Nine weeks and counting!

Things went well today at my second appointment. It is week nine of the pregnancy and this was the full physical examination, along with an early glucose test (since my mom is now borderline diabetic).

The test was much better than I remember it being last go round. I think maybe the required drink has changed or something. Had I not hurled right before I got there, I think I would have rather enjoyed the drink! Unfortunately, my newly-raw throat hated the carbonation! :( PLUS, I generally avoid anything carbonated due to the natural gassiness that God gives you during pregnancy. So I was a burping fool for hours after the appointment! ;)

The best news to come out of this appointment is that we will be returning in three weeks to hear the baby's heartbeat again! The even better news is that I'll be taking my daughter with me!

As much as I'd love to spring this on her as a great fun surprise, the midwife said to prepare her before hand so that she's ready and knows what is going to happen. Getting to see her face as she hears the baby's heartbeat will make my month! The midwife also said that she has some cool models she can bring in to illustrate some things for my daughter's benefit. I'm excited for that little experience we'll get to share.

All of this in only three week's time!

Until then, I hope not to hear from the office. If i do, it will be a call to say that my blood work wasn't good and that I will have to start the GD diet. If I don't hear anything from them, then I'm off the hook! :)

Whatever comes my way, I hope for the strength to face it easily!

Headache Hangover

Going without my allergy meds or any other meds really has seriously caused me some issues lately. Yesterday was horrible, with lots of head pain and sinus pressure. My headache only got worse over night and didn't leave until late morning today. I've been okay today but I am starting to feel the headache coming back now. I took a LOT of Tylenol in the past 24 hours and I'm about to take more. Hopefully, by using the neti pot more regularly, I can avoid having too many more headaches.



I haven't been a huge neti-pot fan, but it does help some. It *always* hurts my ear on one side however. I think I'm too congested there because every time I've used the neti pot I get pain in that ear after blowing. I reread the directions and cannot figure it out. I have my head positioned right according to what I've seen in the images. I asked my doc about it and she said it sounded fine and even though the paperwork said that you could be "too congested" to use the pot effectively, she didn't seem to agree and said I must be doing something else wrong. THAAAAANKS!

Only four more weeks until I can start taking some meds again. I CANNOT wait! I really want to avoid a sinus infection and that is where I'm afraid I'm headed with this pressure and pain. :(

Aside from that, things are going well. I'm exhausted ALL the time and hungry quite often, but I can work around it thus far!

THAR she BLOWS!!!

It was a matter of time. It happened yesterday and was disgusting. I hurled the only thing in my belly--a plum.

Note to self: While sweet and tart and DELICIOUS going down, plums are disgusting coming up and HIGHLY acidic! No more plums for a morning snack!

Aside from that, my nausea has really subsided. I am gagging more from the build up of gross stuff in my nose and throat since I'm on no meds for sinuses or allergies. This is annoying, but not as bad as it was with my first pregnancy. My symptoms on the whole seem less severe. I'm still starving quite frequently so I try to eat slowly and snack wisely, but it can be difficult.

Aside from that, I feel pretty good! I am almost eight weeks now, so only four more weeks before we hit the all-important first trimester end marker! :) I am looking forward to it. :)

Swarsh, swarsh, swarsh...

...and flutter flutter went his little heart today! :) We saw our baby's heart! THERE IS ONLY ONE IN THERE!!! (Thank goodness!)

It swarshed very quietly on the Ultrasound and it flutter-flicked on the screen. There is no "baby" to really view at this point, but there was a clear and distinct heart pumping away. I'm showing at 7 weeks, 2 days, which is right around what we expected just based on my cycle.

It was exciting, but now that I'm of "advanced maternal age" and because my family now has a member with diabetes, they want to test me early for gestational diabetes. I get tested in two weeks! VERY Early for that test, but I guess it is good to get it out of the way.

I'm terrified of the test. I was last go round too. I had very clean eating for the first 7 or so months last time around and tried really hard to avoid empty carbs. I tested a few points within acceptable range (a couple of points from the cut off) and so I was good to go. This go round, I'm older and (as of late) not eating as well.

It is really harder this time around because everything makes me ill. Almost everything, that is. The idea of a potato, mac and cheese or slice of bread is NOT unappetizing. The idea of most other things do make me wanna hurl. My stomach isn't easily settled in the a.m. I am able to eat a lot of fruits, but most veggies are not appetizing. I can eat some salads, but I cannot handle most vegetables except the ones i grew up with, which aren't the healthiest. (Think: corn, peas, green beans, especially canned or frozen).

Too early to really freak out. I'm going to do my best to at least eat homemade meals the next two weeks and get to the gym (which was dang near impossible over the past week and a half). I have been feeling so zapped lately, but I have to make it a priority. The longer I'm away, the harder it will be as i grow to get BACK to working out!

It was exciting to hear that things look good and as they should. It was nice to hear that the last doc I had sewed me up correctly to where I might be able to Vbac if I don't have other issues that come up along the way. The midwife we met with is really nice but seemed slightly put off by my...exactness? And questions. I guess they aren't used to people like me! She asked my husband, "Is she always like this?" and when we left, I told him, "WOW! That was NOTHING!" I usually have a long list of concerns and questions in tow and question doctors about everything, not just things I'm doing. They don't always like this. I don't care. I think its odd that they expect people NOT to be more involved in decisions concerning their BODIES!

Anyhoo. I had a good first visit and look forward to the next one. I haven't told the little one about her sibling yet, and do not know when to start to introduce the idea to her. She's ready and willing, but I want to be sure things stay "okay" before I get her excited! :)

Great day!!!!

Rumbly tumbly....

It has come!

Feeling sick and having an unsettled tummy all day some days. I hate the sound or idea of most food but do eat a lot and find the worse the food is, the easier it sits in my belly. (Think: white pasta.)

I want to eat well but it is NOT easy to do these days. I wake up famished and try to choke something down but the uneasy feeling doesn't settle until my belly gets something it likes. Today that was at 1pm. Yesterday it happened at 6pm.

To make matters worse, my sense of smell is EXTREMELY amplified. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that nothing smells "good" and that all smells are making me sick. :( This means the smell of my husband is nauseating. The smell of my daughter's clean hair, kinda makes me wanna hold my breath. The smells are just so strong, that they are no longer pleasant. I open the fridge to be assaulted by so many smells that I wanna hurl.

This is all new because I had none of this with my first pregnancy. I have heard of these issues before, but never experienced them . With dd, I would feel ill if i hadn't eaten and upon eating, the nausea would subside! It was wonderful because it would clear out and I'd be fine for an hour or two. This lasted from the early stages of my pregnancy through the end. I am hopeful that this, whatever it is, does not last very long!

They say that most women have morning sickness until about 12 weeks or so. I hope that that is when this goes away! I say this because I have a strong desire to eat healthily and it is extremely hard when those foods make you wanna hurl!!!! :(

I guess this means the baby is doing QUITE well in there! I hope so anyway! :) We'll know in just a few short days! :)

So in less than one week...

I will be hopefully taking a peek into my UTEROTOPIA :)

On Tuesday of next week, I get my first visit with the midwives to review my records from the last pregnancy, discuss my risks for doing a vaginal (after a C-section the first go round) and take a peek into the growing condo in my belly! :)



Inside, I won't see anything that (to the naked eye) looks anymore exciting than what you see above. Except it will mostly be black with a few fuzzy voids w/in the image. It is a baby, in its very early stages, that is too small to really see the "parts" on. Although, I am assured by everything I read, the parts on my baby at six weeks (today) are visible and definite. The entire baby, in fact, is quite small and about the size of the apple seeds pictured above or the lentils below.



If you have an apple, cut it open. If you have a bag of lentils, hold one in your hand. That is the size of my baby. It has eyes and a spinal cord well on their way to being real functioning body parts. He/She has tiny arm and leg buds in place as well. It is a boy or a girl already!! Since we won't be learning the sex of this child (to have a surprise like we did last pregnancy) we won't be finding out until the baby is evicted from its comfortable home in April 2009.

I am excited to see the new heart fluttering on the screen, if we are lucky enough to do so. It cannot be heard yet, but it is there, in motion. Conceived only weeks ago, this child is forming at quite a fast pace. It is a miracle to experience and an honor to be involved in the process of life and procreation. I cannot think about it too long or I sit in awe of my own body and amazement at the process.

I *love* being a woman, despite the other stuff that hasn't been so fun along the way in my last 34 years. Being able to support life and be a mom is a special calling for many as it is for me. I thoroughly enjoy my role as a mother and look forward to expanding our family with a second child.

First food run!!

HOPEFULLY there weren't be many of these, but tonight I was starving. I ate too light of a dinner too early and 4 hours later (too late to eat really) I was FAMISHED!!! I had dh pick something up for me to have so I could feel better and take my prenatal (which requires you to eat first). I feel tons better, but I thought, "hmm...its a bit early for this, isn't it?"

OH WELL :) Hopefully, this doesn't happen too often this pregnancy or my weight-gaining goals will be history! I didn't have many the last time I was pregnant, but they say each pregnancy is different.

For instance, last pregnancy I had two bad cravings. That was it!

TWO the entire pregnancy. One was for chipped ice (snow cone like) and the other one was for Mexican Hot chocolate (something I found hard to find in the town in NJ where I was living at the time). One happened closer to the beginning of my pregnancy (first trimester) and the other happened in the last half of my pregnancy (end of second trimester).

Thankfully, it was summer time in NJ and the shaved ice wasn't too hard to come by. It took me three days to finally find a shaved ice guy on the corner somewhere and those three days were the WORST days I recall. I cried from wanting that ice so bad! I thought i wanted a snow cone but later found out it was just the ice I wanted. Had I known that, I might have saved a lot of time and had ice at home! :)

From the stories I have heard regarding pregnancy cravings, my experience was not usual! I was glad for it but now think if the cravings come, my husband may not believe me since our first time was such a different experience!

There are still so many unknowns and I'm eager to see where this experience takes me! They say each pregnancy is completely different. I had an easy go of it the first time around, save a few physical set backs and limitations. I will be interested in finding out what my crosses are this go round. I look forward to bearing them in the hopes for that sweet child at the end of the ride! :)