Doctor's appointment

So I had my doctor's appointment today and met another doctor in the practice. So far I love every doctor and nurse I have met at this practice. What a big difference from the doctors I dealt with last time. At these early appointments there isn't too much to discuss each month and the appointments are pretty quick. They consist of weight, blood pressure, listening to the baby's heartbeat, measuring my belly and answering any questions. My bp was normal, baby heartbeat normal at 140, fundal right on target 23 centimeters at 23 weeks. Unfortunately I've gained a little more weight than I'd like. 18 pounds since becoming pregnant! And since the belly size is on target, it confirms my suspicions that all of my excess weight has moved to my thighs and my butt.
The doctor said not to diet but to keep an eye on sweets and maybe address my carb cravings, which are very common for pregnant women (and I've always had even before being pregnant). She said if I replace a carb serving with a vegetable, I should be fine. She said not to be concerned but that the majority of baby weight usually comes in the third trimester when the baby is growing the most. And I'm not quite at the third trimester and I have more weight to gain!
We also discussed the sleep thing (or lack of sleep) and leg cramps. Unfortunately it doesn't sound like much can be done about either. I talked to her about my doppler monitor and she warned me not to use the doppler to replace concerns if the baby isn't moving. Now that Banjo is moving around, I should feel him kick every day and if I don't feel him kicking, hearing his heartbeat is not a replacement for calling the doctor. She explained some women missed issues that should have been addressed by relying on the doppler.
So, overall, a very good appointment. My next appointment at the end of the month will have the glucose screening test. Hopefully I will have decreased my sweet tooth so that my sugar isn't an issue.

best comparison to baby size

Ok, I love the comparisons for how big the baby is every week. It's usually some sort of fruit or vegetable. My favorite was what I read today for this week.

"Your baby is about the size and weight of a Harry Potter book"

LOL

Another ultrasound appointment

So I went back to the doctor’s today for the ultrasound appointment that I missed on Thursday. Banjo was not cooperating and positioned well enough for them to get all of the necessary images. So, no cute ultrasound pictures to add to the scrapbook from today’s visit. Instead they took about 50 pictures of his heart. I was getting worried that they had me come back and take so many pictures but the ultrasound tech assured me that everything looked good and normal but they needed so many pictures because of his weird position. It was cool because I got to see close up images of his little 4 chambers of the heart and as I watched it pulsing away it was just amazing! There was still one angle they needed that they couldn’t get even after me laying on my side and moving around. Banjo was taking a nice little nap. Usually he moves around so much during his ultrasound appointments that they have a hard time getting him to stop moving but this was the opposite. But I came prepared and I brought some candy since he usually seems to move around after I eat some chocolate (seems he will have a sweet tooth just like his Grandpa Rakshys). Sure enough, I ate my little mini kit kat bar and he woke up and got into the position he needed to be in. I go back tomorrow to meet with the doctor to discuss the ultrasound and other general stuff.

I had a pretty good weekend, although it wasn’t as productive as I would have liked it to be. The Christmas tree is up and decorated (except for the ribbons which I’ll hang tonight). Now I just need to finish going through the boxes I have to decide which decorations (candles and music boxes and stuff like that) that I will be using. Pete complains I have too much stuff but I have pared back and I got rid of stuff last year and the year before. The problem is when I add to the decorations (presents and hand me downs from my family) that I don’t seem to be making any headway. Oh well. I told him he should see what decorations G has and then maybe he’ll appreciate my restraint. Besides, I LOVE Christmas! We put up Banjo’s first Christmas ornament. It’s a Where the Wild Things Are ornament. Pete bought the book for Banjo as a first present and since we can’t get those Baby’s first Christmas ornaments, we’ll always know that this is his first ornament.

I am late on my Christmas cards though which isn’t like me. Hopefully I will be able to work on them and make sure they’re out in the mail by Monday.

My list of normal things to do is blending with baby list of things to do which is merging with Christmas things to do. I am not getting overwhelmed. And I am trying to be realistic about what has to get done, vs what I’d like to get done.

Sleep has been pretty good lately. One night of getting up a lot last night doesn’t negate the several nights in a row of long uninterrupted sleeps I’ve had. I hope the good sleep trend continues.

23 weeks

Banjo is the size of a papaya. I can't think of the last time I bought a papaya so it's not a great frame of reference for me. Since he's almost 12" now, I like to think that he's the size of a Subway sandwich instead. He weighs almost one whole pound!


I had my prenatal yoga class today and chatted with the teacher about her being our doula. She seemed excited but she felt the need to remind me that she is not a certified doula and that this would be her first birth she would be participating in. I don't mind because it's not like I'm asking her to my midwife or my doctor. I will be delivering in a hospital and there will be medical assistance all around. I want her as a doula because she has shown us the positions and breathing exercises during class that will help with pain management during labor. It also will take some of the stress off of Pete. She suggested I look into the Bradley method as well even though we don't plan on having a natural childbirth experience (drugs are good). We stayed and chatted for about a half hour and she was so excited. We decided to have a sit down meeting and go over the birth plan in more detail when I'm closer to my due date - maybe late February, early March. Next week is the last prenatal yoga class until the next session starts January 9.

Banjo has been kicking away and I LOVE it.

I also love that I've been able to sleep. I only woke up once last night and I woke up at 5:00 to let Samson out and then got a few more hours of sleep. It feels great to catch up on sleep. I think the crazy insomnia thing has left for now. I'm sure it will be back - which just makes me treasure every moment of sleep I get now!

popping out of my coat

I am just going to chalk the sleep thing up to hormones and hope that I continue to sleep better but I’m not holding my breath. Banjo’s been kicking up a storm and I’ve noticed certain times that he’s more active – definitely after I eat anything with sugar and also around 3:00 or so. I think he takes a nap after I get him all full of yummy lunch food and that around 3:00 he’s waking up from his nap.

I keep meaning to take belly pictures and I definitely will tonight or tomorrow. Last night I took a picture (will post later) of me in my favorite winter coat which just does not fit me any longer. The buttons were popping and it was so uncomfortable. I wore my down coat today (thanks to my mother-in-law) and I will be breaking out the swing coat very soon (thanks, Mom).

One interesting change I’ve noticed is that I no longer have an outtie belly button. It is officially an innie (and I didn’t even need surgery). I thought all pregnant women got the popping belly button which obviously indicates when the baby is done. Will I develop an outtie again later? Will I never know if the baby’s done? Should I get a turkey thermometer?

My baby has been cooking for 23 weeks now and I like being on the other side of the halfway mark. The kicks are fabulous and now that I can sleep I am one happy girl!

Yay for sleep!!

I am shouting it out for everyone to hear…I got 5 hours of sleep last night!!!! I feel so refreshed and amazing. Wow, how sad is that? I don’t care. I am so excited.

I tried to figure out what changed and why I was able to sleep. I can’t think of anything I did differently than any other night. I wish I knew only so I could make sure to do it again tonight but I won’t waste any more time thinking about it. I will just plan on sleeping like a baby again tonight. (sleeping like a baby is more like the last two weeks, right? Getting up every 2 hours...)

Banjo is kicking a lot right now. I’ve noticed that it’s usually after I eat something. For lunch I had a grilled cheese with bacon and huge bowl of fresh fruit (apples, orange slices, grapes and strawberries…yum) I think it’s probably the sugar in the fruit that woke him up. Yesterday I had several pieces of chocolate candy and he gave such a hard kick that I actually saw it! Pretty crazy. I tried to reenact the huge kick event for Pete last night and I ate some fudge and some peppermint patty candies but all I got were normal kicks, nothing big. Oh well, I’m sure there will be plenty o’ time for BIG kicks later.

I was going to try to work on the baby’s room when my parents were in but I decided my time was better spent relaxing with them instead. And I am not going to worry about rushing anything. We got our furniture WAY early and I literally have months to get the room in order. I will worry about getting through the holidays before I even think about the nursery.

Back when I thought Banjo was a girl I was so excited to pick out little girl clothes. Dresses and little tiny shoes with bows on them. I didn’t think boy clothes were as cute. I love being proven wrong – there are so many cute little boy clothes out there! I’ve done some baby shopping recently but I guess I just thought the cute things I found were a fluke and I am relieved to see so many cute little boy outfits. In order to carry on the tradition, I have to find a little sailor suit for Banjo to wear some day. Then I can put it in a picture frame with a picture of his Daddy in a sailor suit too. I will avoid naked baby pictures…except a baby’s little naked butt is so cute. My brother has a collage frame of him with his little naked butt and he recreated the same picture with his sons when they were babies. It’s so cute and it cracks me up when I see it.

I can’t believe there is a baby inside me that is almost a foot long! I’ve got a sub sandwich inside me. I love feeling his little kicks and although it seemed real before, now that we know the gender, it seems even more real and we can imagine what he may look like and what his personality will be like. I can’t wait to meet my son!

Sleep escapes me

I am so tired and exhausted I am near tears today from sheer frustration. I don’t even know exactly how long it’s been going on but I’m guessing about 2 weeks now. I haven’t gotten a solid night’s sleep. It doesn’t matter what time I go to bed, I wake up and can’t fall back asleep. I sleep in stops and starts and in no way feel refreshed. I am tired of looking at the clock and I have tried getting out of bed and eating a snack and reading and music and taking Benadryl and I can’t sleep more than 2 hours at a time. The typical schedule goes something like this: go to bed between 10:00 – 10:30, wake up between 1:00 and 1:30. Stare at the clock and get a few minutes of sleep here and there. Time permitting, I get a solid two hours of sleep right before I wake up. Even during the Thanksgiving break when I could sleep in, I was still up at 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. even though I’m still not getting enough sleep. I see my doctor on Monday so I will ask him about it but in the meantime I am miserable. Some days are worse than others and I actually feel like I’m getting used to it – like I’m prepping for when Banjo arrives and sleep will be a thing as unattainable as ever having thin hips and a waist again. From what I’ve read, this weird sleep thing isn’t supposed to happen until the 3rd trimester when the kicks and being uncomfortable keeps me awake. Do I seriously have 17 more weeks of non-sleep before the baby even arrives?!!? It’s not stress related because the last week I’ve had no stress at all. Oh well.

I haven’t posted in awhile because I’ve been exhausted and just not around a computer. So much for my blog a day (ha) or 30 posts in 30 days. Oh well. November’s over and I’d like to say I’ll be posting more regularly in December but with the holidays approaching and since we’ll be traveling December 20 – 26, I’m not sure how much blogging I’ll be doing. I need a new belly picture. For some reason in the last 3 days I feel like I’ve gotten HUGE. Maybe I’m just bloated. I also had acid reflux again from drinking a soda. So no more soda or Chinese food for me. But drinking a glass of milk does seem to help.

No other big symptoms. Banjo’s been kicking a lot lately at all different times. I’m afraid my wonky sleep schedule is affecting him as well because I feel him during the day and at night (not that he’s keeping me awake, I just notice it when I’m laying there contemplating sleep). I feel like I lost that shiny healthy hair thing and the brief interlude of a clear complexion I had a few weeks ago. I’m sure the lack of sleep has something to do with it.

My parents were in for a visit last week and we had a nice relaxing visit. Grandma bought Banjo lots of cute outfits (I got a few myself) when we went out shopping on Black Friday. Grandpa got him a huge super soft and squishy stuffed giraffe. We went to Babies R Us to register and got a lot done. There are still a few things I need to research but since the shower isn’t until February 28 I figure we have time.

My to do list is slowly getting unmanageable but I just realized that yesterday. I hope to put a big dent in it this weekend. At least one item on my list can get checked off, since I’ve been meaning to write a blog entry for several days now. Wish me luck for a good night’s sleep.