Allergies

It's like the plaaaaauge. Anyone want to drive me back to southern half of the state? Breathing through my nose keeps my gag reflux in check. That's out, so now most everything seems to be triggering it. And I just got a Braxton Hix, yaaaaay. Last year they didn't last long... So I don't want to give into taking something unless it does start to stretch out.

I've managed to consume about an 1/2 of a PBJ sammich so far today. No desire to eat. So I figure nibbling is the way to go. Tried a shower, didn't seem to make a huge difference. Sigh.

Yesterday was a pretty good day, I had a feeling they were starting to kick in, but then going to an area where the allergens weren't, well, that was pretty rad. Visited Boi's family, Peanut went absolutely bonkers after eating a sugary dessert, beat up on some of my organs I think. But ah well, some Tums helps that.

Ugh, I seem to be so negative lately. Maybe we'll just call this post short, call Boi up here, and curl up with him and my kleenex box until he leaves. Then take a nap. Mmm. Nap.

Snug as a Bug

The both of us are today, Peanut and I. He's having another quiet day in the womb, though I wonder if when I suddenly feel tender somewhere, like around where my stomach ought to be now, if that means he's kicking it. I suppose I'll start feeling it sometime as well. And I am now in a sweater and under a blanket on the couch. I thought pregnant woman were supposed to be warm, oh well. And now the girls have joined me one giant warm pile! They turned 4 on Friday :D They each got a can of wet food, and didn't ask for food again for 10 hours :) Guess it filled them up good!

Yesterday I felt pretty good throughout the day, then this morning I woke up and was really feeling the pain again, and I was a bit queasy :( Then I went and picked up one of the girls and my back started to ache. Bleeeeeeeeh. At least the latter two went away. Until tonight. Vitamins for the bleeeh!

23 week birthday! He's developing tiny little lung sack-a-cles (super scientific I am)! The last step he needs to be able to make it outside of me! Sure he wouldn't be able to take a breath on his own, but that's why we have hospitals, and I'll happily take this step regardless! And he's the size of a mango! Approximately. Maybe smaller. Whatever, he can take his time growing.

Meeeeh I don't want to do anything tonight. I should clean the house, my new power supply is finally arriving tomorrow. And work is filled with gaps where my it's hard to get anything to work while it's processing.

Today! This may look like (well, like nothing to some of you) just another face picture, but to the astute eye, something odd might be in the picture. A strange black hole inside of Peanut's abdomen. Why, it's his stomach! Where all the yummy amniotic fluid goes! Today it's bound to taste like corn and chorizo :)

Ok sure, a black spot isn't all that interesting, but it's neat to see! the little black bits above it are his heart, that's all we were really able to notice, if there were more, the tech didn't call them out. But we did get stomach upon her asking us what we thought we were seeing. Or at least I did, not sure if Boi spoke up ;) I was definitely a bit more talkative during the whole process.

AAAAAh! I'm being consumed by a giant cat! If you don't hear from me again, I've been loved to death!

Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction?

One of the ladies on my board brought this up, something I haven't heard of before, but sounding a lot more like what I've been suffering through the last few weeks than round ligament pain. From what they're saying their experiencing and from what I'm reading, they all call out some of things that make it hurt the worst: walking, getting in and out of the car, climbing stairs, turning over in bed or getting up from a seated position or laying down. Last night I curled up with a cat on the couch in an awkward position (I'm not known for thinking before acting!), and then found I couldn't get my arms under me to move myself (the best way for me to get to a sitting or standing position) and I couldn't move my legs without a lot of pain to get up, and had to call Boi over to help lift me up. Sighs.

Alas, it's not something that's likely to go away, at least until after birth. In fact it's likely to only get worse. There are a couple exercises to help strengthen the area to lessen the pain and wearing a girdle might help >< great, a girdle?

SO I called the nurses, we talked it over, and she agreed with me that it sounded like that what was going on. She said the only thing they can really do from their end is to refer me to Physical  Therapy. I told her I wanted to think it all over, talk to Boi, and I would definitely decide before my next appointment.

I knew growing a baby wasn't going to be easy, but I was really hoping to have as 'normal' of a pregnancy as possible. Oh, I also asked her the nagging question about Peanut's size on the radiology report. She confirmed that Peanut is measuring a week behind, but that my doctor chose not to update my official due date. Now I'm not sure if I can think, yay Peanut is -17.5 weeks and weighs a pound! When I know that, unless he had a growth spurt shortly after the ultrasound, and that's why he was behind, he won't get there for another week in reality.

Yeah. That's all.

Lack'O'Sleep

I guess I've always had this cycle of every other month or so my brain just goes, heck no! You're not gonna sleep! It seems that even pregnancy can't completely silence it. And then when Peanut drops down, well. Sleep is nonexistent. Not only am I not tired, but I can't stop thinking about getting out of bed to pee. Who cares if it's 3, 4 am? Not my body! Then of course, when I do finally fall asleep and wake up a few hours later, I'm wide awake and I feel kind of crappy. I can't argue with my body, it knows Peanut needs his momma to be better rested. But my brain is awake again - I just gotta trudge through the day. It's been about 4 nights now? Fortunately it never lasts forever, but then I switch to crashing. Fall asleep at 8pm, take naps, generally just never wake up for several days. Until I eventually hit equilibrium and it evens out.

 I hear there might be father's chip dip at the baby shower. I'm enticed :) K, you may change my RSVP from 'maybe' to 'yes!' (haaaaaay calm down, I was always going to come...) It takes very little to get me excited, but now all I can think of is chip dip. I just snacked on a peach... but it's not quite the same. At all. For one thing, it's orange, chip dip is pink. Also, you need chips to properly enjoy chip dip, but not so much for peaches. Also peaches like to drip their juices down my hand, while chip dip stays congealed. Oh, and I have peaches, I don't have chip dip. I think that's the main difference.

You didn't really want me to start on a stream of consciencness rant, did you? Sorry!

Still having the pains from the u/s, generally speaking. Not as bad as that first week... and if I do take Tylenol (If I know I'm going to be doing stuff) it does help. Still rather miserable/annoying though at times. But at least for the most part I can get up, limp around for awhile, and then do better. I never did call back since the Tylenol is 'making it better.' And I lack any symptoms that would indicate more of a problem. Although I got a bit concerned yesterday when Peanut was suuuper quiet, even if I would eat. Today he's back to normal though! I've forgotten what it was like before getting nudged off and on all day.

Speaking of baby kicks, Peanut STILL won't kick with a hand on my belly. He can be as active as can be, but as soon as the hand appears, he stops. I guess it's a good way to quiet him up so  I can sleep (if I could sleep).

FACE! From left to right, body, chin, lips, nose forehead! Nose looks a little stubby... but maybe that's a good thing, maybe he'll have a recessive smallish nose. Or maybe that's just how the image came back ;) Aw what a cute little face! The little hunk is hovering right around a pound now... that's how much the kittens weighed when I first got them about a pound each. Aww and what cuties they were! Tiny little lightweight bits of fur. Hopefully Peanut has a little less fur than them though. I mean, he's got to keep his skin protected from getting pickled, but I don't think that means he has to be like a kitten in there.

Boi hopefully has left work by now. Let's call! OMG SO MUCH FUN LIVE BLOGGING WHILE CALLING! *mutes TV* *calls* oh poo. Voicemail. 9 times out of 10 that means he's still busy at work, and hasn't bothered to turn it back on yet. Good thing I'm not tired or anything. Sleepy during the day, but certainly not at night. I also left my glass of water out of reach. Ok, this is officially the new End of the World.

Oh, and the belly? Still slanted left. Yup.

Oh, and here is my baby board pregnancy ticker. Maybe I'll just add it in to the posts at the bottom?

Finally a nice warm day!

Baby clothes, looks like Peanut will be warm this winter! Alas, I ran out of hangers quickly, so I packed all my plain onesies and clothes 9mo and greater to the dresser for now. Looks like one of the drawers is broken on that too, but I think it can be easily fixed. If not by Boi, then by Dad. But I really need better storage, a closet organizer, then I can get more creative for his socks and shoes and etc etc etc. Plus it would be nice to have clothes at his level so he can dress himself one day!

Right now things are just laying all around the room, waiting for me to get the room closer to completion. But mom said she'd come over sometime soon on a cloudy/dreary day to at least give the room a start. Also to discuss paint colors. Not sure when we should dismantle the daybed in there. ALL THESE THINGS! At least I have washed clothing - it's the little things. I've got something done, something ready to go. If Peanut came today (and by today, I really mean if my house was transported at least 14 weeks in the future) I could put him in an outfit. I wouldn't be able to take him home, lack'o'carseat, but I could put him in an outfit, damnit!

Ugh, I'm so tired this afternoon, but I woke up after like... 6-7ish hours of sleep and was awake, so I got up. Though at this time it may not be the wisest to nap. I was going to go work out in the garden once the shade from the house came in, but now I'm not so sure I've got the energy for that. And my work connection seems.... unbearably slow. Yesterday was slow too, slow and unproductive, I'm sensing conspiracy here...

So apparently the world is ending tomorrow. Nobody consulted with me, so I think I'll just sit this one out. I'm not getting halfway through my pregnancy just to have it fall apart. They spent over a million dollars on just billboards? Sheesh, they could have built a kick-ass school with that money, or something... productive. And what's the point? Irritating.

Hrm... my stomach seems slanted to the left. Does it usually stretch one way more than the other, perhaps if he's hanging out more so on one side? I could also be hallucinating, but I just adjusted and it's still more to the left. Also, sadly, still getting belly button pains, but no signs if it evening out with the rest of my distended abdomen. 

Baby Picture Time! Here are Peanut's legs, crossed (at I believe the ankle) for your enjoyment. I guess we were lucky we got the boy shot before he went and crossed his legs! Though he was wiggling around, so I'm sure we would have gotten more :) The tech said he was moving more than I noticed, I think partially because she would see him move, and move the wand to adjust, so it would be harder to notice, instead of holding it still. Oh well, I'll get to see him wiggle plenty in 18 weeks :) Hey, we should be around the 5 month marker! Woohoo! That is as long as my due date is still the same... I never did call to confirm that *sigh*

Great... another bloody nose... thanks Peanut...

Laundry Now Makes Me Giggle

So lo and behold, multiple doses of Tylenol helped. I'm still not convinced it was just round ligament pain, I'm betting I got bruised or something that intensified it, but I'm doing a lot better now, even when the Tylenol wears off. I'm still getting them, but not feeling it constantly, they spike then go away - I can deal with that at least. I was going to try not taking any this afternoon, but then I developed a headache. So a better opportunity will show itself :)

So I was going through the laundry basket, containing mainly Boi and Peanut's clothes. Pull out one of Boi shirts, sigh, fold, pile. Pull out a baby sock! Grin, look for its pair, and display! Great, a Boi sock, pop it out so the heel is down and not to the side like he likes, pile. Oooh onesie! What's the size? Wonder if Peanut will really fit in it in that size range. Start giggling uncontrollably imagining that in a matter of weeks I'll have a squirmy little boy to dress. Display. Rinse and repeat :D

Alas, the girls insisted on helping with the laundry. And by helping, Kairi decided to lay on the first thing I folded. So I finished around her, took an armful or two to put away, and when I came back Kiara had joined her. So for your viewing pleasure, Peanut's big sisters. They turn 4 in about a week :D The same day the family dog turns 11, and an uncle of mine with a promised power supply ages as well. It's just a day full of fun, just got to be sure not to confuse the gifts :)

I'd go and attach another ultrasound pic, but... well, Boi took the disc out of the laptop. Go ahead and call me lazy, but I just had a bout of activity, and I'm still attempting to take it easy :P I had only moved off the ones I attached, since I was stripping out the personal information at the top of the pics.

BUT in exciting news, I felt Peanut up high, yesterday and today. I think I felt him rolling around, or perhaps emulating his sister's kneading instincts by bicycling his feet or something. It felt new and weird, so that's the best I can do to describe it! I'm happy he's decided to utilize all the space I'm providing him, he really doesn't need to start hanging out by my bladder until closer to his due date ;)

...sudden desire for mexican. Thank you TV! I'll either have to go out for that or start making tortillas from scratch! Not hard, but it's work none the less :( 

A week later

Called the nurseline this morning, I've been consistently in pain down where she was pressing for the head from the ultrasound. Rolling over in bed, sitting up on the couch to get some water from the table, standing up, moving around is all un-fun, taking a walk around just the block without breaks is just agony. The nurse thinks the ultrasound agitated my round ligaments, so I'm taking Tylenol for the next 24 hours and trying an icepack, and to watch for any other symptoms like fever. I also decided I'm just going to stay on the couch today, not to try any feats like doing the dishes, and see if I can keep it from getting really bad in the evening like it has been. Here's hoping that that's all it is, not that I can really do anything for it then, but at least it's not serious. And actually I usually feel pretty good laying down, but right now I can feel some pain just laying here. Boo!

Oooh, mom just stopped in while she was out doing errands. She agreed with my bedrest, and was a good distraction for me for a bit. Alas that was mostly because she's having issues with the roofers, but at least it got my mind off my belly. Still waiting for today's first real good kicks from Peanut too. I can deal with whatever pain, as long as I know he's still in there doing good.

Went through my dresser yesterday pulling out stuff that I was sure I wasn't going to be fitting into in the next year. A little sad, but it's nice to have more room in there. Fortunately I preferred my tops on the long side, so I'm hoping much of my wardrobe will last, but I'm already noticing my tendency to grab the two maternity tops I do have when they're clean. Just that much more comfy/flattering.

I must have been suuuuuper tired this morning, I didn't stir to Boi's alarm going off or anything until he came in to say goodbye (I'd be seriously mopey if he just left me). But then I fell back asleep and had some nightmares, something about losing Peanut in Mexico to baby stealers. So usually I have the rule of no getting out of bed before 8, as the earlier I wake up the harder time I have getting over my morning sickness. So that made this morning even more fun, I kind of wanted to be in a pretty good place when I called the clinic, but of course the nerves of the unknown kept me agitated, so I finally just called.

Baby picture time! This time, I present Peanut's hand/fist. Small and cute, looks like there's at least 5 fingers ;) He's all ready to sock it to my innards! I wish I had asked the nurse about the baby's size when on the phone. She got me a little nervous, she said something about me at 19 weeks and due 10/5, but then later on was like, oh, wait, here's your official due date. But it makes me wonder if perhaps Peanut was measuring behind. I wouldn't be too surprised, I guess, if my ovulation date was later then 'normal' but if you're reading this you likely know I HATE telephones and have mini-freak-outs when forced into using them, so I wasn't completely ready to start chatting up the nurse about anything I wasn't prepped to discuss. New information throws me for a loop and I need to absorb for awhile. So instead if I have to call back tomorrow I'll prep myself  to inquire about that, otherwise I guess I'll just wait till June 10th.

Oh oh! Baby kick! :D Time to relax I guess :)

Happy 19 weeks to go!

Yeah yeah, it's been a few days, but it's rather difficult to top a gender post. It's been a busy week, helping my friend I move (who I also saw at my ultrasound briefly on her way out from work, she kept me company in the interior waiting room while I was separated from Boi). I did amazing things like drive, held hoses/cords while the non-pregnant people moved appliances, and packed my car with light items. Then I played with an 11-month old boy while his mom helped them move stuff back into the house. And I'm going to her bridal shower in... oh... an hour an a half. Maybe I should shower soon?

I never actually uploaded a picture of garage sale finds from weekend two. So here it is now. I've got most of the fabric stuff washed, still need to work on sterilizing though. Step by step though. Lot's of clothes, which I can say now, some of them did say boy on them. Kinda hidden, but now I don't have to re-gift those or save them for possible child 2, heh. Only a few toys, and a few books... which seem to be missing from the picture, and I can see them from my spot on the couch now :) But we were really looking for stuff that would work for the first year and that were in really good condition, and both books and toys do tend to get worn through.  We still have months and months and months.... but not much more than that!

Names I know are a big question from you guys, and while we do currently have a list of three names... I'm not going to release it. Not yet at least. None of them are names that we both love, and so either they'll grow on us more, or we'll come up with more. So it's still premature. I have no problem telling you that Boi is the problem with the names though! While he deferred to me on girl names, I'm deferring to him on boy names, and he is a hard man to please. I try to come up with at least one name a day that I think works with the last name and he might like. Other people have shot names at us too, but if I think it might be kind of iffy with the last name, there's no way he'll clear it, so make sure you say it out loud a few times, and again with any appropriate nickname before suggesting anything. You'll save yourself a lot of me having to just shake my head sadly.

So this was one of my favorite shots going through it, though we're missing some of the cuteness where she took the still. For the first hour he was facing down with his head out of view, but this meant he was orientated so his tush was floating in the air/fluid/whatever. None of the pictures properly show it, but you can imagine it maybe. you can see his arm/shoulders on the right, his ribs in the middle, and his pelvis and bent legs on the left... and to the left of his tush was just more blackness, floating there. Guess you'll just have to trust me.

So I'm pretty sure when he's in the position shown, I won't feel him too much. Or not yet at least while he's still just under a pound. This was highlighted when we saw him move during the during the first 2/3 of the ultrasound and I felt nothing.His legs are facing in twoards my body where I can't feel it yet. Also he doesn't ever seem to come up to the top of his home in there, because all his kicks (which I now feel several times a day) are all quite low.

Ok, now I REALLY should go shower. Before the... uh... shower. And even though it might be showering when I leave.

Gender is revealed! It's a...

Boy! He's got a penis and everything. I had her get another shot for me, because I wasn't convinced with the shots I'd seen thus far (not that I didn't believe her, but I didn't want lingering doubt), so she moved around a bit more and got the unchallengeable shot. So Peanut is a boy!

Peanut was, as I suspected, very low. Very very low. Bladder crushingly low. His head was so jammed down there the tech couldn't get any head shots for the first hour or so. She tried inverting me, rolling me around, but he was unwilling. Finally she had me go try the bathroom and told me to do some stretching, so I thought about it, and decided to touch my toes, and tried to give my midsection a good squeezing, and voila, when I straightened out I felt less pressure! Sure enough he had flipped so his head moved up a bit and was facing up.

By the way for most of the images I post, you can click on them for a bigger version. So after he turned we got to see his little face. Mouth, nose, the black area is his heart, you can see his spine along the bottom. The doctor didn't get the radiology report before my appointment, so she couldn't tell me much (I knew I should have pressured the tech to give me the weight/height stats!) But she did say that the spine looked good, and we have a nose/lips shot that doesn't show any cleft pallet, so things from that standpoint looks great!

I think I'm going to drag out some of these pics :) So I'll put one or two of them up in each post for awhile. Well, the ones that I can distinguish at least, there are one or two that I'm not sure if it's an arm or a leg or what, and not all of them are labeled....

But clearly he's a charmer already :) Now if you'll excuse me, momma is still recovering from almost an hour and a half of having pressure on her abdomen, owww, as soon as we left I could slowly feel everything down there tense up big time, I assume as the initial excitement of it all started to wear off. We tried stopping by Target, but after awhile, even though I had temporarily walked off the tightness, I started getting queasy and light headed and had to go home and lie down for an hour before I started feeling human again. Still can't do anything but lay down for too long, but hey, tomorrow is another day, and if all I can manage today is a blog post, a few phone calls and an ultrasound, so be it.

Mere hours away

Tonight: Try to get lots and lots of sleep.

7:15: Wake up!

7:30: Start drinking 32 oz of liquid. Try not to get sick consuming too many liquids too early.

7:59: Last chance to pee

8:45: Check into radiology

9:00: See Peanut!

45-90 minutes later: (???)

11:15: Doctor appointment

Leave triumphantly (hopefully)

We will be finding out, as long as Peanut cooperates. Contacting my sister first, so all of you's out there, you can wait your turn. And sorry if you just find out via FB or here, but I'm pretty sure tomorrow will be a fairly crazy day. Feel free to give me a call in the afternoon though.

Apparently Mom a few miles north and my brother a few miles south are both lacking power tonight. How fortunate of me to be in the sweet zone! Kind of hoping the rain lets up before it starts getting dark, go outside and start to pick up some of the huge limbs that fell in the 50mph winds.

Time to go keep busy for awhile!

20 Weeks

Ding! Times up, turn baby around when halfway done. Wait what? Erm. I think I'm just going to leave her in there and hope she finishes cooking. Less than three days till the possible gender reveal! The cats are practically giddy with excitement.

Oh yeah, we're halfway through, woohoo! Celebrated today with Mom for Mother's Day at the Great Dane, then worked s'more, and worked s'more on the garden. Then Boi raked up leaves, and I discovered a limit in the number of times I could bend over to assist while cleaning up the yard. So many sticks, too few times able to be able to bend over.

Mom and I did her village wide garage sale on Friday, got s'more sweet swag. Like a baby swing... rocker... thinger. Fancy and in good shape. And some children's books, and clothes, and a few simple toys like blocks. Lot's and lot's of bottles, and milk storage packs and etc. Mom got some train stuff too for her crib :) we saw a crib, but I found the model on a recall list, so that was out.

Kittens are getting hungry, I'm is getting tired... which is saying something after sleeping 11 hours last night. Boi gets to go in to work an hour later tomorrow, but I should still get him to bed.

Craaappy Day

Woke up this morning with a migraine, a nosebleed, and eventually some fun nausea. Generally I still don't feel great for the first few hours of the day, but it's looking like it's going to be an all day thing this time. Can anyone say yahoo with me?

Cats need food too, I can't call Boi, he doesn't get reception at his temporary worktown. Hopefully it will clear up so I can still attend the storm spotter class with K, and I can swing out for food then, or even still before. Don't want to go now though, I'm dizzy with this headache. Speaking of K, she dropped off two organic cotton onesies in super cute colors :D Peanut is spoiled already!

Two more days till Peanut is half-baked, 5 more days until the anatomy scan. Today and yesterday I've been really excited to find out what Peanut is. I figure at least then I have a clear image in my head for who I'm blaming for my nosebleeds. Well, that - and the good stuff ;) 

Wow, I'm making a lot of grammar mistakes, perhaps it's not advisable to blog while under the influence of a headache. I'll get a cat instead I guess.

Popcorn

Sunday evening, Sunday night and again Monday morning I felt popcorn going off in my belly! Peanut officially sent me some unmistakable kicks! Boi tried to get his hand on my belly on time, but it was too late. Even though some ladies on my board say that they've felt it through their bellies, at ~8oz and my nice layer of baby warming fat, I think it's going to be a few more weeks for us anyways. Alas, nothing since Monday morning, or at least nothing distinct.

We had a very annoying weekend, with the sump pump backing up, the dishwasher freaking out, and the garbage disposal just plain dying. Boi fixed the sump pump, took a few tries but eventually figured it out, and after draining and tinkering with the dishwasher, it just started working again. This has happened once before, gosh darn it I just need a new kitchen. And a new master bathroom still. And a new sliding door. These three things would make me happy. Too bad all these things cost money, and suddenly we have a money eating baby on the way ;)

Boi is in Wautoma this week, a long drive for what he calls frustratingly easy work. Not entirely sure how to take that, better then frustratingly hard and awful work I guess? But still not great. Oh well, one day down for him, well a day and a half, and he got home at a good time last night though, maybe he'll be home when I get back from yoga :) Hopefully he'll be in good mood! I want to make plans to get out of here for a few days!

Speaking of yoga, I was going to leave soonish for that. Dinner first at mom's, I'm going to bring her some flowers from the garden :D At least it's not snowing out there, boo for snow in May, hopefully they still look ok. I'd bring them in here, but the cats would for sure eat them. They're such squishy pigs :) *makes piggy faces with the one sitting by the computer* Yeah, she takes that as a compliment, darn it!

Peanut's wearing pigtails today! Bwaa haa haa!