Sunday, July 25, 2010

19 weeks



How far along? 19 weeks.. almost halfway! Can't believe it!


Size of baby? 6 inches long and 8.5 ounces

Total weight Gain/Loss? Up 9 lbs


Maternity Clothes? I did buy my very first maternity shirt! It is a tank top from Target. SO much more comfortable than my pre-preggo clothes. My pre-preggo tight shirts are busting at the seams and my pre-preggo loose shirts are now tight! Will be needing new tops very soon. Still wearing pre-preggo bottoms, but only because of my Bella Band! I will be needing maternity bottoms though, because even with the Bella Band, my bottoms aren't going to last.

Gender? 15 days...

Movement? ahhhhh, amazing. The "flutters" have gotten stronger and more pronounced and movement is slowly getting more and more frequent. I feel movement pretty much after every meal I eat and then of course, when I lay down for bed at night. Still can't feel movement on the outside of my tummy though.

Sleep? Still awesome for the most part. I get up to use the bathroom but fall right back to sleep and am still able to get plenty comfortable.

Symptomns? Thoughts of food consume my thoughts.. is that a symptomn?! haha. No really, food tastes soooo good and I am hungry from morning to night. ("starving!" at times!) Frequent bathroom breaks, which I can't believe are only going to get worse. Still have crazy nasal congestion/nose bleeds, I sneeze. all. the. time. Everday, many, many times. Weird, huh? That's really it right now, life is good again!

Belly Button? ummm.. it feels.. different, lol. Come on Terrie, I was counting on what you told me! haha just kidding. It is definitely more shallow though as my belly has become more round!

What I am looking forward to? 15 days... see above.

Best moment of the week? It happened twice actually over the weekend...I felt my belly get really tight/hard in one little spot. When I felt it with my hand, it was obviously one little baby part (foot, knee, elbow,.. ??) The best part.... Tyler was able to feel it too. <3 We haven't felt movement on the outside, but it was one spot and then it slowly went away. SO. SO. AWESOME. There IS a baby in there!! I am slowly starting to be able to believe it......

=)

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Books

Awhile back I said I would write a blog on the books that are getting me through this pregnancy! So here they are!

1. What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff
This one had been recommended to me by several people including my sister-in-law, Ashly. I kept meaning to buy it but then my sweet friend, Erin, from high school sent it to me in the mail as a gift! Thanks again Erin :) This book literally has everything! From trying to conceive, to the 9 months of pregnancy (with month by month updates and discussions on any question you could ever have!), to Labor and Delivery, to 6 weeks post-partum! It also has a chapter for dads to read. Great resource.

2. Nine Months and a Day by Adrienne Lieberman and Linda Hughey Holt
I just bought a used copy of this one on Amazon for a few bucks. It doesn't go into very much detail. Just a very general outline of the nine months. Talks a little about eating, exercise, and common pregnancy "annoyances." And then a chapter on preparing for labor, and then ends with childbirth and recovery. A good one to read at the very beginning to start "warming up" to the pregnancy and idea of childbirth.

3. Pregnancy Day by Day by a lot of people, haha
THIS. BOOK. IS. AWESOME. It is a pretty hefty hardcover book that I had been eyeballing everytime we went to Barnes and Noble. Tyler ended up surprising me with it as a gift =) It literally goes day by day... Each page is labeled by how many days pregnant you are, and how many to go. Then talks about several issues you may be encountering around that time. So it also covers ANY question I think you could ever have. But my favorite thing about it are the pictures. Every page has an actual 3D picture of the baby. (Every once in awhile there will be a 2D picture) But it goes into such detail on the development of the baby. Amazing book! Not to mention it covers preparing for labor, great info on progression of labor, and then caring for a newborn up to 6 weeks. Also all with great color photos.

4. Nine Months Strong by Karen Bridson
"Shaping up for labor and delivery and the toughest physical day of your life".... this book is exactly what it says.. it is simply exercising throughout the pegnany to be physically fit for D-Day! Nothing about development of the baby, monthly updates, ect. Just working out and preparing the body. It covers cardio prep, strength training, yoga and stretching, and emotional and mental preparedness. The author is a marathon runner and compares it to preparing for a marathon and then getting through the marathon! This was my inspiration book for working out ;) It has tons of pictures for all the individual exercises. And then an excellent section on getting through labor, as well as positions and exercises during labor. Then of course the last chaper is on getting BACK into shape after the baby. I pick up this book the most as I am always referring to it when I workout. (I think it's my favorite) =)

5. The Birth Book by William and Martha Sears
This one is also just as the title says... nothing but giving birth. 257 pages on that one day of giving birth. (a bit overwhelming, haha) I am a little torn on this one. It has awesome, awesome information on giving birth. I don't think you could be more prepared after reading this book, other than actually giving birth. So I have gained excellent knowledge from it. However, in a roundabout way, it also seems to say that choosing an epidural is the most horrible thing you could ever do and that every woman should be able to give birth without one. (Chapter 8 is "Why Birth Hurts - Why It Doesn't Have To") It is very much an "all natural" childbirth approach. And I'm sorry but I don't plan on going without my medicine. No, actually it was very encouraging and made me think that maybe I could do it without an epidural.... but that thought lasted about 7 seconds. hahahaha Anyways, it honestly did prepare me TONS for what to expect for labor and delivery and is a great resource in that aspect. And I certainly will use some of what I learned and try my best in labor, but I definitely want the anesthesiologist ready to go! ;)

(And then of course we have a "100,000 Baby Names" book which we haven't given much attention to yet.) There is nothing like gaining as much knowledge as possible to help feel more prepared!! I plan on continuing to read, read, read. So much for the other (non baby related) books sitting on my shelf!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tour, Appointment, Registry, and Flutters

Wow, there is always something to update everyone on it seems.
We had a Tour/Orientation of our hospital last weekend. We had already been in the Labor and Delivery Unit because my dear friend, Casey, had her baby girl at Baptist South and we visited her while she was in the hospital. (Also how we knew that was the hospital we wanted to deliver at) The tour went really well. Here is a link to the Maternity Services page. If you care to check it out, just click on 360 Virtual Tour. Then it is "South" and you are able to see the maternity suites, waiting room, NICU, lobby, ect. The maternity suites are HUGE. We had about 12 people on our tour and we all fit in the room comfortably while the nurse showed us around. (And I certainly don't expect to have anywhere near that many people in there at any given time, haha) The entire Labor, Delivery, and recovery takes place in the same suite. Baby stays in the room with us the entire time too. If everything goes smoothly, there is no reason that the baby should ever have to leave the room. Everything to care for the baby (including first bath, check-ups, ect) is right there in the room. However, there is a nursery and we can choose to send baby at any time if we need to rest. Nice little fold-out couch for Tyler to stay the night as well.
The nurse also went over the type of epidural they use. It is a continuous low dose and I have a hand-held button I can press when I need a little "extra," however, it will only go up to a certain amount of dosage. It is set to where I will still feel "sensations" and will be able to push, ect. (not a complete numb out) Sounds good to me! They also immediately put baby on my chest for skin-to-skin contact/warmth/immediate breastfeeding after delivery. They do most of the check-up/measurements all while I'm holding baby.. they just take him/her to weigh which takes a few seconds and is right next to my bed. Very happy with all of their procedures.
My 13 year-old brother will love to hear that the waiting room has computers with the internet for family members. :) As well as a microwave, stove, washer/dryer.. they are well taken care of too.
Very nice facilities and staff and we could not be happier!

Next order of business... baby check-up! I had a check-up on 17 weeks, 3 days. (First appointment Tyler wasn't able to make) The Dr. went over results from the 1st trimester screening, which included blood work and the last ultrasound. It checks for Trisomies and Down Syndrome (chromosome abnormalities)... everything came back normal! All my vitals were perfect. I have gained 7 lbs. total so far and Dr. was pleased with my rate of weight gain. Right on track there. I got to listen to the heartbeat.. baby was being awfully stubborn. As soon as we would find it, he/she would move away! Took a good amount of time to really be able to hear it clearly. Because he/she was moving, Dr. couldn't get an accurate heartbeat rate either, haha. It would be in the 140's, then go to the 150's, lol. The Dr. thought it was quite funny but said it still sounded excellent! And she also checked my uterus and said it was right where it should be... whatever that means, lol. So everything was wonderful! And the best news of all.... the BIG ultrasound is set for Monday, August 9th at 2:15!!! Boy or girl????? Let's hope he/she doesn't make it as difficult as finding that heartbeat was!!! ahhh!! This mama needs to start shopping!
(By the way, a random stranger, older gentlemen, stopped me yesterday and told me I was having a boy! haha Hey, I was just happy he could tell I was pregnant!)

Tyler's sister, Ashly, is planning a baby shower for me in Texas in early September. Very excited about that! So we went ahead and got a start on our registries. We are registered at Target and BabiesRus. Just pull it up under my name! I have a long list of things to add still, after we find out boy or girl.

And the best of all.... I have been feeling this little one floating around in there. I thought I felt something about a week and a half ago, but it was so very light and I didn't even know what to expect that I wasn't positive that's what it was. A few days ago, my Admin. Manager at work, told me the first ones feel like an "eye twitch" but in your belly. That was the perfect description for me, exactly what it felt like. And since then I have felt it more and more... Tuesday I was sitting in the car driving and felt movement even stronger and I know for sure it was baby. It is simply amazing. I don't think there could be anything better. Poor Tyler... he's.. well, jealous. In fact, he said, "I'm jealous!" haha Love his honesty. Poor guy. He'll be feeling it soon enough!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Dad-to-be and other Preggo Ramblings

So now that I've got a handful of posts going and am getting into the groove of blogging myself... afterall, in case you didn't know, I am a HUGE blog reader... I have a list of favorite blogs that I follow and read regularly... anyways, I may sometimes post about things that are just not that interesting. The only reasons I decided to start a blog are 1) to update family and friends throughout the pregnancy and 2) just for plain 'ol documentation. So if I have a blog here and there that are just not that great, it's probably for my own sake.
Also, I don't intend for my blog to just be about my pregnancy. It's just the biggest thing going on right now. Eventually I'll have a little more diversity to my blog, hopefully. ha

So I had to make sure I wrote about dad-to-bes experiencing pregnancy symptoms. I had heard about it before... that it is possible for the dad to experience pregnancy symptoms, but I always thought that sounded SO weird. Why would that happen..? How? When he is not the one growing a baby? That I still can not answer, however, I can say that it IS. TRUE. ! Sorry to throw you out there, Tyler! But it is just so weird, it's funny!
Tyler's symptoms:
- He now wakes up in the middle of the night to pee. Very frequently. I don't think he EVER woke up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night before I was pregnant. So funny.
- I've never heard him say, "I'm tired" so much in the middle of the day! (Tyler is one that needs very little sleep to function and refuses to "waste his time" by taking a nap.) He'll now lay on the couch and close his eyes for a "catnap" something I have never witnessed him to willingly do. So sleepy...
- And his appetite has increased right along with mine! Except he has to actually work to keep his weight down, whereas I'm supposed to be packing it on!
Sorry honey, but I'm so glad we can experience this together!

Pretty soon I am going to post a blog with a list of the books I am reading (all pregnancy related for now). But I did want to mention that I just started a new one, Nine Months Strong by Karen Bridson, and it is excellent. The author runs marathons and basically compares Labor and Delivery to a marathon and writes about preparing for the big event by staying physically fit through exercise. Now I have to admit, I have not been the best at exercising regularly (keyword!) so far. My excuse is vacations and having company, ect. But right now I have no excuse. And who doesn't want to be as prepared as possible for giving birth? I know I do! And I have a good friend, Jamie, who just had her first baby in January, who stressed to me how important exercise is for giving birth and recovering and getting back in shape after the birth. So that is my new focus right now! (instead of sleep. Although that is important right now too)

Last but not least.. I am trying a new recipe tonight! Shrimp and Red Pepper Rigatoni (except I am using penne). But for now.. off to get started on that fitness program! That I just publicly committed myself too =/

Monday, July 5, 2010

16 weeks




How far along? 16 weeks, 1 day
Size of baby? 4.6 inches long and weighs 3.5 ounces
Total weight Gain/Loss? up 5 pounds
Maternity Clothes? None yet. But I did buy the best invention EVER... The Bella Band!!! It allows you to wear pre-pregnancy clothes longer by holding up your bottoms, even though you aren't able to zip/button them. I did want to get a new pair of shorts for the summer though (without wearing the Bella Band) and I had to go up 2 sizes.
Gender? We will be finding out within 4-6 weeks!
Movement? Nothing that I can say I know for sure was the baby...
Sleep? Amazing! I'm still able to get plenty comfortable and I sleep better than ever. Sure I get up all night to pee, but I fall right back to sleep.
Symptomns? Increased appetite, more trips to the bathroom (including 1-3 times a night), much more vivid dreams, nasal congestion (caused by enlarged membranes from the increase in blood), and occassional bloody nose. The morning sickness is gone, but the vomitting is not =( Certain things just trigger it like, gagging and getting to hot all of a sudden. I threw up twice this week because of this. I guess I would rather randomly throw up than have the morning sickness though. For the most part though, I feel relatively normal being in the 2nd trimester now.
Belly Button? Innie... while we were on vacation, Tyler's Aunt Terrie said, "Honey, that belly button isn't ever popping out!" I'm hoping she's right =)
What I am looking forward to? On Saturday, we have Orientation and Tour at our new hospital, Baptist South... very much looking forward to that!

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About Me

Hi, I'm Jenna! Wife of 9 years to my high school sweetheart, Tyler, and stay-at-home mama to our 3 year old, Wyatt, and 1 year old foster daughter. I blog about our extra-ordinary days to keep family updated and because I enjoy journaling and documenting the things that bring me joy... faith, family, and friends!

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