Pregnancy Update - 21.5 Weeks

My pregnancy nose is a bit picky right now and when I got home all the little smells were getting to me. It makes me want to clean the house and do all the laundry right away.

Let's see what else, my nipples are really huge and dark now, the changes have been going on for a while but man is is really noticible now. Also I've been having more heartburn. It's a combination of my stomach not emptying very quickly and also things getting squished. I looked up where I'm supposed to be at fundal height wise in Pregnancy Week by Week this morning and I'm a few weeks ahead of where they say I should be. I'm feeling wiggles up high, almost 2 inches above my belly button (which is starting to get shallower and shallower).

I feel the baby regularly now, he's getting so strong. Sometimes it weirds me out but mostly I like the reassurance of feeling the movements, wiggles and kicks. I feel him down on the left, in the middle, on the upper right and left and behind my navel. I don't feel him in the lower right -- that's where I feel my fibroid so he hasn't got room to play over there.

Oh, and I got a really nice card from my friend Deborah, my fibroid sister. We sent each other care packages when we had our surgeries two years ago. She's got a baby girl now. Another friend of mine from the online world, Marina, sent me a box of baby goodies that was waiting for me when I got home last night. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet though.

Yeah so

I went maternity shopping a bit while I've been in NY. I went to one shop that carried exclusively the Maternite brands -- Pea in the Pod, Motherhood and Mimi -- with my mother and we were both shocked at the poor quality of the material, the prices and for me, also that everything was manufactured in the poorest areas of the world such as Bangladesh. I bought one sweater on sale and left it at that. On Saturday I went into NYC and found some things at H&M, they have their own maternity line called MaMa and I bought a few tops, a sweater and a skirt.

Yesterday I went to visit my friend and her twin boys in my hometown. The boys are 2-1/2 now and they are very cute. One of them was very interested in the fact that there was baby in my belly and he patted it a couple times. I told him that the next time I came I would have a little baby with me and would he like to play with the baby and he answered seriously and slowly "Yes." He said he likes babies. It was cute.

My other and I couldn't swing getting together but mostly because I'm still so run down from fighting my cold/flu virus. I took a 2-hour nap on Saturday and Sunday because I felt so achy and tired. I hope that I pull through it in the next week or so. I am gradually feeling a little better so you should know. Dang though the achy joints.

My mother dug out a little sweater she knit for my brother when he was an infant and also a little quilt my great-aunt gave me when I was a baby. That's pretty nice to bring home with me.

I can't believe I'm past the halfway point already. This is going by pretty fast now and I'm not ready at all. Work is still up in the air, I need to clean out my studio to make way for baby, and who knows what else. I think I'm just tired and a bit stressed out. I had to reschedule my flight home until tomorrow evening and it's putting a kink in my day tomorrow that I didn't need.

Camping While Pregnant

I went twice this summer, first when I was 7w and just this past weekend at 16w. We did car camping, no hiking in 3 miles to a site with a backpack on. This time my partner carried just about all our gear down from the car but I helped to set up the tent and bedding and our camping chairs.

I think the biggest complaint I had was having to pee soooooo much. In July there were a lot of mosquitos and we were doing rustic camping so that wasn't fun. I stayed away from the DEET bug spray and found some that was safe for babies but it required a lot of reapplication. Thankfully there weren't many mosquitos this past weekend.

When I was 7w I was sooooo tired and wanted to nap but it was so hot in the tent. That made me feel worse. I still had to take naps this time, but thankfully it was a bit cooler, though still a bit on the hot side in the tent.

I have an air mattress (Thermarest) and this past weekend at 16w I found that it was uncomfortable sleeping on my side, though it's right around now that you aren't supposed to be sleeping on your back due to pressure on the vena cava and aorta. I woke up that way both mornings without any issues. I think if I was further along it might have been more of an issue -- or maybe I would just bring along more cushioning for the hip area.

The other thing I noticed was that bending over and moving things down low was causing me to have an achy belly.

Still, I had a great weekend and I'm glad I went. It was the last time before the baby comes, and I'm not sure about next summer though our friends were trying already to convince us to bring the baby next year. We shall see.

90 degrees in the shade

Not typical Seattle weather, but we do get a few days here and there above 90. About the same number as we get below freezing -- if global warming and all that don't change things (who knows).

I've found that ice cream is my friend when I get over heated. At least something should help out. I'm not too keen on chocolate right now but I'm not too particular. I just had a Julie's Organic Ice Cream pop, blackberry with a chocolate shell. I also baked chocolate ginger scones this morning - so it's not like I'm abstaining from chocolate.

My Irish friend is visiting from Spain where he lives now; he's spent most of the day with us and thankfully he knows the meaning of siesta -- because this pregnant gal needs her naps. We had a really nice lunch on our front porch with a greek style salad, pita bread wedges and hummous. My friend leaves tonight, as he's off to a wedding in the morning and needs to take an early ferry so he's going to crash with one of the other wedding guest nearby. We might see him again tomorrow before he leaves.

With this heat my little belly is starting to feel a little more uncomfortable and I'm longing for loose-fitting sundresses. The reality is that I've got a few, and I'm sitting in one right now that I've had for years, but really shopping would be wise if this heat holds up. But, that isn't likely. Though, there will be more opportunities for wearing sundresses.

My parents are planning on coming for a few days in August for a visit. Which will be nice, but right now I feel like I'm just waiting for my appointment on Tuesday to tell me that everything is going okay. I don't know when this feeling that I'm going to get bad news will subside but hopefully soon.

No, I'm not worrying constantly about it. My partner and I talk about having a kid next year and we continue to make motions planning towards that eventuality. It's just that it doesn't feel real to me, like my heart isn't totally sure of it yet. Still, today marks 10 weeks and by the best of my figgerin' this is the longest I've ever been pregnant, even past the first one where I ovulated on May 24 and had a d&c on July 19 that time. This time I ovulated 3 days later and now it's three days later than the 19th. So, let's mark down another little step towards success.

Thanks for your comments. I know, I wish hiring people was easier but I think I'll know the right candidates when I meet them. And there are plenty of options we haven't explored yet.

Bloated as anything

Have you ever had a cycle where you went from feeling normal, almost skinny before ovulation and then felt like you gained 10 pounds after ovulation? It's been driving me nuts and I thought to myself, surely I've not been eating that much. Even my underwear hasn't been fitting right for the past 10 days.

This morning I have my consult with my ob/gyn to discuss my care plan for my next pregnancy. I figured that to rule it out, I would test this morning before my appointment to see if anything was there. I wasn't that optimistic. I took the test and it was blank, and waited and it was blank. So I stuck it in my drawer and then after a couple of minutes I checked again. And sure enough there was the faintest line coming up. I sort of felt like something must be going on for all that bloating.

So here you go, my third BFP, without any enhancement:

So, that's three for three of getting pg around this time of year.

I'm just hanging out, bloated as anything. What a fun LP this one is. And all my pants are tight and I'm fighting with my underwear all the time due to my backside being a little too fluffy for its own sake. I swear I gain inches during my LP. My partner is out with his friends, he should as he's been working, working, working non-stop as he's overloaded with projects right now. The poor guy needs a break. Since I have to fend for myself I'm thinking couscous, salad and grilled asparagus -- I've got a load of veggies to use up.