22-week update

not much happening here. after my big scare last week, i've been trying to de-stress, which has been extremely hard. i don't know why but things have been happening one after the other with no end in sight.

but that's for another time and probably another blog, as this one is dedicated to the one within my belly.

LOTS of movement. sometimes i feel her more towards the back and down low, so it feels really strange.

messed up sleep schedule. i seem to have a hard time falling asleep, but i think it probably just has to do with the fact that i've been getting up later lately. i'm still sleeping on my back comfortably.

big belly. it came out of nowhere, just one day i woke up with it. even 2 weeks ago it wasn't this big. i find it rather uncomfortable already, which is frightening since i still have another 18 weeks to go.

goodbye rings. i'm a bit paranoid about my hands swelling up to the point the rings will have to be cut off. so i took them off a couple days ago. the hands/feet are not that swollen yet, but i like to be ready, since it sounds inevitable that they will swell.

mood. other than the stress, i've been in good spirits.

baby stuff. we bought a change pad, a few outfits, and that's about all. in a few weeks we'll bring our crib, pack n' play, and exerciser from edmonton. the big stuff that's still left to buy are a swing, car seat, and ...i can't remember what the third one was... but there's three.

i think that's all. apparently the baby is nearly a pound and as long as a banana.

a big little scare

when you see blood under any circumstance, it's never a good sign. when you see blood while you're pregnant, it numbs you and scares you to the point where you can't speak. then you start to bawl, thinking the worst has happened.

that was me yesterday. i immediately called my clinic in high river, who told me i was under their cut-off for being seen (apparently you have to be 21 weeks to be seen by them; under 21 weeks, you go to the emergency). i was 20 weeks and 6 days yesterday, meaning i'm 21 weeks today. yet, she said the policy guidelines were clear - i would have to go to emergency.

then i called my family doctor's office, only to be told it's "normal" by the secretary. that woman seriously needs to get a reality check - she's not the doctor, she's the secretary. she won't book me an appointment until next week even though she can hear me completely freaking out over the phone.

so here i am panicking, no one willing to help me out. i call jesse to tell him, which immediately freaks him out and he rushes home. thankfully he was working really close to home yesterday...

so we go to the urgent care. a usually very busy place, there was no one there except us. we were seen rather quickly, the doctor listened to the baby's heartbeat and did an exam. no blood seen, cervix is nice and closed, heartbeat is good, and baby is moving. must have been flukey blood. a lot of time in pregnancy, the doctor says, there is just unexplained blood seen. no one knows why it happens and nearly all of the time the baby is born just fine and healthy.

anyways, everything looks okay and i don't know what i would do without jesse. i'm so incredibly blessed to have him.

Mover and Shaker

i forgot to write about the first time i felt the baby move, so here it is.

people always talk about these flutters in the stomach, which are the baby's early movements that you can feel. well, i didn't feel them. not once. or maybe i did, but i didn't know it. some people were talking about how they can feel their baby as early as 13-15 weeks, and i felt nothing.

in my 18th week (or i guess it could have been my 19th week), i was laying in bed with my hands on my tummy when i felt a poke in my hand. then again. then again. jesse was not there at the moment and by the time he came back, i could no longer feel the movements. i sure absolutely sure this had to be the baby; there was nothing else it could be... gas?! not this time!

then it was quiet until the next week. oddly enough, jesse was away in blairmore overnight when it happened and so he missed it again!

but for the last... oh week or so, i've been feeling her move more regularly and sometimes even without my hand on my belly. i can distinguish her movements now and she's even moving for daddy now, so jesse has felt her move about as well.

and let me just tell you, it's an incredible feeling.

Our Baby

introducing our precious baby GIRL!

she is growing like a weed and my due date has been officially moved up to December 4, 2009. so pretty much, i've skipped week 19...

she was so active, really moving about, kicking and punching!... i'm almost nervous about how it's gonna be when i can really start feeling all those movements!

needless to say, jesse and i are on cloud 9.

and the winner is...

i know, i know. we had said our two choices were the graco and eddie bauer strollers. well, we've talked to some people, did some more research, and actually went and saw the Valco tri-mode stroller and loved it. i've been wanting a jogging stroller, but hadn't found one i really liked until now.

we went to bo bebe in shawnessy here in calgary and checked this baby out. it's a tri-mode, meaning you can set the front wheel to swivel 360 degrees, to stay straight, or to swivel a little bit... it was very easy to maneuver and is compatible with graco, maxi-cosi, or peg perego infant car seats. aluminum body, easily removable back tires (which are inflatable), and it folds nice and small, perfect for the matrix. oh and it reclines flat for babies too!

we're very happy with our choice and thank my cousin susie for offering to get this for us. the above color is "pistachio", which jesse likes best. i really think all the colors are nice, except for the all red one, and since it matter so much more to jesse what color we get, i think we'll go with the pistachio.

our baby has a ride! woot woot!

stupid canada diagnostics centre

i've been looking forward to today for a LONG time. today is the day we get to see our baby and find out perhaps whether it is a he or a she.

well, supposed to be.

i had a bad feeling about the place we're going for the ultrasound. i read on their website that they give a CD containing between 15-30 seconds of the 4D portion of the ultrasound. that's it. no still images of the traditional 2D. i mean, as cool as the 4D is, i love the 2D images and it makes me sad to think i won't have a single picture of the baby to put in the album (the baby album we bought specifically has a spot for an ultrasound picture, which would have to remain empty).

when i called the place and they confirmed that no, they don't give out any pictures or 2D still images on CD, i was really unhappy. (did i mention the CD is $20???)

so pretty much i began having like a stupid anger attack (hormones?) and called every other place in Calgary. Luckily one place (Radiology Consultants) had time for me to come in later in the week. plus, they give me a CD with still images for $10~

so although we have to wait another 4 days, at least this way we will have a keepsake to show the baby when he/she is older.

over a donair

so last night, i cried. i cried and cried. i was so upset with the world and felt like a 4-year-old throwing a tantrum for not getting dessert.

why was i so upset, you ask? because jesse had eaten a donair that afternoon. i had really wanted a donair the day before and we were going to eat one for dinner, but i was being indecisive and felt it was too far (it's about a 20 minute drive for the best donair and fries ever). so i chose to miss out on the deliciousness of mystery meat packed and roasted in a rotisserie, sliced and hugged inside a pita with delicious sweet sauce, tomatoes, onions...

don't get me wrong. i don't blame him and am not angry with him for eating a donair without me. i'm just upset that he got to eat one and i didn't! now you see, jesse is not the type of person who can eat the same thing 2 days in a row. he doesn't like to eat leftovers for a few days and doesn't even like to eat the same meat prepared in a different way the day after he's had it (confused?). so him eating a donair yesterday means i don't get to have a donair for a few days at least. and i was desparate... i tell you... desparate for a donair.

i know it sounds absolutely ridiculous that i just completely lost it over a food item, but at least i have something to blame.... hormones! and tonight, i will make him eat a donair again even if it kills him because I HAVE TO HAVE A DONAIR TONIGHT.

harry potter versus tradition

so according to tae-gyo (see my post in April), i must abstain from watching any violence. this rule until now has been perfectly fine.

HOWEVER, a week from today, the new harry potter movie comes out. yes, i am a harry potter nerd. i have read the books and own every movie on dvd to date. i think ron is cute and i secretly wish i had magic powers and an invisibility cloak. to make matters worse, this is the film version of my favorite HP book and it would make me sad to no end to miss this in theatres (c'mon, we all know watching it on dvd is just not the same).

so i am completely torn. as much as i don't believe that watching HP will turn my baby into an evil wizard, i really want to abide by this "tradition"... what to do, what to do... why oh why did this movie have to come out THIS YEAR???!?!?!?!

18 weeks!

just a quick update on how i'm feeling/what's been going on:

i feel good. other than these allergies and the last bit of this nagging cough, i feel good. i'm eating well, drinking well.

i still haven't felt the baby move... soon, i hope.

you can expect to see NO baby bump pictures from me. however, i will tell you i'm not showing much. haven't gained any weight really (maybe 1 pound). i don't look any different other than my hair has been growing fiercely and it's been more "luscious", according to jesse.

i'm still sleeping on my back because it's still the most comfortable.

i'm hungry a lot of the time, but i get full much faster than i used to.

we bought one thing so far that is baby-related: a record keeping album. jesse said after monday's ultrasound, we can go out and buy one gender specific item to celebrate.

i own one pair of maternity pants.

we have the boy's name picked out. we are split between two girl names - we both like both names, can't decide which one. and don't ask us what the names are, we're not telling ;)

jesse's going to blairmore again tomorrow and spending the night. i will once again be an emotional wreck for those 48 hours.

the end.

first visit to the Low Risk Clinic

as of right now, i am 100% super happy that i chose to go to high river and not to calgary. i had my first appointment today and today it was with dr. makhdoom (or dr. doom as her kid patients call her, which couldn't be more contradictory as i think she is the nicest doctor i've ever met). with the way this clinic works, i doubt i'll get dr. doom again, but it sounds like the rest of the docs are just as nice.

i got to the clinic and the admin assistant showed me how to dip my own pee and write down the results. then i got some info to read and barely waited 1 minute when dr. doom came in. we chatted for a moment, she took the family/personal history, reviewed my prenatal bloodwork with me (apparently it's true - i have no immunity to rubella, which is weird... i only had my vaccination 4 years ago), and then proceeded to a Pap... but she explained every step of the way of what she was doing as if it was my first ever. she measured my uterus and i'm right at 18 cm, correlating to 18 weeks! woo hoo!!!!

then the funny part. now, dr. mccracken has had so much trouble trying to find and sustain the baby's heartbeat on the doppler. at the most, i've heard about 5 beats in a row before he would lose it and not be able to find it again. i told dr. doom this and said this baby has been very uncooperative in the past with the doppler. she said, "oh really?", then just put the doppler probe down and *voila* there's the heartbeat. stronger and clearer than i've ever heard it and we had it for probably at least 30 seconds before the baby moved. we could also hear the baby's kicking movements, at which dr. doom got so excited and shouted, "it's kicking!"

i was very worried with me being sick and all this past week... and it was so reassuring to hear the heartbeat so nice and strong. it was about 150 bpm. so i'm measuring the right size, the heartbeat is right on, and now i really really REALLY can't wait for the ultrasound on Monday!!!

next appointment at LRC - August 4.

trip to the ER

so 3 days ago, i was just suddenly hit by the flu. i haven't had the flu since i've been getting my yearly shots for 3 years or so. it started with a cough, then a really bad headache, then fever and chills.

now, normally, i would never go to the emergency because i have the flu... but i wasn't sure how the fever would affect the baby since all the books will tell you the baby shouldn't get too warmed up (hence, no hot baths or steamrooms). so after wrapping my head with an icy towel for a few hours, i finally gave in and called healthlink and talked to a lovely nurse named Barb. Barb was concerned about my heart rate (never less than 100 and as high as 133 bpm at rest) and shortness of breath. she also said maternal fever has to be looked at, no matter what the cause is. so she suggested i go to the emergency to be assessed.

we got to high river hospital at about 10:30. we registered and then the nicest triage nurse in the history of the nursing profession, earla, checked my blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature. yes, i have a fever. yes, my bp is elevated. yes, my heart rate is at 126 or so. she is concerned about my constant elevated heart rate and proceeds to an electrocardiogram.

that hospital was SO empty. i have never in my life seen such a quiet hospital emergency. it was rather eerie. shortly after the ECG, the lovely dr. walsh came and saw me. he felt i just had the flu (yes, thanks for that info) and that i just needed some TLC. he was very understanding that this is my first pregnancy and that i'm in uncharted waters here... was in no rush to send me out and did not, for a second, act as though i was wasting his time.

by 11:20 we were driving out of the hospital. an emergency room visit completed in less than an hour. have you ever heard of such a thing?

i am so incredibly impressed with the compassion of earla and dr. walsh. as of now, i'm so very glad that i chose to have my baby at this wonderful and caring hospital.

be aware of rubella

when i was at the doctor's on monday, he mentioned that in my prenatal blood work, my rubella antibody titer came back VERY low. which is very strange... i just had my MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine back in 2005. so as uncommon as it is these days, he said to be aware of children with rashes, as their parents may not be 100% certain that it's chicken pox or measles.

will do.

sick on vacay

this week, we were supposed to be at mom and dad konnert's in richmond. things didn't work out as planned and so jesse is working and i still have the week off. of course, since i decided to take time off for the first time in over a year, i get sick. i've been avoiding every sick contact i come across, basically haven't been in the outside world for socialization, only for grocery shopping and such. i don't know what happened or how i got sick, but i am. coughing non-stop, headache that prevents me from walking, and a slight fever. all i can do is wrap my head in an icy cold cloth and think happy thoughts. i know i can take tylenol, but tylenol has never really worked for me anyways, so i'm trying to get by without any meds. i just hope baby is okay.