Touching the bump

I'm getting pudgy enough now that some people want to touch the bump. I am more than happy to let people rub my belly- but asking first is Deeply appreciated. Even still, a little prank here in there is sometimes just too tempting.

While at a planning meeting yesterday, our friend Osondu wanted to touch the belly. He asked, put out his hands and very timidly started heading for the pooch. He was so hesitant- not usually a word used to describe the man. I couldn't help myself. As soon as he was almost touching me, I pushed forward as if the baby was kicking me forward from the inside. Osondu jumped a mile. Oh, it was great! I laughed and laughed... maybe even cackled a little bit. Osondu was a good sport but I don't think he'll be reaching for the belly until the baby-land has more defined boundaries.

In other news, I only woke up once during the night last night. It had gotten to the point where I was awake more than asleep in the early hours of the morning. Back aches, runny nose, bathroom trips, thirst, hunger, and just because have all become a part of my nightly routine- keeping me awake when I desperately need sleep. I changed the sheets to get rid of the cat fur. I did all of my 'daily drinking duty' (two liters) earlier in the day, and I got a body pillow from Babies-R-Us.


The body pillow is called a Preggle. It curls around so you can use it in a variety of different positions. It's woooooonderful. It is a little pricey at fifty bucks but well worth it if it means sleeping as well as I did last night on a regular basis. It can also be used later as a support for the baby during feedings. While we were at "The Kingdom" as I have taken to calling Babies-R-Us last night, I had Wesley join me in sitting in the glider rockers. Even he sat quietly and enjoyed the relaxing motion for a while. His silence was approval. That is, until he saw the price tag. Let's just say it wasn't fifty bucks.



And now I'm off to eat the honey and butter toast that Wesley just made for me. Yum yum!

A little contribution

Eryn is excellent with the details and emotions about what is going on. I am just pretty much constantly laughing about everything. I mean, you hear all these stories about what it'll be like - and then they are true.

There is late night runs to the grocery, seemingly endless visits to the OB, weird dreams (both of us), and all the other pointers along the path that actually happen! It is just fantastic. I feel very ready, which is both a blessing and a curse. Maybe because I have seen so many others go this way before, and if they can do it, then we can do it. Not that the they are bad people, but just ....I dunno, when the friends you went camping with in sixth grade manage to have a child, then so can we.

Rambling here, but I wanted to chime in with a couple of things - this is very joyous and happy, and that Eryn is great. She handles everything very well and with a perspective on the experience that is fantastic.

Lastly, who wouldn't find this funny?

The Cow Dream

The weirdo preggo dreams have kicked in. Only one so far worth mentioning. The pet cow dream. I woke up laughing I got such a kick out of it. Then I had a giggle fit and couldn't stop laughing.

In this dream Wesley and I were traveling through different towns by car. We had a pet calf. I remember it was black and shiny and about hip-high to me. She was a playful, loyal and loving calf. She loved to be pet and doted on. We had to get a special trailer that was big enough to put her kennel in because she would not fit in the back of the CR-V. Every time we stopped, even just at stop lights, we would open the door to the trailer. Our pet cow would run out of her kennel and we would start chasing her down the road. This happened over and over. Each time people on the street would stop to help us catch the cow. We would put her back in her kennel and go about our business until the whole thing started all over again at the next stop. What made it so funny was that having a pet cow seemed so normal in this dream. I mean, don't you have a pet cow?

We spent the afternoon at the doctor's office yesterday. What was intended to be a two hour "initial OB" visit ran about four hours. It was worth it, though.

Let me explain from the beginning. Last year I was diagnosed by a cardiologist with something called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. It causes dehydration, low blood pressure, tachycardia, and a slew of other not-so-fun but not life-threatening symptoms. The worst thing about it is that it causes chronic, debilitating fatigue; something I have been battling since I was a teenager. Since getting a diagnosis and being able to address all this as a real problem and not just something in my head-as people often thought it was- I have been able to manage it better. However it continues to be a challenge.

Of women with POTS who get pregnant, 1/3 magically get better, 1/3 stay the same, and 1/3 get much more severe symptoms. I, unfortunately, have fallen in that last category. I have not been able to do my job well, I have missed work, and I spend most of my days too tired to lift my head off the pillow. It has been rough. Add to that "morning sickness" which does not relent day or night and you have one sick puppy. Luckily, zofran helps keep me from calling the buicks too often, but I still have had a very hard time keeping down enough fluids.

Which leads us to the doctor's visit yesterday. They tested for ketones in my urine- a way to detect dehydration. The test changes color from pink to dark purple depending on the amount of ketones. Dark purple is severely dehydrated. Mine was gray; as in off the charts. So they told me they would give me a liter of iv fluids (lactated ringers, for those curious) and told me to call and come in for another bag of fluids any time I felt like I needed it.

It has made a world of difference. I feel like a new person today. I was able to wake up this morning and get out of bed without having to force myself. I went and ran errands without feeling like I needed to lay down after two hours of being on my feet. I feel GOOD- something I haven't felt in a long, long time. I feel like I have the tools I need to stay healthy now. And the best part- I feel like I can keep my job because I'll have the energy to actually DO my job now. That takes an enormous amount of stress off of us. We have both been very concerned I would lose my job, and thus our insurance. Hopefully now things will be better. Today, I have been able to drink fluids, eat, and get some exercise (walking). All of these things will help break the cycle I was in. I also went to an orthopedic store to get compression hose, which my cardiologist has been telling me to get forever now. They cost $150.00 without insurance! Once the doc's office faxes over the Rx I'm going to go pick them up, hopefully for significantly less money. They should help keep my stamina up at work too, by making my body have to work less hard to return blood to the heart.

So... enough about that. The rest of the OB visit was great too. We met Dr. Cobb and his nurse Lisa. Dr. Cobb is great. I think we are going to have a smooth experience with he and Lisa at the helm. Lisa is a little bouncy and sporadic but knows her stuff and was the first person really willing to hear me when I said I'm too dehydrated. We had an ultrasound, which was awesome. Our critter actually looks a little human now. There are ten little fingers that she waved around for us. Her heart is beating at 150-160 beats per minute, which is perfect. It was so cool to see our baby. It made it real. We have pictures of the ultrasound. I will get Wesley to hook up the scanner and we'll post them later. She looked better in real-time though. The pictures seem pretty blurry by comparison.

Speaking of pictures. I have pictures of my bump to show you. It may not seem like much, but it's a little chubbiness due to the baby- which is so cool. Please forgive my lack of radiance in the photos; I ended up tossing my cookies not long after they were taken.





Oh! One other thing that I'm pretty excited about. Wesley and I have decided to wait until the delivery to find out the sex of the baby. So I may be calling my son "she" for the next seven months but I'm looking forward to the surprise. I'm realizing that unisex baby stuff is prettier than the boy/girl stuff anyways. My parents didn't find out the sex and both have separately told me how awesome it is to hear "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!" in the delivery room. I'm going to take their word for it. We've also been talking about other delivery room choices, but I'll save that for a later post.

With love,
Eryn

Sketti

Spaghetti at five in the morning. I had already chugged a protein shake around midnight-one. But for some reason I HAD to have the rest of my leftover spaghetti RIGHT THEN. Nothing else would do. And it was sooooooo tasty. Only a pregnant woman would think spaghetti was a suitable early-morning breakfast... or maybe a drunk.

The nausea is mild today. I think eating through the night helped. Or maybe (cross your fingers) it's fading out. Oh Gracious, that would be nice. Everything has a really metallic taste today, though. That's something that comes and goes really sporadically. Wesley made waffles from scratch this morning, that I'm sure would have tasted divine to a normal human but to me they tasted like he had spiked them with heavy metals. Even tap water tasted like it was just liquefied pennies. Pregnancy is so strange sometimes.

We bought our first 'baby purchase' today. Although, technically, we got it for the dog. Two baby gates to block off the kitchen so Molly can be in the house without us having to worry she is tearing up the rest of the house. It was fun because we looked at things like strollers and playpens while we were hunting for the gates. We also (ok, more me than we, but I digress) checked out other parents to see what gear they were using. One we (yes, we) liked was a double stroller that seemed light-weight, sturdy, and well-designed....

OY! I just looked it up to show you a picture. The price of this basket on wheels? $699.00. ::cough, sputter, gasp:: Oh well. Just for giggles, here's the picture and reviews.

And for my next trick? Nap time.

8 weeks and 1 day

It's eleven o' clock and I'm just now rolling out of bed. My favorite thing about being pregnant so far? This new sweet tooth I've developed. I had pound cake for breakfast! It was soooooo good. I've never been a sugar junkie before. I would rather devour a whole bag of tortilla chips or some other salty treat. I think it's Wesley's child that is making me want sweets so badly. He has always loved his cakes and candies. I wonder how else she will be like him?

Hopefully she will have his smarts, his smile, definitely his nose, his energy, artistic talent, and his people skills. I want her to be just like him with the exception of having my impeccable talent for picking a mate. I just don't know how I feel about having two of ME in the house. That's a scary thought! Who would do the dishes?

I'm starting to show a little bit. My book tells me she is the size of an olive and my uterus is the size of a grapefruit. No wonder I feel a little chubby in the belly (well... that and the pound cake!). My muscles have relaxed and my abdomen is kind of squishy. It's pretty fascinating for someone who has been a stick all her life.

I think the only part of my body that hasn't started changing yet is my fingers. I bet the will swell before it's all over. If so, I already plan to buy a simple gold band that will fit so everyone will know I am happily married. Plus, wearing my rings is a comfort to me. I wouldn't want to be without that symbol of our love at any point, much less while I'm pregnant. Were you able to wear your rings throughout your pregnancy? If not, what did you do?


PS- Try doing a Google image search for 'sweet tooth' when you get home. Strange, strange, strange.

A New Beginning

How do I start such a momentous story? There are so many things to tell you. First, I will tell you that we saw our baby's heart beat this morning. That was the moment when we were both able to breathe a sigh of relief and say "Okay, this time is different." It was the moment we have been waiting for before we told friends and family. It was the moment our anxiety was relieved and we were able to start our journey into parenthood.

Our little girl (I am sure she is a girl and will continue to call her such until I am told otherwise) is the size of a blueberry today- 10,000 times large than she was at conception. I just love the image of having a little blueberry-child nesting inside of me. I am not 10,000 times the size I was six weeks and four days ago but sometimes think I might be before it's all over.

I am, however, pimple-faced, boated, nauseated (constantly), and only slightly moody. Ok, you're right... I am moody as all get-out and all I want to eat is tortilla chips and Skittles. And chocolate. And fresh pineapple (a craving for sure). For a while I was eating everything in sight. I ate every two hours for a couple of weeks and looked like I was three months pregnant because I was so full of food. I even bailed out on hanging out with friends one night because I looked so big I was afraid someone would guess correctly that I was pregnant.

While I feel beautiful because I am a mother again- and because Wesley is so kind to tell me I am beautiful- I don't feel very pretty. My hair is a mess, make-up is a rarity, and I am just not 'glowing.' In fact, people at work keep telling me I look a little green (gee, thanks!). So I went to the mall today and got myself a little treat, two actually. I found two shirts on sale at the Banana Republic (my favorite store) that I intend on wearing a little later. One will be for spring, when I just start showing and one is a flowing black sleeveless blouse that I intend on wearing this summer. They are both very pretty and it gives me a little something to look forward to in addition to the growing belly (Oh God, stretch marks!).

I am thankful every day and every time my body does some uncomfortable or obnoxious thing to let me know my baby is ok (can we say belching?!). Every mood swing, every wave of nausea, every time I cry at that stupid All State commercial about the "Great Recession" I know that everything is ok.

A year ago I felt sick in a very different way. My heart was racing too fast, I was getting short of breath, and I just wasn't well. Things weren't right. This time, I feel better than ever. I feel how I think I am supposed to feel. My little girl is healthy. And we are happy.