Week 20

Date/Week: August 25; week 20 (17 weeks to C/S)


Milestones: Half-baked!!! Sure, I am more than halfway there thanks to the scheduled c-section but it is an amazing milestone to reach for us!!!

Physical Progress: Even when I do abdominal exercises (elevators), my belly size doesn't change much anymore - I guess my baby belly is truly settled in!

Symptoms: some feet and leg cramps. Heartburn!!!

How do I feel about my body: I have my moments. I look and feel better in fitted clothing - I look huge in those maternity empire tops but then I put on a maternity t-shirt and look ok. Additionally, my belly has become a magnet for people to touch. I try to keep the look of horror off of my face. It is getting a bit easier to deal with but it is just the strangest thing for people to do to me!!!

Food cravings/aversions: Glazed donut; soup

Sleep: I am currently a single mom to 4 furbabies while Aidan is in Toronto. I am up at least three times every night to let someone in or out. I can't seem to do this in zombie mode so I suffer between 9.30 and 11.30am. I do feel better in the afternoon though. I can't wait to catch up on my sleep this weekend!

Energy level: I am parking and walking to and from work while Aidan is away and it is a hike (there are a lot of hills). In this humidity it drains me. However, I have quite a bit of energy at night so my to-do list is getting sorted beautifully.

Exercise: Walking and some pilates.

Baby Movement: He definitely likes to move!! He likes it when the cat purrs next to my stomach as well.

Thoughts and Feelings? I took inventory of all of the baby related stuff that we've purchased or have been given since 2007 last night. It was supposed to be in preparation for developing a shower registry. It did make me a little sad because I saw our journey towards sproglet in the corner of one room. Anyhow, we have a good cloth diaper stash and some nice g-pants, grobaby shells and bumgenius 3.0 diapers. I hope we'll do well cloth diapering. I need to wash everything but I'll wait until the fall to start doing that.

What I am looking forward to: Seeing sproglet again on August 31st and seeing my OB on Sept 2nd to book the new c/s date. I am also looking forward to the baby shower (whenever that happens) for the advice that will come with it. I think I want to capture the advice creatively - in a scrapbook or something. Oh - and I am looking forward to Christmas in 4 months!!!

What am I reading / things I’m learning: Since the purchase of the Stokke Xplory, we've been watching youtube demonstrations on how to use it. My goodness, it is amazing. I am officially a Stokke geek - after Aidan, of course!
 

Week 19

Date/Week: August 18; week 19 (18 weeks to C/S at 37 weeks)


Milestones: It's a Boy!!!!!

Physical Progress: I look pregnant and don't mind it anymore!!!

Symptoms: some feet and leg cramps. Not feeling too tired anymore.

How do I feel about my body: Good week! I guess I finally am comfortable with my pregnant look.

Food cravings/aversions: Italian food

Sleep: Horrible before the doctor's appointment an not optimal after the appointment - I miss my tempurpedic mattress and pillow (and my dogs snuggling in at night)

Energy level: The heat in Boston drained me a bit but the humidity was low. I am now going back to lower temperatures but higher humidity.. Thank God for A/C. Other than that, I probably need to do something about my allergies in the coming weeks because that takes my energy away too!

Exercise: Lots and Lots of walking in my Shape-Ups

Baby Movement: He's moving and his bones are getting ready to start some serious kicking and punching. I feel him quite a bit now since he is so active.

Thoughts and Feelings? We're on the downward slope to a 36 week arrival date. There is so much to do to prepare - plus so much to also do to try to keep my blood pressure down. I really don't want to be hospitalised during the last weeks so I need to see what I can do to stay on the 75% chance of not having pre-e.

What I am looking forward to: Seeing sproglet again on August 31st and seeing my OB on Sept 2nd to book the new c/s date. Plus it'll be good to see how he takes the high-risk doc's report and his new plan of action for me.

What am I reading / things I’m learning: This is from Aidan - The u/s was intriguing. They managed to get so many angles of sproglet by working over a very small area of skin. I was trying to figure out how the process worked scientifically as I was watching the screen. It was also cool to be able to see that sproglet was a boy on the screen before the u/s technical had even said a word about what we were looking at.

Boston - August 17, 2010

We had a somewhat peaceful night's sleep with the knowledge that we had a new plan going forward for the coming 4 months. We still work up early, this time to have breakfast in the French restaurant in the bottom of the guest house. English muffins, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit and cereal helped us to start our day. We then caught up on work through a horribly slow internet connection before heading out to the hospital for a much shorter visit. We thanked my coordinator with her favorite Cadbury's chocolates and then headed out for the rest of the day, new Charlie cards in hand to travel on the T.

We spent a few hours in Brookline in the neighborhood that I've been visiting since I was a kid. We visited a few shops, ate at Friendly's Express (oh the sundaes!), pushed around a few strollers in a trendy kid's shop and walked through the Jewish neighborhood to get from Beacon Street to Commonwealth Avenue. Aidan experienced his first ride through BU and we finished our trek by walking down the top part of Newbury Street. From there it was back to the hotel for some more work before dinner (and more fighting with the internet access!).

We met Carrie and Louise at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a pretty busy night but great food and service as usual. We enjoyed hearing about Carrie and Louise's adventures over the past week. It was wonderful to catch up and to meet Louise. We ended our evening by walking down Newbury Street to the train station. Once we saw Carrie and Louise off, we took a walk down Newbury to Lush (needed some massage bars) and then through Copley Square. We ended the evening with cheesecake, some work and the new Melissa & Joey sitcom on ABC Family.

Boston - August 16, 2010

We got up really early and caught a taxi to BWH. After a few tries, we found the U/S section and checked in. We had a very long ultrasound and the sproglet was moving all over the place and we even saw some thumb sucking. We also found out that it is going to be a ………. (ha ha ha).

We had a late breakfast at Au Bon Pain, which was edible but not particularly inspiring and headed back to Newbury St. In the afternoon, we had some great pizza at the Upper Crust on Newbury Street and then went for a walk along Newbury, through Boston Public Garden (seeing the Swan Boats) and Boston Common. Such a change of scenery from last December - the kids were all wading in the Frog Pond. We also saw a mounted Park Ranger. From there we walked to Downtown Crossing and then to Faneuil Hall & Quincy Market. Eventually, we took a taxi to Cambridgeside Galleria and did some more wandering around. We taxi back to hotel and relaxed for a while. Finally, we went to dinner at Charley’s, which was again very good.

Boston - August 15, 2010

We drove to the airport and checked in on Jet Blue. We left on time and headed to Boston Logan Airport. Our limo driver met us and drove us to the Newbury Guest House, 261 Newbury St. This is a quaint little guest house right on Newbury St. and just a minute’s walk away from the Prudential Centre where we were last December.

We then met up with Joe who picked us up in his Mercedes and took us to Cambridge. We drove around Harvard Square and environs and Joe gave us a detailed history of his time in prep school, college etc. We then parked the car and walked around. We even saw the Car Talk HQ of Dewey, Cheetum and Howe. We had a very fine meal at Casablanca and then drove back to the hotel.

Week 18

Date/Week: August 12; week 18


Total weight gain/loss: will find out on Monday...

Milestones: Feeling movement more consistently!!!

Physical Progress: My belly is looking more like a pregnant belly and less like pudge. I look sorta pregnant in the morning and very pregnant at night. Unfortunately, I think I am going to have abdominal separation/diastasis recti - I'm going to have to work on fixing that when the pregnancy is over.

Symptoms: I hardly every have nausea anymore (yay!). I still get tired easily but my energy level is much better. I am leveraging this to get the house in order!

How do I feel about my body: I can thank the belly for helping me to get more comfortable with 'looking pregnant'. Strangely enough, wearing some maternity shirts do make me feel uncomfortable because they make me look bigger than I actually am (and I get the question "So are you due next month"). When I wear other shirts though, some people think I'mm small for where I am in the pregnancy. So either way, I'mm settling into the image of 'Pregnant Woman'. Plus, a bigger belly makes my boobs look smaller...

Food cravings/aversions: hummus and tomato on toast...

Sleep: I dream so much that sometimes I don't feel like I've had any sleep. I nap a lot on weekends and it's often after that when I feel rested

Energy level: More consistent but my allergies are dragging me down a bit.

Exercise: I've been sweating through housework this week and having a few walks. I am back to water aerobics during week 19

Baby Movement: Sproglet is dancing in there already. I think I'll be in trouble when the fluttering turns into punches and kicks!

Thoughts and Feelings? We meet with the high risk OB on Monday. We're going to try to find out what it will take to be able to stay here to deliver and then explore the other options. I have finally (mentally) let go of the thought of our annual September vacation... I'm still sad but if I end up in Boston I need as much vacation time under my belt as a contingency...

What I am looking forward to: Finding out the gender either in Boston or at our 2nd Tri Anatomy Scan on Aug 31

What am I reading / things I’m learning: I've been putting together my list of questions for the doctor for next week... I'm calmer because we're prepared!

Off to Boston this month...

It looks like we probably will not have an annual vacation this year as I am now officially considered a high-risk pregnant woman. The designation isn't a surprise but I had hoped to be ok to travel in September. While the vacation isn't 100% ruled out yet, we are off to Boston and Brigham & Women's in about a week or so to have the first meeting with our high-risk OB. I am praying that she will just work closely with our OB at home and we will be able to deliver in Bermuda. That said, we have to also be prepared for her to want me in Boston leading up to the birth -- which could have me there for 3 months!

That said, the pregnancy has been going very well thus far. The sproglet is growing well and has a strong heartbeat. I should start to feel kicks soon - the flutters have been interesting thus far. We're beginning to do some nursery planning and thinking about how to deal with childcare, etc. So much to think about -- and it helps me to keep my mind off of the contingencies that we're putting in place for the fall...

Week 17

Date/Week: August 4; week 17


Total weight gain/loss: 178 (+3 - or something like that...)

Milestones: We're in our 5th month (according to the Mayo Clinic book)!

Physical Progress: Definitely have a belly - maternity shirts fit but the pants are still a bit too big in the belly area though

Symptoms: not bad - just a little tired

How do I feel about my body: Not liking the boobs at all - they're too big and get in the way... just waiting for the belly to catch up (then it'll be better, right???)

Food cravings/aversions: buttermilk pancakes and cheerios

Sleep: Up and down. Still having fun trying to stay on my left side

Energy level: Pretty good but the heat and humidity are getting to me...

Exercise: swimming/water aerobics on Saturdays; walking; called a personal trainer friend to help me with the yoga and pilates

Baby Movement: Flutters are a but stronger

Thoughts and Feelings? I've been freaking out about moving to Boston in the Fall and my blood pressure. I hope I feel better about this after the doctor's visit in Boston.

What I am looking forward to: Our Boston appointment in 2 weeks and finding out the gender either in Boston or at our 2nd Tri Anatomy Scan on Aug 31

What am I reading / things I’m learning: I'm having the quad screen bloodtests next week so I've been reading about that. I've also had to learn about the viability date - at this point it is our next major milestone...

Monthly OB Visit

Yesterday we had our monthly OB visit. Since we're off to Boston in less than 2 weeks we didn't have an ultrasound but we did get to hear sproglet's heartbeat on the doppler. We're scheduled for our 2nd tri anatomy scan on Aug 31, I have to go in for my quad screen blood test in the next week or so and our next OB visit will be Sept 2. We've pretty much decided not to do the amnio but we're leaving the ultimate decision to further discussion in Boston.


Well, my blood pressure was up again so my meds have been adjusted. The way things are going, I'm going to end up in Boston earlier than I expected. I have been looking at extended stay options and see a few that I like. I was a little down about the possibility of being in Boston earlier at first but I've calmed down about it. Fall is my favorite time of year out there after all. It would just suck not to have Aidan around all the time. I hope things go well so that I'm not out there until Nov or Dec...

Anyhow, I find I'm still living week to week -- milestone to milestone. I'm a bit too nervous to relax. It seems when I do I get cruddy news... granted, none of it had been horribly bad but it had the potential to be bad in the coming weeks. I just keep praying. I want to meet sproglet so badly!