This has been a crazy busy 2 weeks. I wanted to get an update out last week and just never got around to it. So, it’s another combo post!

Here are a few non-pregnancy related updates!

We got the house all gussied up for the holidays – inside and outside!

I spent almost a week in Salt Lake City for work but did get some time to drive up in the mountains…

…and then I was hauled off to jail.

Sort of. See the Utah State Penitentiary is across the highway from our office and they have a café (or food truck) that is open to the public – the Serving Time Café. It is run by the prison. Some of the workers are prisoners and some are not. They actually have a pretty extensive menu. I got a Patty Melt and fries and both were quite good.

And I never felt like my safety (or food!) was in jeopardy!

Now on to the baby and pregnancy updates!

I’m definitely feeling bigger and more uncomfortable. When I think that I still have 5 months to go, it’s somewhat daunting but I know it’s only temporary and so worth it for what the end result is!

Zzzz….

Good sleep is getting harder and harder to come by mostly because it’s impossible to find a comfortable position. You can’t sleep/lie on your back after the first trimester and of course stomach sleeping is out. So that leaves side-lying (which is normally how I sleep anyway). However, it’s still awkward. They say to put a pillow between your legs to protect your back but I’ve tried it and that does not work for me. I tend to rollover a lot and having a big pillow under the covers makes movement a lot harder.

So I pretty much have a constant crick in my neck. It moves from side to side but it’s always there. Last week it was on the left side, this week it’s on the right.

Items purchased:

We actually bought something for the nursery last week! Well, CJ did. He found a cute little stuffed Very Hungry Caterpillar that will be perfect! AND he found it at a used toy store for like $1.50. That’s my man!

Isabella is already attached to it because she snuggled with it on the car ride home. We’ve had to explain that it’s for the baby and that she can play with it but ultimately it’s not hers. She said, “But it loves me and wants to be mine.” Ha! She’s getting good at the manipulation I tell ya!

I also bought more maternity clothes this week. Just a few tops to keep me going as I get bigger.

I’ve noticed that maternity fashions have changed in the 3 short years since my last pregnancy. In 2009, everything was empire-waisted and loose around the belly.

Now, the trend seems to be for shirts to be fitted and tighter – showing off the bump.

Isabella photo bomb!!

I kind of like the updated trend as some of the older style shirts made me feel like I was wearing a tent!

Sister or Brother? Isabella continues to change her mind about whether she wants a brother or a sister. One day last week she said “Brother, so that I can teach them about the planets.” Then the other day she said she wants a sister named Jane (after the little girl in Mary Poppins).

Speaking of names, no we haven’t decided on anything and no we won’t share when we do. 🙂

And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for….!

Ultrasound results!!

We had our ultrasound today and agreed to not find out the sex of the baby (CJ still wanted too but consented to letting me decide. Smart man!). 

I was told to arrive with a full bladder. And boy did I! It was so full that it pushed the baby up so that it scrunched. They made me go empty it. I did not protest.

I tell you what – ultrasounds today are not what they were 3 years ago. The images were so incredibly clear. We could see not only the heart beating but actually all 4 chambers of it. We also saw the brain, with both sides and the line running down the middle. The spine was perfectly visible and clear. It was amazing.

The baby was cooperating just beautifully too. It was laying face up with its feet up by its head and giving us some great views. Then of course when it was time for the fun stuff (like the 3D ultrasound), it rolled over, covered its face and went to sleep. Ha!

When it was time to determine the gender, she had us look at each other and away from the monitor. It must have been pretty clear and obvious what it was because she was done checking pretty quick!

Picture time!

Here is a profile shot.

It definitely has the Atencio chin…

And a profile with its hand up on its chin, thinking.

This one shows the front of the face.

Here are the little feet.

And a hand.

Finally, the 3D view of the face.

Somewhat hard to see because the baby is nestled back in the placenta. You can see the forehead and right side of the face peeking out (top half of the picture – one closed eye, nose and mouth). Just below the face is the umbilical cord.

The best news of all – baby is perfectly healthy! All markers lined up to where they should be and all organs, bones, etc. are tracking normally. Baby weighs 1 lb. 3 oz. which is 52% – right in the middle! Doctor said she couldn’t be happier with what she saw.

I get to have another ultrasound in 10 weeks to check growth rate. They’re doing an extra one because of my Advanced Maternal Age. By then we should get some really good images!

I am relieved to know that our baby is healthy and progressing as it should. Was it hard to not find out the sex? Not at all! I wasn’t even tempted to change my mind or peek! I’m sure there will be moments as we go along but right now I’m really happy with my decision.

Here are posts from the previous weeks, in case you need to get caught up!

20 | 19 | 18 | 16 and 17

Can you believe I’m halfway through my pregnancy? I can’t. Some days it feels like I’m still in the very beginning. Other times it feels like I should be way closer to “done”.

I also know that what’s left is the hard part. The body getting bigger, and more unwieldy. Aches and pains popping up. And of course the actual delivery.

Can you believe I forgot to take a picture? I would take one now but I’m in my P.J.’s and no one wants to see that.

So here’s one from my pregnancy with Isabella. I look pretty much the same then as now!

I had Isabella via C-Section (after many intense hours of pushing after which they told me her head was too big to fit through and she was backward) so not sure what we’ll do with this one. I’m told that at 36 weeks the doctor can tell me if a vaginal birth is possible or if I’ll have to do another C. If given the choice, I’ll probably try the vaginal route rather than have another surgery. There are trade-offs. C-Sections are much easier and faster in the moment, and can be scheduled, but the recovery is longer. Vaginal births are obviously less ‘convenient’ in terms of timing and are much more intensive but you bounce back quicker (so I hear). I also like the idea of nature deciding my baby’s birthday rather than me picking one.

Believe it or not, she still makes that face when she’s crying!

My stomach is a black hole: I’ve entered a phase in which I CANNOT get enough to eat. I am always hungry. My family had a birthday celebration on Sunday for my dad and me, at which chili and spaghetti along with sides were served. I went back through the “buffet” 3 times and was still hungry. So an hour later I had some cheese/crackers and graham crackers with frosting. Then an hour after that I had cake and ice cream.

And I did not feel full or stuffed.

I’m hoping this is a temporary phase because if I keep going at this rate I’ll be a frickin’ balloon by the time April rolls around.

At least I can take advantage come Thanksgiving tomorrow! My Brother in law has some competition this year! And I’ll have my Thanksgiving pants on – score!

Bigger and bigger:That being said, I’m starting to notice other areas of my body growing. Up to this point it’s pretty much been the belly and boobs. Over the weekend I noticed my pants getting more snug in the butt too. Then the other morning when I went to put on my knee high boots, I discovered they were tighter as well. Yep, my calves are expanding (and I don’t think it’s muscular). What’s next?

I’ll tell you what’s next. I just discovered that the one thing I hated more than anything else from my 1st pregnancy has started to manifest. That’s right – cankles. I had swelling in my feet and ankles really bad the first time around. I couldn’t believe how puffy I was. And it hurt. I thought maybe I’d be spared that with this one since it’s during a cooler time of year.

I guess not. Crap.

Nursery mood:I promised last week that I would provide more insight in to our nursery and gave a subtle hint.

Ok maybe it wasn’t that subtle…

You guessed it, the nursery is going to be centered around the books by Eric Carle. I like that it’s simple, full of bright colors and gender neutral (since we’re not finding out the sex…right CJ?).

I like the look of this nursery:

(source)

I probably won’t buy the Pottery Barn bedding or accessories – who can afford that? – but instead improvise on my own. I plan to put some pics on the wall with animals from the books (most likely made by me using books found at Goodwill or other Thrift stores) and add various animal accents too. Our nursery will probably be more primary color focused than the above picture. I’m thinking of making the walls a cheery yellow. I like some of these colors:

Not too bright but not too light either. Accent colors will be reds and blues and greens.

Right now it’s jumble of ideas in my head. I think it’ll come together pretty easily though!

That’s it for this week. I just wanted to end by thanking everyone who takes the time to read my silly little blog. Some days I feel like I’m just writing to myself (and that’s ok – it’s good for me). But the times I get feedback, whether via comments here or on Facebook, are really exciting. So thanks for the support and happy Thanksgiving!

In case you missed it, here are update from the previous weeks!

19 | 18 | 16 and 17

Happy belated Birthday to me! Yep, Wednesday was my 36th birthday. To me this is the first year that I think my age sounds “old”. I know that it’s not and I’m sure my 50 year old husband is rolling his eyes at me right now. I don’t FEEL old or consider myself old. It’s just the number that sounds old. People generally refer to young people as in their 20’s or “early 30’s”. With 36, I’m officially crossing over the mark from early 30’s to late 30’s.

30 years old…

Vs. 36 years old

Does this belly make me look older?

Plus I get to have the label of “Advanced Maternal Age” (or AMA) on my chart at the doctor’s office. If that doesn’t make a person feel old, I don’t know what will!

All that being said, I am truly thankful for another great year in my life. As we all know, the gift of life is precious and can be taken in an instance. Every child, every person, is a miracle and the fact that I’ve been able to enjoy 36 relatively trauma free years on this planet is not lost on me. So thank you to everyone in my life who has helped me celebrate this week!

Yes my daughter is picking her nose.

Who cares, I got a Steelers jersey for my birthday!

Now let’s party (safely and without any alcohol of course)!

Exciting Pregnancy Moment that Never gets old: This week I experienced for the first time in this pregnancy one of the things that makes every pregnancy fun – baby movements and kicks! At my 18 week appointment the doctor asked if I’d felt any yet and I said no. She said not to worry that it was still early for that but of course my mind started working overtime. Combine that with the fact that it took her longer to find the heartbeat and I was really getting nervous.

So every day I would pay extra special attention to any ‘sensations’ going on down there. Turned out to always be gas or stomach gurgles or something of the like.

Until Sunday. I was lying in bed listening to Isabella slowly wake up when I left a flutter. That’s how people typically describe baby movements at this stage – flutters. It was more like the feeling of a bubble popping. I quickly put my hand over my bump and waited. Pretty soon there was another one! Yippee! I knew for sure that these were the real deal. I’ve been feeling them steadily ever since. They’re too small and sporadic now for anyone else to feel but soon CJ and Isabella will get to experience them too. I can’t wait for Isabella to feel her first baby kick from inside mommy!

Food, glorious food: Surprisingly there haven’t been any cravings for a while. No revulsions either. Just normal eating. I did however down 3 big brownies from a bake sale in a 2 day period and then felt indignant when CJ wouldn’t share the last one with me. But I guess he’s allowed to have one…

Speaking of CJ, he’s been dropping some weight lately. I think he said he’s lost about 10 pounds so far. I can see it too. Not that he was fat before because he certainly was not. But like all of us of “advanced age”, he’s put on a few unwanted LBS over the years. Kudos to him for the loss! He looks great!

Is this how osmosis works? My husbands extra weight falls off him over night and then crawls it’s way across our bed and sticks to me? I just hope that come Spring of next year, the weight will fall off me too and find it’s way out of the house entirely! Unless of course it wants to stick to my wallet and fatten that up. I wouldn’t be opposed to that.

Gender Issues:CJ and I still haven’t decided it we are going to find out the gender of the baby when we go in for our ultrasound in 3 weeks. Well, let me rephrase. CJ knows what he wants – he wants to find out. I’m on the fence but leaning toward waiting. We have yet to sit down and duke it out to come to a mutual decision.

My doctor has predicted that it’s a girl. She told me this last week. When I asked her why she thought so (was the heartbeat particularly female sounding?) she said “Oh I don’t know, Doctor’s intuition.” I guess we’ll see if there’s anything to that intuition!

Oh, my Back! I’ve started getting pains in my back. Lower back that is, specifically on my left side. I know it’s because of my hips moving and spreading. I don’t remember feeling anything this early with Isabella. What can I say, I’m older. It really hurt me after volleyball last night. I had to come home and ice my back for nearly an hour before bed. And of course I can’t take anything. Well, I can take Tylenol but that does nothing for me. I just have to be extra careful with my bending and lifting.

Nursery update:Getting the nursery set up is sort of the last thing on my mind right now. I figure that we’ll get started on that sometime in January, once the holidays are past us. However, I did make a small dent the other night. See, the room that will become the nursery is currently empty. The previous owners had it decorated with pink and purple polka dot decals on the walls so Isabella lovingly calls it the Polka Dotted Room. Well, we were playing around in there the other night and I started peeling off the little dot decals. Some of them came off easily and others took some paint with them. No big deal since we’ll be repainting the room anyway.

However, Isabella was very upset at me for taking down the dots. “But this is MY polka dotted room!” she said! I explained to her that this was going to be the baby’s room soon and the polka dots would have to go. I did promise her that she could put up some dots in her room though. Right now she has flower decals on the walls and her room is pink and purple. But in order to make sure she wasn’t feeling left out while we’re spending all kinds of time on the nursery, we said she could pick out new colors for her room and paint it too. She wants blue. So I’ll probably try to find some kind of blue or white or chalkboard dots for her new blue room. Then she can have her own polka dotted room.

As for how we plan to decorate the nursery, well I’ll give you a hint this week and get in to more of the details in a later post.

(source)

Previous weeks, in case you missed them:

18 | 16 and 17 | 15

For some reason, 18 weeks feels like a big milestone to me. Not sure why. It’s not as if either of my 2 miscarriages ended around this time. Maybe it’s because with Isabella I had the ultrasound at 18 weeks, which is a pretty big deal. This time around we’re not getting the ultrasound until 22 weeks. I could have gone in 2 weeks from now to get it done at the 20 week mark but decided to wait for my regularly scheduled appointment time. It’s all about practicality you know.

(I told Isabella to smile and point at my stomach as if to say “What’s that!?” This is what I got)

Doc Appointment: My appointment today went fine. No surprises really. At this stage in the game, they’re all pretty routine. They call my name, I walk back and step on the scale. 152 pounds today which means I’ve gained a total of 12 pounds. As you’ll recall, my goal is to stick to gaining no more than 1 pound a week. Between the last appointment at 14 weeks and today, I’ve only gained 3 lbs. so I’m pretty happy with that. Healthy weight gain yet not overdoing it.

After I’m weighed, they take me to the exam room and check my blood pressure. It’s always normal or low. Then they ask me for a urine sample. Let me tell you, at this point in my life, I am a master at peeing in a cup. Not a drop spilled today!

Then I wait to see the doctor. She comes in, we chat and then it’s time to check for the baby’s heartbeat. She uses the Doppler radar machine. It’s a handheld device that can detect a heartbeat starting around 10 weeks. She can usually finds it in a matter of seconds. Today she couldn’t at first. I started to have flashbacks to August 30th, 2011 when, in that same room, I found out the news that there wasn’t a heartbeat. Turns out it was the way in was laying on the table. I had my knees bent and feet flat. She had me scootch back and straighten my legs. As soon as I did, she found that precious heartbeat immediately. Phew!

Body Changes: Lately I’ve been noticing my skin is more itchy. Specifically on the 2 areas that are growing: the lumps and the bump. I was fortunate with my first pregnancy that I didn’t end up with stretch marks on my stomach. It’s somewhat of a miracle considering I gained nearly 60 lbs. I think it’s because I was pretty diligent about applying lotion everyday. So I’ve gone back to doing that and it’s helped a lot.

Heartburn. Like Arnold, it’s back. With a vengeance. I had stopped taking the daily antacids when the burn calmed down around weeks 12 and 13. I didn’t need it anymore. But I’m finding that I have to work them back in  more and more. There are some nights when even the antacids can’t tame it. When that happens I just go to bed and ride it out.

Isabella Moments: We’ve had a busy week. CJ and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. We didn’t do anything too crazy to commemorate. Just a movie and dinner. CJ also bought me an assortment of candy since the traditional gift for the 6th year is, well, candy! For a pregnant lady, that’s a total win!

Also this week, we’ve been watching Isabella’s friend Owen in the evenings!

They have had a blast playing with each other.

But boy does it tire me out. It’s given me insight in to what it will be like to have 2 kids. They have way more energy than me!

But at least there are moments of quiet too.

I’ll end with a story. When I got home from work today, Isabella ran over and asked me to play tea party with her. I said sure, but only after I got a hug and a kiss! She came over, hugged me around the legs, kissed my tummy and then whispered, “Hi Baby Skeleton!” Cutest. Moment. Ever.

 

In case you missed it, here are some of the previous weeks!

16 and 17 | 15

Ok so with various family activities going on like taking Isabella to the Clifford Show…

Going on our annual family trek to Nebraska City…

Carving pumpkins….

 

Halloween parties….

The “Shrek” Broadway show and the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert…

And then Halloween day itself…

(Isn’t she the cutest little Mickey Mouse pumpkin ever?)

I have had ZERO time to do an update. Oops. But I figure the world won’t end if I miss a week. It’s not like there is all that much to report on in these early stages anyway!

(I totally spaced off taking a 17 week pic so you get 2 pics at 16 weeks! Blame the pregnancy brain…)

Miscellaneous Fun, Facts and Figures:

Pregnancy Brain: Yes this is a real thing and not a lame excuse to be forgetful. Per this article on WebMD:

“Surging hormone levels and new priorities may explain why pregnancy brain happens.There are 15 to 40 times more progesterone and estrogen marinating the brain during pregnancy, and these hormones affect all kinds of neurons in the brain,” says Louann Brizendine, MD, director of the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California, San Francisco.”By the time the woman delivers, there are huge surges of oxytocin that cause the uterus to contract and the body to produce milk — and they also affect the brain circuits.”

All that scientific mumbo jumbo to say that I’ve fallen victim to pregnancy brain 3 times this week.

First of all, I realized yesterday morning that for 3 nights I’d been washing my face with sunscreen rather than cleanser. To my defense, the 2 tubes look a lot alike…

Apparently it does the job though because my skin has looked and felt fine! Maybe I’m on to something here…

Also, this morning it took me 5 minutes to realize that I was listening to Isabella’s sing-a-long songs CD on the drive in to work and not the radio. Obviously I wasn’t fully focused.

Finally, I left my phone at work the other night. Not sure if that’s related or if I was just distracted but I’m usually very careful when packing up at the end of the day. I grab my phone, any food in the community refrigerator and make sure my desk is cleaned off. On this day I plum forgot my phone. So I was forced to be off the grid for a whole 15 hours. Oh the humanity!

Limitations: The time has finally come when I have to limit how much I pick up Isabella. She’s 29 pounds and for the most part I’ve been okay holding her. However, over the weekend I tried to hold her up on the toilet while in a crouched position (we were at a place without a kid’s seat and I had to hold her up so she wouldn’t fall in) and when I stood up I felt a pull on my side. It was aggravated every time I tried to pick her up after that.

I hate this. She wants me to hold her and I desperately wish I could but at the same time I don’t want to hurt myself or the baby. I can generally hold her if someone hands her to me . It’s the actually lifting up of her that is strenuous. Isabella has a hard time understanding that. It breaks my heart when she pulls at me to pick her up and I can’t. I’ve tried to come up with compromises like having her climb in my lap or having CJ hand her to me. It’ll all work out but it’s definitely a side affect I hadn’t anticipated this early.

Body Changes: I am feeling more discomfort in my pelvic muscles this time around. Those are the ones that hurt when trying to pick up Munchkin. They also ache if I sit for too long in one position. I noticed this at Shrek on Sunday. By the end of the show my lower back and pelvic muscles were aching. I’m assuming it’s because I had a C-section with Isabella and therefore those muscles were cut. Now as my uterus stretches and grows, forcing the muscles to stretch too, there are growing pains. I’m going to ask my doctor about it when I got in next week, just to make sure it’s not anything internal or cause for concern.

Oh, and the heartburn is back.

Also, Kegels.

Just for fun, here I am at 17 weeks with Isabella:

(Wow, I really don’t look very happy. I think I’m about the same size though which is good.)

Dreams:I had my first pregnancy dream the other night. We were at the ultrasound and before we could tell the tech that we wanted to be surprised by the gender, she blurted out “It’s a girl!”. When I looked up on the screen the baby was wearing pink underwear. Then right before I woke up she said, “Oh wait, I was wrong. It’s a boy!”

Apparently we can’t use my dreams as an accurate prediction of what we’re having.

Isabella Moments:Isabella talked to the baby this week! When she first saw the baby skeleton on my Halloween costume, she thought it was awesome. I told her she could talk to the baby in my tummy if she wanted so she did. She walked up and, somewhat nervously said, “Hi baby!” It was so freakin’ cute. She’s done it a couple of times since, but only when I have that shirt on. I think the visual helps her “see” that there’s a person in me.

(Goodbye from Team Trader Baby!)

 

In case you missed it, here are the previous weeks!

15 | 14 | 12 and 13