25 weeks and down to double digits!

HOLY CRAPOLA! 99 days until my due date! I'm kinda freaking out!!

My mornings: It's so nice not having to wake up at 4 a.m.

My nights: I wish I could sleep better but oh well. Such is the life of a pregnant lady. 

How far along: 25 weeks. 99 days to go!

How big is baby: Baby He-Man is 13.5 inches and 1.5 pounds. I can't believe I am already in the poundage levels! He is the size of a rutabaga but I have no idea what a rutabaga is.

Weight:

Starting weight: 130

Total weight gain: 23

This week: 153

How I’m changing: My baby belly keeps growing and getting wider. It's filling out more and getting tighter and tighter. 

What I miss: Warm weather.

Symptoms: Headaches. Gas. Heartburn. Constant peeing.

Cravings: I'm into cold things lately. Ice cream, Popsicles, iced coffee, frozen yogurt, etc

Food Aversions: Nothing.

Highlights this week: DH finally got to feel the baby move!!! I was so excited. He only felt it once, but it was nice that he is finally able to feel him. Plus, the baby is moving and shaking in my belly. I drank some apple juice one night and thought I caused an earthquake in my uterus. It was crazy to watch my belly move like that. Next time I can get him to do it, I will record it. 

Maternity clothes: Yep. Love them.

Stretch marks: I think I am getting them on both my butt cheeks.

Sleep: I wish it was better, and really wish my hips didn't hurt so bad. 

Movement: Holy cow. I can feel him all the time now. It's awesome. 

Gender: We're Team He-Man!!

Labor signs: I think I am getting a few Braxton Hicks, but nothing bad yet.

Belly button: I will still be an innie for a while, but I can tell that it's changing.

What I am looking forward to: I am looking forward to the final stretch and all the things that need to get done. But I am also scared that I won't get everything completed. Rationally, I know that's not true.

Milestones: I was really excited that DH got to feel him kick. He's all over the place now with kicking and moving so I am loving this stage. It's awesome to just sit and enjoy the private time with my little guy. 

I know I don't show my face here much, so enjoy this photo. :)

Waving bye-bye to Week 24.

My mornings: I'm on a different work schedule now from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. which I am loving so far. I am getting better sleep. It's not great but at least if I have to wake up 6 times a night then it's a lot better to be able to go back to bed until 9 a.m. instead of 4 a.m.

My nights: Sleep is fine once I go to sleep. But then I wake up from needing to pee, hip pain, random snoring, etc.

How far along: 24 week wrapup

How big is baby: Baby He-Man is 12.5 inches and the size of an ear of corn. I have no idea what a Rutabaga is. He weighs about 1.25 pounds.

Weight:

Starting weight: 130

Total weight gain: 22

This week: 152

How I’m changing: The child is growing by A LOT! I feel really pregnant now as my belly is getting wider and rounder. He is laying transverse right now and kicking and poking me on both sides of my belly.

What I miss: Good deep, long sleep.

Symptoms: Headaches. Gas. Heartburn.

Cravings: Gatorade. Specifically Orange gatorade.

Food Aversions: Nothing.

Highlights this week: Bought a rug for the nursery. What do you think of it? 

Maternity clothes: Yep. Love them.

Stretch marks: I think I am getting them on both my butt cheeks.

Sleep: I wish it was better, but I will take it for right now.

Movement: Holy cow. I can feel him all the time now. It's awesome. 

Gender: We're Team He-Man!!

Labor signs: I think I am getting a few Braxton Hicks, but it's mainly tightening when I am at work and sitting for a long time.

Belly button: I will still be an innie for a while, but I can tell that it's changing.

What I am looking forward to: My next appointment is this week. It shouldn't be anything different than the standard checkup but I will only have one more monthly appointment before I start weekly monitoring appointments at 32 weeks. My OB is starting them a few weeks early because she said some there are some risks with babies conceived with gonadatropins, or the inject drugs we used to stimulate follies. I didn't question her much about this at first but definitely will at my visit this week. From what she told me, it's basically to monitor for contraction monitoring and it will be for 30 minutes per week to measure if I am having any contractions.

Milestones: 24 weeks!!! I am officially past viability day! This is so exciting for me. At this point, I would go to Labor and Delivery if anything goes wrong and doctors would do everything possible to save the baby. Obviously, I don't want this to happen and want to keep him cooking until 40 weeks but there is a certain level of comfort that if anything goes wrong, all efforts will be made. Plus, every week after this, the chance of survival goes up from about 50% now and an additional 10% each week after this, based on rough internet statistics. 

Kids say the darnedest things.

From the mouth of a 3.5 year old...

While playing with my nephew recently, he asked me to crawl into his tent with him. I was about halfway in the tent when I said my baby belly wouldn't let me crawl in anymore. He started asking questions about my belly. Since his Mom recently was pregnant with his little sister, he was familiar with pregnancy enough to not be completely confused, but as a 3 year old his curiosity level is higher now. 

Him: Is it a big baby? 

Me: Do you remember how big your sister was? That's how big my baby will be. My baby is a little boy, like you. 

Him: Is he going to be a big boy like me? 

Me: Eventually. You have to eat lots and lots to get bigger and so will he. He will get big like you one day.

Him: When I go to college and play basketball, I'm going to be big. 

Me: That's good.

Him: Did you eat a lot of lunch to make your belly big? 

Me: (giggling) Yes and no. A lot of the reason mine is getting bigger is because the baby is getting bigger and growing. 

Him: Is he getting wider? 

Me: Yes. (Still giggling) 

He thinks a minute and then asked...

Him: Did you eat a baby to get him in there?

Me: No. (Uncontrolled laughter and quick change of subject)

At that point I knew the next question was going to be "How did the baby get in there?" I was prepared with "Oh look something shiny!" Basketball is a good distraction and he quickly forgot the direction of the conversation. Thank goodness. I was not prepared to answer the next question. I probably would have went backwards and said yes I ate a baby and then told him to ask his parents. Because I'm just the aunt and holy crap 3 year olds are curious. 

I need this shirt. Hehehehe.

Things I have googled.

Breasts leaking blood? 

Answer: normal as long as you're pregnant. Otherwise, not so much. 

How often can I take Fioricet?

Answer: NEVER! Your child will be born with 8 heads. 

2nd answer: As directed by your OB which translates to take the damn medicine before your blood pressure sky rockets and you spend 10 hours naked on the bathroom floor vomiting until you're delirious. 

(FYI: Those specific directions aren't on my Rx bottle but As Needed every 8 hours is) 

Constipation related to daily headaches?

Answer: Yes! Your gut is connected to your head! 

Also: No. But it may help you feel better if you stop worrying about it and take a shat. 

Thanks Dr. Google. You're absolutely no help. But, yet way more helpful than the What To Expect When You're Expecting book. 

I hope y'all are staying warm!

It's getting colder here in midst of the big freezeapocolypse. It's dropped 50 degrees in less than 24 hours. 

Currently I am wrapped up on the couch flanked by the furries. Minnie is under the blanket and on top of a heating pad. Bella's just happy that I'm home and is laying on me so I won't get up. 

23 week wrap up: 

My mornings: I've changed to a new work schedule from 11am to 11pm and it's going great. I can sleep in a little bit but I have to work with different crews at work instead of the same dispatchers. So far it's going good and I'm getting better rest.

My nights: Sleep is actually going better once I fall asleep.

How far along: 23 weeks

How big is baby: Baby boy is over a pound and almost as big as a banana.

Weight:

Starting weight: 130

Total weight gain: 21

This week: 151

How I’m changing: I've had a good growth spurt in my belly in the past couple weeks. I'm getting more noticeably pregnant even in big sweatshirts.

What I miss: The summer. I keep thinking about cookouts, grilling with a cold beer and being warm all the way down to my bones. 

 

Symptoms: headaches. You've heard it before. No need to whine about it more.

Oh and I've started leaking! My bewbies are growing and leaking. Here's a tidbit of info for you. When I started leaking I had some yellow, clear fluid with a little blood coming from both sides. My OB said its normal, not really common, but is blamed on the increased blood flow in the boobs. I started wearing nursing pads to protect my bras and shirts. So far, it's only a little leakage and I can kinda feel when it's happening which is nice if I don't have a bra on and need to make sure my shirt doesn't get spots on it. 

Cravings: CUTIES! Whoever created the easy peel small fruit is my best friend. 

Food Aversions: Nothing.

Highlights this week: Getting the room cleaned. My crib is ready to be put in but still hasn't been delivered yet. :( 

Maternity clothes: Yep. Wearing them all the time. 

Stretch marks: None on the belly but I've got them on both butt cheeks.

Sleep: I wish it was better, but I will take it for right now. I'm peeing less at night so that's a big improvement. 

 

Movement: All the time! And it's awesome! I feel him several times a day. He really gets active and forceful when I lay down. 

Gender: Boy!!!

Labor signs: Nope. Way too soon.

Belly button: Still in but may be an outie by the end.

What I am looking forward to: V day! I'm looking forward to Viability Day. It's almost here! 

Milestone: DH got the baby his first shoes. 

My new favorite time of the day

Sitting quietly in bed and reading while baby He-Man kicks away. It's his most active time of the day as I relax and learn. 

Currently, I am reading Birthing from Within by Pam England and Rob Horowitz. 

If you're interested in learning about unmedicated births, pain management and childbirth options, it's a good book. I am not interested in the art portion of the book, but the positive light and encouragement it displays for natural birth is worth it. 

Another good book that I've read a couple times, in particular the birth stories section is by Ina May Gaskin, Ina May Gaskins Guide to Childbirth. 

Whatever your interest is in childbirth, medicated, unmedicated, hospital, home, OB, midwife, doula, etc, I wholeheartedly encourage learning about the options involved with birth and newborn care. So many times women trust their health care providers and don't question anything. 

If infertility taught me anything, it was to not blindly trust doctors. They're wrong. They're right. They're human. More important than their degree and education is that it is your body and your child. You need to empower yourself with knowledge in order to make the right decision for you and your family. 

For me, that means not being frightened into birthing in a way that I don't want. If I my change mind, get induced medically, get an epidural and eventually a c-section then I want to know that each of those steps was my decision, not something that a doctor tells me is needed to hurry up labor without a reason that is related to my health or baby's health. 

Feel free to join me and He-man during reading time! 

I'm alive. I swear.

Did you know that a cold can totally kick your butt? Knock your imaginary dick in the dirt? Yeah, well it can and it did. 

Add in a migraine with 10 hours of vomiting and holy crap, I'm pretty sure it's the sickest I've ever been. 

Separate from each other it wouldn't be so bad, but use your imaginations for a minute. Imagine, if you will the moment in your cold when you have snot literally running out of your nostrils, your chest is congested with mucous, coughing up phlegm and you pee your pants every time you sneeze or cough. 

Now imagine that you can't take anything because you're pregnant besides lozenges, and other basic cold meds that don't do crap to actually dry up or break up snot and mucous. And the pee-pee problem can't be fixed except with diapers. 

I was working night shift too so my voice was gone. Absolutely non existent except sounding like a 13-year-old boy sporting his constant woodies. 

I give you my nightstand. Lanolin for cracked nose, Tissues because toilet paper feels like 20 grit sandpaper, ear plugs to drown out my wheezing, Cutie orange because they're delicious, and about 25 tissues. 

That's when the migraine hit. Pregnancy can do one of three things to someone who already gets migraines. It can make them less severe, stop them completely or multiply the intensity and frequency times a million. I may be exaggerating with that number but you can already guess that it's made mine worse. Way the eff worse.

With this one my meds didn't even touch it. I vomited for close to 10 hours. I slept for nearly 20 hours off and on. Then finally passed out for another 8 hours. Monday is a blur to me. 

Bella cuddled me during my sick days. 

What I do remember is when I was throwing up, I was coughing up phlegm. 

I couldn't breathe through my nose at all and I couldn't breathe through my mouth because I was too busy vomiting. There was a point when I realized I couldn't actually catch my breath. It really kinda sucked. And then in the 12th hour, I died. 

Or I passed out? Mainly from exhaustion. But anyways, I'm still alive. 

I'm 23 weeks and baby boy is still kicking and moving like crazy. If I still have any readers left, HAI! I didn't forget about you guys. And I swear I will put up a weekly post. But until then I'm going to sleep.