belly shapes and pregnancy brain

This week's been kinda boring, regarding the pregnancy anyway. TJ noticed that my belly button has already started to poke out, (I noticed this a while ago, but was trying not to acknowledge it; I think it's one of the uglier things that happens during pregnancy). I've also been able to notice that my diastasis recti from Kash's pregnancy (the separation of my ab muscles) never healed, so my stomach sometimes takes on a strange shape. I couldn't tell if it had healed after Kash was born, until now. I was hoping it had, so that I could avoid having to have it surgically corrected. Hopefully this second pregnancy doesn't make it any worse, I could still avoid surgery this way. (And for those of you who weren't following Kash's pregnancy blog, you can read all about diastasis recti HERE.

I may be starting to experience pregnancy brain, I missed a doctor's appointment this morning, totally forgot about it. I'm actually kind of glad that I did though; after I found out how much we are going to have to pay out of pocket to deliver this baby, I'd rather reschedule the appointment for next year so that some of that out of pocket money can go towards my deductible. And it wasn't one of my monthly OB appointments anyway...

All About The Baby This Week

Movement!

I'm pretty sure I felt the little one move this week, and quite a few times actually. Even though everything I've read about the developement of the baby this week has said that although the baby has started to move around quite a bit now, I won't feel the movements for several more weeks. Well, they're wrong. She was doing some cardio of her own after I completed a workout the other morning, that one I know for sure was her. The other few times I felt her, it could have very well been gas, but who's to say it wasn't the baby?

And unfortunately, I was wrong about my morning sickness prediction. It is not going away, it is still lingering, keeping my appetite at bay and my hand over my mouth. I've been even more exhausted than usual this week, (which is why this week's post was posted so late, and also why my house is a freakin' mess).

Here's my latest belly pic, and this week's stats:



Stats
12 weeks 6 days
Starting Weight: 132
Current Weight: 132
Waist @ Belly Button: 33 inches
Growth: none since week 8 (all my growth has apparently been below the belly button, because my belly is obviously bigger!)

All About The Baby This Week

The Cat's Out of the Bag!

So Thanksgiving is this week, and this is the week we decided to tell everyone the good news. I purchased Kash a shirt that has a picture of two elephants on it (one big and one small), and below the elephants it reads "Big Brother". The plan was to just let him wear it to Thanksgiving dinner, where most of our family would be, and wait until someone read the shirt and caught on. I wanted a shirt that had it written subtley, as opposed to having big bold neon letters, because I didn't want everyone to notice it right away. Well, I didn't have to worry about that at all. If TJ hadn't told his Mom to check out Kash's shirt, I don't think anyone would have ever read it. Actually, com to think of it, I don't even think anyone would have noticed if the writing was in big bold neon letters. Part of this is due to the fact that apparently all the adults in our families can't see a thing without glasses, and none of them wear any. So once TJ's Mom had her daughter read the shirt for her, others began to wonder what the excitement was about, and I wasn't about to just tell them and let my $10 shirt go to waste; so I told everyone they had to read Kash's shirt. Although everyone was super excited for us, they seemed to be frustrated that I wouldn't simply tell them the good news, and that they had to read it off Kash's shirt. It's not our fault you don't wear your glasses! So, I think I'm going announce all of our news from now on, on T-shirts :) Oh, and I must point out that my Grandma was most excited of all. I was sitting on the couch when she came to congratulate me. I thought she was just going to give me a hug, but after she put her arms around me, she picked me up, off the couch, and held me while my legs dangled above the ground before placing me on my feet. Grandma must be working out.

And happy day!; I think my morning sickness has hit it's peak, and is slowly starting to dwindle away!! On Thanksgiving morning I woke up and stumbled to the fridge to get Kash his morning cup of milk, and when I opened that refridgerator door, the smells were so potent that I turned around and immediatly threw up in the sink. I was completely caught off guard. The smells in the fridge usually make me gag, but not until later in the day; morning, up until now, had been when I felt my best. And even with the all the gagging I've been doing the last couple of months, I hadn't yet thrown up. So that morning, I was actually quite terrified that my morning sickness was getting even worse, especially since I threw up again just a few hours later. But as the week went on I seemed to be able to stomach just a tad bit more than usual, and I've been able to pick back up on my exercise routine, so things are looking up! I was definitly feeling better during my three days of Thanksgiving (we celebrated Thanksgiving Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with different groups of people). I think this was just simply due to the fact that I kept myself completely stuffed full of food the entire time. An empty stomach always makes me quesy. But that gave me the false hope that I had kissed morning sickness goodbbye, it's definitly having a hard time parting with me...

All About The Baby This Week

Expansion and Tap Dancing

There are definitely some big changes happening inside my uterus this week. I felt pretty horrible last night; the worst nausea ever, my body was trembling a little bit, I had some chills. I just felt off. It was as if my body was preparing itself for some kind of transformation, kind of like what a werewolf goes through under the full moon. So I went to bed, hoping to feel better when I woke up. But early the next morning, although the symptoms from the night before had gone away, I was having some pretty painful cramping in my pelvic area. I could actually feel those muscles stretching from one hip to the other, being pulled really tight. Luckily it only lasted a few hours, but I'm wondering what might be in store for me during the rest of the week.

This baby has got to be a fan of rhythm. I can not stop tap dancing. I mean, I've always been one to tap dance in the kitchen or at the grocery store while waiting for something or making a decision, but this is way beyond that. I'm not just doing short little tap rhythms here and there, I'm doing full on combinations all day long. I don't mind it, I actually really miss tap dancing, so I guess I can thank the baby for getting me back into it, but I think it might be starting to drive TJ a little nuts. Maybe I should buy myself a new pair of tap shoes (which I've been wanting to do anyway), and go take a tap class.

I had my 2nd doctor's appointment yesterday. I mentioned to her my little bleeding incident from the other week, and I was right, it did get me an extra ultrasound, yay! She checked me out and said that my cervix was nice and closed, there was no bleeding, and everything looked as it should down there. The ultrasound showed our little baby's heart fluttering on the screen, so everything is great! The doctor tried to get me a decent picture to take home, but her head was in a shadow, and her body is just a blur. So I'm not even going to bother posting the headless blob picture I ended up with. I did take a belly shot this week though:




Stats
10 weeks 5 days
Starting Weight: 132
Current Weight: 131
Waist @ Belly Button: 33 inches
Growth: none since week 8 (although my eyes beg to differ)

All About The Baby This Week

Sick and Crying. Nauseous and Scared.

I caught some kind of cold this week, and I'm having a hard time telling which symptoms are from the pregnancy, and which are from the illness. It actually took me a few days to even realize that I was sick, since runny/stuffy noses are a pregnancy symptom. I'm really hoping most of these symptoms are from the illness though, because I feel absolutely horrible, and if my symptoms continue to get worse each week like they have been, I'm not sure how long I'll last through this. It really feels like I'm being tortured.

This pregnancy I feel extremely emotional. I was probably like this while pregnant with Kash also, but since I have a toddler around this time, I think it makes it worse, let me explain... The other day I took Kash to Disneyland, and I cried when I saw how happy he got when Buzz Lightyear came down the street in the parade; and then again when, after we watched the fireworks and they made it snow, his little face just lit up. Oh, and a week or so ago I cried at the end of The Little Mermaid. If you know me, you know I don't often cry, especially at things like this. So it starts early, my children are already tugging at my heart strings.

I hope my nausea is planning on going away soon, it's really putting a wrench in my daily activities. Very few things seem to ease my stomach: hot fries, tangerines, grits, and strawberry jello cake to name a few. But the problem is that once I find something that makes me feel better, I eat it a few times, and then I'm sick of it and can't eat it anymore. It's a vicious cycle.

And I had a super scary thing happen to me the other night after using the bathroom...blood. It was only a small amount, but it really scared the shit out of me. I freaked out for a little bit while I researched the incident on the Internet, and after learning about the possible causes )most of which were nothing to worry about), I slowly began to feel a bit better. I'm definitely mentioning it to the doctor at our next visit (maybe it'll earn me an extra ultrasound), but I know my body pretty well, and I'm really not worried about it anymore.

All About The Baby This Week

Bleck.

I. Don't. Feel. Good. Smells are getting to me, most make me nauseous. Although I haven't actually thrown up yet, it looks like I have full blown morning sickness now, and it's definitly worse at night. No fun.

And I'm starting to crazy waiting for my next doctor's appointment. With my old insurance and OB, they saw me every 2 weeks for the first few months (if I remember correctly), which is very reassuring since the only way I can know for sure that everything is still okay in there is by ultrasound. This new OB office at Kaiser will only schedule me once a month, and even though I didn't like that right off the bat, I tried to trick myself into believing that it wasn't that big of a deal. But it is. If I was still with my old OB, I would have had an appointment this week, and it was this week that I started getting irritated about it. Hopefully I won't drive myself crazy during the next two weeks...but that's a long time.

Stats
8 weeks 5 days
Starting Weight: 132
Current Weight: 132
Waist @ Belly Button: 33 inches
Growth: 2.25 inches

All About The Baby This Week

Excuses and Marinara Sauce

It's getting kinda hard to pretend I'm not pregnant in front of family and friends. TJ wanted to wait to tell everyone, but he's not the one who has to hide it! I have to try and not eat like a pig in front of guests, even though I'm starving. I have to think of excuses for why I am not drinking alcohal like I usually do. My sister asks me why I have such bad acne, and I have to think of more excuses. I can not wait until everyone knows the truth!

My nausea is slowly getting worse this week, but I don't think it's quite as bad as it was with Kash at this stage. I'm having lots of cravings. The most recurring one the last couple weeks has been some sort of cheesy marinara sauced dish. So far I've used eggplant parmesean, cheese mannicotti, and mozzerella sticks to satisfy it. The wierd thing I've noticed since I've been pregnant this time though, is that I absolutely can not eat left overs. I sometimes make a double batch of dinner to eat for lunch or dinner another day that week, but each time I've done that since I've been pregnant, those extra servings have gone in the trash. They are just not appealing in the least.

I feel like my stomach is humongous already, I'm sure it doesn't look as big to others as it does to me, but here's the latest belly pic...



All About The Baby This Week

Baby's First Picture!

I had my first doctor's appointment today! Met my new OBGYN, who seems really great. She basically just asked me lots of background questions and got all my history down. Kash had a great time stomping on the sink pedal and making water coming out of the faucet. And he always befriends everyone we walk by. The doctor gave me an ultrasound to get an accurate due date and look for a heartebat, which was beating nice and strong. And here is the little one's first picture (she's the little round dot at the top of the dark circle):



She said I'm measuring to be 6 weeks and 1 day pregnant, which is only a few days behind when calculating from the first day of my last cycle. So everything looks good!

This week my symptoms are all the same, just getting progressivly worse. I'm a bit more nauseous than last week, but it's still too bad. My oos are getting more sore, it hurts when I give hugs. And I really really want to keep up my exercise with this pregnancy, but my normal routine is super hard to do. I get winded rally easily, so I've been substituting some of my normal cardio and aerobics with yoga.

All About The Baby This Week

Oh The Glorious Symptoms of Pregnancy

Lots of symptoms are starting to rear their ugly heads this week. Thankfully though, they're starting off slow and mild. I'm having heat flashes, I'm always out of breathe, I noticed my boobs to be pretty sensitive and tender, my acne is flaring up (and apparently practically no acne medications are safe to take while pregnant),and I've got a little bit of nausea going on this week; it's only slightly worse than last week, but this means that by the end of the month I could be in some serious trouble with it. I guess we'll see...

My appetitie is playing head games with me. Sometimes I've got a craving for something specific, sometimes I want absolutely nothing to eat taste wise, even though I'm starving, and other times I just don't really care either way, but when I bite into whatever meal I've chosen it tastes like the most freakin delicious thing I've ever eaten in my life. The other night for dinner we had grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato basil soup and a side salad, I told TJ that this was the best meal of my life, and I was dead serious. It tasted so good, I would have sworn that I just smoked a doubie if I hadn't known any better.

All About The Baby This Week

Heart, Buuuurn!

I can not believe I have heartburn already! I NEVER have heartburn unless I'm pregnant, but I'm pretty sure I didn't get it until quite a bit later when I was pregnant with Kash. I guess I'm off to buy a giant bottle of Tums...

And I've decided to start with the belly pics already. I'm pretty sure I'll be showing a lot sooner this time around, people probably think I'm crazy, but my stomach is already pooching. I did not look like this 2 weeks ago! (And no, I have not been slacking on my exercise!). Might as well start with the stats too:



4 weeks 4 days
Weight: 132
Waist at Belly Button: 30.75"

All About The Baby This Week

We're Pregnant Again!

I knew it. I knew it probably the day it happened. I just had that feeling. But since I had gotten my hopes the previous 2 months, I psyched myself out of it and convinced myself it was all in my head. But I was exhausted, I mean really exhausted, that couldn't be all in my head right? It had been like 3 or 4 days in a row now of sleepiness, so I took a test...negative. I waited 2 days and took another test...negative. So because the test says it can predict pregnancy 5 days before your missed period, and I was well within that window, I convinced myself again that it was all in my head and this was not going to be our month again. But the day I expected my period came and went. Now since the IUD had messed with my cycles a little bit, this was not too out of the ordinary, so I fought with myslef whether or not to take another test, (those things are expensive and I was sick of wasting them), and I cleverly left the pack I just bought in the car so that in the morning (which is the best time to test) it would be too much of a hassel to go them. So I had won the battle, no more testing for me, I would just wait for Aunt Flo like they did in the good ol' days. I carried on with my day, and actually decided to take Kash to Disneyland that afternoon. I had the slightest hint of hunger creeping up on me as we arrived in the park, and along with it, a tinge of nausea. I knew this feeling all too well. When I was pregnant with Kash if I didn't eat every few hours I became extremely nautious. But despite the resemblence, I was cautiously waiting for Aunt Flo with a tampon and spare undies in my purse. I even ran to the bathroom a few times during our trip fearing that she had arrived. But to my relief, she never did. When we got home that night from Disneyland my body was killing me. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary that day, I always tote all 30 pounds of Kash around the park. I wore sensible shoes like usual to embrace all the walking. But this time it felt as if I spent the day manually building a rock wall or something. My joints were achy, my muscles were sore, and I was pooped. Oh, and here comes that nautious feeling again, better grab a bite to eat. And that's when I couldn't fight it any longer, I had to pee on a stick! And suprise, suprise, I finally got that big fat positive.

By this time TJ was already asleep, and if you know him or you read my last pregnancy blog, you know he's next to impossible to wake up. So I figured I'd just tell him in the morning. So the next day when I woke up, I gave the positive test to Kash and told him to go give it to DaDa, who was in the living room. He ran up to TJ and "DaDa, here ya go". TJ calls to me "is this an old test?". "No", I yelled back. And we spent the rest of the day realizing what we had gotten ourselves into...