Monday, August 17, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Baby, Baby, Big Fat Lady
So, WAAAAY later...
Here's a rundown of what's happened with this pregnancy so far:
12 week ultrasound put the due date at May 17th. My prediction, based on the length of my cycle and whatnot, is May 24th. We'll see which is more correct.
18 week ultrasound said GIRL!!!!! I am ecstatic! I want to be done after this one, and I'm thrilled to be having one of each. Our family will be complete. My husband, however, isn't so sure he wants to deal with the drama of having a girl.
That ultrasound also found a cyst in the baby's brain. Apparently this is a normal developmental occurrence, but the cyst is supposed to be gone by then. Without the appearance of other physical abnormalities, it was only a "watch it and see what happens" kind of thing. If there had been other problems discovered in the ultrasound, my doctor would have recommended further testing for birth defects and genetic disorders. So I was scheduled for another ultrasound at my next doctor's visit.
22 week ultrasound still said GIRL! And the cyst was gone. My thinking is, if she is indeed a week behind the due date developmentally, she may just not have reached the point where the cyst goes away on its own. Either way, she was fine.
At the end of the first trimester, I decided to go back on antidepressants. I had planned to get back on antidepressants and birth control at my original doctor's visit, until we found out I was pregnant. But I started having nightmares, and just wasn't coping well with J.R. and morning sickness. So my doctor started me out on low dose Zoloft, but that didn't do much, so we increased it to 50 mg, and I'm doing MUCH better. We talked about weaning myself off of it before the baby's born, to decrease the side effects of the baby's system suddenly being without it. But I think the risks are too high to do that. So I'm going to stay on the meds, to decrease my chances of post partum depression as well. I did really well after having J.R., but everyone was happy about him arriving, and I was able to sleep A LOT to get over the initial exhaustion. Plus, I wasn't babysitting at all at that point, so I didn't have to worry about chasing after a two year old.
End of second trimester comes along, I start having physical issues. I'm feeling weak and dizzy, and my heart's going crazy. I also had low blood sugar. So I got a glucometer, and my blood sugar was high when I started feeling like that. I also had low blood pressure (which I always have anyway). So I took my blood pressure when I started feeling bad. It would be higher than normal, which meant it was normal. But my heart rate was crazy high. So I looked up the signs of anemia. The doc already had me on iron supplements. I'm anemic when I'm not pregnant, and pregnancy just makes that worse. Symptoms of anemia completely corresponded to what I was feeling. So my doctor had me go back to the lab, and sure enough, even with taking my iron supplements, my iron levels were still too low. So we increased the amount of iron I'm taking. To compensate for the unpleasant side effects of increased iron intake, I am now eating bran cereal and trying very hard to drink more liquids. So far, so good.
I've gained a lot less weight so far with this pregnancy than I did with J.R., but that's to be expected. I'm a lot more active and I eat a lot less sweets than I did when I was pregnant with him. I'm still carrying the same way, though, all out in front. Bryan's mom has changed her prediction from girl to boy mostly based on the way I'm carrying. I do have considerably less heartburn, which is nice. And this baby doesn't insist on hooking her feet up under my ribs and pushing all the time like her brother. Where I could swear J.R. was going to be a kickboxer, this baby is going to be a boxer. I get poked and punched in the hips all the time.
As of today, according to my due date, I have 31 days left. According to MY estimation, I have 38. Either way, I'm ready to be done. I'm tired of all the physical issues, not being able to sleep or eat, my hips hurting all the time, and having to compensate for the extra six to eight inches sticking out in front of me. I'm ready to have my body back. (Not to mention the cup size I'll gain by breastfeeding!) And I'm just getting really excited to meet this child. We're finally pretty much prepared for her to get here, with clothes and blankets and whatnot. We only have a few more things to get, and they're all pretty small and nonessential... except diapers... we still don't have newborn or size 1 diapers. But if she surprises us by coming earlier than even my due date, the hospital provides diapers while we're there, and that will give Bryan time to go buy some.
Well, that's enough for now, ask me later about my paranoia!
Here's a rundown of what's happened with this pregnancy so far:
12 week ultrasound put the due date at May 17th. My prediction, based on the length of my cycle and whatnot, is May 24th. We'll see which is more correct.
18 week ultrasound said GIRL!!!!! I am ecstatic! I want to be done after this one, and I'm thrilled to be having one of each. Our family will be complete. My husband, however, isn't so sure he wants to deal with the drama of having a girl.
That ultrasound also found a cyst in the baby's brain. Apparently this is a normal developmental occurrence, but the cyst is supposed to be gone by then. Without the appearance of other physical abnormalities, it was only a "watch it and see what happens" kind of thing. If there had been other problems discovered in the ultrasound, my doctor would have recommended further testing for birth defects and genetic disorders. So I was scheduled for another ultrasound at my next doctor's visit.
22 week ultrasound still said GIRL! And the cyst was gone. My thinking is, if she is indeed a week behind the due date developmentally, she may just not have reached the point where the cyst goes away on its own. Either way, she was fine.
At the end of the first trimester, I decided to go back on antidepressants. I had planned to get back on antidepressants and birth control at my original doctor's visit, until we found out I was pregnant. But I started having nightmares, and just wasn't coping well with J.R. and morning sickness. So my doctor started me out on low dose Zoloft, but that didn't do much, so we increased it to 50 mg, and I'm doing MUCH better. We talked about weaning myself off of it before the baby's born, to decrease the side effects of the baby's system suddenly being without it. But I think the risks are too high to do that. So I'm going to stay on the meds, to decrease my chances of post partum depression as well. I did really well after having J.R., but everyone was happy about him arriving, and I was able to sleep A LOT to get over the initial exhaustion. Plus, I wasn't babysitting at all at that point, so I didn't have to worry about chasing after a two year old.
End of second trimester comes along, I start having physical issues. I'm feeling weak and dizzy, and my heart's going crazy. I also had low blood sugar. So I got a glucometer, and my blood sugar was high when I started feeling like that. I also had low blood pressure (which I always have anyway). So I took my blood pressure when I started feeling bad. It would be higher than normal, which meant it was normal. But my heart rate was crazy high. So I looked up the signs of anemia. The doc already had me on iron supplements. I'm anemic when I'm not pregnant, and pregnancy just makes that worse. Symptoms of anemia completely corresponded to what I was feeling. So my doctor had me go back to the lab, and sure enough, even with taking my iron supplements, my iron levels were still too low. So we increased the amount of iron I'm taking. To compensate for the unpleasant side effects of increased iron intake, I am now eating bran cereal and trying very hard to drink more liquids. So far, so good.
I've gained a lot less weight so far with this pregnancy than I did with J.R., but that's to be expected. I'm a lot more active and I eat a lot less sweets than I did when I was pregnant with him. I'm still carrying the same way, though, all out in front. Bryan's mom has changed her prediction from girl to boy mostly based on the way I'm carrying. I do have considerably less heartburn, which is nice. And this baby doesn't insist on hooking her feet up under my ribs and pushing all the time like her brother. Where I could swear J.R. was going to be a kickboxer, this baby is going to be a boxer. I get poked and punched in the hips all the time.
As of today, according to my due date, I have 31 days left. According to MY estimation, I have 38. Either way, I'm ready to be done. I'm tired of all the physical issues, not being able to sleep or eat, my hips hurting all the time, and having to compensate for the extra six to eight inches sticking out in front of me. I'm ready to have my body back. (Not to mention the cup size I'll gain by breastfeeding!) And I'm just getting really excited to meet this child. We're finally pretty much prepared for her to get here, with clothes and blankets and whatnot. We only have a few more things to get, and they're all pretty small and nonessential... except diapers... we still don't have newborn or size 1 diapers. But if she surprises us by coming earlier than even my due date, the hospital provides diapers while we're there, and that will give Bryan time to go buy some.
Well, that's enough for now, ask me later about my paranoia!
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