Week 23

So when I'm done with this week, I will be 6 1/2 months! Geesh, I'm totally amazed at how fast time is going by!!

Today I had my first midwife appointment since leaving the other midwifery birth center (which I am totally bummed about) and achieving insurance status. I went to see a very "natural, low intervention" birth center. It's run by midwives and there are three MD's. I'm really trying to have my baby as naturally as I can. I don't want all the interventions that past western medicine is known for. However, finding a hospital that is willing to help me achieve as close to my birth plan as possible has been such a chore.

Today however, I think I may have found what I wanted. I had a great midwife interview and the birth center has a birthing tub which I am looking for. It's nice and spacious and I got a really good feeling about the entire "idea" and the practitioners themselves. The only downside is that I cannot actually birth in the water tub, I can only "labor" in the tub and then get out of the tub to birth. Crazy! I don't know what woman wants to be in labor in the water with her babies head crowning and then having to get out to birth. Booo...

A little weird, but it is as close as I can get unless I want to drive to Davis, CA where they do birth babies in the water.

All if good with my growth. I weigh 134.5, I have gained 15 lbs. I was measured at 23 inches, which matches my 23 weeks gestation perfectly. Good news. Glucose testing is in 4 weeks.

I also went down for my first ultrasound. I don't know why, but I was so nervous! The lady told me I looked nervous too. The ultra sound was cool. I didn't know if I was going to cry or not. I didn't, I was just blown away that I was looking at something inside of me. All of my mothers reading this can totally relate to the "awe" of it all. Even being a nurse, I was taken aback.

So yes, the big question as to what am I having is finally being answered. It was solidified by one very good picture! I'm having a BOY:) Yay times a thousand!!!

Now, my friends can relax and have a glass of wine for me, my mom can shop for her grandson and I can refer to my little one as my son. Not to mention, I can now work on and finish my registry and find him a name.

C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N-S to one of my besties, Harumi who is now 11 weeks pregnant! I'm so happy for you and Peter. It's going to be nice to travel this journey with someone I love dearly!

Month Five

As I continue on, this month involves weeks 18-21. At the beginning of this month I was really beginning to feel the differences and changes setting in. I started having these wacky mood swings and becoming "snarky" to anyone, or anything that displeased me in any way. I was also beginning to feel the pressure in my stomach from the uterus enlarging. Did I mention that it is very uncomfortable? Indeed. It feels like someone is inside your stomach pushing out, as a matter of fact, that's pretty dead on...haha. I was also feeling the "fullness" that comes along with that pressure. I learned fairly quickly on that there is no more of this sitting down with a plate of food and clearing my plate. At this point, a few bites is pretty much all I can handle at times. It's difficult to be absolutely starving and not being able to chow down! And I hear it only gets worse.

I'm now going to the bathroom quite a bit. I have a small bladder normally, but with the little one inside me, it is now half the size! The baby has finally started making their own hormones, which in turn allows mommie to feel much better. At the beginning of the month, I was still not feeling that excellent feeling of being back to myself, but in the 2nd week of this month, I really felt good. I can now stay up late again as I used to and not be completely drained. It feels fine to be me these days. With just one exception; leg pains. One major leg pain on my right thigh which feels like I have a pinched nerve. If you've ever had a pinched nerve, you know that it feels like a burning sensation with numbness and tingling. I have that same sensation directly under my sternum on the right side. I've been to the chiropractor twice this month because of it. He told me that my muscle close to my ribs on the right side keeps spasming due to the "relaxin" that my body is producing at high rates! If you're not aware, a pregnant woman's body is much more loose than when she is not pregnant. Which means, more adjustments for me.

Overall, the baby is kicking constantly and all over the place. I feel kicks that feel like they are in the back towards my rear, up towards the top by my sternum and really low. I wonder how this baby is doing it. Mr or Miss little active. It makes me happy to know they're moving all over the place.

Before I begin my week by week blogs, I want to mention that I decided to forego genetic testing. Mainly because I missed the small window of time for everything and I was without insurance. If I had insurance, I would have gone through some form of testing. Now, I'm hoping for a healthy and happy baby and that is all.

Month Four

So it's "official", I'm in my second trimester. This month is made up of weeks 14-17 and is suppose to be where I'll feel back to my normal self. Or at least "better" again. But by the end of this month, I was still having periods of nausea and I was still very tired. I had more motivation during the day, but it quickly went away at the end of the day; when the errands were run and I had time to actually go to the gym. Or, perhaps I was being lazy?!? Hah, I am finding that pregnancy and lazy are going hand in hand these days!

This month marked the first experience I had with the little life inside of me moving. I felt a few jabs here and there which at first, I couldn't decipher between gas or actual movement. I realized, it was movement. Although sporadic, it was my baby moving. And believe me, it's a trip! Sometimes it made me laugh and I always loved being pregnant at that moment. I found myself always wanting the baby to move so I could put all the aches and pains of pregnancy behind me. During these weeks, I couldn't feel the baby moving as much because he/she still has a ton of room to float and move around in.

During the first two weeks of this month, I was still wearing regular clothing. My breasts had become noticeably larger and much more firm, Yeh! One side effect of pregnancy, I just don't mind:) I think my hips have widen a bit too, but I can still fit into my size 4 jeans and regular shirts. By the 16th week, while I was visiting my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary party out of state, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable in my jeans and "gave in" to purchasing my first pair of maternity jeans. Ahhhh...comfort, comfort, comfort! No one bothered to tell me just how comfortable these jeans would turn out to be. I felt so much better wearing them; less restricted. I can't say that I would love to wear them even when not pregnant, but I can certainly recommend investing in a few good pairs. I spent about $80 or a little more on either pair. I still am not showing in my belly. Shamefully, I didn't take any pictures until I hit the sixth month.

Month Three

This month begins weeks 9-12. I am really looking forward to the end of this month, because I've heard how women generally feel much better and the nausea seems to dissipate at the end of the month.

During this month, I'm still not feeling 100% and I'm still not working out like I have in the past. I miss the gym, I miss the adrenaline and I miss my saunas and stretching sessions. I think I went to the gym during this month, 3x and I went in both the sauna and steam room before I knew that I wasn't suppose to. I seem to come up short on most information it seems. You know how the saying goes, "a day late and a dollar short". Both that saying and "murphy's law" always seem to pertain to me and my life.

I'm still feeling nauseous and still very tired. I'm becoming anxious about telling my friends and my family. There is that "safe zone" in which a woman who is expecting, can share her information with her friends and family members. Especially being that I'm older, they say. Which by the way, I don't believe and never have. But, I waited anyway.

At 12 weeks, I started to let my friends know. It was such a weird experience. You would not believe how many people gather over a baby! It's quite energizing actually. I have been surrounded by women who have all given birth 1-6 times in their lives. Their support, coupled with their information on becoming a new mommie-to-be has been exhilarating and has given pregnancy a whole different look. Regardless of the horrible side effects it brings with it.

Let me back track and say that right after I found out I was pregnant, I had a day of "hell" at work and I had no explanation for my "green" appearance than to come right out and tell my manager and fellow colleagues. I needed to grasp onto something in order to make myself look competent at what I do. in other words, I wasn't focusing at work and the people I work with, knew something was wrong. Because of that, I came clean and shared my big news!

Month Two

Much like month one and not much difference. At this point, I'm still wearing my own jeans, shirts and jackets. The only thing that really changed for me was at least I was having "good" days, instead of just all "bad".

During this month, I began checking this nice little ticker with great information.

http://www.pregnology.com/faralong.php?month=11&day=12&year=2009

It really gave me a whole new perspective on life and how incredibly special it is. I mean, most people don't think about how or what goes on and how truly "special" it is.

Month One

Technically, by the time a woman finds out she is pregnant, she's already four weeks pregnant. So whether or not you want to call my first month, month two, I will not object! At the time I found out, I was 4 weeks about 5 days along.

This month was spent adjusting to the idea of "becoming a mother" and how I would do this on my own. The father and I had broke up, so I chose to go about this on my own. I wanted to see what all of my friends were raving about when they discussed "parenting". With that, I decided take advantage of the little life that was forming inside of me and become a mother.

I have to say, this month was mainly dedicated to feeling awful and sleeping. I was so tired all the time, I was out of energy and I was terribly nauseous. I remember some days at work being absolutely starved and having made an incredibly healthy lunch, but only being able to sit and stare at it; not eat it. I never vomited, but I wish I had. I also had these horrible headaches that felt like migraines and I never get headaches. I had horrible gas pains too. I stopped working out and going to the gym all together. This was difficult for me, because prior to pregnancy, I was running 30 miles a week and lifting weights regularly. I've always been athletic and in good shape, but I just couldn't get myself out of bed, nor could I find the energy at all to be anywhere but my bed! All I remember were my friends and colleagues telling me "this will only last a short time and it will get better by month three." Month three, are you serious? Noooooo! I'm just at the beginning and I feel "weird" and just not myself. I honestly thought I would only feel weird for maybe a few weeks and then my body would adjust and I would be back on track to feeling normal again. Hah! NOT the case at all. I know I'm a baby. I remember thinking to myself..."I really hope what people say about being a parent is true and it's all worth it in the end, because I'm feeling pretty awful."

During month one, I tried keeping and eating saltine crackers at my bed for the nausea. They didn't work. I drank ginger ale to help with the gas pains and that didn't work either. I tried to space out my days at work and have one or two days in between shifts to rest and sleep. Great idea, but I was never able to catch up on my sleep. I felt like and looked like I wasn't sleeping hardly at all. So to those of you women who are just in their first month wondering if life gets better and you begin to feel like yourself again, read on....

My beginning of half way there

I finally have the opportunity to begin my blog that I've wanted; half way through my pregnancy. I owe my "get off your lazy rear-end and make time" to do your blog attitude, to my mother and my closest friends. In my defense I would like to point out that I have not felt very good up until now. I didn't want to do much of anything aside from sleep and work and even during work, I'd rather have been sleeping.

However, the idea of a personal pregnancy blog that I could look back and read and laugh at, even if late, sounds too great to pass up.

So here I am and I apologize if we're playing quite a bit of catch up here. However, I promise to do my best to make you laugh with me and not at me.

Let me start out by telling you who I am and give you a little bit of detail about my life. I conceived at the age of 39, now I am 40. I was not using any form of birth control, nor was I trying to conceive. Ahhh, the irony here. I was being reckless and not practicing "safe" sex with my partner. We were together for a year before this little bundle of joy was conceived.

I think if I break my blog posts into months instead of weeks as I plan to do once I'm caught up, it will be easier to follow.

So let's go back to when it all began. I was in NYC, visiting a few of my best friends and my other friends. Upon arrival to JFK, I noticed I was feeling a bit "under the weather"; I was tired and crampy and I felt like a fever was coming on. I wasn't really in the celebratory mood and all I wanted to do was sleep. I had cramps and could tell that I was getting ready to start my period any day. It was disappointing. I mean, I just arrived in NYC to see my friends and celebrate the beginning of my 40's and yet, I was going to start my period! I think it's safe to assume that most woman can feel my disappointment at that time. Who wants to feel crampy and bloaty with a headache, less energy and a bit of an attitude when you're on your birthday vacation? Not me, nor most women.

Needless to say, my period never came. I remember saying to my bestie, "I'm regular and I'm worried, because what if I'm pregnant?" I just wasn't sure how,

because...well, here's something to get you laughing. HELLOOO.....

I was having sex on days prior to and after my ovulation, because we were not using protection.

Honestly, it worked pretty well for awhile because I'm regular and I have something called "mittelschmerz" which is pain during ovulation. So, I was aware when I was ovulating. BUT the kicker here is that I last had sex with my partner two days after my period ended which at that time, I should not have been ovulating. So ladies, don't try this method ever if you don't want to become "knocked-up".

I chose not to buy a pregnancy test in NYC, because I was afraid that what I was thinking was true. I waited until I got home and took a test. It of course came out positive. And in light of the "fright" I was feeling, I chose to take five pregnancy tests between that day, that night and the following day. Yes! Every single test showed two lines, which meant I was indeed pregnant!