Dr.'s appointment was yesterday. Everything is perfect. She decided not to change my due date since the u/s was within a week of LMP due date, so July 8th it is. We also got our crib in yesterday. Which was nice since my day kinda got screwed up. I was supposed to go shopping for maternity clothes yesterday. That didn't get to happen though. Jay was going to go to the bank, transfer the "baby fund" money to checking and take it out to go shopping for clothes but both of us forgot that it was a holiday and that banks were going to be closed. So the crib coming in was a nice replacement! Especially since Jay set it up and I got to do the mattress and bedding set. We are supposed to go next Monday to shop for clothes but Jay's appointment has to get rescheduled so I don't know if he's still going to want to go into Ocala.
Okay, baby to baby stuff. Alice (my midwife) showed me the stats from my ultra sound. Brooklyn measured at 18w3d, which at my appointment time was only a 2 day difference from what I was going by, however, it was a week off from what my Dr. is going to go by. That's okay though, I'm happy with the due date she's keeping it at, only cause it puts me further along! I know that's pretty bad but I'm excited to be at the half way mark lol. The only problem with my u/s was that they couldn't see the kidneys which she said wasn't that big of a deal and it happens often. I guess it's time for pics of the crib though right? And of course the baby stats!
There are 133 days until your due date on July 08, 2011.
You are 147 days pregnant.
You are 4.8 months pregnant.
You are in your 5th month of pregnancy.
Your 1st trimester: October 01, 2010 to December 30, 2010. (0 - 12 weeks)
Your 2nd trimester: December 31, 2010 to April 14, 2011. (13 - 27 weeks)
Your 3rd trimester: April 15, 2011 to July 08, 2011. (28 - 40 weeks)
Congratulations! This week marks the half way point of your pregnancy. It has been 18 weeks since the date of conception and your baby's crown-to-rump length is 5.6 to 6.4 inches. The fetus weighs about 9 ounces and your belly definitely has an obvious bulge. Your waistline has expanded and is no longer visible. Your uterus has now moved up enough that it is pushing your abdomen outwards. The top of your uterus is even with or just below your navel.
For the remainder of your pregnancy, the growing uterus puts pressure on your lungs, stomach and kidneys. This will make you feel short of breath, the need to urinate more frequently and can cause indigestion. The added pressure on your abdomen can also cause your bellybutton to protrude and cause an `outy` instead of an `inny`. Many pregnant women begin to notice stretch marks around this time as well. Your abdominal muscles are being stretched and pushed apart as your baby grows inside of you.
Your baby's skin begins to thicken this week and will develop four layers. Your baby's sebaceous glands secrete a waxy substance called vernix caseosa. Your baby will be born with this wax and it will look like paste. The vernix caseosa is crucial because it protects the fetus' fragile skin from the continuous immersion in amniotic fluid. Lanugo hairs secure the vernix caseosa in place and it is thick around the eyebrows. Scalp hair and toenails are beginning to form at this point. Hair can also be seen on the upper lip and eyebrows.
Around twenty weeks, most doctors will order a routine ultrasound to check the baby's development. Measurements will be taken and the sonogram technician will check to make sure there are no defects or abnormalities. Your ultrasound technician can also see how long your cervix is and can tell you approximately how much your baby weighs at this time. Most expectant women also find out the sex of their baby during this time! If your sonographer does not offer pictures, ask them for a copy of the photos.
I seriously feel like a fat ass now! I was sitting out back in one our chairs and the damn thing broke. It's not one of those plastic chairs but it's one that has the weird fabric type stuff on the seat and on the back. It was perfectly fine when I sat in it. I felt the side starting to rip though and I really thought it would be fine. So about an hour or two later I go back out, sit in the same chair, and almost fell through.
On another note though, it's such a beautiful day out. It's 80 degrees and feels like a perfect day to hit up the beach! Unfortunately, Jay is working though and we do live about and hour or two from the beach depending on which way you go. Not to mention the water is still pretty cold I'm sure. Tomorrow I am definitely going to start laying out though!
I can't help but wonder if I will parent this new baby different than I have Matt and Bri. I always thought my parents treated Stella and I differently because they realized they royally fucked up with me and just wanted to make things right with her. Now I think it's more along the lines of "with age comes wisdom". Being completely honest, I was always just winging it with Matt and Bri, I still do. With them being so close in age, they go through the same things around the same time. I go through all the firsts with them both and it's all new to me as well. I don't have the slightest idea what I'm doing half the time. But I know with this new baby, I've been there done that. I'll know the right way to handle things and what to do. Will my oldest two think differently of me though, like I did my parents? I just want to be a good parent for this baby. I try with the Matt and Bri but I know I screw up all the time too. Everyone screws up, I know that, but sometimes I think I cause a lot of the behavioral issues that Matt is going through. Like his counselor said, " I think most mental health issues are 70% environmental" Which just proves that it is my fault. I just hope I can do better with this little one. I'm already trying to do everything different since I have a little more control than I did at 15. I have about 4 1/2 months to figure it out though. Hopefully I can get these feelings straightened out by then.
Sitting here at home all alone during the day is something new to me. Jay has work training this week and of course the kids are at school. I've been spending a lot of time on my birth board on babycenter.com lately. Reading all the posts about woman getting pregnant out of nowhere and not trying has really got me thinking about my whole experience with trying to get pregnant. I struggled for 7 years with trying to have another baby. My (ex) husband and I started "trying" not long after we got married. I already had Matt and Bri, I was married, had a job, and all I wanted was one more baby. He wasn't really mature now that I think about it and now I'm glad that we never had a baby together. The 6 years that we were trying were hell. He wasn't into the whole actively trying thing where you actually do more than just have sex. Not to mention, we rarely had sex. After having Bri I was on Depo-Provera for about a year. The birth control pill didn't do it for me since I was on that when I got pregnant with Briahnna. I had no idea the shot would cause so many problems for me though. My cycles basically stopped after I was done with the depo shot completely. After 4 years it started to come back again but I was lucky to get one period a year. I went to 3 different Dr.'s to talk about my weird cycles and every one of them decided the only thing they wanted to do for me was give me birth control. Even after telling them that I was trying to get pregnant, birth control pills was their only suggestion for me. UGH I HATE DR'S! Over the course of the 5 years I had given up getting pregnant, since after all... you have to have a period to get pregnant. It was more of an emotional roller coaster than it was physical. My cousin got pregnant and gave birth, lost custody of 2 of her kids, I pretty much raised my bff's daughter because she was always working so much that her daughter didn't want anyone but me. I watched several other woman have babies, babysat several babies over the years, looking at each baby, sitting with the mother in the hospital after they gave birth, watching them blow off every important milestone with their child was a heartbreaking experience for me. I feel blessed to have been a part of so many important babies' lives but at the same time, I desperately wanted another of my own. Sept. 2009 I met Jay. We lived in different towns and with his work schedule we only had 2 days a week to hang out with each other. He would come over on his day's off every week. I don't think either of thought about our future at that point or where things would go, we were more or less just going with the flow. I really liked it that way. I didn't feel pressured into a relationship but felt that I definitely could see myself spending the rest of my life with this man. He was wonderful in so many ways. He reminded me of my dad. I think that's how I knew he was the one. It took someone special to remind me of him. My sister's friend asked us one day to run to the store for her to get a pregnancy test. I was all for it just because it gave me an excuse to leave my house! While on the subject of pregnancy though, I made it a point to let Jay know that I didn't think that I could have any more kids and if he wanted kids of his then he should probably just move on. He was okay with it though. Things with us moved really fast. In November we moved in together. April of 2010 Jay suggested that we "try" to get pregnant. I prepared myself for failure and disappointment but agreed to it because of course, I would love to have another baby. Jay and I discussed many different options when it came to things to help us get pregnant with out a Dr. The key was to regulate my cycles and learn about ovulation timing. We tried Fertilaid first. For 2 months we both took 3 pills a day. Jay felt better but nothing changed with me. I was still having irregular cycles though now they were coming more often than they did in the last 8 years. Now they were around every 2-3 months. We stopped the Fertilaid since they were getting a tad expensive. I was charting my bbt (basal body temp) and learning that I was ovulating, it was just way late in my cycle. Other than that, I had a normal LP (luteal phase) which is crucial to the first week of pregnancy. Months passed and nothing was happening for us, nothing with my cycles were changing. In Sept. I had a strange cycle. It lasted about 15 days. October 1st a new cycle began again. Day 1, I started taking Vitex regularly. I had about 5 bottles of the vitamins for about 6 months and just never took them right. They tasted horrible and made me gag. I sucked it up though and took them, 2 pills, 2 times a day. October 19th, I ovulated early. Early for me anyway, normally I didn't ovulate until around cycle day 52 or later. I started testing way too early and every one of them showed up negative. I was losing hope and Allison kept telling me that I was just testing too early and she just KNEW that I was pregnant. My LP is 12 days, which means that 12 days after I ovulate, I'm pretty much guaranteed to start a new period. I woke up on day 13 after ovulation and my bbt was still high. I ran to the bathroom cause I knew it was going to be positive and amazingly IT WAS!
So here I am at 17 weeks pregnant and still very excited and in disbelief. I've had 3 appointments so far, have my u/s scheduled, been busy with planning everything that I can and so many emotions rolling through me at once.
ANXIETY: Between my Dr. appointments, Matt's Dr. appointments, school meetings, meeting with a counselor for Matt, the kids' tutoring, and Jay's work schedule, I feel extremely overwhelmed with everything. I'm trying to alleviate some of the stress though by planning for all of the stuff that we will need for the baby. I have searched online for most stuff that we will need and marked down prices just so at least I feel in control over something in my life right now.
EXHAUSTION: Most say that you gain some of your energy back in the 2nd trimester but my energy has left and apparently decided that it found a better home cause none of it has came back yet. I usually go back to sleep in the mornings during weekdays, it's becoming exhausting to just get out of bed at 6:00am every day. This week I have not gone back to sleep though. I'm trying to enjoy all the "me" time that I'm getting since Jay is working normal 8-4 hours this week and the kids are at school during the day. I have though had a tendency to fall asleep in the car.
MORNING SICKNESS: Another one of those things that is supposed to slow down/disappear in the 2nd trimester. Not for me though. I still get sick just about every day. I'm not going to say that I enjoy the morning sickness because, well, let's face it, even those that make themselves vomit.... hate vomiting! But I will say that as much as I hate it, I do welcome it. After all, it's a sign that the baby is doing good and my body is doing what it's supposed to.
It's nice to have the reassurance that I get just by touching my belly though. My uterus is bigger than it should be at this point which could mean that the baby is bigger than normal right now. I expect that though given how much Jay weighed at birth. Feeling how hard my stomach gets each day is an amazing family but I really can't wait to start feeling the baby move. Hopefully soon though!
