Sonogram II

This morning I had another sonogram with Dr. Payne (maternal fetal medicine). It's still a girl! She was looking really comfy and moving her arms and legs. The doctor said everything was good. He took some measurements and I saw the heart beating. She's a real cutie! Jon couldn't be with me this morning and I know he really wanted to see her again. This will be my last appointment with Dr. Payne. I'm not sure if I'll have another sonogram with Dr. Kilianski, my OB, but I'll ask him at my next appointment in December. I feel so excited and happy and even a bit proud of my baby. I love looking at the sonogram pictures and I always wonder what she's doing, if she's moving around at certains times of the day or night. So far I've felt little flutters and they always make me smile. Can't wait to feel those kicks!

Childbirth Class #2

Last night we went to our second childbirth class at Baylor. This time there were plenty of snacks and a punch fountain! We learned about labor and watched a video with real mother's giving birth which was a shocker to some but since I've been watching Baby Story on TLC I knew what to expect to see. Jon said that it might be a good idea to get another person in the labor and delivery room since he might faint! After the video and break we all got on the floor with our pillows and blankets and did some breathing exercises. The husbands massaged the wives which felt really good! Jon kept making me laugh during the massage because the teacher told the husbands to talk to their wives to calm them down during labor. So Jon kept saying these funny things in my ear that made me crack up! He better not do that in the delivery room when I'm in active labor! The next class is Dec. 4 and that's when we'll get the hospital tour. I'm really looking forward to that. Oh, I'm 21 weeks along now! Yippee!

OB appointment

Today I had my OB appointment and everything's going well. I only gained 3 pounds and my doctor was happy about that. I heard the baby's heartbeat and she's doing well. I love hearing the heartbeat - it just makes it all real! My blood pressure was good too. Everytime I go for my OB appointment I have to do the urine sample and sometimes that's hard to do. So this time I loaded up on fluids before my appointment. I guess I'll be a pro at this by the time the baby's born. My next appointment will be in December. My doctor told me it's safe to travel during this trimester so that's good news for the holidays. I told him about my "insomnia" and he said I could take Benadryl to help me sleep. He said it's the pregnant woman's sleeping pill. I may try to fall asleep on my own but if I can't I might consider taking one. I'm just concerned about taking meds right now. Anyway, I'm so happy things are going well for baby!!

20 weeks

It's the halfway point in my pregnancy! I feel like celebrating! I'm so glad everything's gone well so far. I'm still waiting to feel the baby kick or move. Sometimes I think I feel her fluttering around for a moment when I'm really still. I'm really looking forward to all the baby things we'll get - furniture, clothes, keepsakes, etc. Today Jon and I went to Babies R Us to look at cribs, strollers, high chairs, bedding and everything else. It was fun! Plus, we saw a couple we met at our childbirth class. They were shopping around too.

I'm feeling better today. I'm still a little stuffy and I am so thirsty! The weather changed and it's cooler with lots of wind so my skin is getting drier and so are my lips. I'm beginning to use lots of body lotion and chapstick. Well, that's all for now. I'm going to get some more water!

First childbirth class

Tonight Jon and I attended our first childbirth class at Baylor Grapevine. Our receipt for the class said to bring two pillows and a blanket so we did. Jon also brought a notepad to take notes. We walked in the meeting room and signed in and got our name plate plus a goodie bag. There were 12 other couples there with their pillows and blankets. The tables were arranged in a U-shape and we each had a handout to read. We all were pretty quiet at the start but then the RN, Liz, made us do an ice breaker which turned out to be fun. We had to meet another couple and find three things we had in common that were not baby related. We met Curtis and Deanna and here's what we had in common: Cowboys fans, owned a truck and all four of us worked. After that we watched a powerpoint presentation and followed along in our books. Liz was very funny and we talked about a lot of things like what happens to a woman's body during pregnancy, hospital policies, labor and relaxation. We finally got on the floor to do some stretching and breathing exercises.

I think it went really well and we learned a lot. There are four more classes in this section. Each couple will be responsible for bringing snacks to class so our turn is December 4. During the third class meeting we'll hopefully get a hospital tour. It was pretty funny to me to see all the husbands carrying pillows and blankets. After class most of the women went straight to the bathroom while the husbands stood in the hallway with purses, pillows and blankets. It kinda made the men talk to each other so that was good.

Pregnant and sick

Yesterday I came down with a bit of a cold and sinus pressure. I really felt drained and thought about what I could do to get some relief! Ofcourse since I'm pregnant I really shouldn't take any meds unless I'm really uncomfortable. So I spoke to my doctor's nurse and she said that Benadryl at night would help me sleep better. I'm still leary about taking medicine but we'll see how tonight goes. Last night was just awful. I slept in spurts and kept drinking water and I had a lot of drainage and stuffiness. I think I may have had a few hours of sleep between 4AM and 7:30AM. I called a couple of friends who are also pregnant and they both went without meds when they were sick. Think I'll stick to green tea with lemon and honey, chicken soup (even though I don't like chicken), water, lots of fruit and some veggies. I need to keep eating healthy for the baby even though I'm sick. Hopefully this will pass quickly!

19 weeks

Well, it's true - I'm always thinking about food. Even if I'm not hungry, I'm thinking about food. I mostly crave things with cheese like enchiladas, pizza or grilled cheese sandwiches. I also crave sweet things like snickerdoodle cookies, scones, sweet/sour candy and cherry limeades. I am trying to eat healthy so I don't act on these cravings and most of the time it works. I especially like oranges and apples, whole wheat crackers, low fat cheese, jello, and water with lemon.

Oh, as I was trying to fall asleep last night, I thought I felt the baby move! It was weird, because it felt like a flutter. If it was the baby moving then that explains in part why I can't sleep at night! I was so excited that I lay really still to see if she'd move again but then I had dozed off.

Just found out that my good friend, Sandra, is also having a girl around the same time as me! I think we'll have lots of fun looking at baby girl things next week when we meet up for lunch.

Testing

Just thought I'd write about some testing that I've done during pregnancy so far. A few weeks ago I had a quad test aka maternal serum screening. With this blood test the risk of Down syndrome or trisomy 18 and neural tube defects can be determined. The test measures the amount of alpha-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, unconjugated estriol and inhibin A.

Today I had an appointment with a genetics counselor at the perinatal office. We went over the quad test and ultrasound results. The results were good! I was so relieved. There is still some risk but it's very small. I was given the option to undergo amniocentesis which is an invasive procedure and I decided against it.

My next OB appointment is in a couple of weeks and I'll have another perinatal appointment after that. So far things are going really well and we're really happy about that!