24 weeks

Hey everyone,

this update is a little later than I suppose I promised on facebook...but I haven't really felt motivated. It's 6 am and I can't sleep....again. I heard and read that pregnancy insomnia is common, so I'm not necessarily worried about it. I think I won't get worried unless it continues into August because on the 9th I start my externship, basically a full-time job without pay...bummer! lol.

Anyways!! Back to Jack....

I had another appointment with my baby doctor this last Wednesday, July 20. I was 23 weeks and I FINALLY met my doctor. She seems nice enough but she completely dismissed what I wanted to talk to her about- my concerns with delivery. I wanted more reassurance and interaction than what I received. I honestly think I should have a c-section and whether it's out of fear of my hip dislocating or whatnot, I think it's legit. But, once I brought the subject up, all she had to say was: Oh, your hips have nothing to do with your delivery, your hip will be fine.

The end.

OK...well, how come everyone I know says your hips move and they spread out and whatnot? I'm so very confused what to do here because I don't want to change doctors but I feel it is definitely necessary now...plus, Jim wants to change also. We both feel like I'm just a number there-- they didn't even have in my chart that I'd had my hip replaced! It's a joke.

All drama aside, baby Jack is doing well...heartbeat was at 150, which I guess is good.

He's definitely moving a lot more lately! I absolutely love it- can't get enough of it. I'm sure all you other mommy's felt the same? I think it's the only part of pregnancy that I do enjoy...everything else sucks and I hate it lol. BUT, I do know that the end result will be more rewarding than what my body and emotions are having to go through. :)

20 Weeks, 4 Days, 137 Days Left

SO, I haven't written in awhile. A lot has been going on...we found out IT'S A BOY!! His name is going to be Jack David Smith. :)

We had a little bit of a scare my last doctor appointment...my second prenatal blood test results came back and one of the results was positive for a neural tube defect. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically if there is something wrong with the spine, stomach or abdomen- like if there's a whole or something- the most common type of birth defect for this defect is Spina Bifida. All my doctor would tell us (last Thursday 6/23) was that we were at risk for the baby having a defect like this and that she made us an appointment with a specialist. Well that, of course, scared me to death.

We went to see this specialist this morning and it definitely wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! We got a complete ultrasound of every aspect of his body- measuring everything from my ovaries to each valve of his heart! It was really neat-- probably took a good 45 minutes! We then had to see a genetic counselor and she was really great. She said that the max of the AFP test is 25.0 and that would be where you wouldn't be at risk for the neural tube defect...my blood test showed a 25.2~! This is fantastic news-- so it's more likely just a fluke and nothings wrong with baby. Everything on the ultrasound looked good and it's such a low number that we basically don't have anything to worry about. :) YAYS!!!

2 Years

Hey everyone,

so today is May 19, 2011. It is two years to the day that I had my total hip replacement. I can't believe it's already been two years, yet at the same time, it feels a lot longer than that. I was in a completely different life practically than I am now- feel like a different person almost and I don't know how I feel about that one.

I remember having the conversation with my orthopedic surgeon Jan 2009 about doing the hip replacement...one of my biggest concerns was- would I be able to have children. He said it wouldn't be a problem because of the type of replacement he was putting in...i never thought in a million years that in two years time that i would be pregnant with my first kid!

I know the female body changes drastically when she's pregnant, but I guess I'm not sure how the hips change, if at all. So far, my hip hasn't given me any problems, even though I have gained "weight". I have a significant baby bump going on, but I haven't gained any actual weight...I've actually lost two pounds. My hip has been my most struggling surgery yet- both emotionally and physically. I know it's hard to believe because i've had my leg and arm lengthened, but...I dont' remember those surgeries so it's hard to count those.

I'm so afraid that this delivery that's coming up in November, six months from now, that something will happen to my hip and I absolutely don't even want to take the chance...I have my third doctors appointment this coming Monday and i'm going to bring her an x-ray of my hip and discuss with her my concerns and suggest a c-section. I understand that natural labor is better or whatnot, i dont care. Yes, I care about the baby, but I have to take care of myself also because with my hip working perfectly afterward, it is going to be really difficult to take care of myself and a newborn and I can't deal with that.

I'm feeling very overwhelmed lately....

13 weeks, Day 4, 186 days left

Excitement!
Before I start on the news from the weekend, I have fantastical, wonderful, exciting news! I felt the baby move for the first time! IT was absolutely amazing…but weird. J It felt like a little flutter but it was a strong flutter—if that makes any sense. I was talking to my friend Ashley here and she gave me a suggestion- to push where I had felt the “kick” and I should be able to feel it move- like a ripple almost- a wave. So, last night, Jim and I tried that- and we felt it!! IT was amazing and shocking! I’m used to feeling it on other pregnant women’s bellies, but this is my first pregnancy- it was really weird…basically indescribable.


Baby Daddy:
So…this weekend, I went to a Fresno Grizzlies baseball game with Jim’s mom. We talked a lot but one thing that did come up was parenthood…for obvious reasons. I told her I was 100% confident Jim will be an excellent dad. Sure, I’ve seen him with other kids and how reacts and such, but I think the number one thing that made me so sure was how he is with Roxy- our vizsla/lab mix. Roxy is part of our family and we consider her our daughter. Dogs are a lot like kids—they need to be fed and taught but they also need love, support and care. When they don’t feel good, they want to be cuddled just like a sick child. Jim is amazing with Roxy and, to me that reflects a lot on how he will be to his own daughter or son.


Updates:
I’m in my second trimester now! And just as the baby book I read predicted, the nauseas has decreased a ton! It’s still there every now and then so I have to continue the medication about every other day, but I love it. On the downside, I do feel more tired lately- even if I haven’t done a whole lot that day, by one or two in the evening, I’m just exhausted. Oh! I finally gained weight! I am not fluctuating between 131-132…so I’ve gained about 2-3 pounds J Yays.

Week 12, Day 3

(Just so you know, I'm gonna post the dates that I originally started with because I can't change my calender on my phone to match what I want...it doesn't really matter anyways I guess. )

So, last night and the night before, I had two more pregnancy dreams. Last night's was pretty simple and very hard to remember...all I DO remember is that I had a daughter.

The night before last, was really odd...

I was on my way to the hospital with Nicole (my sister), my mom, my brother Mike and an old friend's mom, Shannon. I don't know why, but Jim wasn't there. We were in a van and I knew we had a long way to drive.

We stopped at Shannon's house- she and I got out while everyone else left for the hospital because I wasn't pregnant anymore! But, my sister was! She ends up having a 2 lb baby girl in the dream. The dream continues with me helping Shannon with her in-home day care center. There are babies everywhere! I feel really out of control. There is this one big baby who is trying to sleep in a really small round crib but he is too big for the crib, so he keeps falling out and I still put him back in as if he should fit. Shannon asks me to go make juice for all the babies but I don't remember how to make it!

It was very bizarre...but I thought it was interesting that both pregnancy dreams, both babies were girls :) Maybe that's a sign?

Cravings!!!

I think my food cravings are going a little bipolar at times. At first, I only craved fruit and fruit only. But now, it's completely random. For example, this last weekend it was a mixture between pickles (sweet and dill) and bacon! YUM. And whenever I ate watermelon and potatoes, even though I wasn't particularly craving them, they both tasted like heaven! (not together of course) :)

Week 9, Day 5

Today was our first ultrasound!

We learned several things:

1. found out the baby is only 9 weeks rather than 10, so that would explain why I randomly changed the date in the title to an earlier date than the other blogs.

2. There is only one in there= YAY!!!! haha

3. Our baby is very active. The whole time he/she was bouncing around, jumping, waving, just happy as a little clam. :) haha

4. According to our physician's assistant, our baby looks like a frog :) haha

It was completely amazing looking at our baby! I've seen an ultrasound before, but it's completely, 100% different when it's your own! I was just in shock and wonder! After she had measured it and done all the pictures, she let us watch it for a little bit and that's when we saw it move so much-- I started to cry because he/she was so amazing. I have that little amazing being living and growing inside of me! He/She depends on me for their survival- more so than when it will be out of the womb...I don't know if that made sense, but it makes sense in my head. :)

Overall, it was just an amazing morning- I couldn't stop thinking about him/her all day long. I wish I could feel the movement-- but it's too soon for that.

Week 10, Day 5, 206 Days Left

The bump:

Well, the belly seems bigger everyday but I’m sure that’s my imagination- possibly- who knows. I haven’t actually started measuring it and I’m not sure that’s something I even want to do yet.

Weight:

Usually weight is a touchy subject for women but when you’re pregnant, who cares, right? Well, I think before I got prego, I was around 129, 130…I’ll admit it. J Since then, the past 6-7 weeks, my weight has fluctuated a bit but it always seems to return to 129, which I’m happy about because I don’t want to gain too much during the first trimester. I heard it’s best if you don’t.

Pregnancy in Heels:

Does anyone else watch this show?? I absolutely love it- it’s entertaining and makes me really glad I’m not as superficial as some of these women on this show. (It’s on Tuesday nights on Bravo if you’re interested). Anyways, there was this woman on last night’s episode who (supposedly) weighted around 100 lbs before she got pregnant and at the time of the show, she was in her ninth month and she weighed 180 lbs!!!! That means she gained 80 lbs during her pregnancy! And, she’s not really tall, she’s probably my height- around 5’2”, if not shorter, which means she should have only gained between 25-30 pounds, not 80. How does this happen? She was in total junk-food-crazy denial! Even though I’ve been occasionally craving those yummy fluffy white mini marshmallows, this will NOT HAPPEN TO ME!!! J