Stomach bug!

On January 22 (31w, 2d) I felt Baby Due hiccup for the first time while I was taking a bath! I was very happy it was while I was bathing so that I could really concentrate on it and watch my belly move up and down. And Nathan was around so he was able to feel it too.

I've had a few OBGYN appointments since my last blog:
January 23: I weighed in at150 lbs. Yay, I gained 2 lbs in 2 weeks; right on schedule. Dr. Shafi told me to call when my contractions are 5-10min apart. I'll be calling at 10min so that I have enough time to get to the hospital.
And she predicts I will go into labor a week early just like I did with Ian. But how accurate can she predict, really? I'm hoping to go into labor 2 weeks early but we shall see! And the baby's heart rate is at 170 which she says the faster heart rates are usually girls. She is too funny. She is a great doctor.

February 1: This was an unscheduled visit. The night before I was up from 1a-3a with strong contractions. I could not sleep from the pain. Nathan had me go downstairs and watch tv to get my mind off it which did help. Then I woke up at 5a with nausea and major diarrhea. I honestly feared I was in labor. Of course I pull out my book which says in real labor you can experience nausea and diarrhea along with contractions which really got me worried. All of a sudden I'm thinking, where would I bring Ian at this time of day? I don't have any premie diapers or premie clothes... Nathan kept assuring me I was fine and to think positively. When I called my doctor office the next morning, they said I needed to come in and do fetal monitoring. Luckily, Nathan was able to come home from work early to watch Ian so I could go to my appointment -it would have been so hard to watch Ian while strapped to the monitors. When they weighed me I was still 150lbs which surprised me. But I figured it was due to all the diarrhea I had from 5a-12p. An exam was done and Megan Bride (NP) informed me I wasn't dilated. Phew! The fetal monitor showed no signs of concern and I was sent home an hour later with the diagnosis of 'stomach bug.' I was told to keep my feet up and stay hydrated. Phew, not in labor.

February 7: Today I weighed in at 151lbs which surprised me since my stomach bug came back Feb 4 and Feb 5. I had the worst diarrhea I've ever had and was sure that I had lost weight. But Megan said I must have done a good job hydrating myself since I actually gained 1 pound. And the baby sounded great (heart rate at 140) and I was measuring where I'm supposed to. The baby kicked her as she was listening for the heart rate which was funny. Ian is such a doll at my appointments (which Megan even commented on) and loves seeing the fish afterwards (they have a fish tank in the pediatrics dept and the pharmacy).

I had a strange dream: I was in CT and my water broke at 33+ weeks at 2am. Nathan was at his mom's house and not answering his phone so my mom and Angela brought me to the hospital and I was having triplets. Yikes!

My belly button has been half way popped out for a while now and seems to be slowly going further and further out. Nathan keeps telling me it looks like a nose and I think it looks like a dinosaur (at least from my angle). Yuck.

I don't know why but every time Ian touches my belly he has to squish it in. I tell him to be gentle and only rub the baby but he really enjoys pushing my belly in. He has given the baby a couple of kisses here and there which is so adorable. I'll have to get a picture.

Sweet little newborn outfit I bought to take the baby home from hospital in if it's a girl!

32w

Happy New Year! 10 weeks left...

Happy New Year, Baby Due! I cannot believe you will be born this year! I remember thinking the same thing when I was pregnant with Ian. "I'm having a baby this year." Only 10 more weeks until your due date!

When I was at the mall, the cashier man told me, "Well, I see you failed to have the baby on Christmas Day!" I told him, "I still have a few months left." Do I really look that big? Does it look like I'm due (or overdue for that matter) any day? I was shocked. But then again he was a middle-aged man so maybe he has no idea really about pregnancy sizes. I measure where I'm supposed to; I'm not too big.

I had an OB appointment on January 10 and now weigh 148 lbs. I was so shocked to find out I only gained 2 lbs in the last 2.5 weeks since my last appointment. Hurray! So I'm basically on the exact same weight-gain schedule as I was with my first pregnancy (according to my journal). I gained a ton in the middle around the same weeks and then slowed down and gained 1 lb / week. Phew! But now that I see the OB every 2 weeks I really have to try hard not to gain more than 1 lb / week. It's so much harder this time around though without the use (and time) of a gym. And it's too cold to bring Ian out for walks. My OB cannot tell at this point what position the baby is in but they really check for it around 32 weeks. So the next time I go in hopefully they check and hopefully the baby is face down. If not, there is still time for him / her to flip.

I deal with extreme back pain every morning until about 10a / 11a. The doctor said I could take Tylenol so that's what I've been doing although I try not to take it everyday. Then after my back pain goes away, the right rib pain starts. But luckily I've been sleeping better than I had with my other pregnancy since I'm actually not getting up 5 times / night to pee. Knock on wood it stays that way! But lately I've been feeling the baby push on my bladder and I get this quick sting. It's uncomfortable and hurts a little. The baby feels so much lower this time around which they say is common with subsequent pregnancies. I haven't felt hiccups yet which is weird but I'm sure I will soon enough. As I type this, the baby is kicking pretty hard. Sometimes Baby Due kicks (or rather kicks and punches) in 2 different places at the same time as if the baby is stretching or something. It's wild.

Nathan and I have narrowed down the baby name list a little but we still have a ways to go! We have 9 names on the girl list (Ruby, Ashley, Julia, Juliet, Mia, Lucy, Zoe, Lily, Olivia) and 6 on the boy list (Calvin, Wes, Alex, Miles, Chris, Zachary). And then there's the stress of a middle name! I know we'll narrow it down to one name for each but it's a little stressful. Picking a name is such a huge responsibility!

The other day I went through Ian's newborn and 0-3month clothes. I couldn't believe how tiny the clothes, especially the onesies, are! Did Ian really used to fit in those? I pulled out the green car one-piece that Ian wore home from the hospital on his first day home so that if Baby Due is a boy, he can wear that too. I have been shopping around for a newborn girl outfit but haven't found anything I'm absolutely in love with. Well, except for this one First Impressions one-piece but the smallest size was 0-3months. I think it will be too big for that first day home. I'll keep looking around. But going through Ian's clothes, I'm realizing how many clothes I will have to buy if it IS a girl. I thought I had enough things for her to wear but I only have a handful of yellow / green outfits. The rest are clearly boy clothes. I have enough onesies but that might be it. I'll have to go on a major shopping spree! Or maybe I'll get some clothes now and give them to Kate if I don't end up having a girl since she can use them.

Only 10 more weeks!!!!!!!! :)

Very active baby

On December 6 I went to a holiday party for Momtourage and was lucky enough to wear a pretty maternity dress lent to me by the Organizer, Lori. It was a lot of fun and I certainly enjoyed the food there!

That weekend Angela, Wayne, Megan and Katie came to CT to celebrate Christmas early since they were going to be in IL for Christmas this year. The girls were very excited to see my belly and offer their name suggestions. They are both thinking / hoping it's a girl. We shall see!

Bringing Ian to the different library storytimes / sing-alongs has been a little more difficult lately since Ian sits on my lap during the first half until he is warmed up. Sitting on the floor with him sitting on me puts a lot of pressure on my belly.

December 18 Ian and I visited Kate and Liam at their house. It's so fun to be pregnant at the same time again with her. Kate is due April 14, which is 3 weeks after my due date. She is having a girl and loves the name, Samantha. She said this pregnancy feels so different from the last one which is just another confirmation that I think I'm having a boy. But I''ll be VERY happy if I do have a boy since I have all the clothes, toys, etc that I will need. Plus Ian will have a playmate. But I will also be very happy with a girl. As long as the baby is healthy!!!

I went to my friend, Gail's house for a GNO / Yankee Swap one night and my friend, Melissa (I used to babysit her daughter, Annabelle) was there. She had a baby 3 weeks ago and you couldn't even tell! She was so skinny! I can only hope to be so lucky!! It took me forever to get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans last time...

On December 23 I had another OBGYN appointment. Now I weigh 146lbs! I gained 7 pounds in 3.5 weeks. I was utterly shocked! But Dr. Shafi says it's nothing at all to be concerned about and a lot of it is probably water weight. I sure hope so! So far I've gained 25 pounds in 27 weeks. Now if I can only gain 1 lb / week from now on I will be ok. I also had my glucose screening test. When Ian saw my cup (of that orange sugar drink) he kept saying, "cup, cup" and wanted my cup. I don't think he would have liked it too much! Dr. Shafi was having a hard time getting a strong heartbeat on the monitor so she just wanted to check the baby's position via ultrasound. What a special treat to see my baby again! She couldn't get a strong sound because the baby's head is up and is facing my back. But she said there is plenty of time for the baby to flip head down.

Merry Christmas, Baby Due! We all really enjoyed Christmas with Ian this year. But I kept thinking how next year I will have TWO KIDS to celebrate with! It seems so unreal.

My rib and back pain are soooo annoying. I have extreme back pain all morning (which Dr. Shafi said to take Tylenol, baths and heat compresses to relieve otherwise I'll need physical therapy) and by the time the back pain is gone, my right rib starts hurting! But at least I don't have leg cramps (so far...) like I did with the last pregnancy. But this back pain is awful especially because Ian wants to be picked up and carried. I have been taking Tylenol though here and there and it really helps.

Did Ian move around this much in utero? My heavens, this baby seems to never stop! I wish Ian could feel the baby kick and understand it. But I love how he lifts up my shirt and says, "baby." Lately though he pushes on my belly; like trying to squash it down! LOL!

When people ask me how I'm feeling, lately my answer has been, "I'm so over this pregnancy and ready to be done." It's true. I cannot fathom another 3 months. It's so much harder this time around. I'm absolutely exhausted physically. Bending down to pick up Ian's toys or food he's dropped is a full on workout it seems. And my moods are up and down - poor Nathan. I just don't have a lot of patience and it doesn't take much to tire me out. But it really is all worth it for Baby Due. I just cannot wait to meet him / her!!!

26 weeks, 3 days

28 weeks

Nathan feels baby kick

Anokhi Bock was visiting her in-laws again in MA so I got to bring Ian down to visit with her, Bela and Asha. Turns out Anokhi is also pregnant and due only 4 weeks after me! So it was nice to talk about pregnancy-related things. The second she saw me, she said, "My gosh, I am already so much bigger than you!" Which is funny since I feel like my stomach is huge.

Nathan felt the baby kick on November 18. He has admitted that it kind of freaks him out a little to feel the baby. He says it did last time too. I guess I can see that. But it's so nice that other people can feel these movements too. And I feel like this baby moves around a lot more than Ian did when I  was pregnant with him but it may just be that I notice it more this time. There was one night the baby woke me up in the middle of the night kicking and I couldn't go back to sleep for about 2 hours from all the movements! The baby isn't even born yet and is already keeping me awake in the middle of the night!

Me, Nathan and Ian drove to PA this year to be with Aunt Val and everybody for Thanksgiving. Going on long car trips while pregnant is quite annoying since it's impossible to get comfortable. But we all had a wonderful time and the baby enjoyed the enormous piece of cheese cake I had after my Thanksgiving meal! And Hae finally got to feel the baby kick.

At my November 30 doctor appointment, I was very nervous to step on the scale considering all the Halloween candy I ate as well as the big Thanksgiving dinner. But I was pleasantly surprised when it read 139 pounds. I only gained 3 pounds in 4 weeks! Hurray! Now I'm hoping I continue to gain only 1 pound per week. The baby's heart beat also sounded great at 140. Ian really enjoys listening to it.

My friend, Gail Heneghan had her 3rd baby, Connor, and I got to hold, feed and burp him when he was just over 2 weeks old. It was a little strange holding a baby that little and trying to burp him. Of course, Ian was jealous the whole time I had the baby. He kept tugging on my hand for me to get up and play with him. I hope he's more understanding when his baby brother/sister arrives! But it really was quite amazing to hold little baby Connor. And Melissa Murphy had her 2nd baby, Grace, via c-section just yesterday. I can't wait to meet her and see how Annabelle is as a big sister. All these new babies makes me that much more excited to meet Baby Due!

I am very physically exhausted at this point. Carrying Ian up and down the stairs is a huge chore but he refuses to go down the stairs most of the time. And putting him in his car seat is a work out. I'm going to have to adjust how I do things so I'm not constantly out of breath and feeling like I need to lay down.

20 weeks, 4 days

24 weeks, 2 days

Genetic ultrasound, 20 weeks!

On Friday, October 21 I had my 18 week ultrasound down in Boston. Getting to the actual building was quite an adventure.. We went to the original building where I had my last ultrasound only to find out once we got there that they had moved to a completely different building a number of blocks down. Instead of paying the $8 for parking (even though we were there only 5 minutes) we decided to leave our car in the garage and walk (of course we didn't bring the stroller.. we left it in the car and didn't have time to go back and get it since we were going to be late for my appointment) the 15 minutes to the new building. Luckily Nathan carried Ian the whole way. We managed to get there just in time only to have to wait about 20 minutes until we were seen. And sure enough, the first thing the technician asked when we walked in was, "Do you want to find out the gender of the baby?" I immediately said, "No" before I could change my mind! It was so nice to have a good 10 minute ultrasound to see all the parts (minus the 'gender defining parts of course) of the baby and to see him/her move around so much. And Ian kept saying "baby" as he looked at the monitor. He did so well during the appointment. The coolest part was definitely seeing the heart beating and then finally the baby's profile. It took a while to see the profile - I had to empty my bladder during the appointment so that the baby had more room to move around so that we could in fact get that profile shot. And we sure were happy once we did! After the first technician did her measurements etc. a doctor came in afterwards just to go back over everything to make sure what the technician saw and measured was the same as what she saw. So it was so wonderful to have another 'round' of looking at my baby. It really is absolutely amazing that I'm growing another baby in my belly. I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl! But I'm about 99% sure it's a boy.

18 weeks

We went to Douglas' Halloween Party again this year. And at one point, apparently one of Doogie's friends walked up to him and asked if I was pregnant. HA! I think it's pretty obvious at this point!

We were obviously in CT for that weekend, but instead of driving back with Nathan Sunday morning (we drove separately) I decided to stay back so that I could take a nap and then leave after lunch. I got no sleep Saturday night and just couldn't drive without more sleep. And it was a good thing Ian and I didn't head back because Nathan texted me around lunch time to say we were without power! It had snowed the day before, October 29 and caused a lot of branches to fall down. So Ian and I stayed in CT a few more days. Being pregnant, uncomfortable and sleeping in freezing cold weather would not have been fun!

Ian and I went to a playdate at Kristen Chantrell's house that week we were in CT and talking to her about having a 2nd child was quite reassuring. I'm very nervous as to what life is going to be like with a second, but she said things are actually easier because you already know what to do and you feel more 'complete' with the second one. And her hospital was also 45 minutes away so it makes me feel a little better that other people are willing to travel such a distance when they are in labor. But she went into labor at 2am with her second child so there was no traffic. I can only hope for such luck. Anything but rush hour time since I will have to wait the 30 minutes for Nathan to get home from work so he can pick me up and we can drop Ian off at my friend's house. There is just so much more to think about this time around which seems strange since I've done it before. But having to worry about Ian is a lot. Kristen said she had 3 plans on where to bring her oldest child when she went into labor depending on what time of day it was and who was home. I may need to do the same thing even though only 2 people have offered to take care of Ian. I wish my family was closer.

I had my 20 week OBGYN appointment on Friday, November 4 and I was shocked that I now weigh 136 lbs! I gained 8 pounds in 5 weeks! But I was reading my pregnancy journal from when I had Ian and I did the same thing (gained 9 lbs) around this time in my pregnancy. It makes sense - I was reading that women in their 2nd trimester crave sweets more than anything else. And it's true! With all this Halloween candy at my house I have been eating a lot of sweets. The doctor isn't concerned and just says I need to watch what I eat and try to exercise. Taking Ian for walks is going to get more difficult as the weather gets colder. But the baby's heartbeat sounds great at 150. And it's weird that I can't do public cord blood banking in MA because my hospital doesn't offer it. There is only 1 hospital that does and will only do so if you deliver M-F from 9a-5p. So strange. Oh well. The doctor also said the cramping I have been experiencing is not a cause for concern - it's just round ligament pain. Phew.

Later that night Nathan and I got to bring Ian trick-or-treating for the first time!! Since Billerica was without power, 'Halloween' was rescheduled which made me relieved because I didn't want to miss it. A few times while we were out I kept thinking that next year at this time I will be bringing 2 kids around (most likely carrying Baby Due in the Bjorn or something). So fun! Bringing Ian trick-or-treating was a fun way to celebrate my half way point in my pregnancy!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this earlier but what I crave are sweets, cereal and salad. Most days I have 2 bowls of cereal (one at breakfast and one after dinner). And the sight / smell of garlic makes me a little sick.But I've been able to eat kimchi this time around - I usually just take a Tums right after to prevent heartburn. And the most annoying symptoms I'm dealing with are exhaustion, lack of energy, breathlessness and nasal congestion. I'm really hoping I don't experience nighttime leg cramps this time - that was awful. But one of the best parts of being pregnant is how great my hair is! I can go over a week without washing it (as long as I have blow dried it straight). I forgot what a luxury that is!

Flew to VA, felt baby kick for 1st time

Being at the 2nd trimester has truly been wonderful. I feel almost back to myself, minus the nasal congestion and breathlessness. Wearing the BellaBand again hasn't been too fun, but I'm not quite ready for maternity clothes. I haven't had any cravings other than chocolate but have been eating a lot of apples and cereal.

On September 30, I had my OBGYN appointment and now weigh 128 lbs. So far I have gained 7 pounds in the 15 weeks. I'm going to try to gain only 1 lb / week from here on out so I don't gain more than 35 pounds. We shall see! It's so much harder this time around because I don't have time to exercise like I did before and I'm not part of a gym anymore. Ian and I will continue with our walks as long as it's not too cold and that's really all the exercise I can count on, unfortunately.

The next day was Pat and Devon's wedding and it was very fun to be around my whole family and for them to see my big 'bump.' When me and Angela posted pictures of the wedding on Facebook I realized I definitely looked pregnant in the pictures so I had to finally put my good news on FB publicly. A couple of people commented, 'I was wondering if you were pregnant because some of those pictures sure looked like it!' There really is no more hiding it now.

I had my second blood test for the serial sequential test on October 5 and got my results on October 11: Less sthan 1 out of 10,000 for Down Syndrome and 1 out of 5,400 for Spinal Bifida. Hurray!!! Those are fantastic results and I was so relieved when I received them. And this time around I didn't have to play phone tag since the nurse called me while I was in VA and I was able to answer the phone. She actually called 3 times that morning since I didn't answer the first 2 times. How great!

On October 8, me, Nathan and Ian went apple picking in New Hampshire. It was definitely a fun time and extra nice to bring Baby Due there in utero. I told Nathan, "Next year at this time we will have 2 kids to bring apple picking!" Thoughts like that light us both up. :)

I felt Baby Due kick for the first time on October 9 while I was on a flight to VA with Ian on my lap!!! The kick was on my left side and it was about 5 minutes after we took off. And then the second time I felt it was on our flight on the way back on October 15. Maybe having Ian on my lap makes the baby move around more! It was a great feeling.

16 weeks, 1 day

Hurray, morning sickness is gone! Ian says "baby"

Thank goodness my morning sickness went away a little after week 10. Phew! I wasn't able to take much more of that.

I saw Douglas when I was around 10.5 weeks and the first thing he said when he saw me was, "wow, you are really showing!" And it's true. There is no way I can hide being pregnant unless I wore a huge trench coat! I'm definitely showing A LOT earlier than I did with my first pregnancy but this is completely normal. Luckily, I am able to wear my bella band so I can still wear my normal pants. I'm hoping not to be in maternity clothes for a while although I do wear the maternity sweatpants.

When I went to my OBGYN (Dr. Farah Shafi @ Harvard Vanguard of Burlington) at week 11, I weighed 122lbs. I gained 1 pound! When the doctor first put the instrument on my belly to hear the heartbeat, Ian started laughing! He also thinks it's funny when I have to pee in a cup. I think it's going to be fun having him at my appointments.

I've been to the beach a couple of times and thank goodness I still fit in my normal bathing suit. The maternity bathing suit, which I did try on, is much too big. But my bras aren't going to fit much longer. My breasts are getting tender now and a little bigger.

On September 6, I had my Serial Sequential Test (almost 12 weeks along) to determine what the chances are my baby will have Down Syndrome. All ultrasounds are done down in Boston. I picked up Nathan at work and the 3 of us drove down. When Ian first saw the baby on the monitor, he said, 'baby!' I could not believe it nor could Nathan. It was clear as day which the ultrasound technician also said. He had never said the word 'baby' before so it was truly amazing. He said it 3 more times during the appointment and besides seeing Baby Due for the first time, it was the best part of my day.

Baby Due at 11 weeks, 4 days

I ended up developing a bad rash which I thought was pregnancy related. After seeing the OB, the rash got worse and I saw a dermatologist who prescribed a cream stronger than the one I was currently using. Apparently pregnancy rash doesn't develop until the 3rd trimester. I hope I never get it because dealing with the one I have right now is awful! I'm just glad I didn't get it at the same time I had morning sickness! I think the cause of this rash was the extra 3mg of folic acid I was taking, which was prescribed for my 1st trimester because of the anencephaly Kevyn was born with.

I'm hoping my cravings for sweets diminishes soon or I'm going to gain a ton of weight! I'm loving chocolate (as usual), twinkies, cookies, donuts, soda, basically anything sweet. Luckily I'm also craving fruit.

I hit the 12 week mark on September 9th and I couldn't have been happier. It is just such a relief to hit that mark. Hurray!

13 weeks, 2 days