Anatomy Scan!

I felt like my body was buzzing all night last night and then this morning as I went through the motions at work. I only had to work for two hours before picking Cory up for the anatomy scan, but it was a long two hours.

I drank all my water on the way to get Cory, and then we still had some time to kill before we had to be at the appointment, so we sat at an outdoor table at Starbucks for 20 minutes, chatting about work mostly, but I was still buzzing.

Then it was on to the hospital. We got checked in, and a sonographer came to pick us up. I was a little worried because a coworker had told me that some sonographers there are not very helpful, they kind of rush through and don't give you many photos at the end and unfeelingly blurt out the sex of the baby. The sonographer who ushered us back into the room made me nervous for the first second, but then I realized he was pretty awesome. He had 25 years of experience, and six kids himself (foster kids, adopted kids, natural and IVF), and he was super nice. We spent a lot of the time chatting and joking.

He started with the heart, and moved up to the head, and all the while I was thinking "move down! Move down!" Apparently he did, even though I couldn't tell what angle he was coming from and what we were looking at, but he said "I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but I'm going to come back to it and see if I'm right."

We watched, absolutely fascinated, as every little body part came into focus. It was a squirmy little thing, starting off lying on its back and then two minutes later flipping onto its belly, and then going upside-down for awhile. I had to change positions a few times and he had to push on my belly with the transducer to get it to move away from the uterine wall so he could see its little spine. At times it looked like a little monster or ghost 'cause we could see the skull and all the bones.

The sonographer did a good job explaining most everything we were looking at. My very first question as I was lying down on the table was "if there's a problem, how soon will we hear?" and he said if it was bad we'd probably hear today. (My phone didn't ring, so I'm feeling pretty good.)

When he told us it was a girl, Cory and I just looked at each other and grinned, and I cried. We both wanted a girl and it was so nice to put a sex and a name to what's going on in my belly.

The last bit of the ultrasound was slightly spoiled by the fact that my bladder was starting to get uncomfortably full, especially when I had to change positions or the transducer went down towards my pelvis; and it was also pretty cold in the exam room. With my belly exposed and covered in gel, I was all tense trying not to shiver too much. He also measured several fibroids - he said that they didn't look like they were in an area to be concerned about, but he measured them so that they could see if they grow. He tried the 3D view for a few minutes but nothing was jaw-dropping; she was wiggly and had all of her limbs up by her face so we caught glimpses of her but nothing amazing. She's measuring about four days behind, it looks like - he estimated her due date is 6/24 rather than 6/20, and her length (10") and weight (10 oz) are slightly below average, but that's not that big of a deal.

After 45 minutes, we were done and I got to PEE. (YAY.) The sonographer handed Cory a dozen photos, and sent us on our way.

We kind of floated downtown to have lunch, and talked about middle names. We ran the gamut from serious to corny (including a list of hipster names like Fixie and Beard and IPA), and have a front-runner but we're going to let it percolate for awhile. We also spent a great deal of time just staring at each other with giddy smiles. I had to keep saying it out loud - "we're having a girl!" It kinda felt like when I first found out I was pregnant and had to say that out loud too.

Then we went to the store and got some cookies with pink sprinkles and brought them back to work with us so that we could celebrate with our coworkers. It was cute to see them come down to the kitchen near my desk and squeal when they saw the cookies.

And now we're home, slowly coming off of the high of today. I can feel myself bonding more, now that I know what she is and can put a face and a name to what's going on in there.

Ivy Granholm, ladies and gents!

A Kick?!

Last night as I was winding down for bed, I started getting really nervous about the ultrasound on Friday. I knew it was because I was tired, so I was able to redirect the pressing need to Google "why haven't I felt the baby yet" towards chatting with a friend who has two little ones. Logically I know I have almost three weeks before I should be worried, but whenever my brain was sorta idle last night I thought "what could it mean if you never feel it? Is it dead, or does it have a terrible birth defect that keeps it from moving?"

I'm mostly over it today, after a decent night's sleep. (I'm still finding it hard to get comfortable enough to fall asleep and I wake up several times a night to turn over or pee or for no particular reason.) And then as I was putting my coat away after arriving at work, I felt a quick little... something. It was low down, on the left side. It could have been a gas bubble but it was too far over to the side, past where I'd normally feel them. It kinda felt like someone took their index finger and poked me really gently for just a second. Well, not REALLY gently, it didn't hurt but it was substantial enough for me to think maybe it was the baby.

One more day!

Eep.

Three more days. I've swung from forgetting what's on Friday to being super nervous about it. Eep.

Day at the Coast

Linus and I took advantage of today's forecast (62 degrees!) and my desire for fresh fish and chips to take a quick little trip to the coast. And we weren't disappointed: it was GORGEOUS!

We went to South Beach, a little area on the south side of the Yaquina Bay which we don't go to very often. Part of the reason is that it's a bit of a walk over the dunes to get to the water, and when we go to the beach we usually like to pop in, tire the dog out, and then run back home. But because it was just him and me, we tried something novel.

It was about 62 degrees there, and I kind of walked around in a daze for the first little bit, wanting to strip off my clothes and lie in the sunshine. I threw the ball for Linus and he dug holes in the sand and ran through the waves and got tired pretty quickly.



Disaster struck, though, when I was trying to avoid two yappy dogs whose owners weren't interested in giving anyone space - they walked right down the middle of the sand even though their dogs were overexcited and Linus was therefore very interested in them. So I took Linus in a wide berth around them towards the water, which worked out great for a minute because the water went way out... and then a wave overtook us and soaked me up past my knees, and almost took my vest which was hanging on my purse but was shaken free by my running through the water. I'm SO glad I didn't put my phone in the vest pocket like I'd thought to; it would have been toast. I had to chase it as it was sucked back towards the ocean in a receding wave.

So then I was soggy and not feeling like sticking around Newport in my heavy wet jeans, so we headed back to the car and I stopped by South Beach Fish Market for some fish and chips. I'd never been before but it got really good ratings on Yelp so I thought I'd try it. The fish was very fresh, but the tartar sauce was kind of boring. I'll probably go back 'cause overall it was yum.

I'd brought some books to read at a coffee shop, but that plan was abandoned. Instead I cranked up the fan on my feet in a futile attempt to dry my jeans, put on a podcast and headed back into town. Linus is now conked out and I'm in pajamas already, with all the windows in the house open. (Gotta take advantage of any time I can air out the house in the middle of winter!)

Ow.

OK, I lied when I said the hip pain wasn't as bad now that I've been using the pillow. It really depends on the night, apparently. Some nights I can sleep just fine, and wake up with no problems. Other nights (like last night), my lower hip (the one I'm sleeping on) gets pretty painful, and rolling towards my back or towards my belly doesn't alleviate it.

I read in a forum somewhere that it might be relaxin loosening up my hips, and that putting the pressure of the rest of my body on one hip is slipping it out of alignment. That makes sense; usually when I turn over the formerly painful hip feels much better, and soon the new lower hip is hurting. And then my lower back gets sore, which could be a lack of alignment (hips getting wider, making my spine curve) or it could be the muscles there trying to help my hips. Dunno. What I do know is that it's time to start doing more gentle yoga at home.

More on the Belly

I meant last night to comment a little bit more on how strange it is to have a belly like this and like it. I've always had a belly, sometimes more than others, and I've always "sucked in" or tried to wear clothes that minimized it or saw the rising numbers on the scale and cringed. It's so weird now to look for shirts that accentuate the belly, to be OK with 9 pounds gained in as many weeks, to be a little sad on the back bender bench in yoga when my belly stretched out so far that rubbing it with my hand felt like I was rubbing a normal belly.

I remember hearing people say "I LOVED being pregnant!" and I always wanted to be one of those people, not someone who was miserable all the time. And though I know the hardest bit is yet to come, so far I get to say I love being pregnant. <3

The Belly has Begun.

I've been noticing my growing belly for over a month now, but it feels like this week everyone else is starting to notice it too. I've had more comments in the past seven days than before, including lots of belly-cuddling (which I wouldn't be excited about if they were strangers, but they're all people I'm close with so it's been fun). Still haven't felt anything yet, though there was a little flutter earlier today that I should probably chalk up to my imagination.

This week I also made a pregnancy pillow. I'd been eyeing the Bump Nest pillows but they're SO expensive. So last week I made my own, using a photo on the website along with the dimensions, and fudging it a bit here and there. The first iteration didn't work; it wasn't wide enough. So at 9:30 on Monday night (proof that the second trimester has brought back my energy) I made another, adding six inches to the width of the tube. It's much better now, even though it needs to be stuffed a little bit more. It's comfortable, and it's keeping me from rolling on my back in my sleep, which is the most important point. I'm getting used to the whole sleeping on one side all night thing too - I normally turn several times, starting on the left side and ending on my back, so it was hurting my lower hip to have the pressure of being underneath me all night. But it's getting easier. If anyone's interested in making a similar pillow, I can tell you how I did it and give you some measurements, just let me know.

We aren't much closer on the name front than we were a few weeks ago (not that I posted about it - I think I haven't mentioned it here yet). We've had a girl's name picked out for a couple of years now, but boy names are so much harder to think of (for us). I have a list of maybe 20 names, some of which are growing on me and some of which get worse the more I look at them. I'm not that worried about choosing something right away, it'll just be nice to have a starting point if we find out it's a boy.

Tomorrow I'm headed up to the outlets to look at some maternity clothes with my friend who's 10 days further along than me. I'm excited; it's fun to have someone so close, timing-wise, to share chatter with about all this stuff that only other pregnant people think is fun to talk about.

17 Week OB Visit

I woke up today excited, but of course my inner Eeyore came out and I got super nervous as the hour approached. Cory wasn't going to be able to go, so I kept having stupid thoughts like "what if the baby has died and they're going to break the news to me, and Cory's not there, how will I be able to get to work to pick him up if I'm too upset to drive?" But then his schedule opened up so he came with me and we passed the wait time talking about work, which was good. Begone, Eeyore.

I was weighed on my way in, and I hurriedly thought back to last month's numbers - had I really gained 11 pounds in just over three weeks?! That meant I've gained 15 since the beginning, which seems way more than it should be.

The nurse took my blood pressure, and despite being nervous about the appointment and worried about my weight gain, it was lower than it was the last appointment. Phew.

Then after quite awhile, the midwife came in. I hadn't met her before, and I loved her! She was just the perfect amount of hippie, and she really took a lot of time to ask questions and genuinely seemed interested in what I was saying, rather than just asking questions so that she could fill in my chart. (That's probably why she was so behind - though I'd totally rather wait for awhile to see a doctor who's interested in hearing about what's going on, instead of having an on-time doctor barely look at me.) My first question was "ack, 15 pounds?" and she said I'd just remembered my last weight wrong - I've only gained 9 overall. That made me feel better, and she wasn't worried about it at all. I still need to eat a little better and start exercising more (something in the waiting room said 30 minutes every day and I'm definitely not doing that).

We had a good long conversation and then she finally broke out the Doppler. (I wish she would have started with it! Oh well.) It took a little while to find the bugger, 'cause it was hanging out way in the back of the uterus so its heartbeat was faint. But it was there and sounded great! I love getting to hear the heartbeat, it's almost like a little bonding moment, like when a baby grabs your finger. So much is happening in the dark corners of my abdomen and it's so strange not to be able to know, until someone opens the little door and lets us hear what's going on inside.

One thing that I didn't expect was to suddenly start being nervous about the anatomy scan. I think in the back of my mind I knew they'd be looking for more than just genitals, but the midwife told me that the appointment would take an hour and that they'd call me if they needed me to know something, and that usually when they called it wasn't a big deal. It hadn't really sunk in that they were going to go through the scan with a fine-toothed comb, looking for all ten fingers and toes, looking for cleft palates, that kind of thing, and then of course I started worrying, even though the midwife was trying to reassure me. Heh.

Two and a half weeks until we learn what we're having!

Flutter

Oh! I forgot to add that the other night I was lying in bed reading, and I felt a quick little flutter. I'm not sure if it was the baby or just a little digestion-related feeling, but in case it was the baby I wanted to record it. I haven't noticed anything since, so who knows, but it makes me excited for the time they're unmistakable!

Week 16

We eased into the new year with very little fanfare - we went to bed quite early 'cause I'm still tired enough to go to bed early every night. No resolutions, either, I'm just excited for everything to change and I know there won't be room for pre-baby resolutions.

I've decided that two weeks between OB visits is the optimal time for my emotional well-being. About two weeks after my last visit I woke up not feeling the ligament pain and starting to get a little worried about how things were going. I've been coping just fine, and I think a lot of it is that the hormones aren't nearly as raging as they were during my first trimester.

Symtoms are about the same. Ligament pains come and go, but don't seem to be as frequent or strong as they have been. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night to pee, usually around 3am. My eyesight can be kinda funky, especially when it's dark out - mostly going cross-eyed. I'm having a harder time sleeping, but I think that's because I've been trying really hard to keep on my side all night and so I wake myself up every time I try to turn over.

On the sleeping front, I've started using a spare pillow between my legs when I sleep. I'm wondering if using a pregnancy pillow will help keep me from rolling onto my back and also not make me wake up in the middle of the night. My coworker has a Bump Nest, which I'm going to borrow in order to make my own ('cause if you buy them they're EXPENSIVE!). I'm excited to try it out!

In more visual news, my belly has started to stick out! I can tell it's unusual (I've always had a bit of a belly and this is more than the normal pre-pregnancy belly. I asked Cory last night if, objectively, he could tell if it was a baby in there or just a burrito, and he said he didn't think he could tell if he was a stranger who saw me (of course to him, obviously pregnant equals most likely due in two weeks). But *I* know that it's a baby, and so far that's (mostly) enough. I am a little worried about gaining too much weight, though - I don't care about gaining weight in general, I just want it to be the healthy amount, so I'll probably ask the doctor about that when I see her again on Monday. I've started walking every other evening, which will get easier as it gets lighter in the evenings, and hopefully that will help as well.

The other day we were watching Friends (it's on Netflix now so we're watching the whole series) and came to the episode where Ross talks to his unborn child. I asked Cory if he knew that our fetus could hear our voices now, and that sparked a really cute little chat and mini-cuddle in bed, him and the belly. I can't wait to see him with the baby - it's going to be so awesome to watch that bond form.

Now off I go to bed, to read another few pages of Hypnobirthing.