Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Week 21 & 22: Continuing to cruise


Including Wrigley's ridiculous hair....


Wrigley's update.... four weeks into her new diet and post haircut!

Size: Serious growing, growing, growing going on in my belly. One pound!!

Symptoms: Night calf cramps. When I roll over at night my calves tighten up, but it's easily relieved by pulling my toe up. Maybe these won't get worse...? Wishful thinking?!

Food: I continue to get full very quickly and don't like big meals at all. I surely hope this is not the case for the remainder of my pregnancy. All the great holiday meals are coming up and I don't want to miss out! 

Cravings: Sangria and ibuprofen. BOTH not allowed for preggo women. Sangria because I keep hearing that country song, "...her lips taste like sangria," which leads me to wanting some sweet, fruity, red sangria. Mmmm. My upper back has been having muscle spasms, different than the low back pain I expected. I would love some ibuprofen when it starts early in the day so it doesn't get as bad by the end of the day. 

Mood: The last two weeks felt like I was cruising. {I'm 23 weeks tomorrow??!} Being halfway is tricky because you don't find out your pregnant until 4+ weeks, so with the second 20 weeks you are counting each week/day which could easily make it seem longer. I hope the time keeps moving this quickly.

Sweet Carleigh squishing the Baby Wildenhain bump

Maternity wear: I think it might be time for a good pair of maternity jeans. I've been using a hair tie to give me more room around the waistband... And I don't think I have much more time with that trick. I also plan to buy some comfy maternity leggings and live in them through the fall/winter with a sweater and boots. 

The hardest part about my pregnant body is all the changes. Just as soon as I learn to work with how my body is feeling or fitting into clothes, it changes. Today I was NOT comfortable in my scrubs. {have you started to pick up on my need for comfort?} I felt so full and squished in my pants, especially after lunch. A slight discomfort suddenly becomes a dire necessity for change... Like buying maternity scrub pants ASAP. {Amazon Prime two-day free shipping can't come fast enough.}

Daddy: I sure do love my baby daddy. He thinks my stomach "feels weird." So do I. 

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Week 20: Halfway


Movement: We have movement! I have started to feeling our little babe kicking around at the end of the day when I'm laying down or sitting watching tv. I don't feel it throughout the day, probably because I'm running around the office most of the time. 

Mood: I notified my employer of my pregnancy, which is a huge weight off my shoulders. It has been weird living a double life of keeping it a secret at work vs easily talking about it and not hiding it at home. Now, I feel like sharing it with the world and will probably be taking more consistent bump pics! 

My excitement to prep for our babe's arrival is definitely here! I am ready to get a car seat, warm winter baby clothes, pack my hospital bag, stock up on diapers and jump on awesome craigslist items I see {Northern Va craigslist is the BEST deal around}. 

Yes, my mood is a 180 from some days last week. I'm in denial of pregnancy hormones, best not to mention them.

Size: 8-10 inches! Large banana. Weighs 10-11oz. {estimates from some apps, nothing official}. 

My rockin bod & fashion: This belly is growing. I can still use a hair tie on my jeans button and use a belly band. My stretchy, higher wasted jeans are still working for now. It's common to want to highlight the bump at a certain point, but I strongly dislike tight fitted clothes. My discomfort is more about the bust region than my growing belly. I can handle my jeans with a tshirt, but would prefer a roomy sweater/sweatshirt. 

My rockin bod is also fighting some sickness with a headache, sore throat, snotty nose and clogged ears. Hopefully the worst is behind me because it has been really hard to get out the door to work at 6:30/7am. 

Appointment updates: We followed up with the fetal cardiologist who gave us suberb news that baby's heart looks 100% normal. Since our first ultrasound, the heart is larger and easier to see, so we got the clear to proceed normally without any hesitation. I learned a lot about fetal heart development, which was interesting. Once the heart is formed at 8 weeks, all structures are there. The reason we had "inconclusive" images was because we were only 18 weeks and it was not large enough to see yet. My suggestion would be to wait until AT LEAST 20 weeks for the anatomy ultrasound. 

I also had another OB appointment that was entirely uneventful {which I suppose is ok}. I got a long list of to-dos that I'm not eager to do. Meh, I'll TRY not to be a delinquent patient. 

Gender/Names: Gender reveal pics coming soon! We're getting better at discussing names with our narrowed focus, although I still do not think we will be 100% confirming a name until this babe is in our arms! 

This week: Baby W got to go to his/her first Blackhawks game!! I love hockey games, we went to a Caps game last weekend, but this week we were rooting for the Blackhawks. We didn't get a stellar pic, but I wanted to document the game and bump! 



Wrigley is rooting for the cubbies this week too!! 

Friday, October 9, 2015

Week 19: Lean IN

I have a hard time writing a blog post when I'm not feeling 100% excited and happy about this baby. {Yes, sometimes, I'm scared, overwhelmed, worried and anxious about being pregnant and having a baby}. This week, I hit a point where I thought I would just abandon the pregnancy blog. Instead, I decided to press on, knowing that it is important to share that not all pregnancies go 100% smoothly; sometimes there are complications or unknowns.

In our case, at our anatomy ultrasound last week {when I was 18 weeks, 1 day}....

The appointment left me with so many emotions. We found out the gender, saw so many good things with the baby's development, but it was overshadowed with concerns about the baby's heart. After having "inconclusive" pictures of the one particular view, we were referred to see a fetal cardiology specialist. I am having to work hard to be excited {as opposed to nervous/scared/anxious all the time} and really wanted to be purely excited after the appointment. Even though everything could go smoothly and be fine at the specialist, I left our first US appointment feeling overwhelmed and worried.

I was able to return to the radiologist for a second US this week {at 19 weeks, 1 day} for a few more pictures. The heart looks a lot better already. They were able to get pictures from a different angle and see more development.

So here is the reality... Sometimes I panic that I'm pregnant right now. I get anxious about our future, how are life is about to change for forever, how we will sort out all these financial changes, blah blah blah. The truth is, my whole life is an unknown. The ONLY certain thing in this whole world is that God has a plan for me.  I can't just believe in God's plan a little bit, every single day I have to physically and mentally lean IN to knowing God has a plan. Because if I don't, I've got nothing.

Yes, I would love it if he wrote me a letter spelling out every detail of the plan, but that's not how God works. I have to trust him everyday with our future and our baby's future. By focusing on this, not only is it the only way to make it through emotional complications, but it is preparing me to be a parent when there are a thousand more things out of my control. Sometimes I feel at peace to hand it all over to Him; sometimes is it HARD. I get stressed just by trying to give it up. So maybe I am more emotional or hormonal, but God gave me these emotions and it leads me to him every time. {And even writing this makes me teary-eyed.}

So if you stuck to the reading about my emotions above, I supposed I can do a quick update....

Momma Bod: I swear my belly grew overnight. My scrubs are tighter and my XL sweatpants felt too tight at the end of the day pressing on my belly. {Not too small, I just don't like things tight}

Movement: I might be feeling a little movement..?!? It's really hard to tell. Nothing has stopped me during the day though. When I lay down and am really trying to feel movement, I feel my pulse in my stomach, just above my uterus. But could that actually be movement??!?

Food: I am having a hard time eating normal amounts of food. My appetite is low because I get the feeling of being full/stuffed very easily. I can't really snack throughout the day while at work, and my lunch break is only 20-25 minutes. I try to eat a slow, good sized dinner, which is also a challenge because my bedtime routine starts at about 8:15pm.

Mood: I think those around me might say that I easily get worked up. They might even call it "more emotional" or "more hormonal." I would say, with our move and new transition, there are still so many unknowns to me that I get overwhelmed that we don't have a specific plan for everything. I like a plan, and even if it changes, I like to start with some sort of feasible plan.

My Encouragement: Lean IN to God and his plan. Trusting God is more than just acknowledging he has a great plan for us. LEAN IN.

"Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal."
Isaiah 26:4

Sing it... "He is my rock, my sword, my shielddddd..." If you went to Vacation Bible School, you probably know it {and learned all the hand signs}! To refresh your memory...This is the original bluegrass version by Randy Travis   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Q31Np8fYU

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jer 29:11

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight."
Prov 3:5-6


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Week 18 & 19: Sonogram pics

I don't want two posts in a row without pictures. This baby is such a cutie that I wanted to share so many of them! First couple are from 18 weeks, then some from 19 weeks. Then I'll get a post up with more details...


This is my FAVORITE. This was at the beginning of the sonogram, the probe and poking was waking the baby up. The baby stretched, with an arched back and arms overhead, as he/she rolled away from the probe. WHAT A CUTIE. 

We saw LOTS of thumb/hand sucking.



When we were trying to get some 3D pictures, the baby had his/her hand in front of the face most of the time.