Well I've finally entered what some call the "best phase of pregnancy"... I hope that is the case for me. Here is the rundown week by week of my prego experience.
Week 13: Okay not a bad week but something totally freaky happened to me. I was sleeping and had the most awful dream about the baby (it was so bad, I don't even want to mention what it was). So I woke up sobbing uncontrollably, Kwille had left early for work so the only one left to explain my dream to was Boone. He is a very good listener and knows when momma is upset, those hound dog ears droop a little longer and the sad eyes look even sadder. Anyways, I gathered my self enough to get dressed and out the door to work.
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| This isn't Boone's "listening" face, this is his "I'm disgusted" face... Can't help myself, I had to post it. |
On the way to work, I began falling asleep at the wheel... not cool. It reminded me of my college days when I would be up all night and then would have to gather myself to go to class or work the next day, but worse I literally could not keep my eyes open. I made it to work and got parked in the parking garage safely, however I knew if I tried to get out of my car I would probably fall out. So I decided to wait a little bit and just rest my eyes... okay resting my eyes turned into a hour of sleep. When I finally made it to my desk, I had five minutes to prepare for an impromptu conference call that did not go so well.
Later that week, I had my second doctor's visit; my mom and grandma came with me since Kwille was busy with work. They came to pick me up from my house and on our way to the office, they wanted to drive by the river that was about to flood at any moment.
While they were commenting on the river, I'm sitting in the back of my grandparents car with my mother driving (she drives really slow in someone else's car) getting nauseous and about to pee my pants. We made it to the doctor's office and I was 5 min late (by their clock). After I signed in I informed the "river gawkers" that they were in trouble if I got charged for being late.
Once my name was called, my mom and I hopped up but my grandma stayed in her chair saying and I quote: "I'm a good sitter, I'll stay here"...we left her there so she good show the other patients how much of a good sitter she was.
During the appointment, the doctor was concerned about my baby bump being so big at 13 weeks, so she did a quick ultrasound, she was thinking it could be twins or major bloating. Turns out it was major bloating with a small baby bump. I got to see Bwille (Baby's name for now), which I will never forget, it was the weirdest, coolest thing I've ever seen. Bwille looked like a jelly bean, they were lying on their right side and waving to us with their left hand.
As for the bloating... Gas X has become my best friend.
Week 14: I can feel my first trimester symptoms slowly going away, which thank God this is almost over I don't know how much more I can take.
Even though my symptoms are going away, my mood swings have just begun... poor Kwille, he just doesn't have a chance. When the hormones are ablaze, I suddenly turn into Animal and any comment that comes out Kwille's mouth is usually the wrong one to an angry prego chick.
My mother and grandma took me out shopping for maternity clothes on the weekend, I wasn't sure what to make of this day when it started out... I'm very short so how in the heck was I going to find maternity clothes to fit me? Luckily I found some capri's that I can pull up to my bra so they actually look like capris on me instead of pants.
I would just like to say... I love maternity pants, my belly can be free to just hang out and I don't have to worry about zippers or buttons. I can truly say I've had a good week because of this. Shirts on the other hand, look like dresses on me since my belly doesn't stick out far enough yet.
Week 15: Not much baby drama this week, it was a holiday weekend and it was hot! My baby bump wouldn't let me cool down at all. The upside to this weekend was that I found baby washcloths and towel hoodies on clearance at Target.
Week 16: This week I attempted to paint my toes and I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle in my side trying to contort myself to reach my toes. I did not inherit the flexibility gene, even in my "exercising regularly days", when I would lay on my back, I could never get my legs to straighten when I put them in the air... My grandmother on the other hand could into her 40's place her foot behind her head.
I'll be getting a pedicure or have Kwille paint my toes in the future. Scratch that... I'll be getting a pedicure.
Week 17: Had another doctor's visit this week, Kwille came with me this time. Nothing too exciting except that we heard the heartbeat again... its getting stronger!
This was also the week I almost killed Kwille (for a good reason) and gave in and had a ham and cheese sandwich... which interestingly enough was on the same day.
I love Jimmy Johns, their bread is sooooo good, its my version of crack... I just can't get enough. Well when I got pregnant, I read that deli meats are bad for you so I sucked it up and vowed to not eat Jimmy Johns while prego. That didn't last too long, I was hoping to go longer than 17 weeks but oh well I deserved it after my day.
So I left work and was in the Jimmy Johns drive thru when Kwille called me. He told me his truck had died and he needed to be picked up, no problem, I thought except for he was 1 hour away from me and that is not counting rush hour traffic. So I told him I would come get him. As I drove up to the drive thru window I had the guy throw in a drink since this was going to be a long car ride.
Well it took me 1.5 hours to get to Kwille, on the way I scarfed down my Jimmy Johns and chips. It was soooo good, everything I remember about ham and cheese and more. Once I met up with Kwille, he took over the driving and started towards the place where the tow truck had parked his truck. During this time, he proceeded to tell me that he was in a car accident that was not his fault, someone had pulled out in front of him and that the truck was totaled. Now as you may recall (like I did at this point) he had told me on the phone that the truck was dead and to come get him, there was no mention of car accident and vehicle being totaled. So what does an angry prego chick do... I socked him in the shoulder and started yelling at him. This really didn't phase Kwille, he said he didn't want to worry me and that it wasn't a big deal, he was even laughing about it at this point.
By the time we got home, it had been 3.5 hours since I first got into my car to head home after work. I was now at this point calmed down enough to be glad to be home and on normal speaking terms with Kwille.
Week 18: Well the morning sickness/nausea monster reared its ugly head again... out of the blue it came back for a day and put me in bed.
Week 19: Every week I log into various baby websites to view what size and weight Bwille has reached. It seems like every website compares Bwille to a fruit or vegetable. This week Bwille is the size of a mango... hopefully not the mango pictured below...
Here is my 19 week belly photo. This was taken before Kwille and I went to a watch a baseball game... note to prego chicks out there, do not wear a black t-shirt and brown shorts to an outdoor event where you will be sweating... lets just say it looked like I had an accident all night...
Week 20: This is the week Kwille and I have been looking forward to forever!!
Here is a foot...
Here is Bwille's profile...
And here is Bwille's girl parts!!! BWILLE IS A GIRL!!!
We are so excited to be having a girl. I will say that I am completely surprised though, I would have bet hundreds of dollars that it was going to be a boy... no wonder I'm lousy at gambling. We had our appointment on a Friday afternoon, when we finally got home we called our family and told them the great news. Unfortunately during our phone calls my doctor's office called and said to call them back. Of course they were closed by the time I called them back.
All weekend I was scared and worried that something had gone wrong during the ultrasound. Being an x-ray tech I was able to pick out the anatomy during the scans, this is a good and bad thing. In my head I kept going over everything I saw during the scan and nothing seemed to throw a red flag. I then did what everyone and their brother does, I went to the world wide web to form a diagnosis. I looked up birth defects found during 20 week ultrasounds. I shouldn't have done this, I was crazy all weekend thinking something was terribly wrong.
My worries subsided, when our electricity went out for the night that Sunday and we had to spend the night at my parents house. My parents had conveniently gotten rid of the mattress in what is now their baby's room the day before. Kwille ended up sleeping on the sofa which he was way too tall for, I slept on the love seat which I was surprisingly too tall for, and of course Boone had the best bed in the house, the over stuffed leather arm chair. I spent the evening trying to make myself comfortable and praying that I would at least get an hour of sleep.
The next day, Kwille and I felt sore, grumpy, and not all there. Boone, I'm sure felt great. At 9:00am on the dot I called the doctor's office... the nurse informed me that the Radiologist found cysts in Bwille's left kidney but her right one was completely normal. At this point, I think I stopped listening and my heart sank to my toes.
The nurse reassured me that this was not fatal and could be easily monitored. She even set up an appointment for us with a perinatologist for the following week, I'm so thankful that she did this, I'm not sure how I could have done this without crying.
Once I was off the phone with the nurse, I completely lost it, I called Kwille immediately to tell him the news. Instead of working the rest of the day, I spent my time on the internet learning about kidney cysts. There are so many different kinds of things that could happen with cysts (some not bad at all and some really, really bad) that it was all a little too much to take in. At the end of the day though, Kwille and I felt that we could take on whatever came our way and we were so thankful that there wasn't anything else wrong with Bwille.
Week 21: We had our appointment with our doctor (not the perinatalogist) where we were able to finally get a medical term for what they thought Bwille has... multicystic dysplastic kidney (meaning kidney full of cysts). He reassured us that this again is not fatal and that her right kidney is perfect. We heard her heartbeat which was strong and on target and my belly measurement was good too.
A few days later we had our appointment with the perinatalogist. Kwille and I were very nervous, but we knew Bwille was going to be okay. The doctor came in a did the ultrasound herself, while she was scanning I was able to see everything on the flat screen in front of me... it was great to see Bwille, but unfortunately I saw the cysts before the doctor pointed them out. I remained calm and I looked over at Kwille who looked like he was going to lose it at any moment. The doctor then explained to us that her left kidney was a multicystic dysplastic kidney. The cysts are inside her kidney which is preventing her kidney to grow normally and function. The good news is that her right kidney is working great and she is urinating normally.
She told us that we would be monitored by ultrasound throughout the rest of my pregnancy to check up on the kidney and to make sure her heart is okay. Once she was born, she would then be monitored and then eventually she would need to have her left kidney removed to prevent things such as high blood pressure and possible tumor growth on the left kidney.
There is no known cause for this, it is not genetic and there wasn't anything that I was exposed to or that I ingested that caused this. It mainly occurs in Caucasian babies and usually happens in about 1 in 4300 babies. The doctor informed me that I might need to have a c-section in case her abdomen becomes distended because of the growing cysts.
The doctor/nursing staff was wonderful in answering all of our questions (we didn't have many because I wasn't thinking clearly at this point). Once we left the office, all of the emotions came flooding out. I was really in shock that this was happening, I realize she is going to have a normal life, but hearing something like is still very emotional.
Needless to say its been an emotional week, Kwille and I are both thankful for the support from our family and friends. Kwille and I know the big man upstairs wouldn't give us anything that couldn't handle.
Week 22: With last week's emotional work week, it was nice to have the weekend to relax, have a little fun and put our worries on the back burner for a while. Kwille went fishing with his buddy and I stayed home with Boone and did a little shopping with my mom and grandma. I did go a little crazy on the infant pjs, but I found some fantastic deals on some nursery stuff. (I'll be updating the nursery blog soon)
Bwille has been kicking for a few weeks, but now her kicking is A LOT stronger. The first night Kwille was gone, we had a bad thunder storm that made Boone freak out and sleep under the bed for a few hours. I was up with the thunder, but once that ended, Bwille woke up (this was 4am) and I think she was practicing tae kwon do or some ancient art of kicking/punching, they were so strong. She did this for what seemed a half hour and then she took a break and let me get in a few hours of sleep.
Week 23: This week Kwille and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary! Its hard to believe that its been two years already and we have Bwille on the way! I'm still amazed we have our love child, Boone and he has survived thus far.
To celebrate, we went to the Def Leppard/Heart concert and shared nachos and a pretzel... I know very romantic. Kwille even caved in and bought me a t-shirt... stay back ladies, he's all mine! Bwille loved Def Leppard! She was moving around like crazy during "Foolin'".
So far my cravings I don't think have been really bad, I'm a carb-o-holic anyway so chips, breads, and pastas are my best friends. I guess I've been craving fries and roasted potatoes, which I've been limiting myself to about once sometimes twice a week. At home, I've been baking them and adding sea salt to them. I have caved into the occasional Jimmy Johns SLIM 1, but this hasn't been a weekly occurrence.
The one problem that I'm having with food is that ever since my baby bump has come in, it has become a food magnet. I'm not talking about being hungry all of the time... it literally attracts food. I can't eat a meal without finding some part of it on my belly bump or down my shirt. I've never had this problem before, I know I could feed a small army with the amount of food that has accumulated on my belly. I made cookies the other day and found chocolate chips down my shirt... I don't know how this happened.
Week 24: Well I think I blew up this week... I woke up one morning and had to be rolled out of bed by Kwille. I was like a turtle on its shell. Its amazing how much my body has changed over the past few months. I'm so excited to be having Bwille, but I'll be so glad when she's here and not treating my bladder like a trampoline or making me miss the days I could see my toes.
This week we have decided to concentrate on naming Bwille... which is so much harder than we thought. Its amazing how many things you consider:
- Does this name remind me of someone I couldn't stand in school?
- Did I date someone with the same name? Or did they have family members with that same name?
- Can I yell the name easily?
- Is the kid going to get made fun of with this name?
- Are there any mean nicknames that could go along with this name?
- Would the initials of the kid's name be weird?
- Will the kid be able to get a high profile job and be respected with this name?
Week 25:Well we made it back to both doctors this week with great results! Bwille's ultrasound showed that she has doubled in size since the last time, her heart is growing normally and the cysts in her left kidney are not making her belly distend. After the good news from my gyno, I was so relieved that I felt it was necessary to ask some "really important" questions... (back story - Kwille and I are going to Disney World for my brother's wedding and a little vacation in a few weeks)
Question 1: Can I get a spray tan? (Being afraid of the sun since my first trimester my entire body is very pale which I found out is not a good look for me. Having the spray tan would definitely boost my moral and I won't scare small children with my pale legs)
Answer: Sure, I can't see why not.
Question 2: Will I be okay to ride the Disney rides that allow pregnant women? (My trip would not be as much fun if I couldn't ride Pirates or the Haunted Mansion)
Answer: Sure.
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| Bwille with her "Simpsons" nose... |
Week 26: Pretty uneventful week... we did decide on a name though, so that took a lot of stress off of Kwille and I! Kwille wants to keep it a surprise... he should know by now that I'm not good at keeping secrets, especially something like this.
I began registering for baby gear at Babies R Us, this was something new to me... Kwille and I didn't register for our wedding because we had pretty much everything we needed when I moved into his house. Registering online has probably been my favorite, I can read product reviews and if I change my mind about something I can just log in and make changes. I took Kwille with me to Babies R Us to look at monitors and strollers. Man, what a decision, you want to pick the best item that you think you will use, but you have no idea whether you are actually going to use it or like it until the baby comes.
Week 27: We went to birthing class this week...
The weeks leading up to class, Kwille tried to talk his way out of going:
- "Do I really have to go?"
- "Can your mom go for me instead?"
- "Why do I have to go?"
- "Is it really that important?"
- "6.5 hours!! No way, I'm not going."
Needless to say, Kwille got a very long, threatening lecture on how he will be attending and participating.
Our class was really small, only five couples so we were able to run through stuff pretty quick. The content covered the stages of labor, medications, tour of the maternity unit, and relaxation techniques. The stages of labor didn't scare me until I saw the videos... these poor women let camera crews tape everything and I mean everything. With my medical experience, you would think I would be okay watching these... not so much. I'm terrified of labor or anything that has to do with me being a patient... I've never been a patient in a hospital before.
During the videos, I was cringing and trying to cross my legs as tight as possible. Kwille on the other hand, I discovered has ADHD... he was twisting in his chair, putting his head down, and tapping the table. I finally said that he better be paying attention, he responded back with: "I can't pay attention, those women in the video have mustaches". Okay, all of the women did, but it was because of the raging hormones and if they could cover it up, who is going to reapply makeup during their 12 hours plus of labor?
On to the relaxation techniques... the breathing tips they gave seemed to be easy enough to remember and do, but Kwille and I were having some problems with the partner techniques. For one, I'm 4'11.5" and Kwille is 6'3" so anything standing was a no go.
The class was a real eye opener for me, I'll admit that I'm completely freaked out but I know labor won't last forever and that it will be worth it in the end... hopefully Kwille survives...
