Maternity clothes, anatomy scan and weight loss

My current dilemma...maternity pants! I've been wearing maternity shirts for the past couple weeks on and off - hopping back and forth on both sides. I don't quite need them yet but they are more comfortable. And I LOVE maternity shirts. I have a long torso so any shirt that gives me more length is A-OK in my book! :) Maternity pants though...sigh. My mom got me two pairs of ultra-comfy Old Navy stretch maternity pants at the thrift store. They were just a couple dollars each and so worth every penny and more! I started wearing them a few weeks ago when it felt my regular pants (mostly jeans) were making my heartburn worse because they were digging in some (even when I'm not pregnant that can be an issue). I can't wear those pants to work though because they're just too casual. They look like sweat pants honestly. But I wear them every chance I get. Friday was my first day wearing maternity pants other than the stretch ones. These were from Motherhood and they were like a khaki-colored capris (that you can roll down to full-length or roll up which is how I had them). They were my first ones with the belly panel and they were actually super comfy. I decided to wear the jeans yesterday for the first time - same brand, same store, same size, same type of belly panel. OMG. All day long I was tugging them up. I swear they are just going to slide right down and take my drawers with them! I had on a maternity shirt that was just not quite long enough to cover the droopiness and I could see the bottom of the belly panel every time I looked in the mirror! Aarrgghh! And I bought two pairs of their jeans and one pair of jean capris. I wonder if they'll all be this uncomfortable! I wonder if it's because I don't really have a true bump yet, just a general rounding, and there is nothing to hold it up? I don't know but it's driving me nuts!

In other news we had our level 2 anatomy scan last Tuesday. It went well. Even though I didn't really want to know the gender, I wanted to try to get a clue. I wouldn't trust my own guess but I just wanted something to even try to guess on. Well, I saw no boy parts or anything that I thought might be boy parts. And once the tech said "she." When I told my hubby that later he said at one other point she said "he" as well. Ha ha. I totally missed that one. I convinced myself this baby is a boy and sort of want a boy now but there is still a part of me that really really wants a girl. I guess the good news is I'll be happy either way! We got some cute pictures of the baby (albeit blurry) and we have to go back next week (two weeks later)! They couldn't quite get all the pictures of the chambers of the heart they needed. I also found out if they do 3D/4D ultrasounds there and they do. They recommended I come back between 26-30 weeks (the tech) or 26-32 weeks (the receptionist) so I'll probably make my appointment for sometime around 29-30 weeks.

I'm now down 4 pounds from January and 2 pounds from March (forgot to weigh myself in February, the month in which I actually got pregnant). It doesn't make much sense but I'm not going to question it! I definitely eat less for dinner and less after-dining munching than I used to. I'm simply not that hungry.

My hubby is so cute. I will be 20 weeks tomorrow and I just showed him a picture of what a 20-week baby looks like (on my Pregnology ticker) and he said, "Aww, I want to hug the baby." I can't wait to hug the baby either!

I did not do much for Father's Day. I just got him a cute card. I figure next year will be the first official one so I can do more then. I mean really, he hasn't had to father yet. :)

June Update

It's been awhile since I've written. In that time my hubby started his new job. He's on his second week now and really likes it so far. Thank God! Also we took a camping trip over the weekend as well and I did OK. It was really hot but under the trees it was gorgeous. I kept panicking because we slept on an air mattress and the most comfortable way to sleep was on my back (I guess the weight was more evenly distributed that way rather than with side sleeping) and I literally had just read the day before we left that back sleeping was bad during pregnancy. I'd fall asleep on my side but wake up on my back. Probably every time my hubby moved I got bounced around. Ha ha. It was really rough in there. As we packed up the stuff I was thinking it might be two years before we use it again. I don't see myself going any bigger than I am now (not that I'm big yet) and I don't really know if I'd be up to taking a 6-month-old. (I don't really like to camp in the summer so May would be the latest I'd want to go before fall, and our bambino is due in November.)

I had my midwife appointment today. All went well! I got to hear baby's heartbeat and some noises that indicated movement. What a great sound! I still have moments where I have a hard time believing this is real. I guess I don't feel much different, I don't like much different, and I spent so much time wondering if I'd ever be pregnant that it's hard to realize that it DID happen. I have to start drinking 80 ounces of water per day (so about 5 bottles) and taking a calcium magnesium supplement at night (which my massage therapist recommended awhile back as well). My midwife also wants me to stay away from all processed foods and fast food. It's going to be tough. But my desire is to have a homebirth so I have to keep my blood pressure in check. Today it was 130/80. She said that was fine but was more interested in what it has been in the past. I thought it was 118/84 5 weeks ago but I really couldn't remember. I booked my anatomy scan for June 14th (Flag Day). I'm sad because my hubby can't make it. He has been to every appointment except for one until today. So his unemployment definitely had a silver lining but I know he's much happier to be working.

In other news I am the same exact weight as I was in January before I got pregnant. I lost a few pounds (and at one point seemed to even gain a few but then came back down) and now I'm holding steady at my January weight. Crazy! I know I don't have as much of an appetite as I used to. So much for eating for two!

Homebirth! Yay!

I met a midwife (K) today. I took a half day and my hubby and I (on his last day of unemployment!!) drove out there. We were over a half hour early and I did not realize until I shut the car off. So we decided to go grab lunch and come back so I started the car and backed out and I saw K come out of the building and motion to us. So I pulled back in and got out and she said, "Let me guess, you had no idea how long it was going to take so you left early and got here early." I said, "Yep!" and she told us to come on in because she was free.

The meeting went well and my hubby and I are going to go with her. She is fine with my being overweight as long as I don't have issues like high blood pressure or glucose issues. So far my blood pressure is fine. And if I do develop those problems there are herbal supplements I can try. I also read about certain diets that can help with the HBP.

So I'm very excited! We have to figure out where we are getting the money to pay for this and we have no idea if insurance will reimburse us. I feel this is the right decision for us though and I feel very happy and relieved!

Is baby depleting my brain cells? Plus...midwife update!

I'm starting to notice I'm doing some stupid things. I'm pretty sure my baby is sucking my brain cells out.

Here is an example. I put clothes in the dryer the other day but did not turn the dryer on. Instead I turned the washer on and went upstairs. I kept hearing water running and couldn't figure out why. Suddenly it dawned on me I turned the wrong knob. The washer was full of water and twisting and whirling away with no clothes in it. Meanwhile the dryer was full of wet clothes just sitting there.

The other night I was at my parents' and had my bag on the dining room table while we talked. Then we left to go get something to eat but took separate cars (hubby and me in one, Mom and my "baby" sister in the other) since my mom had to go food shopping after dinner right near where we were eating dinner. I did not notice this until we got in the car after dinner but there was a water bottle in my cupholder that was not mine. It was not my husband's either. I sent my sister a text asking her if she had a particular brand of water bottle and she said she did but she could not find it. I guess I just took her bottle with me and put it in my cupholder although I have NO RECOLLECTION of doing so!

In other news I had a weekend where I spent a lot of time in thought! On Friday I decided I was switching to the new midwife and I thought I was at peace with my decision but it nagged and nagged at me. I realized I still wanted a homebirth and did not try hard enough to find someone who would support me through this. I Googled a search term I guess I had not used before because I hit the jackpot this time! I found several midwifery practices in our area that do only homebirths/water births (no hospitals or birthing centers). I emailed two of them right away. One wrote back almost immediately to say she could not travel to my area and she is full for November anyway. Her partner would have traveled to my area but will still be out on maternity leave when it's time for me to give birth. She did give me two suggestions though, one of which I had already written to. I heard back from both of those women today. I have a consultation iwth the one on Firday! The other one also offered me a consultation but I have not written back to her yet simply because I'm not sure how I can take all this time off work. I'm wondering if I should meet with the one, see if it feels like a match, and only meet with the other one if I don't feel good with the first one. So many decisions! I feel like this is one of the most important decisions of my life though! And I guess that is why I just cannot "settle" for something I'm not keen on. Ever since finding these women I've been so excited. I feel like my heart is finally happy! I hope it can stay happy and that I have luck with one or more of these women. Both have told me that they do not base their decisions on weight alone but on the overall health of the mom. So let's hope one of these works out! It is what my heart desires!

Baby names

I've had my top girl name picked out since 1995 and my top boy name picked out since sometime in the last decade. My hubby likes them both and I always assumed that is what we'd use. However, I just found out that my top boy name is in the top 20 in our state! I've always been one to like "different" names. This other name I liked but always thought was too "unique" popped back into my head the other day and I can't shake it. I asked my husband and while he doesn't hate it, he thinks it sounds too upper class for us lowly middle class people. A player on our city's soccer team has this name and our city's baseball farm team has the same name. So I think hubby is starting to realize it's not that upper class.

I swear up and down the baby is a boy most days and I just said to my belly, "Are you a S______ or a N______?" S is the new name I cannot stop thinking about and N is my old standby that I'm now afraid is just too popular. Anyway, in response, my hubby totally just cracked me up and said, "Neither, I'm a girl!" in this fake baby voice. He, along with my parents and most of my siblings and my niece, thinks it's a girl. I don't know where I'm getting the boy vibe but it's really making me want a boy. I'm imagining camping trips and baseball games. This does not mean I do not want a girl. It's hard to explain. Up until about three years ago I always figured my first baby would be a girl and I only really wanted a girl and felt I'd be disappointed to have a boy. But I no longer feel that way. I truly feel I'd be happy with either and would actually want the opposite gender for Baby #2. That's how badly I want to experience both.

Update - attempt #3, second midwife, and some good news!

We had a busy "baby" week this week. Monday I took a half day from work and my husband and I went to visit a second midwife for a consultation. I haven't made the switch yet but I think I will. First of all she was overweight like I am so when I told her how I'd been treated by my previous midwife she was pretty horrified. She also has PCOS and used the same fertility doctor I used to get pregnant (many years ago)! My hubby and I liked her much better. The only issue is she is farther away (like double the distance) and her C-section rate is about 20-22%. That is still much better than the national average but it does worry me.

Yesterday we went back to the Fetal Diagnostic Center for one more attempt at a nuchal translucency (NT) ultrasound. This time the baby was too big! Our tech last week said the baby was 70 mm and needed to be 84 mm or less to do the test. Yesterday the baby was 87 mm! He/she grew 17 mm in 5 days which seems like a lot to me. I think I might just drop all the screenings now. There is one more I can do which is just a blood test called a quad screen but I think I'm going to drop it. It was nice to get to "see" the baby a few extra times and see that heartbeat going, which was 147 bpm yesterday.

My husband and I have been married for two and a half years. He spent the first year of our marriage unemployed, then had a temporary job for 10-11 months. He's been out of work now since August. He had an interview on Friday and got a call on Monday that he's been hired! We are so relieved and so excited and I almost fainted when I heard how much money he'll be making. Now I'll be able to buy the baby things I want and get us new bedroom furniture which we have not gotten. We're also going to be taking a "babymoon" in July up to Niagara Falls and Toronto. I'm so excited!

Quick update on attempt #2!

I'm very tired and not feeling so well right now (so much for second trimester greatness...ha ha!) but I wanted to take a moment to post about today's ultrasound. The pictures were even blurrier than the other day (sob!) and the baby was not in the right position. So we get to try one more time on Tuesday and then after that we give up on sequential screening. Part of me feels like giving up now, that maybe it's not meant to be that we do it. But we'll give it one more try and see how it goes. I'm getting weary of having to ask to leave work early or come in late or take an early or late lunch for appointments. My boss is very understanding but I don't want to take advantage. That's all for now!