Guilty Conscience

Ok, so after my little pity party yesterday in my previous post, I started to feel bad about not wanting to show off how proud I am of my growing baby. I do want to make it clear I am more excited for this baby and this experience than anything I've ever been in my life (other than marrying my amazing husband)! Above the toll that one's body takes during pregnancy, I love the special moments I have with my baby feeling him/her kick and move around. I love to sing and talk to baby bean and imagine how wonderful life will be with her/him. I love daydreaming of what our little miracle will look like and I look forward to many years of hugs and kisses! So, here is my growing bump:

I also forgot to add a picture of our bean and his/her newest side profile. Our 3D picture didn't turn out so well as the baby kept turning his/her head away from the camera. Little stinker. At our previous ultrasound (27 weeks) baby weighted exactly 2 pounds and was 14 inches long, putting our baby in the 60th percentile. So, hopefully this means that our baby won't be super big when born. I'm hoping for a good 7.5-8 lbs, but who will know for sure until the big day!

If you can't quite see it, the baby's face is on the left. You can see the whole half of his/her face, i.e. the eye, nose, chubby cheek, mouth, and chin. :)

10 week count down

I know it's been awhile since I have posted a new picture of myself, and there is a couple of reasons for this:

1. So far, I have put on a little more weight than I would have liked to and it seems to be going to all the wrong places!

2. I'm incredibly lazy.

That's pretty much sums it up. Now that summer is around the corner and warmer weather is already here, the fun effects of water retention are finally starting to settle in in this Nebraska humidity and I feel like I'm starting to look a little less like myself every day. Trust me, I know that "it'll all be worth it in the end" and "it'll go away once you have the baby" yadda yadda yadda...but for now, I just stay clear of mirrors and all cameras. I promise I will muster up the courage to "embrace this 'special' time in my life" and the baby weight that I am putting on and finally take a picture to update you on our little one. Because yes, I know, it's all about the baby anyways.

Since I no longer am doing weekly updates, I figured it would be easiest for myself to continue with previous posts regarding my/baby's stats:

Current Statistics:

Weeks: 30 weeks
Total weight gain: Moving on....

Cravings: Sweets. Deli sandwiches for lunch. Internet says that deli meats are to be a no-no, but my doctor said she isn't too worried about it. Therefore, it's on!
Food aversions: Thankfully, nothing. Or maybe not thankfully. Hmm.
Pregnancy Symptoms: Still have mid back pain, right between the shoulder blades. Foot cramps. Slight water retention.
Stretch Marks: Nothing I'm worried about.
Miss Anything: I never thought I'd say this, but hard work outs. You know, the kind where you just get your butt kicked and your soaking in sweat by the end. Don't quote me on this to remind me later.
Progesterone Levels: Levels have dropped back down, so I'm still on all my progesterone until further notice.
General Mood: Pretty good. I feel I've been lucky this pregnancy to not have been overcome with emotions (crying at the drop of a hat). Although my husband may say I lean a little more towards the bitchy side. I can't deny this statement.
Looking Forward to: My mom coming in a few weeks to start the nursery with me!!!!!

Baby Statistics:

Weight: 2-3 lbs
Length: 15-17 inches

Highlights this week: Baby bean has begun sticking just an arm or leg straight out and leaving it there. It was crazy the first day that I felt a tiny baby foot from the outside of my belly with my hand (I could tell it's a foot by the size). So now this is my favorite game. Feeling around my tummy for little hands and feet. It's a very easy and constant game as bean is always on the move and stretching out in his/her confined space.

Now, it's nothing like this and I don't see any imprints (this is not me in the picture).. Does anyone know if this picture is even real, as in, does this really happen??

Coming up: 30 week appointment tomorrow. Appointments have been moved to every 2 weeks. We're getting close!!!

Nesting

Only 11 more weeks to go and I have finally been able to start the nesting process! For the moment, Chris' brother Drew is currently living in what will be the nursery, but in just a few short weeks Drew will be moving downstairs and the real fun can begin! I am so excited as my mom will be in town for the first time since I've become pregnant and will help begin decorating the nursery with me. As you can imagine, decorating is not quite high on Chris' interest level, so it leaves lots of girl time for me and my mom! Yay!

We are limited on what we have for the baby room, and by limited I mean we have nothing, but today I bought my first nursery furniture!!! I am over the moon about my purchases! I have been looking for quite some time for pieces just like this, one dresser with room to act as a changing table and some kind of bench for some more places to sit other than the rocking chair. I was hoping to find items that we can refurnish, which is way less expensive and more fun to do. Lucky the items I found were quite the deal!!! They are a set and require minimal work as you can see for yourself:

Nothing that some sanding (off those stickers) and a fresh paint of coat can't solve! Perfect white furniture to go with a the white baby crib we have yet to own. I never thought I would want white furniture until I did gender neutral nursery searches for ideas and fell in love with the softness that white furniture adds to a beige colored room. It may sound boring and plain, but add some pops of gender related color and we have us a calm and serene baby room like these (although these do not have pops of color I plan to add i.e. curtains, pillows, wall decor):

More pictures on the progress to come!

Bump in the Night

Yes, it has almost been a whole month since my last posting and more weeks since then since any baby talk. I've been a little on the lazy side with updating, but not really much has been going on these past few weeks. My belly continues to grow and our baby continues to move and kick. His/Her most busiest moments are around 9-10, 3, and 6 o'clock.....at night/early morning. So it appears we have a little night owl on our hands. I have read that around this time I should be able to recognize our sweet one's sleep schedule. And that I do! He/She tends to be on the go for 3-4 days at a time, and then takes a day or two to nap it up and regain the energy to do it all over again. Chris has been able to have the opportunity to feel and watch the kicks and movements, although he doesn't think it's as amazing as I do. His exact words from the first time he saw my belly move was "That's creepy. Reminds me of the movie 'Alien' ". Hm. I was a little unsure on how to feel about this statement until I mentioned it to my doctor who says that those responses are actually quite normal, since the father experiences the pregnancy completely differently than the mother. Understood.

We have also begun our baby registry and let me tell you, it is quite the process! I mean, where to even begin with this thing?! I'm struggling with the idea that we will need all these super expensive items for our child. Yes, I understand the importance of the necessities such as a car seat, stroller, pack n' play, etc. But, does my child need BOTH a swing AND a bouncer? Should I get one of those seats that you can hook into your door frame for the baby to jump around in? What kind of walker should I get? And don't even get me started on swaddles, pacifiers, and baby creams. Ugh, and then there's this whole issue of 'gender neutral'. Chris and I's view of gender neutral are completely different. I love this man, but I don't think he quite gets the concept that it IS possible that we are not having a boy and not all blue, green, or orange colors are considered 'gender neutral'. I try to stess the fact that I would like to use what we can for future children, boy or girl to help in not being bias one way or another since I know the gender. Poor Chris. Love you, hunny.

And here is everything else....

Current Statistics:

Weeks: 26 weeks and 1 day

Total weight gain: 20 lbs

Cravings: Sweets. Anything under the moon. Pop. Specifically Cherry Coke Freezes and Root Beer. Chris got me some Strawberry Crush for my birthday a week ago. It was pure heaven.

Food aversions: Nothing really. But I have found out orange juice is out of the picture. Too much acid for the tummy.

Pregnancy Symptoms: Killer mid back pain. Easily tempermental gall bladder which causes severe pain under my right rib. Rib pain in general. Pregnancy Brain. Very itchy belly.

Stretch Marks: Not yet. Whew!

Miss Anything: Not going to lie, with all this warm weather I could really go for a margarita!!

Progesterone Levels: Still taking 800 mg of hormone a day with 2  200 ml's booster shots of hormone twice a week. Although my last blood test showed a spike in my levels which means that a decrease in hormone replacements could be in the horizon!! Fingers crossed!

General Mood: Well, for few weeks there things were pretty good. Now, I'm pretty cranky and exhausted from all these pregnancy pains :(

Looking Forward to: Our next ultrasound to see our sweet baby again!

Baby Statistics:

Weight: +/- 1 2/3 lbs.

Length: 12 - 14 inches

Highlights this week: Our baby's eyes are finally beginning to open. Sure there may not be much to look at, but he/she is beginning the process of blinking. Bean's hearing continues to improve and now he/she is able to respond to noises. It's also more fun to 'play' with baby, as the baby is able to 'feel' and respond to touch from the outside of the belly.

Coming up: 26th week ultrasound + gall bladder ultrasound, 28th week Dr. appointment + glucose test (which means I get to drink a not so yummy soda pop to test my sugar levels. Hooray.)

C and K news

Want to know what's been going on in our lives outside of our baby bump? Check out my update here:

 katiegotmarried.blogspot.com

Cravings

I am lucky enough to say that I have not had too many crazy cravings throughout my pregnancy. I have, however, had an increased need for sweets and sugar - all the naughty foods I should not be eating! Example: soda pop. Now, I have never been a big pop drinker. The effects of caffeine do nothing for me and really it just makes me feel crappy after drinking it. Well, now that I'm pregnant, my craving trumpet is blaring a different tune! Pop is all I want! I walk by a pop machine and I'm instantly craving a nice cold Dr. Pepper, Coke, Root Beer.....heck, I don't even care! I drive by a fast food restaurant and I have to give it my all to not turn in for a quick drink on my way home. Thankfully, because I have no will power in giving in to such cravings, lent was just around the saving corner. So, now I have 40 days to quit a habit that was never truly formed since pregnancy is not the best time to become addicted to such a bubbly and delicious thirst quencher.
So, instead, I'll stick to my tried and true.

Vanilla ice cream whipped up with Hershey's chocolate syrup. Every night.

That's better than pop, right? I'll continue to tell myself that.

A little hormone education

As many, or some, of you may know, Chris and I have had a more difficult pregnancy than we were hoping for. Thankfully, it hasn't been as bad as some, but it definitely has came with it's hardships. I have spoken minimally of our complications, but I figured it was time to give some more answers. This may not be the most exciting post I have ever written, but hopefully more informative. Now, although I post this blog to my facebook account, this blog is intended for family and friends that I do not have the opportunity to talk with as much as I would like. For those of you who read this and may not know me as well (or know me at all), prepare yourselves for a more in depth and personal look into my pregnancy.

Many of the pregnancy problems I have mentioned have been due to my poor progesterone levels. Progesterone is called the pregnancy hormone in which it helps prepare the lining of the uterus for the fertilized egg as well as maintain the pregnancy by calming the uterus throughout the pregnancy. As you see in the graph below (wow, what a teacher-y thing to say) is the normal progression in the rise of progesterone levels throughout pregnancy. Low levels of progesterone can cause miscarriages, stillbirths, and preterm labor which obviously leads to premature births. As I am in my 22 week of pregnancy, on average my levels should be anywhere between 55-65, which is considered Zone 3 to Zone 4. Unfortunately, throughout my pregnancy, I have maintained levels which leave me in mid Zone 1. So if you can do the math, my levels are way lower than they should be. In this case, our pregnancy is considered "high-risk" ever since our first preterm labor contractions at 17 weeks. Since this time, I continue to have episodes of these complications, which have ended me on temporary bed rest numerous times (most currently this past Thursday through the weekend). You add a flaring ovarian cyst to the mix and it's not such a fun ride.

Thankfully, our very small doctor's office (Pope Paul IV Institute) strongly believes in monitoring progesterone levels throughout pregnancy due to the high risk of complications involved with low hormone levels, so we have been very aware since the beginning of our pregnancy of the possible outcomes and have learned what we can do to help prevent further complications (although we cannot prevent everything). To help aide my low levels of progesterone, I take up to 800 mg of progesterone a day as well as a 200 ml booster shot of pure progesterone twice a week. As mentioned in previous posts here, Chris has been trained to give me these shots from home and then I must have my blood taken every two weeks to check my levels. Chris thought it would be a good idea to show exactly what the shots (or needles) look like.

Now, you must understand that I have been receiving these shots since my 5th week of pregnancy, but I continue to dread them and they do not get easier with time! Some of you may wonder where exactly these shots go. Welp, you guessed it....right in the bum cheek. Ugh, now if that isn't bad enough, it isn't just a slight prick, but the entire 2 1/2 inch long needle! Oh, and it only gets better. The pure progesterone is mixed with sesame oil for easy absorption into the muscle. What this really means for me is that it is a very thick substance that takes anywhere from 3-5 minutes to fully inject.

 So what does this mean for the future? Well, we're not quick sure. I believe we'll just continue on our course and hope that our complications do not rise enough to cause serious problems (the biggest concern being preterm labor with as many contractions I've already begun having). So far our baby is continuing to grow on track and spends most of his/her days playing and kicking - an updated post on our baby soon to follow. Until then, Chris and I remain positive, yet mentally prepared for more complications in the future, as possible with any pregnancy. We continue to be thankful for this experience and the knowledge we've been given to continue to move forward in this exciting new journey.