24 weeks- Heart Palpitations

Lately, I feel like all I hear is my own heartbeat.  When I’m sitting at work, laying down in bed, or just doing regular chores, all I hear is my heartbeat thumping in my own ears.  I had M take my heart rate the other day and normally, I’m about 60 bpm resting heart rate.  We swore we calculated it to be about 90 bpm when I was just sitting on the couch. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that I have additional blood in my body that’s going to the little man, or that I’m just high strung all the time, but  I feel like I’m on drugs.  Everything I do is at a fast pace- thinking, talking, walking, or any sort of task.   M has to ask me to “slow down” and “back up” when I just start pouring out a stream of consciousness.  My mind races 24 hours a day and I’ve been having some insomnia when I wake up to pee in the middle of the night.  Some nights if I’m up at 3am I won’t be able to go back to sleep until 4 or 430am because of my heart and mind racing.  Between my work hours, wedding  & baby showers, bachelorette parties, weddings, thirtieth birthday parties, and birth prep/baptism classes coming up in March and April, I think I have thrown myself into a full blown hurricane.  I need to call my doula and schedule that prenatal massage, asap because even as I sit here typing, I can still hear my blood pulsing through my veins.  Come to think of it, I haven’t felt the little guy kicking very much over the last few days- maybe it’s time to Doppler for good measure.

I’m officially 6 months today and about two weeks from being out of my second trimester…one more to go! It is sad that it is moving so fast- I really am enjoying pregnancy.   Sure there are small annoyances (the teenage breakouts, heart palpitations as described above and embarrassing bodily functions) but overall I just love being pregnant.  I love having him near me and being able to talk to him any time I want.  I love that I am fully responsible for his life and there is nothing I want more in this world than to do right by him and see him flourish.  I want to give him everything and be perfect for him. Other than having him in my arms right now, this is the second best heaven I can imagine. 

I don’t really have any other symptoms to speak of other than the ones above.  I sleep pretty well, eat all of my normal foods (still refraining from a lot of meats, processed cheeses, dairy and caffeine) and get around pretty well.  Sometimes sitting too long hurts my back and butt, but if I have my feet up it is usually ok.  I obviously have to sleep on my side and rolling over takes quite a bit of effort.   I sit all day at work so my feet aren’t swollen- yet.  No cravings to speak of, but I’m doing a better job of avoiding meat and cow’s milk than I thought I would- I really don’t miss it.  I don’t miss alcohol either, but I do miss exercise.  I haven’t been to the gym at all since my IVF cycle started back in September- I was on exercise restriction anyway and even when I got past my first trimester I just didn’t feel like I should be doing a lot of that stuff.  I know they say it is good for you and doesn’t do any damage, but I’d rather just take these 9 months and put my feet up.  There’s plenty of time after baby arrives to whip my butt back into shape.  Pregnancy weight gain to date is holding steady at 20 lbs but we will see next week at my monthly appointment.  In the third trimester I read it’s a pound a week so if I can get to delivery up 30-35 lbs I would say not too shabby.  Here’s the latest picture of the bump, taken last night after a very very long day with the tax accountant, at a nursing home (visiting M’s grandmother) and at an in-law family get together.

23 weeks- Refinancing

Just add one more thing onto our overfilled plates- this past week we started the process of refinancing our home.  We had a really good rate to begin with (since we bought in 2009) but we are revamping our long term finances and plan so were on the hunt for an even better deal.  I ended up finding something with my credit union that decreased our mortgage rate from 4.5% for 30 years to 3.125% for 15 years.  Well worth the closing costs and headaches to complete this before the baby comes.  We are still waiting for M's life insurance and short term disability policy to kick in though- it's been 3 weeks since his bloodwork and we are dying to see how he comes in!

I had my monthly ultrasound last Friday. He is feet down, head up this time.  He is measuring approximately 12 inches long and 1 lb 2 oz!  He was moving around like crazy again during the ultrasound, putting his fingers in his mouth and curling his hands under his chin.   He is most active around lunch time and after dinner.  No stretch marks on me yet and my belly button is still in, though I am breaking out like a teenager.  Cravings are still at a minimum-I am still trying to keep a vegetarian/vegan diet, no soda or caffeine, but I can't help my sweet tooth :-)  I think the gestational diabetes test is coming up soon...

22 weeks- Cord Blood research

So first of all, most everyone smirks at me when I tell them I want to have a "natural" bith and have hired a doula.  But that just makes me want it more so I can throw it in their faces.  And I just love when people that have done zero reserach on risk and reward of c- section, medical interventions and childbirth weigh in.  I was all set for my doctor to be super supportive, but even the midwife turned OBGYN said "not to discourage you, but most women get in there and don't really know what they are in for."   I suppose time will tell if I will even be able to do it, but there would have to be a significant life or death situation to steer me away from my goal right about now.  If for no other reason, than to spite the non -believers.  Ok, enough about that.

Happy 22 weeks to the big man! 

I have been doing some research on cord blood banking and am so torn on whether or not to do it.  On the one hand, I know how much we've spent for IVF treatments to get him here, would it really be a crime to spend another $1-$2K to make sure he's covered for life should something unexpected happen?   But on the other hand, the chances that he'll actually get to, or have to, use his own cord blood to help with a disease is so minimal, I'm not sure that these companies prey on new parents.  My one sister in law did not bank her son's cord blood, but the other one did.  I'm getting many conflicting viewpoints, not to mention our own viewpoints, and am still so confused.  My doctor didn't have an opinion either way, he simply said to follow our gut.   My gut says to just do it, but I do not like to be duped into thinking something will work when it really won't.  I suppose I have a few more weeks of research to do!

Most of the time, I feel like I'm on speed or something. My brain goes a mile a minute and sometimes when I'm talking to M, he tells me to "back up"- like, I get in his face and ramble on and on with a stream of consciousness coming out of my mouth.  I am really on overdrive here and I think I need to just take a breath and realize that it will all work out.  My stress is manifesting itself in my back, and last night I didn't sleep at all because of horrific upper back pain.  Not even Tylenol or the heating pad helped.   I'm delerious!

21 weeks- Natural Birth

Happy 21 weeks to my little man!  He weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long.   I feel him multiple times a day, every day.  Sometimes it's still fluttering, but a lot of the time it's little flicks like a gas bubble bursting.  I only know it's not because I feel it a few times in a row and it will come and go repeatedly.  He also has eyebrows and eyelids now!!  I love feeling him move around in there, it makes me smile every time.  I can't wait for the day when I can feel it from the outside so M can get in on some of this action.  It really is an amazing thing that you only really appreciate when you are going through it yourself.

My latest endeavor, but actually one that's been going on for quite awhile, is my research on natural, un-medicated birth.  It started about four months ago when M & I watched two documentaries, "Pregnant in America" and "The Business of Being Born".   After watching both, we began to discuss what we thought our birth experience should be like.  I started researching birth centers, doulas, midwives, and ordering books on amazon.com like a crazy person.  As I mentioned before, I just read "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" by Ina May Gaskin and am currently reading about the Bradley Method of childbirth (i.e. "husband coached" childbirth).  I hired a doula in the hopes of being able to labor for awhile at home before I'm sent to the hospital and I start being monitored on their clock.  In general, I am not afraid of having a baby.  But I'm TERRIFIED of being bullied into unnecessary medical procedures, just because they are trying to rush me out of a hospital bed or because my doctor doesn't want to work over the weekend.  I am trying to educate myself on the options that are available to me, and the absolute deal breaker situations that require a c- section to save the life of me or my baby.  Other than the deal breakers, I don't want to be forced into a c-section.  I want to labor on my own and be left alone until I'm finished- like other members of the animal kingdom.  It's only natural.