Third Ultrasound

Today I had a second cervical ultrasound and third abdominal ultrasound. My cervix is still strong and long, 3.4 cm. That is a sigh of relief. I am so glad I don't have to be in that study group at OSU. And I got to see the baby again today. He is almost one pound, which is great! My OB's ultrasound machine is kind of dated, and the pictures were kind of blurry and blobby, but I was able to make him out when he would move. That wasn't often, because he was sleeping. He was also head down, facing towards my back. The ultrasound tech was not able to get a good profile shot this time around. I may post the pics on here someday soon, but the quality was so poor that it hardly seems worth it. His heartrate was 138 bpm while he was sleeping. Everything looks very good right now. His head was measuring 7 cm. I can't wait to hold him in my arms.
In belly button news, I am almost popped! It is super shallow & ready to be an outie.

Weird Monday

Yesterday was such a strange day. First of all, I had an OB appointment. I have gained 14# so far, just at the high end of normal, so I have to watch it these next 20 weeks. Also, I have to have another cervical ultrasound next week, and if it measures < 3.0 cm, I will be enrolled in a study at OSU & have to take progesterone supplements. Hopefully, it won't come to that, though.
After the appointment, I started to clean the condo. We recently cancelled our cleaning service & this was my first deep cleaning. I was standing next to the coat closet, getting some supplies, and heard someone open the storm door. Then I heard someone stick their key in the lock. Instinctively, I slammed my body against the door & yelled "Who is it?" I looked out the peephole & this guy started stammering, "Oh, I must have the wrong place." Then I watched him get in his pickup truck. When he was in the truck, I opened the door & watched him drive away fast. Now, he might have been driving away fast because I scared him, but it was a little fishy. We have given out our keys to a cleaning service and also some painters. We got the keys back, but there's no way to tell if copies of our key had been made. So then I had to get the locks changed and give a police report. All of this consumed a heck of a lot of my day. Then I had to get back to cleaning.
I finally sat down at around 6 pm & put my feet up. Hello, edema! My first episode of swollen ankles. I could actually leave thumbprints on them. I was hoping it would never come to that.
Today was a lot more low key, thank goodness.
Although today at work I did touch base with a girl who gave birth almost 2 months ago to an 8 week premature baby boy. Unfortunately, he developed necrotizing enteritis & has had to have several surgeries already. We are hoping he gets off of IV nutrition soon & heals. The doctors are amazed that he has survived after being so sickly, so I am hoping that his fighting spirit prevails.

Caffeine & Aspartame Sins

I'm sitting here on a Sunday night in front of the TV, sipping on a diet soft drink. Only half a can, but still. Last night, DH and I had a date night at the movies. And while I was very good about not eating junk (after a pizza lunch) at the theater, a diet sparkly drink sounded very, very appealing.

Ah, the guilt!

My pregnancy books say no to artificial sweeteners & no to excessive caffeine. Okay, so I can forgive the minimal amount of caffeine this half a can of soda pop is giving me, but diet soda has been soooo taboo to me for a while, that I can't help but feel guilty. And then I think of all of the women before me who probably guzzled Tab soda & Diet colas & have delivered healthy babies. It's not that bad, is it?

Last night when I was getting ready for bed, I patted my very bloated belly & noted that my belly button is hardly sunken in anymore. It barely dips. Ugh, gross. It's going to be popping out here in the next few weeks, I can tell. My belly button is the most neglected part of my body because it grosses me out. I mostly choose to pretend it doesn't exist. But this new pressure system down there tells me that I can't ignore it much longer. Bleh. At this moment, I have to itch it because it tickles just to think about it.

But another surprise awaited me. When I climbed into bed, the weight of my belly made it a little uncomfortable to lay on my back. But instead of immediately changing positions, I laid there for a few minutes because I felt Corbin was pretty active. Sure enough, he started kicking & twisting all around. I put my hand on my belly & actually felt him kicking from the outside. I had DH put his hand on me, too. He says he felt it, but I don't think he really did, because he didn't seem as excited as I would have expected, considering he has been asking about it for a couple of weeks. Anyway, after a while, I had to turn on my left side & put a pillow between my knees to get comfortable.

DH just came down the steps with a new goatee. He shaved off his beard, which is understandable since it is summertime, but I do hope he makes a decision about his facial hair before the baby comes. I remember that when I was little & my dad shaved off his beard, I freaked out because I didn't recognize him. DH looks good any way he shaves (or doesn't). And any way he decides, the baby will probably always associate him with a prickly face.

Above is a pic of the nursery so far. We have a lot of decorating to do, but you can at least see our furniture. We are going with a jungle theme & hope to get some cane trees to round out the whole look. My favorite piece right now is the glider. I also got out my old children's books & am displaying them on the new bookcase. DH read me (and the baby) a book the other day to bone up on his skills. It was sweet.

I'm All About Food

I'm a dietitian for a living. While DH and I were TTC, I romanticized that I would eat only organic, whole foods to nourish my baby while he grows. I stopped by KFC on the way home one night for some honey BBQ boneless wings, and my husband was shocked. "You never eat fast food. Not since I have known you!" And I turned heads in the breakroom at work when I repeated the treat a few days later.

Today, it started out okay for lunch. I had a yogurt with some bran bud cereal (the kind that looks like twigs), a tablespoon of flax, and then I saw my hubby's leftover Doritos from his fishing trip. Whoops. I finished the bag. That was my lunch.

About cravings... I have not had many that "stuck." Usually, something sounds really good to me, but once I eat it, the love affair is immediately over. Four or five weeks ago, I remembered a favorite treat from my childhood. The namesake of this blog. The Giant Chewy kind. I remember when I had the chickenpox, they were all I wanted to eat. I read my comic books on the couch, accompanied by my Giant Chewy Sweett*arts. The craving is back. I've probably purchased nearly 15 packets since then. But I wish I could have my way. I want all yellow ones. Can't they sell me tons of yellow ones? The purple and red ones I could take or leave. Green piques my interest, but the yellows are yum!

I think junk food was made for pregnant people. What I don't understand is why I want it. There is obviously no biological need for it. Or do you think my baby needs malic acid and artificial colors to grow? :) Perhaps it is the "well, I am pregnant and getting fat anyway" attitude that drives it. Although I do realize intellectually that those empty calories will just need to be burned off later.

Tonight marks the beginning of the Jazz & Rib Fest. I've looked forward to it every single year, but this year seems especially fun... drippy hot ribs & corn on the cob. Pregnant woman playground, here I come!

Almost Halfway There!

On Saturday, I will be 20 weeks along in my pregnancy- our baby is almost 50% baked. Coworkers told me all day that I looked "bigger." Of course, I have showcased my belly almost the entire pregnancy. No exception in today's outfit, although I did make the mistake of wearing a shirt that I am outgrowing. I was having some growing pains in my lower abdomen (felt like Corbin was kicking my left side all day- almost like it is bruised), so I had to take the band of my maternity pants & place it below my bulging belly. My shirt barely covered my cantaloupe-sized belly, so it made it difficult to justify reaching for anything today, lest I flash everyone around me some skin.



Since this is my first posting, I should mention a little history on how we got to this point. My DH & I tried for over a year to conceive. I know that seems like a very small amount of time compared to all of the infertility blogs I read, but anyone who has wanted a baby so badly for so long knows that it still hurts; every month I was peeing on stick after stick, charting every temp & mucous change, trying to get clued in as to why it didn't work that month. I had had cervical surgery in November 2005 for precancerous cells. Normally, this doesn't affect fertility, but my doctor is pretty certain that my "cervical problem" was the answer to why we were not getting two lines on our HPT's.

We were preparing for our first IUI in March. I was faithfully drinking my raspberry tea, temping & peeing on my high tech ovulation monitor every day. It was a Friday morning & I was on day 14 of my cycle. Some fluky months, the monitor would not read me at "peak", and I assumed this was because I didn't ovulate that month. I waited anxiously for the flashing stick to disappear & give me the verdit.... finally.... no peak. I was upset, mostly because my OB-GYN was only open Monday through Friday for IUI's & I didn't want to take the chance and wait until Monday. So I lied. In retrospect, not a bad choice.

DH had taken the day off to accompany me to the IUI & provide a "fresh sample". We got the sample there timely, and we waited for the sample to be washed. After a while, my OB came in and talked with us. He looked grim. "I don't know what happened, but the semen did not set up. It is supposed to liquify and then we separate the good from the bad, but it just didn't work. I would suggest just going home & trying naturally."

Double whammy.

I didn't care. My DH had taken the day off & I needed one new thing to try that month so I felt I had a chance. We told him we wanted the procedure anyway. My doc inserted the catheter & said, "This is going to hurt," I guess because the prostaglandins were still very plentiful in the sample. And it did. I laid there for 15 minutes & then we silently left. We were disappointed.

My parents invited us up to Detroit the following weekend for prayer from their pastor & the pastor's wife, who had also struggled with infertility. We accepted the prayer and prayed along. DH felt "very hot" where the pastor's hand had been on his back. We took that as a good sign.
That night, we all went out to the movies. I remember sitting down in the theater seat & having this sharp, stabbing cramp in my lower abdomen. It felt "tight." I think I was implanting.

I never thought I would get that positive HPT. One day at work, I noticed that my nutrition bar (which is usually a very yummy treat to me) tasted funny. It tasted like metal. Kind of strange. Strange enough for me to purchase a digital HPT on the way home. Feeling a little foolish that I had indulged on an expensive HPT and not my usual dollar store kind, I stared at the stick... Suddenly, "Pregnant!" In my mind, I had this elaborate plan to surprise my DH in some creative way. One idea (the favorite of the month) was to put a hamburger bun in the oven & then have DH "check on dinner" & then, nudge, nudge... get it? A bun in the oven. But I couldn't wait. I called him right away. The biggest and best secret.

I feel him moving around now. We saw him at 15w2days in 4D. I can't wait to see him again in 4D in another couple of months. I can't wait until DH can feel him (yes, a little boy) kicking from the outside. Although I am sure that will be a short lived novelty. The end-of-the-road pregnant women I know sometimes find kicks and jabs annoying. I can't wait.