Weeks 7 & 8

Hard to believe that in a few short minutes we will be 9 weeks. Time flies! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was in our condo in Florida, at 3 weeks and some odd days pregnant, feeling cramps and fearing that my period would come and this was all too good to be true. I have officially  missed two periods now, and that makes me feel VERY good! 

Week 7 - Baby is a Blueberry

This week went well. Minimal nausea, no vomiting, didn't sleep AS much as I probably could have. When I am standing up, and I mash over my baby-area, I feel like I can sorta palpate my bump starting to stick out (more like I can feel the "grapefruit-sized uterus" in there --- somewhere). Still no visible pregnant anything yet, aside from my huge boobs. All of my clothes still fit the same, and I have actually lost 3lbs since we got pregnant.

Week 8 - Baby is a Raspberry

Well, the first day of this week was AWESOME because we had our OB appointment with our perfect ultrasound. I took this entire week off of work, just because. I am still on the night shift schedule (mostly because my husband is), but instead of getting to sleep after 7am, I have been turning in around 4am, but STILL SLEEPING UNTIL 4 OR 5 IN THE EVENING WITH MY HUSBAND. This is awful. I feel like I can't get anything done. Aside from the fact that I completely sleep through business hours, when I finally do get up, I have zero motivation to look decent and then I don't want to go anywhere. The liveliest I got this week was showered and dressed, but makeup was not happening. I went out with my girlfriends on Saturday night (they have a 9 month DD---lucky gals), and I was practically falling asleep from the very beginning of our night.

The day after our appointment, we tore out all of our disgusting carpet in our living room, hallway, and the baby's room. We put down dark wood laminate and we love it. It smells better, it looks amazing, and is so much healthier for us and the baby. We cleared out what was once our office and re-arranged a ton of furniture to put away all the displaced office stuff (poor Jeremiah has the world's most cramped up game room). Our nursery is now ready to be polished up and filled with stuff! I have that room painted a teal color right now, and I kind of love it for either gender baby, and I am thinking of doing light green accents and bedding. Here is how the room is looking since the floor demo:

 

The picture makes the walls look blue or grey but, I swear, it's a really pretty teal. I have to take down the shelves and pictures I have on the walls now (none of it is baby style, not at all), and I have some major painting to do on all the trim and windowsill and around the ceiling because I must have been drinking wine when I painted this room.

Onto Week 9! Baby is a green olive but no martinis for this mama :)

Our Pregnancy Announcement

Well...the cat is officially out of the bag. After seeing that heartbeat, Jeremiah said he COULD NOT wait any longer, lol. I really wanted to wait until at least 12 weeks, but, we told. This is our announcement video!

Our 8 Week Appointment!!!

Our big day FINALLY came! Today was one of the best days of my life. We love our doctor, and everything went PERFECTLY.

We took the hour drive to the hospital, which left me even sicker than I was when we left the house (half nerves, half pregnant nausea). We got to an overwhelmingly huge waiting room and I checked in.

First off, we were the cleanest and most dressed-in-daytime-clothes people in the waiting room. Seriously. Apparently rolling out of bed and wandering around town in your pajamas is a normal thing when you're pregnant. We waited for about ten excruciating minutes...then the nurse took me back to do my history, draw blood, and check my weight and blood pressure.

• I was surprised at all the questions they ask when you are just 8 weeks pregnant. They asked me if I planned on having an epidural! I don't friggin know! Maybe? I don't know?

That all took about 25 minutes, and they let me back out to the waiting room to sit with my husband. This time we were waiting for them to call us to Ultrasound. THIS is the part I was nervous for...not for the procedure itself, but for the sheer chance that there could be something wrong, or could be no heartbeat...or no baby. Who knows. Anything can happen.

Then, they called us back. Two cute little blonde girls welcomed us into the dark room, and I de-pantsed.

I laid down, they shoved the dildo-like vaginal ultrasound probe up there, and off we went.

Within a few seconds, I could see my baby. 

It. Was. Magical.

Something made me feel like it was a girl immediately. I also asked the tech if she was sure there was only one, since I had ANOTHER crazy twin dream this morning. She scoped around, but nope, just one perfect little Gibson :)

The baby's heart rate stayed in the 180s during the scan (another reason it may be a girl?). This made me feel so comforted, because I know a slow heart rate during ultrasound is a BAD sign. The tech snapped some pictures, let her student probe around in me for a few minutes, Jeremiah made a video of the baby and the heartbeat, and we were done! They could have left that creepy thing up in me all day, I loved being able to see that baby. I love her.

Next we went to an exam room, where AGAIN I de-pantsed to meet my doctor. She is FANTASTIC. Very young, very pretty, and very smart. She (thankfully) told me that it will be okay for me to continue my normal heartburn medication, and she also told me she would write me a prescription for some nausea medicine. While we were talking, she emailed the prescriptions right to my pharmacy. She explained how the rest of the pregnancy will go:

• 12 Week Appointment (no ultrasound this day)
• 16 Week Appointment (no ultrasound this day)
• 18 Week Appointment (GENDER ultrasound this day!)
• Appointment every two weeks from Weeks 20-32
• Appointment Every Week from Week 32 until Birth Day

And then we left! What an awesome experience. This is the best thing I have ever done, hands down.

Pregnant DreamzzZZzzZZzzZZ

I have had PLENTY of super weird dreams these past 7 weeks, but the ones that I really want to make sure I document and remember are all the ones that focus on the baby (babies?!?!).

I guess my first "pregnant dream" was the week we conceived (may have been pregnant already, may have not). I had this weird dream that I had an ultrasound (that looked like an xray, in the dream), of my big round pregnant belly. The ultrasound looked like this:

 

I know this is a very artistic rendition...but it was basically a scan that showed the top of one baby's head in the middle, and a little skeleton baby body on each side. So then, in this weird ass dream, I get home and ask my boxer (see...weird) "Does mommy have three babies in there?" And she shook her head no. So then I ask her, "Does mommy have two babies in there?" And she knods her head yes. I then asked was it two girls she said no, was it a boy and a girl she said no, and then asked was it two boys and she said yes. This dream is weird anyhow, but I really did tell everyone at work about it that night, and I told my husband about it...and a week later we found out we were pregnant. Scary. This is one of the six reasons I think I'm having twins (the other reasons are extreme nausea, the fact that we tested positive so soon, exhaustion, rapid and frequent peeing, and the gut feeling that I can't shake).

Last night, I had a dream that I was pregnant, and delivered my one single girl baby by C section, but they didn't cut the incision wide enough and just her head popped up, and she was talking. Full sentences. Then they got her out, and the rest of the dream was me breastfeeding. That's what I get for doing so much breastfeeding research before bed.

Pregnant Things I'm Obsessed With (This Week)

I thought I would post about a few things that are consuming my mind/distracting me from grad school this weekend. I have to control myself enough to NOT pin baby stuff on Pinterest until we tell everyone we are expecting, so Google and these ridiculous baby sites have been my best friend. Here are a few things I can't get enough of, and can't wait to try/buy/do...

Breastfeeding

So freaking cool! I just think it is so neat...and so FREE! I hope to be able to breastfeed as long as possible. I plan on taking a full 16 weeks off of work, so I will save any money that I can, and I personally think paying for formula is a gigantic waste when you can produce the stuff yourself! I was also unaware of all the other crap breast milk can do...

Baby Bjorn

Or baby Ktan or ring sling or whatever...I am just so excited to strap up the baby and wear him/her. I also have a feeling my husband will enjoy kangarooing the baby around as well :) 

Nursery Themes

This week we remodeled our bathroom, and are finally tearing out our disgusting carpet and putting down a GORGEOUS dark wood laminate. The carpet had to go anyways, and we definitely wanted it OUT of the baby's room. The new look in our house has me going crazy wanting to decorate the nursery! I have already fallen in love with some gender neutral themes, and I am really digging green.

Alright, back to reality...back to homework...oh and also, had no bleeding today, thank God :) 

Bright Red Blood...Terrifying.

This morning I got home from work, and went to use the bathroom. At no point during this pregnancy have I seen ANY bright red blood, or even pink blood, for that matter. Not one drop. Since I have had some pretty bad pregnant woman constipation, I have been straining quite a bit. Well, when I was ready to get up after I went this morning, there was BRIGHT RED blood dripped into the toilet water (probably 3 or 4 drops), and also bright red when I wiped. The bleeding stopped pretty much instantly, and I didn't have any blood for the rest of the day. This bleeding was not accompanied by ANY pain, clots, or cramping, and I am positive that it was vaginal and not a hemorrhoid.

So, just to be safe (even though I know what can and cannot be done or prevented with this sort of thing, working in the ER), I stayed awake until my OB's (who I have still not met) office to open. I called and spoke with a nurse, who was a frigid bitch, to say the least. She said, several times, that "it was up to me if I want to be seen or not, but if I want to be seen, I have to come NOW because the office closes at 1pm." Also, she actually said, "NO, BLEEDING FOR NO REASON IS NOT NORMAL DURING PREGNANCY." Ok?! Spotting is NOT normal? I guess just about every single pregnant woman should throw in the towel then, because we are all going to die. This lady also told me several times "I can't tell you if it was vaginal or rectal bleeding" when I told her 19 fucking times it was DEFINITELY vaginal. I ended up telling her I was just going to take it easy this weekend and wait for my appointment next week. She, of course, added the "come to the ER after 1pm today if we are closed and anything happens." Compassion, at it's finest. I can't wait to share this story with my doctor on Thursday.

Weeks 3 Through 6

The Earliest Weeks - Poppy Seed to Sweet Pea

I decided to write one post about these very early weeks in my pregnancy, because I feel that they are all "lumped" together. Nothing exciting really happens until after the first trimester is over, but something about "8 weeks" or "month 3" just sounds so much more officially pregnant that I am/feel now.

 Today I am 6 weeks and 5 days pregnant. When I found out I was pregnant, I was only 2 weeks and 6 days along. This left my head SPINNING because not only being a nurse, but doing just a little bit of internet research on early pregnancy, I know how many bad things can happen in these early weeks. The most disheartening thing I read the day after I found out I was pregnant was the staggering statistic that over half of all pregnancies end in miscarriages before week four, but the woman never even realizes she is pregnant because the miscarriage seems just like her period. This had me SO worried. I went to pee about 20 times a day to make sure I wasn't bleeding!

"I'm LATE!"

 I finally started to feel more confident about my pregnancy AFTER my period had been missed. In the days before my period was actually due, I just kept thinking, "I will get my period on Wednesday, and I won't be pregnant anymore." February 19 came and went, and I finally felt a little bit better. Not only could I say that I had taken a positive pregnancy test, but also that I had missed my period (I have been doing this so completely out of order, lol).

It's a Poppy Seed

The only annoying problem I had during weeks three and four were EXHAUSTION. It wasn't fatigue, I didn't feel sleepy, I. Was. Exhausted. AMAZING how a baby the size of a poppy seed could suck nearly all of the life out of me. I ran a 10k on February 22 and a half marathon on February 23 (which I really didn't think I would be able to do), and I slept for two days afterward. Literally---woke up to pee and eat and watch an hour or two of TV, and went back to sleep. For two days. I also had quite a bit of period-like cramps during these weeks. This was not unbearable by any means, but left me very worried all day because it really felt like I was going to start bleeding.

Johnny (Or Janie) Appleseed

Week five made me SICK. Baby was the size of an apple seed this week. One major problem I have is heartburn (always have), and I was told I couldn't take my normal heartburn medicine while pregnant. So, I have been taking Zantac and Tums, neither of which are helping. The heartburn itself has gotten so bad that it has made me nearly throw up. Aside from the heartburn, I have the "morning" sickness from hell, that (thankfully) doesn't last long, but when it hits, I am down for the count. I haven't had any actual vomiting, but I almost feel flu-like, like I am going to throw up and just need to lie down (which as an ER nurse is NOT an option). Zofran works WONDERS, but as I am about to complain about...I can't get a prescription for more than another week.

Doctor Drama :(

I've not yet met our Obstetrician. I stalked her on Facebook, and she is a woman, which makes me like her. Our first appointment (for labs and a transvadge ultrasound) was scheduled for Friday March 7. Part of me was nervous because we were 6 weeks and 1 day that date, but nonetheless I was super excited for the ultrasound. I woke up two days before the appointment to a voicemail from the clinic telling me that I needed to reschedule, because my doctor was going to be out of the office that day. I called them back, and the SOONEST new mommy appointment they had was Thursday, March 20. I had already called the office wondering if there was SOMETHING I could get prescribed for my heartburn, but was told that they couldn't give me ANY advice or prescriptions until my appointment. Now, this pissed me off because it was two whole weeks after THEY cancelled MY appointment that I made weeks ago, but I am also excited. We will be exactly 8 weeks this day, and our ultrasound will be so much better, and I am just about guaranteed a heartbeat this day. I was nervous for a 6 week ultrasound because sometimes the heartbeat is unmeasurable that early, even though the pregnancy is fine. I can guarantee that if I had an ultrasound with no heartbeat I would be FREAKING out until the next appointment!

My Sweet Pea

Baby Gibson is the size of a sweet pea, and he or she is certainly being sweet this week (so far). I haven't had much heartburn, and the morning sickness has seemed to subside for the most part. I am sleeping a bit less, which is helpful when you work night shift and are trying to get a Master's degree online. I had a teensy bit of brown "bleeding" or discharge (in addition to the normal early pregnancy discharge that I have had pretty consistently for the past few weeks), but have not experienced any red bleeding or spotting. My boobs have been the issue this week. They have been tender since about week four, but this week they are the most tender they have been, and all of a sudden they are HUGE. I most usually wear a 36A, and when I went shopping with a friend on Friday I had to CRAM myself into a 38B, and luckily we were shopping at a mall with a Victoria's Secret. I got measured and ended up buying a non-push-up, non-padded, grandma style 38C. Damnit damnit damnit. If there is anything I have ever coveted, big boobs it is not.

My next post will surely be IMMEDIATELY after our 8 week appointment/ultrasound!!! (probably after a quick trip to the mall to buy some ridiculous baby items...)