Trashboat

Nursery is essentially finished! No more stuff to buy; just waiting on the rest of the loaners from my SIL.

I popped my knee again while getting into the pool yesterday; fortunately, it has not been as big of an issue as when I did it a few months ago. It's got an arthritisy ache to it, but it didn't swell, it's not tender, and I can walk on it. Whew! I think being weightless in the pool for a couple hours afterwards probably helped with that.

Doctor's visit today: BP 119/75, 16 lbs gained, some protein in urine (but not a big deal as no other signs of preeclampsia). They did a finger stick to check my iron and the Group B strep swab. I opted out of the cervix check. Whoooo!

A couple months ago, I developed this blemish directly on my bottom lip; after some internet research I assumed it was a zit as apparently you can get those ON YOUR LIPS OMG when you are pregnant. I kept expecting it to go away, and it keeps not going away. Acne cream seemed to have little effect on it. It's really pissing me off because it's noticeable and ON MY FACE LOL, and I want it to go away. When I went to the dentist yesterday, he seemed a little concerned, and said that it might be this blood vessel tumor thing (benign). I asked the OB today, and he concurred that it looked like that. He said those tumors often grow during pregnancy and then diminish in a couple months postpartum. I'm going to get a dermatologist consult to be sure, but I feel much better now. If it doesn't go away after the baby's born, I can get a plan in place to get this shit off my face. LOL

Had my 30 week visit on Monday. Have gained 15 lbs. No protein in urine. BP 143/78. Everything looking great.

Fiona is growing every more increasingly active. She woke me up in the middle of the night kicking for the first time, and some of her movements actually hurt now rather than being merely startling, uncomfortable or weird. LOL

I have returned to being as exhausted as I was in the very beginning, that sick swimmy tired feeling like you just can't keep your eyes open. Bleck. I am having a lot of breathlessness as well. I am no longer cold all the time. :( I was hoping that symptom would linger. The night sweats have returned! Boo hiss. Oh well, at least it took this long to start.

Had a good convo with the doc about what to expect re: delivery since I delivered 10 years ago and it was under emergency conditions. He said that while I would have to have the baby's heart monitored every fifteen minutes or so, I could walk around and etc. as long as the heart rate stays normal. He said I can opt for a port and won't need an immediate IV. I will not have a catheter unless I have a C-section. They do not routinely do episiotomies either. I also told him I am super afraid of getting blood clots given what happened to my college roommate last year and what happened to Josh. So we talked about what we can do to prevent them: getting ambulatory as soon as possible and remaining so, compression socks if I have surgery, and starting an aspirin regimen post-partum which is okay even if I am nursing. He also explained to me what a blood clot developing in my leg would feel and look like so I can stop freaking out every time I have a twinge that I'm getting deep vein thrombosis. I'm sure it's far from the most ridiculous convo he's had with a pregnant lady. LOL

Mom and Dad are coming tomorrow, and we'll finally get the closet functional. Nesting can thus recommence. They are also bringing a lot of the loaners from my brother and sister-in-law, so that's awesome. :)

One more point of good news--another friend is pregnant! She's fourteen weeks along (she actually found out she was pregnant the last time we visited them LOL) and this time with a singleton instead of twins (which I'm sure is a relief). I am so glad my two best girlfriends are pregnant at the same time I am. Our babies (all four of them! wow!) will be so close in age, and I predict the playdates will be epic. LOL

I woke up around 4 last night with pain in my ribs on the right side that didn't diminish until I got out of bed several hours later, which freaked me out and made me think that my blood pressure was rising. While I was in the shower, my kneecap slipped out of socket and I fell. *sigh* Deeply painful. I called the doctor and they told me to go to CVS, check my blood pressure, and if it was high (150/100 or greater) to come in. It read as 140/98, and I decided to just to ahead and go in; I was scheduled for a Wednesday appt anyway. I don't think I could have navigated the stairs up to my office anyway (and I'm a little concerned about that for tomorrow, but *shrugs*; I guess I will manage).

I felt a little silly (but relieved!) once the appt was over. No protein in my urine and my blood pressure was lower than the last visit I had (something like 127/78 or thereabouts). I didn't even mention my knee because they'd charge me extra for talking to me about something non-pregnancy related. LOL I can't decide if I need to wrap my knee with an ace bandage or if that's bad when you're pregnant. IDK

I'd gained two more pounds for a total of 8 lbs. Not bad. As long as it stays at about a lb a week, I'll be right on target for about 20 lbs total.

They want me to go back next week for my next appt, which seems a bit excessive to me, but whatever. The doc also said that as long as I'm not spilling protein and my blood pressure stays down, travel in April should be fine as long as we stop frequently for me to walk and move around. So that's good.

Josh was gone for this whole weekend to a bachelor party, which I think contributed to my mild hysterics this morning. LOL Not to mention, I'm just really emotional lately. I spent waiting time at the doc's re-reading my SGA fanfiction and making myself cry with my own awesomeness. Yeah. It was that kinda morning. LOL

While he was gone, I did some cleaning out of the closet in Fiona's room, I bought a purple trashcan and some little baby gowns, Emma and I made a lamp for her room, and I went through all the clothes I'd saved from when Emma was a baby. A lot of them were actually mine when I was a kid. Not a lot of stuff for newborns outside of Sunday dress type stuff (OMG, y'all, I had forgotten I had like twenty five little Feltman Brothers dresses with the smocking and sweet embroidery, and most of those were ones I wore as a baby. I am determined to get Fiona into all of them, even if it's just to take a picture). So I washed all the clothes and sorted them into sizes and hung up the little dresses and coats (so many gorgeous knitted coats and sweaters!). There were some gorgeous baby blankets, too, so I washed those and hung them up on the quilt rack Daddy made. Her room is starting to look really awesome. (Just as soon as we make the final furniture purchases, pictures will happen!) I'm a little concerned that Fiona won't be able to wear some of the clothes because Ems was a winter baby and Fiona will be a summer baby (not to mention that I hope she is a much, much bigger baby! Ems was in 0-3 for about five months because she came early).

I had my 20 week visit on Monday. Everything was perfect. I've gained 2.5 lbs (one pound of which is Trashboat). My blood pressure was 136/73, so no signs of preeclampsia. Trashboat had no apparent physical defects or other problems, and she's measuring at a little more than 21 weeks, so she will probably be a big baby!

I'm a little astonished that I've only gained 2.5 lbs, but it's clearly not a problem as Trashboat's measurements are perfectly fine and she weighs just what she should.

The ultrasound was fascinating. That technology has really come a long way since I was pregnant with Emma. It was much easier for me to discern the image than it was ten years ago. The second the technician put the device on my belly, she said, "We have a girl!" as Trashboat was very considerately flashing us her lady bits. :) Trashboat was kicking her legs and waving her arms, and at one point, she looked like she was sucking her thumb.

I started being able to feel little flutters of movement around 18 weeks, maybe a little before, but watching her go to town on the ultrasound made it quite apparent just how much movement she's making that I don't feel. It seems that every day, though, I feel movement more frequently and strongly; I'm sure I'll be quite tired of that pretty quick like here.

My mood has kinda taken a hit recently. I've noticed that I've been irritable the past few days, and I'm not sure if that's because I spent the weekend staying up past my bedtime and going too long in between meals or a hormone surge or what. LOL

Basically, Trashboat progresses along in textbook health (as do I), and now all we have to do is agree on her name which is proving a little more difficult than I had anticipated, but we do have time to decide. :)

ETA: I put the ultrasound pictures in a private post because I just realized they have my full name splashed all across them. *headdesk* I'll see if I can edit that out.

I had the first doctor's appointment today at 7 weeks. I had gotten myself worked up that since I'm not sick this time around that something was wrong. Josh went with me both because I don't like to navigate to new places and because I was anxious about there being a problem.

I really like the practice; everyone was really friendly and on their game. I didn't even feel the flu shot the nurse gave me, and the pap smear was the friendliest encounter I've had with the mascara wand of doom. I like the doc; he's very laid back which will help with the not feeding into my already over-the-top anxiety. He was all, "Eat whatever you've been eating. Most of those rules about what not to eat and drink and do and etc. are all bunk."

He did the ultrasound; I'd never had a vaginal ultrasound before. It was a bit weird, especially because the gel is warm, bordering on hot, rather than cold. Trashboat was present exactly where she should be, exactly the size she should be, and her heart was beating reassuringly. And she was blessedly alone LOL so no twins for me. :) I can now officially stop freaking myself out and get on with the joy-having.

Doc said that because I had preeclampsia before, I was more likely to have it again, and they'd watch me closely.

I weighed 196.6 pounds, so I haven't gained any weight since October 11--good news there. My blood pressure was good, too, even though I was really anxious. Due date is projected as June 25th, which is what internet told me.

The only slightly irritating thing is that because of my insurance, I have to get my labs done at a separate facility. But the blood being drawn wasn't bad, there was no wait, and they have another branch in a closer town if I ever need to just gets labs done without a doc appointment.

We told some friends tonight, and everyone was really excited for us. That was a nice feeling.

Mom and Dad are coming Friday, and we'll tell them then. Josh's parents are coming for Thanksgiving and we'll tell them then.

I was talking with crazydiamondsue the other day about how different this pregnancy already is for me than when I was pregnant with Emma eleven years ago. She and her husband struggled for years with infertility before having a miracle baby, and as I've grown older and have had more and more friends like Sue who have struggled with fertility issues at some point, it's become more and more obvious to me how lucky Josh and I have been. And what a privileged little shit I was at 22-23. LOL

( cut for discussion of fertility, miscarriage, anxiety over birth defects )