26 Weeks

Things are going well with baby girl!  I assume she's growing on schedule...the doc is not measuring my belly, so I guess baby's growing like she should be.  

She's moving around a lot!  I even saw my belly move the other day when she kicked/punched! 

She has moved from my sciatic nerve, thank God! 

 My heartburn has kicked it up a notch or ten!  I have heartburn almost every single night.  I have started to drink pickle juice to cure this.  I know, I know, to some of you, that sounds absolutely disgusting! I love pickles and the juice, so it doesn't bother me one bit.  My parents saw this thing on some doctor show about drinking a little bit of pickle juice to alleviate heartburn.  I forgot why this is supposed to work, but it has! 

I'm getting up 2-3 times a night to pee.  I've gotten a few leg cramps.  I'm having lots of vivid dreams and nightmares.  

I still have not gained any weight, but I'm expecting that to change here in the near future since my appetite is starting to increase!  However, I am still having to tell people that I am pregnant because they can't tell by looking at me.  

I have been having a few days of pelvic pressure, which I don't remember having with Joey.   I also think that baby girl is moving up towards my ribs because it is getting a little harder to breath.  I hope baby girl is not born with a third eye because I've had a few deli meat sandwiches. 

Belly Photo, Week 26!  Please do not tell me that the pointy part of my belly is Bristol.  It is not.  It is my muffin top that I have always had.  When I was not pregnant.  When I was at my heaviest.  When I was at my skinniest.  I've just always had that belly awning.  Bristol is just pushing that awning out further than it normally is, which is pretty annoying since no one knows I'm prego, meaning that they think that fat muffin is normally that large and in charge. This physical characteristic is what makes me not want to wear maternity shirts because maternity shirts are somewhat designed to show off the cute baby belly.  However, if you have a fat muffin hiding your baby belly, then those maternity shirts are just a big obnoxious sign to others that you have a fat muffin.

Oh, and you may have noticed I chopped all of my hair off.  I've been wanting to do this for years, but never had the guts.  However, Joey likes to pull my hair when he is mad and it would drive me bonkers!  Plus, I am hot here in So Cal, what the heck am I going to do in hot, humid NC while 9/10 months pregnant?!?!  I figured this was the time to chop it all off, especially since I'm taking prenatal vitamins.  My hair will grow like a weed! 

23 Weeks

We had baby girl's checkup last week.  She's doing well and growing!   

I'm feeling good.  Just tired because I don't sleep well now.  Baby has been lying on my Sciatic nerve so that has caused a lot of issues.  As my mom put it, baby girl is already a pain in the butt!  Ha ha!  Fortunately, for me, baby has moved a little because my butt/lower back does not hurt nearly as much as it was.  Only when I move certain ways.  I also got my first pregnancy leg cramp last night.  :(   And the heartburn is around daily now. 

I also have not gained or lost any weight this month!  Holla!  I'm just not as hungry this time around, which helps since I'm not supposed to gain a pound.  I think it also helps not having Michael here.  Michael is awesome at bringing me comfort food or joining me in my bad indulgences!  When your toddler goes to bed around 630, and you're craving ice cream at 8, oh freaking well!  You can't go get it because you can't leave the kid and you're certainly not going to wake him so you can have some frozen deliciousness!  I also don't prepare big meals much while Michael's gone.  When it's just you and a toddler eating, ease and convenience definitely win out most nights.  I feed Joey his food, and I may eat a sandwich or some soup.  I hate preparing a real meal and Joey won't touch it.  So frustrating!  Plus, I can never get through all of the leftovers before they go bad or I'm sick of them!

Oh, have I told you that we picked out a name for baby girl?  Bristol Healy.  Yes, they are both Alaskan places.  No, baby girl will not be born there.  No, we did not name her after Sarah Palin's daughter.  Yes, we really like the name Bristol.  No, she is not named after the NASCAR race track.  :) 

Butt and Belly

So, a common question that is asked of pregnant women is "how are you feeling?"  Obviously, the answer to this changes on a daily, or even hourly basis!  Most of the time, I feel pretty good, just tired.  I had some back issues last summer that eased up once I was told by the doc to stop exercising for a month.  However, that pain is back.  This time it is mainly in my right butt cheek and sometimes runs up into my lower back.  It mainly hurts when I sit Indian-style on the ground and then try to get up.  You're probably wondering why I even sit on the ground like that!  I now have to change Joey's diaper on the floor due to him thinking that he is either in the circus or the WWE wrestling circuit!   I don't think things are going to change with my independent toddler, so hopefully, the pain does not get any worse.  :/

Baby girl is also moving around lots!  Not painful moving, just letting me know she's there.  I still don't have a baby belly and I have to tell everyone that I am actually pregnant.  This seems to first surprise them as they look down at my belly and they usually then state that I only must be a few weeks pregnant.  When I tell them I am 5 1/2 months pregnant, they all do a triple take at my belly and stammer out "you don't look it at all!".  You'd think this comment would be a compliment, but it's not.  I know that my belly has started to push out...well, the baby belly has pushed out my fat rolls even more.  My clothes know that I've gotten a little rounder, but all of these people I meet think this is just how I look.  How the hell is that supposed to make me feel?  Whatever.  I'm in Southern California where everyone looks like Barbie and her friends.  That is just not my body type, no matter how much weight I lose.  So, to all of these people that make the comment "you don't look like you're 5 months pregnant", I just smile and go along my way even though in my mind I'm thinking about how much I would like to punch them in the throat.  

21 weeks, 5 days!

I See You

So, we got a call from my doctor that I needed to go back in for another ultrasound due to crappy pictures taken at the first ultrasound (I could have told you that!).  The doc stated that there was nothing to worry about, they just needed better pictures to verify everything is good with baby girl.  

I went in this last Friday for the super long ultrasound.  I was actually on the table, getting an ultrasound for an hour and a half!  They actually spent a good 45 minutes checking out baby's heart.  This kind of worried me because they were really focusing on her heart.  However, everything checked out perfectly by the ultrasound tech and perinatologist.  Michael thinks that they really got a good look at the heart due to me having a small hole in my heart.  They may have been checking to see if baby inherited this little issue, too.  Whatever the reason, we're all good!  :)

Oh, baby's heart rate was 145 bpm (good!) and she weighs 14 ounces (very good!).  I got home and looked in my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book and it said that babies at 21 weeks weigh about 11 ounces.  You get it, girl!  

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure...

 Here's my knee and that little dot in the middle is my hand!

 Her head at one end and a leg at the other!

Her face!

Baby's spine

 Some legs!

 She's already practicing her kicks in there.

 Close up of her whole body.

Zoomed out of baby's body.

Shy, Shy, Shy

We went in yesterday for my 18-week checkup and to, hopefully, find out the sex of TBD.  Well, I think TBD likes the name TBD, because he/she kept those legs so tightly closed that its sex could not be determined!  The doc searched for about five minutes with no luck.  (Michael swears he saw a penis, but I think he was imagining it)!  However, the babe does look good so far and everything is where it is supposed to be.  TBD was super active, too.  The doc even commented on how active the baby was.  The doc is only making us wait 1-2 weeks until our next appointment and to perform the 20-week ultrasound.

The rest of the appointment went well, especially since it was super short!  I haven't gained any weight, but the doc didn't say anything good or bad about that.  We also told the doc that I am going to North Carolina to have the baby and we wanted to make the journey when I am about 32 weeks pregnant.  She said that is completely cool!  Woohoo!

The receptionist originally set us up for our next appointment around March 1st, but when I told her that Michael is deploying at the end of February, she was able to pull some strings and get us an appointment for the day before Michael leaves!!   Keep your fingers crossed that TBD is way more open that day so Michael can be there to find out the sex.  If TBD keeps up this shy game, he/she may just have the name TBD until its debut in July!

16 Weeks

Not too much to report on TBD this week, which is a good thing!  I'm feeling good, trying to eat healthier (with some bad food thrown in there every once in awhile), and exercising.  TBD should look like the photo above.  

I did go get the quad blood screening test done this week.  This was just a blood draw from my arm.  This tests TBD for signs of abnormalities, such as Down's Syndrome and Spina Bifida.  Unfortunately, this test is not 100% accurate, so even if the test comes back positive (or negative), the baby could still have one of these abnormalities.  

My doctor actually offers a first trimester ultrasound and blood work that tests for genetic abnormalities.  I was supposed to get this testing done, but my insurance company is being a super big douche bag, so we missed the window to get it done.  Oh well, no harm, no foul, right?  Just seriously annoyed us.  We did learn one thing from this experience, though, not to take anything for granted when it comes to the insurance.  I've actually already contacted our insurance company about us living and delivering the baby in NC this summer.  Even though I have an email from them stating what I need to do, I'm still going to the local office and talk to them closer to our departure date.  I don't want to get all of the way across the country and the insurance company throws some kind of wrench in our plans!  

Other than all of that, things are progressing well.  I have not gained any weight at all.  I can't really tell if my belly is protruding yet because of all these fat rolls in the way.  I can still wear my jeans, but the waist is really tight.  So, I guess, my belly has popped a little, huh?  We go in two weeks to our next appointment and to, hopefully, find out the sex of TBD.  Keep your fingers crossed!

14 Weeks, 5 Days

Well, I am super glad that the morning sickness is gone, but now the heartburn is setting in.  Ugh!  I think the heartburn is starting a little earlier than it did in my first pregnancy.  Maybe this babe will have tons of hair when they come out!

I've also started to get a little flaky.  Great.  I'm trying to make new friends and I can't remember anything.  That's gonna get me far!  

I don't really think I have a baby belly yet, but who knows with these fat rolls in the way.  I was way heavier starting this pregnancy out than I was with the first pregnancy.  I have no clue how my baby belly is going to look this time around since I'm not starting out with the same body type.  I am really trying to watch my weight this time around.  I gained 50 lbs with Joey and I would like that NOT to be the case with TBD.  Since I am overweight, I would like to only gain the recommended 15 pounds.  So far, I'm doing pretty well seeing that I have actually lost a few pounds.  (Side note:  I am not trying to lose weight, just trying to eat a little healthier this time).  

Besides that, everything is going well so far!  Hopefully, it stays that way!  :)