My Pregnancy Story: The Second Trimester.
Articles about the second trimester of my pregnancy, late January through early May 2018.
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22 January 2018
Over the first (trimester) hurdle
I will be 13 weeks pregnant tomorrow. This is huge because it means, not only am I super officially out of my first trimester, but I am also at a point where I have been getting a lot of test results back. The 12 week checkup I had my 12 week checkup with my OB late last week. No sonogram but the doctor did pull out a tiny little machine from his pocket to check the baby’s heartbeat. The kiddo’s heart sounds fantastic! All the genetic testing Because I am “old”, I had a couple of genetic screenings done. The first was a blood test that tests for a long list of genetic conditions, including Trisomy 21 (Downs Syndrome) and Trisomy 18 (Edwards Syndrome). It is also a very accurate test for the baby’s sex. In this test, they take a million (well, four) vials of blood and tell you tha [...]
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23 January 2018
A hodgepodge of updates
For (hopefully) obvious privacy reasons, I originally kept all of my pregnancy posts private, especially while I was still trying to conceive and during my first trimester. In reality, very few people knew about any of this. Now that I am officially at 13 weeks and firmly in my second trimester, I decided it was time to publish these posts. People I know in person know now. Plus, I really am starting to show now. Before publishing, I read through each post (and occasionally edited a few). During that process, I realized a few things: I am terrible at blogging in a timely manner. Because of #1, I forgot to write updates about a few things. I meant to. I just forgot. Because… #1. So.. here are some updates: Donor sperm I ultimately chose to use an anonymous donor. No, there [...]
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12 February 2018
The girls are out
I have to say that, so far, my second trimester has been quite pleasant. I finally feel less tired. (Read: I am no longer sleeping 12 hours a day.) I am definitely not nauseous. I may almost go as far as saying that I feel like my pre-pregnancy self. Almost. I am still feeling and seeing changes in my body. My skinny pants no longer fit. My big pants are no longer falling down. Other than the obvious belly changes, it is a well known fact that a woman’s breasts grow too. However, this barely-34-B-cup woman was not expecting exactly how this change would pan out. I grew out of my regular bras pretty a while ago and switched to my stretched out “I have some room in these” bras pretty quickly. In just a matter of weeks, I started popping out of those bras. And they hurt. And I wanted [...]
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12 February 2018
Fun with names
Since my pregnancy announcement, and especially since my “it’s a girl!” announcement, I have gotten a lot of name suggestions. This is despite the fact that I have already decided on the kiddo’s name. Regardless, I decided it would be fun to compile all of these suggestions here for posterity (and future amusement). In no particular order, they are: Christine Sherifa Nadine Josephine Paula Paula Josephine Josephine Paula Sherifa Josephine Paula Kimm Tim not Madison not Candi (or any stripper name) 9 stripper names strung together Alberta Alberta Jonisdottir Albert, Ice Queen of the Rockies Idina Elizabeth Mia Jeffrey Aspartame (pronounced Ass-par-tah-may) Gertrude Trixie Mildred Imogene Bertha Melba Buttercup Gryselda Lor [...]
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22 February 2018
Pregnancy is not for the weak
I’m going to start out this post by saying everything is fine. I am fine. The kiddo is fine. Fine. (Spoiler alert?) Last night… Just before I left work yesterday, I discovered that I was bleeding. There was not a whole lot of blood, but it was enough to make me freak out. (Ok, let’s be honest here. Any amount of blood is enough to make me freak out right now.) I called my doctor, but, of course, it was after 5:00pm. I was forwarded to the on-call doctor. She did not seem as… let’s say concerned… about this as I was. I was told to call back in the morning, but go see someone if it got worse. Let’s just say that did not help with my freak out. I phoned (well, texted) a friend and the first words out of her mouth (well, fingers) was go to the ER. I thought about going to my regula [...]
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06 March 2018
Officially popped
I have heard about women “popping”, but I never thought it was a literal description of what happens. I always figured that the process of showing would be pretty gradual, like a sine wave. Nope. Pants are impossible I went from starting to look a little pudgy to “holy cow - where did this belly come from?!?” in a matter of days. Days!! This happened a week or so ago. Before this point, pants felt a little weird. I stopped being comfortable with my skinny jeans pressing against my belly. Now, nothing fits and I am officially wearing “one size fits all” leggings and real maternity pants. Oddly more comfortable with myself My body shape now is more like my (non-pregnant) body shape from high school. I did not like my body in high school. I was pudgy and squishy and very much out [...]
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12 March 2018
Registry making
I have finally started working on my baby registry. I have been feeling quite a bit of angst about this whole registry-making process for a number of reasons: I have never registered for anything in my life. I have never had a baby, so I need all the things. For every one “thing” that I need, there are (approximately) 86 varieties of that “thing”. Where to register? I started by sifting through all of the places I could register with, including: Target (They do have baby stuff, but don’t exactly scream “baby”.) Amazon (Too many choices. Then again, I could register for anything. Does a new tablet count as a baby need?) Babies R Us (Actually a baby store, but aren’t they going out of business?) buybuy Baby (Definitely a baby store.) I decided to go with buybuy B [...]
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21 March 2018
First kick
She kicked me! I was laying in bed last night (or rather, this morning, since it was after midnight) and felt a soft, but distinct, kick coming from inside my belly. My kid kicked me. This means 3 things: She has legs. She has leg muscles. Her legs are long enough to reach the inside lining of my belly. Therefore, she will be a soccer player. Or a kickboxer. Or a Rockette.
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08 April 2018
Lost: One belly button
Lost: One small “innie” belly button. Round and relatively symmetrical. Last seen in the center of my belly, perhaps a week ago. Just looked down today and suddenly it was gone. I would offer a reward for its return, but I suspect it has run away and is not planning to return until later this summer.
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12 April 2018
From zero to viable in 24 weeks
I just had my 24-week appointment today. All is still well! The kiddo has a heartbeat that is high enough. I have blood pressure that is low enough. I am up 9 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. At least it’s not 40? (Yet!) I also learned today that, as of this week, the kiddo is officially viable. Wait. What?! Yup. It has only been 24 weeks, yet she could theoretically pop out today and be a fully formed human. Not that it’s a good idea for her to do that (so don’t get any ideas, kid!), but yikes! I probably shouldn’t be too surprised. I mean, she’s kicking and every so often, she kicks in such a way that I can see something trying to poke out from under my belly. And no, she is not trying to recreate that scene from Alien. At least, I assume she’s not.
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02 May 2018
Eating like a hobbit
It has occurred to me over the last several weeks (months) that a hobbit’s eating schedule is also the perfect eating schedule for a pregnant woman - or at least this pregnant woman. Allow me to demonstrate. Breakfast: Around 6am. This tends to be something like a small muffin or bagel. Second breakfast: Around 9am. This is usually eggs or yogurt… or sometimes both. Elevensies: Around, well, 11am. This is whatever I happen to have at work that is remotely breakfast-looking, so either fruit, a granola bar, or Cheerios. Luncheon: Around 1pm. I almost always bring something from home, usually leftovers. My leftovers are usually some combination of meat, beans, and veggies. (When I cook, I throw whatever I have into a crockpot with a bunch of spices and hope for the best.) If I [...]
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07 May 2018
A typical conversation at work
Now that I am quite obviously pregnant, I find that I have more conversations with colleagues that center around my growing belly. This is a conversation that I have with someone at least once per day: Me: (On my way to the restroom.) Well meaning colleague: (Standing still.) Hello! How is the baby doing? Me: (Stops.) Fine! In fact, she is doing a drum solo on my bladder right now. (Tries to continue to walk towards the restroom.) WMC: (Still standing still.) Oh! So you’re having a girl! Me: (Stops again.) Yes! I am also about to have an accident. Excuse m… WMC: Girls are so great. I have a (girl/boy/cat/cup of coffee). Me: Yup. I’m super excited… and uncomfortable. WMC: Fantastic! When are you due? Me: In about 30 seconds from now… oh, I mean July 31. WMC: So soon! That mu [...]
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