 
• I still go to bed between 9:30-10 usually, but have more energy and have been trying to get back into going to the gym after work. 
• I got sciatic nerve pain starting last Wednesday.  Basically what happens is with your uterus growing and things shifting around inside you, the sciatic nerve can get pinched.  This is in your lower back and the pain extends into your butt and leg-- it is the largest nerve in the body.  It would just come on hit or miss, so I tried to minimize bending over and moving slowly between sitting/standing.  We were on a boat on Saturday and that must have jostled it some more because I had the most pain then-- it hurt just walking.  The pain has now gone away.
• Then on Sunday I had a killer stabbing pain in my left side and lower abdomen.  It was so bad that I had nausea and of course we were at the lake with Dustin's family, so I'm trying to hold it together.  The stabbing would come and go....and when it would go, I would just be left with a dull pain that was tolerable.  This continued all day.  I then remembered people talking about Round Ligament Pain which starts in the 2nd trimester and occurs from your uterus starting to grow.  So I looked that up on the internet and determined that is what I must have....but then my pain seemed way more horrible than what others were describing, so didn't know if I was a wimp or what.  For some reason on the car ride home it was just miserable and I was crying...I think some from the pain and some just cause I was frustrated with not feeling well and didn't know how to get it to go away.  I woke up Monday morning and had the stabbing feelings again, so called the doctor.  The nurse on the phone said this could be Round Ligament Pain, but probably not cause my symptoms didn't completely match up-- she said with RLP you should be able to massage the pain away, similar to a charley horse.  I was in so much pain and it hurt 100 times worse when just lightly touching the area, so that was not an option!  They had me come in and do a urine test so they could see if was some sort of bladder infection, something with kidneys, etc.  Urine sample came back clean.  The doctor today seemed to think the best guess was probably a kidney stone, so if it happens again I'm to call back and they will do an ultrasound to find out.  She said it can be as small as a grain of sand and I could have passed it without knowing.  I woke up today and have been 100%- no trace of pain, so I'm just glad it's gone!

Cravings?  No specific cravings and my appetite in general just is much less than normal.  I just get full much faster for some reason.

Physical changes?  I feel like I have a definite baby bump, but only at times does it really show.  Dustin finally agreed with me a few days ago that my stomach has never been this round/fat before.  Of course on picture day I feel like it is barely showing, but I swear it is there! 

Felt any movement?  Nope, still have not felt the baby.

16-Week Dr. Appt
Date: 6.21.2011
Weight: 133 lbs. (+2 lbs from starting point)
Blood Pressure: 100/62
Baby's Heartbeat: 155
Description:   Today's appt was probably the least exciting so far!  We got to hear the baby's heartbeat, which was much louder and prominent than last time.  Other than that they just checked my stats and we didn't really have any questions.  She explained that in our ultrasound in 2 weeks they will be doing tons of major checks to verify the baby is developing as it should-- make sure the heart has 4 chambers, the kidneys work, the baby urinates, etc.  So it sounds like besides having a good heartbeat, this is the next big check!

Picture at 16W (excuse the bad quality-- apparently next time I need to give dustin step by step instructions on how to make this look better!):

Semi-Fresh Salsa

Last night I was just hungry for something fresh tasting.  I decided to walk to the grocery store and pick up a few items-- and some salsa was just calling my name!  We love making salsas and make it differently each time, but I got this idea from my Aunt's house.  I love the cilantro-lime flavor in here.  My husband usually likes super spicy salsa, but he agreed that even this mild version is very tasty!  He doesn't like corn, but you can't even taste it in here, so a good way to sneak in some veggies!  This makes a pretty large batch:

2 cans diced tomatoes- drained (I used ones with chili's to give it a slight kick)
1 can corn- drained
1 can black beans- drained and rinsed
1 purple onion chopped/diced
1 bunch of cilantro
Juice of 1 lime

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl, except for the lime.  Cut the lime in half and squeeze each half over your salsa.  Tip: to get the juices flowing first, roll the lime on the counter back and forth with some pressure or just pop in the microwave for like 10 seconds.  Mix well distributing the lime juice and serve with chips!

I bought the multigrain tostito scoops and they tasted great with this!

Diapers

I'll preface all this by saying, BASED ON WHAT WE KNOW NOW....we plan to try and cloth diaper our baby for hopefully a majority of the time.  I definitely realize there are times and situations where using disposables will just be easiest (e.g. the first few weeks at home, overnight, going to a baby-sitter, etc).  If you are like me and aren't up on the baby scene in the new millenium you are probably thinking I'm crazy and picturing us cloth diapering using something like this:

This is what I pictured and thought only like hippies or people really into saving the environment did this....then I got halfway educated and have changed my mind!  There are TONS of options out there and from what I've read it really just depends on the kid which brand works best and what the parents prefer.  I think we would go with All-In-Ones (AIOs) where all of the components of the diaper are one piece...as the name would lead you to believe!  I believe you can add extra liners in here for instance at night to help absorb more.  You can get snaps or velcro-- I've heard definitely go with the snaps cause over time the velcro will wear down.  So you can visualize what I'm talking about, here is an example:

Notice all the snaps- this is so you can adjust as your baby grows and get lots of use out of them!  And then when you have a 2nd kid, can reuse again and get your money's worth even more!  they say you will spend about $1500-2000 in disposable diapers for each kid...so let's just say that's about $3500 total if we have 2 kids.  Cloth diapers do require an upfront investment, but I estimate for about $300 you can get started.  It depends how many diapers you want to buy and which brands you choose- obviously the more diapers you have, then the less often you'll have to do laundry!

We will have to plan to do diaper laundry probably every 2-3 days, which could end up being more of a pain than I want to deal with, but am hoping it will just become second nature.  And there is of course an extra cost of doing all this laundry, but is MINIMAL compared to the expense of going through disposable diapers.
There is a great store in St. Louis called Cotton Babies.  You can link to the website by clicking here and it goes through a lot of Q&As.  They offer a class on all (or at least most) Saturdays that will go over cloth diapering basics and what you need to know.  I think in the next couple months we will go learn about it and check out the items in store and see what we think.  I feel like I really don't have anything to lose by attempting to do this....if it doesn't work out, then at least I'll know we tried and just wasn't for us.  Crossing my fingers that it will work out though!

Also, they make some super cute patterns- check out some of these!

Newborn Photo ideas

I know, I know....I'm waaaaaaaaay jumping the gun here, but I am on a mission to learn how to take better pictures before the baby is here.  I seriously have visions in my head of like spending all day posing the new baby in all sorts of cute/funny poses/outfits....and I'm sure realistically I will never learn how to work my camera, won't have the time to be photographing the baby nonstop and will hire someone!  Anyways, still is fun to look and come up with ideas-- right now I am obsessed over babies in knit hats...I think they are HILARIOUS!  See below for some ideas--
We LOVE the bear ears for some reason, so something like one of these will be our first purchase:

Also cute is just a little bobble-top and more simple:

I can almost guarantee that I plan to dress the baby up in this for easter- cutest pic ever!!!!!

 And I could not find a picture of this, but how funny would a Hello Kitty picture be?!!?

And since ours will arrive hopefully right before xmas, I have all these visions of putting the baby in a gift box, a stocking, laying on the mantle with the stockings hung, santa outfits, etc.  Here are a few ideas, although none of these grabbed me as super awesome, but are good ideas to start from.

Aren't those all adorable and just gets you thinking about all the possibilities?!  I can't wait!

First Trimester

Big news (which anyone with 1% of a brain would have guessed from the title of this post), but we are expecting our first baby!  Eventually I plan to make a pregnancy scrapbook/journal...but currently all that stuff is packed away, so I'm just going to document it online so I don't forget and then also get to share it with others.  There is a lot packed into this post since I wrote this all at once since as I went!

How and when did we find out?  I had taken a pregnancy test on 3/27 and it was negative...and it was supposed to be like 80-some percent accurate.  So I basically take out my jump to conclusions map and just took that as 100% accurate and was all mopey and annoyed that I was not pregnant.  So on Wednesday 3/30 I had Jury Duty- and I am a big weirdo who loves when I get called for duty...so I go there and can just feel that I'm going to get my period, only I forgot to bring tampons with me....and the bathroom there had none to buy!  Eek!  Then I get seated in the front row and the whole time I'm thinking this is just great- I'm going to get my period, I have nothing here, everyone is going to laugh at me, ugh.  So every break possible I'm in the bathroom checking and breathing a sigh of relief.  Finally they dismiss us early afternoon cause they reached a settlement, so I go home.  I have this huge surge of energy and go crazy cleaning out the kitchen cabinets and doing all sorts of housework.  Dustin comes home and asks if I got my period....cause today should have been the day and I always get it on time....and I mope and tell him no, but it's coming so don't get his hopes up.  So he has to meet up with a co-worker in town for drinks that night.  He gets home and before bed, he's like you just need to take the test....so I'm like, well I guess I'll do it again.  I do it and I see this (looking back, probably should have wiped this off before the picture, but your mind just isn't thinking straight...so sorry if this disgusts anyone!):

I think all I can say is, "OH MY GOD- NO WAY!"  So dustin hears me and runs into the bathroom and once he realizes it is good, he just has the happiest look on his face ever!  Then he has to remind me, our lives are forever changed at this point.

Who we told and when?  I really didn't want to tell anyone until I went to the first 8-week appt just to be sure.  However, my sister and I had plans to go to dallas in about 2 weeks for her 30th birthday...so we obviously had to tell her so she wouldn't wonder why I refused to have any delicious alcohol!  I got her a frame that said I LOVE MY AUNT since this will be her first niece/nephew.  Next up was my parents because they were in town for Easter, so we felt like we had to take advantage of telling them in person.  We went to dinner at Favazza's on the hill and everyone was exchanging gifts for birthdays, so it wasn't really odd that we had brought some gifts.  We had just got them kids books that tied into Grandma and Grandpa, since this will be their first grandchild.  We then told Dustin's mother and family on Mother's day and his Dad and family that same week at dinner.  We then told our first friends on 5.22 because we were going the Bon Jovi concert, so was going to be a little fishy possibly if I wasn't drinking and everyone else was.  It was really cool though cause our good friends told us the same news- that they are expecting a baby like the week before us!  I told work after my 12-week appt on 5.26.2011.  Since then we have been trying to let family and some friends know...and now I'll post on my blog and facebook for everyone else!

How I've felt?  I started out just feeling great and so energetic that I didn't believe I really could be pregnant.  Then, 2 days before leaving for Dallas it hit me like a brick wall.  I think for 2 days I worked from home and lived off of 7up and crackers....and it SUCKED!  I have never thrown up, but just felt very naseaus at times.  Since then it has just been hit or miss with feeling bad, but I've never felt as bad as I did those 2 days.  Lately I've had bad headaches, so the doctor prescribed me some meds last week.  Unfortunately you can not take Excederin while pregnant, which is what works wonders for my headaches.

What I'm most nervous about?  Um, DELIVERY!  Not nervous about anything with the pregnancy or dealing with a newborn baby....just the entire painful delivery process.

What I'm most excited about?  At this point, I just can't wait to find out if it's a girl or boy.  July 8th is hopefully when we find out, so that can not come soon enough!  I want a girl and Dustin wants a boy.  We are waiting to start thinking about names until we know the sex.

Resources?  I have a book called the Mother of All Pregnancy Books that is a good reference tool.  We've really enjoyed the book Your Pregnancy Week by Week...I'm trying to remember each week to bring the book to bed and have us jointly read through the upcoming week.  I am reading so much, that I want Dustin to at least hear some of this stuff....and the only way to do that is basically hold his hand and force it!  I also am part of a small online local community that are a pretty reliable source for anything and everything.  I also recommend the book Taking Charge of your Fertility for those trying to conceive and you just want to learn the basics cause you are like me and if you ever learned this in Health class 15 years ago, it is long out of your brain!  We would probably still be trying if it wasn't for this book educating me.

Diet Changes? First, taking pre-natal vitamins, so hopefully those mostly do the job.  But I've also tried to start paying a little more attention to what I eat.  I'm not a big fruit-eater, so been trying to incorporate more of that either by having a bowl of cereal and loading it with fruit or drinking juice or bringing a banana to work.  The dr. also said based on my bloodwork it would be good to eat a little more red meat (at which I made a puke face at her...seriously)...but we have been doing that by making sloppy joes and casseroles where the meat is crumbled up and more edible than just eating a steak or burger.

Any cravings or aversions?  no

8-Week Dr. Appt
Date: 4.26.2011
Weight: 131 lbs.
Blood Pressure: 102/62
Baby's Heartbeat: 170
Baby's length: .75 inch
Description:  Dustin attended the appointment with me and it was extra special since it was on my 32nd birthday!  I really wasn't too nervous-- I would just say a normal amount of excitement/nerves for a person in the situation.  We had to wait over an hour in the waiting room, so that was not making us too happy since we were there on our lunch hour and didn't have all the time in the world.  We finally were called and went back to the ultrasound room.  We got a bag of free goodies, coupons, literature, etc.  Luckily our wait was not very long for Dr. Botney.  So she starts the ultrasound process of looking for the baby and I'm watching the screen waiting for something to appear.  I'm watching....and watching....and watching....and nothing.  I start to get a little more nervous and am looking at Dustin but he is clueless that anything is possibly not right.  So then the Doctor stops and is looking at my chart and asking, so when did you take a pregnancy test....and did you just take one?  Well, she FINALLY finds the baby and then tells me that my uterus is just in an odd place so she couldn't find it....but that is no big deal and it won't cause any issues later.  She said about 30% of people have their uterus tilted further back like mine.  Ok, good to know!  So then we see our little blob on the screen:

Some of the big things we learned at the appointment were #1- I was not supposed to be drinking diet soda cause of the artificial sweeteners...oopsie!  Gus lives off her diet soda!  She recommended to try Mendota Water instead-- this stuff should be banned it is so disgusting.   #2- My dr. needs to have some corrective surgery, so she can not perform any deliveries, which we decided doesn't really matter cause we'll most likely get the doctor on call, so would have been slim chance we got our dr. anyways.  #3- My dr. doesn't want more than 30 minutes of exercise done at a time and for my heartrate to go over 140.  Another oopsie!  I had to walk way slower than normal on the treadmill in order not to go over 140 that I don't even feel like I get a workout anymore!  I asked her again about this cause I know several other people that do not cut back their exercise routine when pregnant, but she felt very strongly cause said the baby can not regulate its body temperature, so you have to make sure yours doesn't get too high.

12-Week Dr. Appt
Date: 5.20.2011 Ultrasound and 5.25.2011 Appt
Weight: 132 lbs. (+1)
Blood Pressure: 102/62 (No change)
Baby's Heartbeat: 175
Baby's length: 4 cm (from what I remember- not really sure)
Description:  I was told for the Ultrasound that I needed to drink 32-40 oz of water by 11am.  I'm not a big water guzzler normally, so I decided to start at 7:30 when I got up and drink about 8 oz. each hour.  Well 10:15 comes and I have to pee so unbelievably bad, so decide I have to go to the bathroom and then start this all over :(  But it ended up being fine and I was able to quickly drink a bunch, so now I know how to do it next time!  We got into our appt very quickly this time and our tech was awesome.  The blob had started looking like a human!  We could see the head, arms, legs, eyes, etc.  It was moving around like crazy, which I couldn't believe how active it was.  My Dr. had requested this ultrasound cause the baby was a little smaller than expected at the first one, so they were predicting my due date about a week later than what I had calculated.  Now the baby was a good size and matched my date, so the due date was moved from 12/12 to 12/6.  We then went the following week to the Dr. Appt where she just used a doppler to hear the heartbeat through my stomach...which you could makeout what was a beat, but kinda just sounded like flipping through all the static radio stations.  I was happy to confirm that I can occasionally have my favorite soda- Caffeine free Diet Ski- it uses sucralose which is safe for pregnant women.

So here is a good side view of the little bubbas:

And here is a view from the back of the butt and legs:

I do feel in the last week or so my stomach has gotten a little pooch-like...may just be from my lack of exercising too!  This will be as close to a starting point as I have documented.  This picture was taken at 13W1D (13 Weeks 1 Day):