Peanut Tracker: Week 17 Recap: We Know the Gender!!!

I feel like we have been waiting forever, but we finally know the gender!

On Friday my mom and step father were visiting and we met up with Eric's parents at the ultrasound location for a gender identification ultrasound. I invited everyone into the room so they could watch the ultrasound and see their grandchild for the first time. The peanut looked great and I even watched it kick around and felt it at the same time, which was weird and amazing. After giving the technician a little trouble, it was announced:

It's a GIRL!!!

Cupcakes I made to celebrate with the grandparents

I was certain that it was a boy. I had dreams that it was a boy until they changed to dreams of a girl about two weeks ago. I was always drawn to boy clothes and nursery themes. But I am so happy that our peanut is a girl and that I can finally start spoiling her with clothes, toys, and other adorable things! Eric and I can also concentrate on picking a name, which should be interesting, to say the least.

We had a wonderful weekend visit with my parents and I didn't want it to end. They got into town Thursday evening and we sat around and chatted and ate pizza until after one in the morning. Friday was a busy day of getting ready for the ultrasound. I was running on less then 4 hours of sleep and was feeling pretty sick all day, but I fought through it because of all of the excitement. The best moment of the day was seeing the look on Eric's face when he called his grandmother to tell her we are having a daughter. It literally brought me to tears. After the ultrasound, we went out to dinner with Eric's parents, mom, Kirk, and Chris. Once we made it back home, we all called it an early night.

Saturday I went maternity clothing shopping with my mom because I needed a couple tops and shorts for the summer, then we met up with Kirk and Eric at Babies R Us to start looking at baby girl themes and items. We purchased a couple of outfits and got some great ideas for the registry. It will be an interesting day when Eric and I finally get the registry done! Eric grilled steak for dinner and my mom and I made strawberry shortcake to help with my strawberry cravings. We played canasta and talked about more baby stuff until bedtime.

My parents left today and I already miss them. However, they will be back for the baby shower this summer and I am already counting down the days. I feel so much better knowing the gender and am starting to enjoy my pregnancy now that I can shop and begin deciding on items that we want for the nursery.

17 weeks, 4 days

At this point, the peanut is somewhere between the size of an onion and a sweet potato. She has mastered swallowing, sucking, and blinking. This coming week her bones will begin to harden, including her inner ear, which means she will start hearing things like my heartbeat and my tummy rumbling! I am have more good days than bad as far as my sickness goes, which I am beyond excited about!

Current cravings: strawberries, chocolate ice cream, burgers
Current aversions: onions, tomatoes

I Am NOT Crazy!

It finally happened! I felt the peanut kick last night!

I was home and desperately trying to wake up Eric so he would make it to work on time. He is an impossible person to wake up (which makes me nervous for school mornings when the peanut is a teenager), so at one point I just gave up and laid there.

After a few minutes, I felt the strangest sensation. It was like a cross between butterflies in my belly and a muscle twitch. It was the oddest, most unique feeling I've ever had. I've never felt anything like it, so I know it was definitely not gas or anything like that. I looked at Eric and said "I think I just felt the baby kick!" And he grunted as if saying, "Yeah, right." So I continued to lay there silently, thinking I was just imagining it. I rolled over, onto my back, and I felt it again. "I definitely felt the baby kick." Eric put his hand on my belly for a few minutes and nothing happened, "You're crazy."

After talking to several experienced mommies, they confirmed that what I felt was a kick! It finally happened. Now I want it to happen again! However, the baby is still only the size of an onion, so I know the kicks will be faint for a little while longer. I just wish Eric could feel it too. But he will have to wait until the peanut is a little stronger.

The World is Not Made for Preggo's

I know that it seems like I've been really whiney lately. Well, I'm going to whine some more...

Everyone always talks about what a miracle pregnancy is and how women have such a beautiful glow. While that might be true, it has not been true for me. My peanut is a little miracle, beating the birth control odds. But, I have been terribly sick since before I even knew I was pregnant.

I ended up in the emergency room twice for dehydration (both pregnancy tests came back negative, by the way), and was dealing with nausea and exhaustion for weeks before we had a reason as to why. Since then, I have had to deal with "morning" sickness day and night almost 24/7. Leave it me to be part of the 10% or less of women who get this sick during pregnancy. I have had dry and cracked skin, chapped lips, and heartburn, all side effects of being so sick.

I have suffered from migraines for years and the only thing that helped to alleviate the pain was Topomax. Now that I'm pregnant, I can't take my medication. The doctor told me the only thing I can take is Tylonol (regular strength). So basically, nothing. My allergies are about 100,000 times worse than pre-pregnancy, and I can't take anything for that either. Why hasn't some pharmaceutical genius invented something for these issues?! If I could, I would.

When I walk around stores, people do one of two things: they don't pay attention or they pay too much attention. What I mean is, they either run into me, cut me off, or watch me struggle to pick something up. I very rarely hear "do you need help with that" or "I'm so sorry I bumped into you, are you ok". Very few stores have mother-to-be parking, which is annoying because walking a half mile from the back of the parking lot in 90+ degree heat while pregnant means you have no energy left for walking around the store (that's more for my friends who are in weeks 34-40). On the flip side, people think they have the right to come up to me and give me parenting advice and/or touch my belly without asking me first. If you aren't a close friend or family, don't touch my belly (unless you want me to rub yours too).

I have acne, back aches, food aversions, itching, shortness of breath, and have to pee every 30-45 minutes. I have to endure terrible, excruciating pain for who knows how many hours in 5 months. I have to deal with people judging every delivery and feeding decision I make after that. In short, pregnancy sucks.

Thank goodness there's a great ending to this awful journey. Can I just skip ahead to November so I can hold my baby and forget about the downside of pregnancy?!

Peanut Tracker: Week 16 Update

I can't believe I'll be 17 weeks tomorrow! As slow as time is passing because of my sickness, it still seems to be flying by. Which is good, because I want to meet my little peanut!

The biggest baby related activities this week have already been covered in previous articles: the maternity tour at the hospital and Eric kissing my belly. I still haven't felt any kicks, which is making me a little sad. But I know it's coming! The only new symptom is that the tops of my feet have been really itchy. My doctor doesn't seemed concerned about it, but it's really annoying. I'm just counting down to my mom and stepdad visiting this weekend and finding out the baby's gender on Friday!!!

16 weeks, 5 days

Going into week 17, the peanut is almost the size of an onion. It's legs and arms are longer, more developed, and have more controlled movements. Baby will be working on swallowing, sucking, and blinking this week, and fat will be forming under baby's skin.

Cravings: strawberries (strawberries and splenda, strawberries and yogurt, strawberry shortcake), sweet potatoes, chicken wings (so glad my chicken aversion is gone), chocolate milk shakes (not ice cream, just shakes), peanut butter, pasta.
Aversions: onions, tomatoes, pudding

Little (Emotional) Moments

Today was amazing.

I haven't felt the baby kick yet, but I know it's coming. I just hope it happens soon. But what made the day amazing was when I looked at my reflection and noticed how much bigger my belly has gotten this week, Eric put his hands on my belly and kissed our baby. It was the first time he's kissed my belly since we first found out we are going to be parents. It reminded me yet again why he is going to make an amazing father. I know that life will be tough at times, but I wouldn't want to take this journey with anyone else. 

There isn't much more going on in the world of baby. I had a little bit of a scare last night when I had a problem with food poisoning (thanks to the wonderful caterers my company hired for Employee Appreciation Day...I don't feel very appreciated). I was worried whatever I ate would cause problems with baby. The doctor said the only concern would be if I got dehydrated, which luckily, did not become an issue. 

Now begins the official countdown to the gender identification...7 days...

Maternity Tours & Final Decisions

Eric and I had our tour of Trident Medical Center, which is the only hospital my OB will allow me to deliver in. Since we had such limited choices in facilities, I was hesitant to stay with them. I had also seen the Mount Pleasant Hospital when visiting my friend and was very impressed with their postpartum rooms and the sleeping accommodations for the new dads. However, I think we are going to stick with our OB and plan on delivering at Trident after tonight.

We started off the evening on a great note with Eric breaking the "smoke free campus" rule before we left the parking lot. I told him the fact that he won't be able to just run downstairs for a smoke should be another incentive to quit sooner rather than later. After meeting in a conference room with several other couples and discussing other classes and important information we need to know before arriving for labor and delivery (like make sure your check-in paperwork is completed and received in advance, call your doctor before coming in, and making sure contractions are 5 minutes apart from beginning of one to the beginning of the next and about one minute in duration), we finally began the tour.

To get to the elevators we had to walk through the cafeteria. And let me just say, there is nothing crueler than forcing a bunch of pregnant women to walk through the aroma of baking pizza around supper time when they can't stop to eat! We were able to see the rooms, which were clean and accommodating and helped ease my jitters before heading into the hospital in October. The hospital is in the middle of renovating some of the rooms and they will have tubs for water births and even better furnishings. I like that they have only one room for Labor, Delivery, and Recovery, and then transfer mom and baby to a postpartum room where we would stay until discharge. I DO NOT want to be carted all over the hospital while trying to deal with excessive pain. And I absolutely love that as long as the baby is healthy, they let the baby stay in the room with the parents the whole time. They also have great security measures to prevent baby snatchers (which is comforting and worrisome at the same time).

The only downside to this hospital is that the rooms aren't very big and the sleeping arrangements for Eric won't be that great. His "bed" is basically a fully reclining chair that's just a little wider than most chairs. It looks like we might be packing lots of pillows so he'll be able to get some rest too!

So it seems Eric and I have made our first big baby decision. Which is great because I didn't want to have to find a new office that understands and works with me on all of the issues I've been having, as well as my past medical issues. I'm sad because my best friend is due within days of my due date and will be delivering on the other side of town, but I really think staying with our OB and Trident is the best decision for me, baby, and Eric.

What grown up decisions will I make tomorrow?

Peanut Tracker: Mother's Day and Week 15 Recap

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommy's and mommy-to-be's out there!

Eric and I celebrated Mother's Day by visiting his wonderful momma in his home town. We had a great time with his family. His brother and sister-in-law brought their adorable new baby, so there was a lot of cooing and cuddling going on all day! We had a delicious meal, shared some laughs, and then drove back late last night. The only thing that would have made the weekend better would have been if I could have seen my mom. But she'll be here to visit soon!

I can't believe that I'll be 16 weeks tomorrow! Time is flying by and I'm glad that I'm writing down notes on my entire pregnancy or I would never remember it! I am actually starting to feel better for longer periods and if I do get sick, I recover a lot sooner then before. Hopefully that means I will be feeling wonderful just in time to start enjoying kicks from the peanut and shopping for the nursery!

We scheduled a gender identification ultrasound for Friday, May 25. My mother and stepfather will be in town, so we invited them and Eric's parents to the appointment. It will be the first time our parents meet, but I think it will be better for everyone to meet this way versus meeting in the waiting room. I'm sure everything will go swimmingly, especially since all of the focus will be on baby. 

15 weeks, 6 days

As my sickness dissipates, my eating habits are finally getting better. I am trying to add more fruits and veggies back into my diet where I can and can't wait until I can eat some at every meal. I finally gained a pound, so that means I'm actually keeping some things down! The peanut's hair on its head is growing in, has thin, translucent skin, blood vessels are forming, it's limbs are becoming more developed and movements more controlled, and its skeletal system is developing (explains my milk and cheese cravings this week). The peanut is about the size of an avocado at this point.  My current cravings are McDonald's fries, sweet potatoes, vinegar, peanut butter, cinnamon, drumstick ice cream. Current aversions are onions, tomatoes, pudding.