21 weeks + bumpdate

Starting to get harder to hide this little bump!

Two weeks ago, I had my first stranger ask me if I was pregnant. I didn't even think I looked particularly pregnant that day. Bold move, lady!

Baby's size: 15oz and as long as a carrot (which is an arbitrary vegetable, but apparently this carrot is slightly larger than a banana)

Total weight gain: 6lb. From here on out I should be gaining roughly a pound a week. I fear for my knees and ankles! I have noticed a substantial increase in appetite this week. But I forget how small my stomach is and I feel so sick afterwards with tummy aches. I need one of those balls you put in dog food bowls to prevent them from eating too quickly!

How do you feel? Two things have become official: I can no longer comfortably lay on my stomach, and I can no longer fit into pre-pregnancy pants or shorts without wearing my new belly band from Target. I swear that thing is a God send! My energy is pretty much back to normal, and I promised myself I'd start going to prenatal yoga or return to barre as soon as I felt more "normal." But I've yet to make it to any classes! A few evenings this week, I had some major abdominal cramping that lasted a few hours. I think little babe hit a growth spurt!

Other than that, I feel like my body likes being pregnant and has adjusted to nearly homeostatic. I don't have crazy mood swings, my skin still looks healthy, I have no cravings, I'm not peeing every 20 minutes or waking up in the middle of the night to go, balance is still fine, sleeping is still comfortable, and I'm actually experiencing less headaches than I used to.

I will say this...my memory has turned to shit. I left my car door WIDE OPEN at work once for several hours. I've become so absent minded. I used to have a pretty good memory...for faces, names of things, and small to-do lists. Now I will forget things literally minutes after I tell myself not to. Or I'll stare blankly at a customer and think, "I've never seen this person in my life" --when in reality they just ordered a Pep Roll 5 minutes ago and I can see I've written their name down. o.O Is this what MaMa felt like before she was diagnosed with dementia? It's a very real and a very scary feeling.

Movement? Daily! Mathias has felt the baby kick his hand twice now. It's such a cool feeling. I can typically expect baby kicks around 8-9 when I've finished my breakfast and morning coffee. Often around lunch time. And again after dinner, especially if I've had dessert! I can lay down with my hand on my lower belly and fall asleep to the feeling of little pops. It's pretty incredible :-)

Moment of the week: Our crib is ordered thanks to my (future) MIL! I have been eyeing it for the past 3 months and couldn't have found a more perfect piece of furniture for our growing family! I can't wait to find it waiting on the porch and set it up next month!

Wordless Wednesday

When someone tells me "You shouldn't be eating that"

When someone tells me I don't look 5 months pregnant

Watching the "crazy moms" shopping at Charleston Repeats

Probably being one of those "crazy moms" at next year's event

Hearing that Will and Grace is filming again!

"We saw something on the ultrasound"

Words every expecting parent fears. This is the first, of what I'm sure will be, a million reasons this child makes me worry during my lifetime. Put a fork in me already! I didn't mention last week after our anatomy update because I was scared, anxious, and uninformed, but the doctor noticed an abnormality on the ultrasound. She identified it as an EIF and gave me a referral for an echocardiogram so doctors could take a closer look at the baby's heart.

What's an EIF? An echogenic intracardiac focus appears as a small bright white spot on the baby's heart. It's believed to be caused by a build up of calcium within the heart muscle. From my research, it is seen in 3-5% of pregnancies, and closer to 10-30% of pregnancies with Asian ancestry (darn you Filipino genes). An EIF does not cause problems for the baby, and typically goes away on its own. Or it could be a nothing to begin with- a false positive caused by fetal position or US machine settings.

So why the worry? An EIF can be a "soft marker" for Down's Syndrome. When multiple soft markers are observed (shortened long bones, brain cysts, heart defect, thickness of back side of neck), the risk for chromosomal abnormalities increases.

Luckily, the EIF was the only variation seen on our US and my doctor tried her very best to ease my anxiety. (Obviously, that worked...not). She took a blood sample to rule out Down's, and we visited the cardiologist at the hospital where we'll be delivering. The blood sample took 8 excruciating days to get back to us but I'm happy to report the results were negative. Negative for Down's and all other chromosomal abnormalities.

And the visit with the cardiologist also came back with excellent results. Yes, there's a bright spot. But no, they do not see it negatively affecting the pregnancy or baby once born.

Thanks for driving my crazy with worry, kid. I thought this wasn't supposed to happen for another 15 years!

19 weeks + anatomy scan

ALMOST HALFWAY THERE!! Time is going by very quickly and I am soaking it all. in. 

Total weight gain: Just 4lb. But beginning next week I may be gaining about 1lb a week!

How do you feel? I am a walking textbook! More energy? Yep. Quick sharp pains in abdomen? Check. Dizziness and occasional headaches? Yes- I had to take Tylenol for the first time in my pregnancy. Leg cramps? More like the growing pains I used to have in my knees when I was growing up. A protruding navel? Not quite yet. But I do feel like I'm going to end up with an outtie. I can see inside my belly button. It's slightly fascinating. And it's getting more shallow every day. Bleeding gums? Yes! Here's a weird one. But apparently pregnant mommas' gums are prone to sensitivity and bleeding while brushing. Constipation? Without OTC assistance, I am only going every 4-6 days. It's bad. If you don't enjoy a good poo story from time to time, skip to the next question. 

At the end of one particularly long stretch of nearly a week, the sensation hit me. Unfortunately, this was 15 minutes in to one of the most important certification exams of my career. This is TMI, but every time my body waits this long to poop, it happens in exactly 3 trips in the span of an hour. (Trip 1: normal poo. Trip 2: slightly less normal. Trip 3: ....we won't talk about trip #3) Every. time. So when Trip 1 happened around question 20 out of 200, I knew there would be probably 2 more times I'd have to leave the examination room. How embarrassing!! Fortunately, I passed my test despite my upset stomach and am one giant step closer to becoming Melissa Vause, CRC, CAC

 (Everyone except a pregnant woman)

Baby's size? A 10 oz mango!

Maternity clothes: I am officially out of jeans and shorts that button. I have one pair of maternity jeans and one pair of black dress pants. I purchased a belly band from Target so I can keep wearing the jeans I have. 

Movement? After dinner a few nights last week, I would lay down really still and feel a few pops in my lower abdomen. Was this gas? Who knows...I had nothing to compare it to. But the frequency that it began happening later in the week lead me to believe these pops were indeed kicks! A few nights before our anatomy scan, Mathias was rubbing some body butter on my belly and stopped over one spot and said, "It's right here." As if on cue, the baby gave one strong kick to the middle of Mathias's palm!! The look on his face was priceless. Shocked, and extremely happy!

Moment of the week: Seeing our baby's sweet face. The 2D imaging of course was great to see, inspecting all of its organs and perfect little body parts (except as said before, we are keeping the gender a secret so our US tech was careful not to give it away). But lemme tell ya. It really made things feel so much more real when she pulled the 4D image up on the big screen TV! Tears welled up in my eyes and all I could do was stare in awe.

Wordless Wednesday

When Mathias reminds me I shouldn't be eating a certain food

...but I've already eaten 3 bowls of it

Trying to wear a bikini top that fit last summer to the beach

When I'm full but won't turn down food

How I feel now that I have second trimester "energy" back but...