Looks Like Expectations
Time for the monthly update.
That's what it's turned into at this point. Writing once a month instead of multiple times a week. That's probably good. Maybe it means my sanity is creeping back in.
Or, at least, my normal brand of insanity, rather than the biological clock ticking type that had been dominating my life for the last year or two.
I've had two doctor's appointments since the last update. I was a little nervous at the first one because of the headaches. Someone had told me, and I had read, that frequent headaches can mean high blood pressure.
Listen. I wouldn't be surprised if my body started rebelling against me in new kinds of ways. I've been eating sort of kind of out of control, at least for me. Potato chips are now consumed almost daily. Not an entire bag of them or anything, but definitely more like three servings than one. French fries. A ton of cheese. Really, if any normal human saw me, they'd probably think I'm eating like a normal human, but I'm usually so anal about what I'm eating that this can feel a little off.
The appointment was typical. Here, pee in this cup. Stand on this scale. (Thankfully they never tell me what I weigh. But I know it can't be too disastrous because my clothes all still fit me.) Sit on this bed and we'll take your blood pressure. After that, the nurse leaves me for a few minutes and the doctor shows up. I had to stop the nurse at this particular appointment and say, "Wait, is my blood pressure okay?" Because she was literally telling me nothing.
"Oh yes!" she said with a big smile. "It's perfect!"
Right. So that's good.
The doctor came in and stuck the fetal doppler on my stomach. It didn't take long to find baby's heartbeat, which is such a cool sound. Jon was there for this one, and we got very smiley and mildly teary (at least I did). And that was it. Again, the doctor went to leave without saying much else.
"Did my blood work come back okay?" I had to ask, since I hadn't heard anything from the lab.
"Yup. Everything's good."
Why do I have to ask all these questions? I guess, like I've said, everyone figures they'll tell you when something's wrong. Good news is also welcome, doctors!
The other appointment I've had since then was just an AFP blood test for spina bifoda. Haven't heard from them on that in the past week, so assuming the news is fine. I would think it would be anyway since we had genetic screening done on the embryos, but I guess you never know how things will develop.
I'm currently 17 1/2 weeks pregnant. When I was hitting 16 weeks, a coworker pointed out to me that I'm four months in. Four months! That's almost halfway through this thing.
Which is amazing because there's still not a huge amount going on in my body. As I said, my clothes still fit me. Well, I found one pair of pants that didn't button, and one that did but was tight, so I ended up tying it off with a hair tie once I got to work because I wasn't going to make it through the day.
And I did wear some tight clothes while working out the other day and noticed I definitely look a little larger. It's probably not noticeable in regular clothes that aren't super tight, though. I'm torn between being happy to start showing - that'll come when I actually look round, not just like I've packed on a few pounds - and being nervous about how much I've let myself go and how much is actual weight and feeling fat.
Because, you know. I'm crazy.
At least I am back to being able to work out, at least a little. I'm used to doing P90X and Insanity, and obviously those aren't optimal pregnancy workouts. I'm doing some more moderate stuff when I can manage it. This week, I've had some severe fatigue, so there was more napping than exercising.
I've also had some mild pain in the uteran area. Last Saturday, I felt like I was living that scene in Alien- the skin of my stomach felt stretched so taught I thought something was going to come bursting out of it. That feeling has dissipated slowly throughout the week, but some pain has moved to be more internal. I've got some minor cramping going on, enough to be noticeable and make me walk a little slower than normal. I think it's mostly normal, though I'm afraid to Google anything, as WebMD will probably tell me I'm dying. Especially combined with the stretching I feel in my groin and the pain I get in my right thigh when I sleep.
Jon's done some research for me, and it's all normal. I've asked around and heard from some friends that yes, they felt these things, too, and pregnancy isn't all sunshine and roses.
Though it is definitely better than the pre-pregnancy depression.
We got our own fetal doppler this week, which is a lot of fun to use. We listen to baby's heart beat once or twice a day. It was a little difficult to find the first time, but now we have a general idea of where she is. It's reassuring to hear the steadiness of it. We even recorded a snippet and sent it to my MIL overseas. It's nice to be able to share with her since she's so far away.
Spring break is next week. Anticipating some baby shopping, although that's part of our weird cultural baby obsession that's really not my thing, and wondering if I'll return to work afterwards actually looking like I'm expecting.
That's what it's turned into at this point. Writing once a month instead of multiple times a week. That's probably good. Maybe it means my sanity is creeping back in.
Or, at least, my normal brand of insanity, rather than the biological clock ticking type that had been dominating my life for the last year or two.
I've had two doctor's appointments since the last update. I was a little nervous at the first one because of the headaches. Someone had told me, and I had read, that frequent headaches can mean high blood pressure.
Listen. I wouldn't be surprised if my body started rebelling against me in new kinds of ways. I've been eating sort of kind of out of control, at least for me. Potato chips are now consumed almost daily. Not an entire bag of them or anything, but definitely more like three servings than one. French fries. A ton of cheese. Really, if any normal human saw me, they'd probably think I'm eating like a normal human, but I'm usually so anal about what I'm eating that this can feel a little off.
The appointment was typical. Here, pee in this cup. Stand on this scale. (Thankfully they never tell me what I weigh. But I know it can't be too disastrous because my clothes all still fit me.) Sit on this bed and we'll take your blood pressure. After that, the nurse leaves me for a few minutes and the doctor shows up. I had to stop the nurse at this particular appointment and say, "Wait, is my blood pressure okay?" Because she was literally telling me nothing.
"Oh yes!" she said with a big smile. "It's perfect!"
Right. So that's good.
The doctor came in and stuck the fetal doppler on my stomach. It didn't take long to find baby's heartbeat, which is such a cool sound. Jon was there for this one, and we got very smiley and mildly teary (at least I did). And that was it. Again, the doctor went to leave without saying much else.
"Did my blood work come back okay?" I had to ask, since I hadn't heard anything from the lab.
"Yup. Everything's good."
Why do I have to ask all these questions? I guess, like I've said, everyone figures they'll tell you when something's wrong. Good news is also welcome, doctors!
The other appointment I've had since then was just an AFP blood test for spina bifoda. Haven't heard from them on that in the past week, so assuming the news is fine. I would think it would be anyway since we had genetic screening done on the embryos, but I guess you never know how things will develop.
I'm currently 17 1/2 weeks pregnant. When I was hitting 16 weeks, a coworker pointed out to me that I'm four months in. Four months! That's almost halfway through this thing.
Which is amazing because there's still not a huge amount going on in my body. As I said, my clothes still fit me. Well, I found one pair of pants that didn't button, and one that did but was tight, so I ended up tying it off with a hair tie once I got to work because I wasn't going to make it through the day.
And I did wear some tight clothes while working out the other day and noticed I definitely look a little larger. It's probably not noticeable in regular clothes that aren't super tight, though. I'm torn between being happy to start showing - that'll come when I actually look round, not just like I've packed on a few pounds - and being nervous about how much I've let myself go and how much is actual weight and feeling fat.
Because, you know. I'm crazy.
At least I am back to being able to work out, at least a little. I'm used to doing P90X and Insanity, and obviously those aren't optimal pregnancy workouts. I'm doing some more moderate stuff when I can manage it. This week, I've had some severe fatigue, so there was more napping than exercising.
I've also had some mild pain in the uteran area. Last Saturday, I felt like I was living that scene in Alien- the skin of my stomach felt stretched so taught I thought something was going to come bursting out of it. That feeling has dissipated slowly throughout the week, but some pain has moved to be more internal. I've got some minor cramping going on, enough to be noticeable and make me walk a little slower than normal. I think it's mostly normal, though I'm afraid to Google anything, as WebMD will probably tell me I'm dying. Especially combined with the stretching I feel in my groin and the pain I get in my right thigh when I sleep.
Jon's done some research for me, and it's all normal. I've asked around and heard from some friends that yes, they felt these things, too, and pregnancy isn't all sunshine and roses.
Though it is definitely better than the pre-pregnancy depression.
We got our own fetal doppler this week, which is a lot of fun to use. We listen to baby's heart beat once or twice a day. It was a little difficult to find the first time, but now we have a general idea of where she is. It's reassuring to hear the steadiness of it. We even recorded a snippet and sent it to my MIL overseas. It's nice to be able to share with her since she's so far away.
Spring break is next week. Anticipating some baby shopping, although that's part of our weird cultural baby obsession that's really not my thing, and wondering if I'll return to work afterwards actually looking like I'm expecting.
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