Thursday 26 July 2007

Appointment + Bundles For Babies

Well, my appointment on Monday went great! I was quite nervous going in, but the doc said that was normal. A lot of people are nervous because they aren't usually feeling movement yet, they aren't quite showing yet, you're feeling pretty good in the second trimester so there is little to make you "feel" pregnant.

That baby's heartbeat was at 150 bpm, and my uterus is right where it's suppose to be at this stage in the pregnancy. She was very happy with my weight gain, 4lbs, for a total of 6 lbs. I about had a heart attack when I got on the scale, but she seems to think that its good, so I'll just keep smiling and eating. Let me tell you though, I feel like a weight yo-yo. Up, Down, Up... at least I have a reason for going up! We discussed me being sick (which I STILL am fighting off), she gave me a prescription for Sudafed and told me I could use the Vicks Vaporizer to see if it helped. I must admit that the vaporizer helped a lot! I'm still coughing up green goobers, but mostly at night and when I lie down.

That was about it for the appointment, I need to go back at 24 weeks, but I can't schedule the appointment for another 4. She did however call in my 22 week ultrasound and some blood work, so after I left there, I headed down to radiology to schedule the ultrasound. Unfortunately their calendar wasn't open that far so I need to call back the first week in August to book the appointment. That one will be the one where we get to find out if it's a boy or a girl (I hope)!

I also went to the Lab and had the triple screen drawn and I had to do a 1 hour glucose test. The glucose syrup stuff they gave me to drink wasn't actually too bad. I had a choice between orange and lemon-lime. I chose orange and it wasn't bad, tasted like super sweet orange soda I thought. Now the "ugh, I've eaten too much sugar" feeling wasn't great especially having to sit there for an hour, but it was manageable. I was absolutely starving as I had to fast and my appointment wasn't until 1pm, it was 3 before I got my blood drawn and got to eat! I could have eaten a horse! The doc said she would call if there were any abnormal results.

Drew and I went to a Bundles For Babies briefing at Mildenhall this morning at 0830. It wasn't extremely exciting, but we did learn a few things. We covered dental care for mother/child, a little bit of nutrition, budgeting for baby, WIC, etc. A lot of stuff didn't apply to us because we are going to be leaving the UK before the baby is born, but quite a bit did as well. We also got a free bundle of nice stuff! It is all Gerber stuff, Onesies, sleep and plays, a couple of crib sheets, a receiving blanket, booties, bibs and we won a bottle of baby shampoo playing a game. We were both so tired when we got home we took a much needed nap.

I think I'm starting to show a little. By my next photo (18 weeks), I bet you'll see a somewhat noticeable belly. It seems to be going so slow! Mostly, I just feel bloated and fat, but I guess that's to be expected. At the briefing, there was a lot of people way more pregnant than I am, so I was a little jealous of their baby bellies! I'll get there eventually. Until next time!

Sunday 22 July 2007

16 weeks

Hi everybody! I'm updating with my 16 week photo today. Please don't mind my black bra and pink shirt. I thought the shirt showed more than the ones I usually wear for the pics, so I threw it on real quick not realizing that I wasn't wearing the right bra for the occasion. I promise I don't go out in public like that!

So I've been sick for 9 days now. It started off with a sore throat, then moved into my chest with a bad cold and cough. The sore throat is gone but I'm still up all night coughing like crazy and it's in my sinuses too. I'm miserable! I went to the doctor last Tuesday and he gave me Robitussin and a bronchiodilater. They don't seem to be working. I'm getting better during the day, still coughing but have more energy. At least yesterday I had enough energy to go to the grocery store. Today we're going to see Harry Potter, so things are improving. If only I could get rid of all this junk!

Some exciting news, kind of. I think I've started to feel light movements. I'm not really sure what it's suppose to feel like so I can't tell for sure. I read that it's been likened to fluttering, gas bubbles and popcorn popping. I definitely feel the popcorn popping feeling now and then. Particularly if I sit in a certain way. Of course, it could very well be gas too.

I have my 16 week appointment tomorrow along with some bloodwork. Not sure if I'll have anything exciting to update, but I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Here's the picture for this week. I'm pretty bloated the last couple of days so I'm not sure if I'm starting to show yet or if it's just because I'm full of air.
Ta Ta!

Sunday 15 July 2007

15 Weeks

Another rather uneventful week as far as pregnancy is concerned! I did start feeling like I had an itchy throat on Thursday, and by Friday night it was full blown sick with white patches, feeling like I was swallowing razor blades, and a bad headache. Yesterday I was still not feeling great so I slept on and off most of the day. Today I'm feeling much better in my throat, but it's moved down to my chest and I'm coughing up a lot of ugly stuff. If it doesn't start to clear up tomorrow I'll go to the doc and see if they can do anything for me.

Anyway, enough about me, what about baby??? Here's an excerpt from babycenter.com, and what they have to say about week 15!

"At around 4 inches long, crown to rump, your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 ounces. He's busy inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, which will help develop the air sacs in his lungs. His legs are growing longer than his arms now, and he can move all his joints and limbs. That means his hands are more functional, too. Sweat glands are appearing, and although his eyelids are fused shut, he can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, he's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but his taste buds are beginning to form. And if you have an ultrasound, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or girl! (Don't be disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down the sex depends somewhat on how clear the picture is and the position of your baby during the ultrasound; he may be curled or turned in such a way as to keep you in suspense.)"

My appointment is next Monday to do more blood work and just a check up. I'll update more later!

Monday 9 July 2007

Hello 2nd Trimester!

Woohoo!! We made it to 14 weeks (and 1 day in this photo). Everything is going great, I've got 2 weeks until my next appointment, though not expecting anything exciting to happen at that one. I received a lovely package from my Dad and Leslie in the mail today with this cute tank top in it, it's written like a movie review and says "Two thumbs way up!" - yours truly. COMING SOON To a hospital Near you. PG Preggo guidance not suggested. Some scary moments and Mild Language. Too cute! Thanks Dad and Leslie!


I haven't felt nauseous in a while now, and I've been starting to crave the healthy foods I was eating before I got pregnant as opposed to the junk food I've been fighting off the urges for (and sometimes losing!) for the past couple of months. I've been taking my vitamins every day and trying to drink lots of water. I'm still wanting lots of citrus so we keep a stock of oranges and grapefruit at the house.

Besides that, I have very few symptoms, and the ones I do have, you don't want to know about, trust me!

We did go to Scotland over the weekend, and had an okay time. We ended up cutting the trip short by a day and coming home. We skipped going up to Loch Ness. It was going to be another 7 hour round trip drive from Edinburgh, the weather wasn't great and we were tired! The hostel we stayed at was absolutely disgusting! The first bad hostel experience we've had in our travels. Plus there was no parking so we had to pay about $40 a day to park at a mall parking lot, that was quite the unexpected expense.

We did enjoy the tourist stuff, Edinburgh Castle, the churches, learning about the history of Edinburgh, and of course lots of pics! We walked a TON, and climbed lots of stairs (our hotel was on the 5th floor of a building, with no elevators). I'm STILL sore today, but that's okay, it just means I got a good workout right? Overall, we're glad that we went, but we were glad to get home. Traveling in the UK is just too expensive! We're hoping to get one more trip into mainland Europe before we leave here.

So that's the update for this week! I'll start doing photos every 2 weeks now that I should start growing a little faster! I'm anxious to start showing, so I can look as pregnant as I feel! Really!

Love to you all!

Wednesday 4 July 2007

Woot! For Free Stuff!

The last two days has been full of goodies! Yesterday I came home to find 3 bags of maternity clothes that were handed down from my friend Mary! There was all sorts of stuff in there, for every occasion, and weather! I was pretty excited because I wasn't looking forward to having to buy clothes I would only be wearing for a few months.

THEN, this morning I was looking out the window and there were TWO couches (well, a couch and a love seat) sitting on the communal corner. I call it that because whenever people have furniture that they want to get rid of, they stick out on the corner, and it's gone within 24 hours usually. We've put a lot of stuff out there, and sure enough! Gone the next day! Our couch, which we got for free almost 3 years ago is doing pretty poorly, and we were thinking we would have to buy one when we got back to the states, but nothing is better than free! More money for baby!

Anyway, they are made out of that microfiber stuff that feels like suede but isn't. They looked almost new from the upstairs window that I first caught a glimpse of them, but upon closer inspection, we found them to be absolutely disgusting! I thought, what the heck, lets bring them in and see if we can salvage them.

So, we started with this (click to see larger.. gross huh!):


And with a LOT of steam cleaning, Reslove, Mr. Cleans magic eraser, and a bunch of elbow grease, we ended up with this:

So much better! It just needs brushed to get the fibers soft again. They are all a bit matted from being wet, then drying. The couch started off in a bit better condition than the love seat, but I had already started cleaning it before I thought to do a before and after photo!

They aren't perfect, but they will get us by for quite a while I'm sure. It's true they say, one mans trash, is another mans treasure! Now, if only we had more room!

Sunday 1 July 2007

Thirteen Weeks!

It's the last week of my first trimester, can you believe it!?? The cool thing about that, is that by the end of the next 13 weeks, we should be home!!! It seems so much shorter when you think of it in terms of weeks, as opposed to months! According to babycenter.com, the bean is about 3 inches long now and weighs about an ounce.

I haven't posted this week because well, I haven't really had much going on. Morning sickness seems to be subsiding for the most part. I'm pretty much able to eat the regular foods I had been eating before, but I still give in to those cravings I get. Not ALL the time, but some of the time. I've had a big thing for citrus lately! Oranges and grapefruit, I just can't get enough! I'm going to try and start juicing again too, I was loving my juices in the morning!

I did get my next appointment scheduled finally, July 23rd, our anniversary! No ultrasound this time, but another listen to the heart beat, and a general exam. I'll have to do some blood work as well for the triple screen and the YUCK, 1 hour glucose test.

I also had to buy some new tops recently. My pants still fit pretty well, but my belly is starting to hang unattractively over the edges a little. So I bought some tops that are long that hang instead of cling. They actually seem to be in style here, so I'll be hip, and cover up, imagine that!

The only other exciting news is that we're going to Scotland next weekend for 4 days! We're going to be staying in Edinburgh, and we're going to take one day to drive up to Loch Ness to see if we can get a chance to see Nessie, and to see the sites of course! I'm pretty excited about the trip! I'll be sure to link to photos when I get them processed and uploaded on the web.

That's all for now, I'll add an updated photo soon to mark the end of my first trimester!