Jelly Beans and Other Mundane Things...

I have a hard time believing that I'm seven months pregnant. This pregnancy is really speeding by. Before I know it, it will be March and I'll be juggling being a mother of two. 

28 weeks pregnant and growing by the day (wider than "out" because baby is sideways)

In the past few weeks, Smudge has really started to act like she's paying attention when we talk about what's happening. She now knows there's a baby in mommy's belly. Not that I think she has any concept of what that actually means, but it's cute to talk to her about it. She pulls up my shirt and gives "huggies" and "kisses". A few weeks ago, she read a book to my belly and today she tried to feed the baby a tomato through my belly. But I think some of my favorite times are when we're getting her ready for bed and she wants to lotion my belly, because she saw me doing it once. 

"Lotion Mommy Belly"

Of course, then she also pulled up Daddy's shirt yesterday and said, "Huggies Daddy baby", so maybe she doesn't quite get it after all. Or maybe Daddy has just gone a bit far on the sympathy weight. (Joke, honey.)

I know I've mentioned the love that I have for my new OB practice. ESPECIALLY when it came to the 1hr diabetes test 2 weeks ago. Nothing better than getting to eat a bunch of jelly beans rather than that disgusting syrupy drink. Even better was finding out 3 days later that I passed. So much pressure off. Take that, AMA. 

Of course, that doesn't mean I've stopped gaining weight. This pregnancy is SO different than it was with Smudge. I was able to curtail my gain with her and craved really nothing but protein and a carb here and there. This kid has me eating chocolate and cupcakes and seriously, enough already. I just can't stop eating. I keep saying it's so incredibly different that this is either a boy or a girl who will NOT be 5 1/2 pounds like big sister was. And sure enough, I had a growth scan yesterday. Baby is only measuring 1 day ahead, but is at least 10% larger than Smudge was at this point and already is estimated at 2lbs 10oz. This kid is going to be HUGE. And no complaints from me - VBAC and all. Unfortunately, in addition to being huge, the Squish is also transverse, snuggling against my uterus like a body pillow staring up at my diaphragm. I'll definitely be asking Dr. B about this on Monday. I need to know when I should start inversions or chiropractic. I don't want to be late 3rd trimester worrying about needing a c/s because my kid is too comfortable. It's bad enough I'm worrying about it now. At least s/he's not jackknifed like Smudge was. Then I'd be worried about hips too (or at least more than I already am). 

Not that the past few weeks have been completely without torture. What kind of fun would that be? Last week I found myself spending the afternoon in Labor and Delivery. I wasn't thrilled with my first experience at Jersey Shore. I had to wait almost 20 minutes before anyone even acknowledged that I was standing there. And it's not that people were busy. There were no less than 2 doctors and 3 nurses at the nursing station at any one time. They were just waiting to let the secretary do her job, and she made no bones about the fact that her job would be done in her time. Me standing there in excruciating pain, be damned. They made me fill out paperwork without even asking me if I was okay. All i could think was they better be damned lucky if I weren't in labor... because it I was getting ready to birth a 27 weeker, and they were making me fill out PAPERWORK first, there was going to be hell to pay. The triage nurse was just about as nice, but a couple of the other nurses I met were very kind. I think i just had the crappy luck to be in an empty triage the day a bitch was assigned there and didn't want to be bothered. 

At least, when push came to shove, I wasn't in labor. Just had a nasty bladder infection that was causing a lot of referred belly pain thanks to an inflamed bladder. There, aren't you glad you know that now? A week of antibiotics and all is right with the world. I have my follow up with my new OB (we can just call him Dr. B) on Monday, so I'm sure they'll re-dip my urine then to make sure it's gone. Although based on how I feel, it is. 

And just for funsies... Smudge decided to start getting ready for baby too and had some naked baby wearing time the other night. Even she knows how beneficial skin-to-skin is!

Until next time.....

A Breath of Fresh Air

I don't think until the last  four weeks, I have ever had a time during pregnancy where I was completely comfortable with my choice of providers. During my pregnancy with Smudge, I quashed those feelings, completely ignoring my gut, and stayed with my provider. Well, we all know how that ended. I didn't intend to do that twice. 
Four weeks ago, I was awaiting a consultation with a new obstetrical provider. Well, that consultation couldn't have gone better. When I walked in with two full pages of questions, I was sure he would hate me. Instead, it was as if someone had given him my questions ahead of time. He had ALL of the right answers. There wasn't one thing I had any concern about. So, rather than take my consult with him and discuss my concerns with the midwives the following week, I switched to his practice officially that afternoon. 

This morning I had my next appointment with my new OB practice. I met Dr B's partner, Dr R. She was like a breath of fresh air. Completely relatable, young and an osteopath - so right on track with my natural tendencies. I was concerned that perhaps she didn't share all of Dr B's beliefs in terms of VBAC and natural Cesarean, but she quickly laid those fears to rest. She said Dr B trained her as a resident, so she essentially practices EXACTLY as he does, as do their other partners. She said any member of the practice would support my birth wishes. 

And I think the best part of my visit today was when she told me that I'm measuring perfectly for 25 weeks, my belly looks great and she thinks I'm right on track for my weight gain. I expressed my concerns about how quickly I was gaining and what the midwives said about it. Dr R said she had no concerns about my gain, I'm right on track and if she had any worries she would tell me. 

The good news is my gain is slowing. I'm attributing it to stress. I'm no longer stressed about my provider and I'm now gaining less than 1lb a week. I know that still sounds like a lot, but considering how I was gaining earlier, it's really good. I'm now up 20lbs in 25w. That's horrifying to me, considering I only gained 20lbs all together with Anna. But my diet is different now, my activity level is different now and it's an entirely different pregnancy. This baby will NOT let me stop eating. I'm trying really hard to make the right dietary choices, especially since I'm CONSTANTLY hungry. Smudge didn't do this to me. So, as Dr R said today, either this is a boy or I'm just growing a girl who will weigh more than 5 1/2 lbs. And we're totally okay with that. 

My new goal is 35lbs. I do not want to gain 40lbs. But hopefully I can keep it just under that. 

In other news, I scheduled my glucose tolerance test. Guess who gets to eat jelly beans instead of that awful disgusting drink? THIS GIRL. I'm waiting to clarify how many I have to eat, but I'm psyched. Not only about that - but that they draw all blood work in their office, so I don't even have to go sit at lab corp. 

Other good news from this week, the hospital where I'm going to deliver the Squish is now certified "baby-friendly" which means I'm going to have the BEST lactation support possible. And as if that weren't good enough, now the labor and delivery unit has telemetry monitoring, which means I won't have to be tied to a bed AT ALL while I'm in labor. I may even be able to get into the tub. That would be awesome.

GTT in 2 weeks. Until then.... 

Cleared to Call!

Last week, Dr. Z told me not to call my midwife yet. We emailed our doula anyway, and good thing, too, since that same day she got emails from two other former clients saying they were due in March too! She only takes four clients a month and we're #3!

This week, even though I had a moment of panic because I couldn't see the heartbeat, Chris and Dr. Z both assured me they saw it just fine. Fran told me it was averaging 135 but as high as 150. And when the u/s was over, he told me to go ahead and call the midwives.

Squishy is measuring 8.3mm and 6w5d (which incidentally is the same Smudge was measuring one day later, just 7.9mm. Smudge's heartbeat was 158). Everything looks perfect. Dr. Z is not concerned about the gigunda cyst. He says it will resolve. Still no sign of any of the nine fibroids I had at the end of my pregnancy with Smudge.

So, phone call made. 10w2d appointment with the midwives scheduled.

So far this pregnancy, i'm just really hit by a truck exhausted. And chasing after a toddler like this is no easy task. I'm a little queasy and my chicken aversion is back and rearing it's ugly head again. I'm also gaining weight like there's no tomorrow. I'm not eating a whole lot more, so I'm hoping I can blame some of it on the crazy progesterone doses I'm on. I know part of it is also that I'm not eating fat free dairy any longer (like I was with Smudge's pregnancy). Now that I'm dairy free, the alternatives are not fat free, so I probably need to try to make some adjustments there as well. I only gained 20 pounds last time, and I'm practically 1/2 way there already. Disgusting. I'll get this under control. I refuse to add a weight issue to this pregnancy. 

And here is Squishy at 7w: