Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I NEED TOPIC IDEAS!

I was going to have a doctor's appointment tomorrow but, because of my changing insurance situation, they said I can wait until Eric's new work insurance kicks in which won't be until October 1st. They said they don't bill out after the initial copay once I've been seeing them for my pregnancy. So I won't even GET a bill from them until after I'm postpartum. That's okay with me; I didn't want to give them money right now anyway. They said we can do a payment plan if I need to at that point. So basically, I won't have any doctor bills until the New Year.

Also, my poor pregnancy hormones (which is really just my justification to throw a tantrum every once in a while and to cry a LOT during any emotional moment in a movie) are going to go nuts now because Eric is leaving for ANOTHER set of training after his current one. The good thing is, he won't miss any OB appointments now! :)

I need to have funnier blogs. I had a couple of hilarious ones last month. I'm slacking!

Possible next entry topics:
- The horrors that I've learned about post-delivery
- New fads for child rearing
- Old traditions for children
- What I didn't expect during pregnancy
- Worries

I'm accepting interesting topic ideas!

Also, because I've been having requests, I decided to post a "progression" picture of my belly.






Monday, August 29, 2011

There's a first time for everything

Emily's been getting a lot more active lately. I told one of my friends that when she's rolling around, it feels like the rumble of a bowling ball. I just finished week 25 of my pregnancy so I was really hoping that Eric would feel her move before he left.

(Just a heads up - my husband found a new job and he's on his second and last round of training for 10 days. He's just come back for 4 and left this morning.)

Last night, we were laying in bed before going to sleep and I felt her rumbling around in there. And luckily, she really wanted her daddy to feel her in there before he went back to training for ten more days and kicked a little "thump" right on his hand. :) It made me really happy to have Eric be the first one to share that. Hopefully, she'll be kicking up a storm by the time he comes home for good...

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Anxiety!

Anxiety: A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.

I have an unreasonable anxiety about my water breaking. I was going to use paranoia but that would more be if I was convinced that the act of my water breaking is out to get me. And I thankfully realize, because I read the definition of paranoia and because I researched what actually happens, this is not the case.

For those of you who don't know, your "water breaking" during pregnancy (actually called "rupture of membranes," which just sounds worse) happens when the fluid that surrounds the baby in the amniotic sac begins to leak out of the cervix. Most websites say this seems a lot like wetting your pants. (Oh, joy!)

Now, the reason I say that I have an "unreasonable anxiety" about this happening, is NOT because I'm scared of my water breaking. I'm highly worried about where and when. One fear is that my water will break at church on a Sunday; this is because they have carpets and I don't know how easy it is to get out. Or that my water will break while I'm trying on pants or capris or a skirt that I decide I don't want to buy and then I have to spend money on an item of clothing I hate because I ruined them. Or that I won't know that it happened and Eric and I could be at a nice dinner and then I stand up from a nice seat and my water broke all over it. Or that I'll not notice if my water breaks while on tile and then I slip and get hurt. And there's a million more scenarios.

I don't know if this stuff stains clothing or how to even get it out! I guess I'm worried about damage, stains, and spending more money than I want. And most of all, embarrassment.

(The truth of the matter is that only about 13% of the time will your water break prior to the onset of labor. In fact, more than 75% of the time your water won't break until you're well into labor and more than 9 centimeters dilated, according to this website.)

That being said, I'm also a minority in the fact that I'm classified as obese YET: I do not have gestational diabetes. My child is not currently beyond the weight she should be. My blood pressure is never high at the doctor's office. I'm also a minority in the way that I waited to have sex and I've only ever been with my husband in that way. And I'm not having a child out of wedlock.

I really want to be in the 75% statistic right now for the water though.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Key to my ultrasound report and a change...

I know I gave you guys the whole "She's a Girl!" blog already but I got the report and I wanted you to know my findings :)

So, in case you ever wanted to know WAY too much about Emily and I, here it is:

Fetal lie: the relationship of the long axis of the fetus to the long axis of the mother, which basically is the fancy way of saying the baby's position in your body. My report says that she is "vertex," which means she's in the fetal position.

Placenta: Posterior, no previa - This means that the placenta is towards the back of my uterus and the placenta is attached to the baby correctly.

Placental grade: 0. It's just the rate that the placenta is maturity. Once it's closer to the due date, it should be a grade 3. It measures the calcifications in the placenta.

BPD, 48mm - BPD is the BiParietal Diameter, which is the diameter between the two sides of the head. Right now, that diameter comes out to almost 5 cm (or almost 2 inches), or a little smaller than the width of a full roll of Scotch tape. lol

FHR per minute 139 - her heart rate.

Fetal weight 360 g - she's a little more than 12 oz.

The rest is just bone measurements.

But if you've read this far, you should know... the ultrasound is saying she measures another 2 days older. So, according to the ultrasound, she's now due on 12/9/11. 

Friday, August 5, 2011

Sweet Dreams... or not

So, I read a few months ago that you will start to have more “vivid” dreams while you’re pregnant. While I was a little surprised not to hear of bagels or soda cans or some other food analogy to describe the vivid nature of my subconscious, I was actually excited that I’d have some interesting dreams to go along with this ride. And I have had some sweet ones:

Before I was pregnant, I dreamt of my 4-year old daughter not being able to decide what to wear to go to lunch. This caused Eric to say, “She’s your daughter.” Then, she decided that she wanted to go to the Chinese buffet for lunch, I said that she’s his. (At the time, we were going to the Chinese buffet a lot.)

A month ago, I dreamt my daughter was born early so she could prophesy about the people we will eventually minister with.

Two nights ago, I dreamt of meeting her and she had the cutest nose and perfect ears and she looked up at me. Then, she immediately fell asleep in my arms.

But lately, I’ve had some weird ones:

Two nights ago (separate dream), I dreamt that Denis Leary had become a hobo so I gave him money for a hotel room to clean up.

A couple of weeks ago, I dreamt that I ran all the way across town to go to the Mesquite Tree which turned out to be a fighting ground.

About 3 months ago, I dreamt I was at a party with friends and (long story short) I killed everyone who I thought was a threat to my friend’s newborn that she had just birthed on ecstasy.

I think I need to switch to milk before bedtime.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Today's appointment and concerns

I had my doctor's appointment today and everything is good with Emily :) By the way, that's her name for now until Eric steals it away ;)

Heart rate for her: 140 bpm
My blood pressure: 120/70
Weight gain since my last appointment: 4lbs
Total weight gain: -1lb

My doctor said that I should start gaining a pound a week from now until the end which might be harder said than done. I have really been struggling with how much weight is okay for me and what's permissable for me because of my starting weight. I've always had the mentality that eating healthy results in becoming thinner. I guess if I just focus on getting the nutrients I need, then it doesn't matter how much the scale says. It's just hard for me to feel that it's okay to gain weight because I don't know how much is her and how much is me. Maybe it's good that I'll be careful since it'll keep me from over-doing it. I know that the last few weeks haven't been the best (and I was a little worried that I'd gained 4 pounds) but I just need to be good and eat right - less heavy meals, more protein and vegetables.

Also, I told my doctor about a difficult Monday moment - I went to Ross so I could get Melanie's birthday gift and I was waiting in check out. I started shifting my weight back and forth because I was waiting a while and all of a sudden, I felt dizzy and nauseous and broke out in a cold sweat. I even left my stuff at the counter because I was afraid that I was about to throw up. I hurried to the bathroom - no throwing up. I had a sip of water. I told him that it had been breakfast time since I'd eaten (7:30am) and by the time this happened, it was around one. He told me to make sure I have a snack on me just in case.

Other than those two things, he said everything is normal. Next appointment is in 4 weeks and nothing to get done between the dates.

I asked when my belly will start stretching so Eric and my faithful readers (thanks!) can feel the baby move. He said it should be starting to happen by week 24 (I'm 21 weeks) and I'll start getting bigger soon.

Also, the medical assistant couldn't find the heart beat for her at first but Dr. Van Oosten finally did. He said that to get a a good response from the Doppler, it sometimes has to be right on the baby. Luckily, my little hider is good. :)

Today is good.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Eyes on the Prize

I really want to stay at home with Emily for the first year.

I was talking with my friend Joanne yesterday and she told me, if I really to stay home, I need keep my eyes on the prize. I need to figure out a way to stay at home. Does anyone have ideas, especially my stay-at-home mommies?

With the position that Eric just accepted out of Wal-mart, there's tons of potential for going up in the company. Within 3 years, I probably won't have to make the decision of working or not; just if we want to have another child. But by then, Emily will be almost 3 and I don't want to pay someone else if it's just going to cost my paycheck anyway.

I have had a few ideas rolling around which I'm researching - Find a work from home position (harder than it sounds), work part-time for 20 hours a week, take on a position as a caregiver, and there's a few others. Any help with any of the above ideas would be greatly appreciated. All I really need to make is $800 a month for us to not lose any income, less if Eric makes his bonus each quarter.

Either way, I know I need to do whatever I can to be a great mommy to Emily. Just have to figure out a few kinks in the plan.