Weight Gain

Had a regular check up today at my perinatologist's office, and the nurse said to me, "You've gained a decent amount of weight." That was her nice way of saying, "You are gaining too much weight, too fast." Gee, thanks. I've gained about 22 pounds in 22 weeks of pregnancy. Normal weight gain for the entire 40 weeks is 25-35 pounds. So the doctor is checking my thyroid to make sure nothing is wrong with it that would cause the excessive weight gain.

I guarantee it will come back normal. This pregnancy, along with the medications I'm on, have made my appetite like that of ravenous wild animal. Not to mention that my little baby is rather partial to cakes, brownies, ice cream, and other tasty sweets. I swear it's not my fault!!!

But seriously, I don't think the weight gain is out of control. I think I look like a healthy pregnant woman. And I'm eating a balanced diet of whole grain, fruits, and vegetables. It's just that I like to finish off my meals with a nice big helping of a dessert. Is that so bad? ;-)

Holy Heart Monitor Batman!

Well, due to some frequent tachycardia the last few weeks (racing heart), my rheumatologist sent me to see a cardiologist. He ordered a heart monitor for me to wear to record these racing heart "events". Well, I get myself all hooked up to electrodes and wires and a sensor pack and talk to the monitor people over the phone to activate the equipment. While on the phone with them, I asked them how long I have to wear this contraption. I was thinking.... maybe a few days.... a week at most. No.... 21 days!!!!

Seriously, I have electrodes and wires glued to my chest and abdomen. Some of them are above my shirt line (just below my collar bones). I have to wear this monitor 24/7 for 21 days?! UGH!!!

20 weeks! Half way there!

20 weeks! Half way there! I started feeling our little girl move 2 days ago, and it's like she's suddenly discovered her legs and her abilities to kick, because now I feel movement from her all day long! I've noticed too that sometimes when I'm quiet I won't feel any movement from her, but if I start talking on the phone, then she starts stirring about.

Here's my 20 week pic. I probably won't post weekly pictures anymore cause they're all starting to look the same. I'll start doing them every 4 weeks from now on. I thought I would show my belly for once in this pic. You can see a few bruises from my lovenox shots, but overall the bruising hasn't been bad lately. Also, my "innie" belly button is starting to morph into a new shape. It'll be interesting to see if it becomes an "outie".

I've felt it!!!

Finally! I felt the first baby movement today! Oh my goodness, it just about brought me to tears. There is no doubt in mind about what I was feeling. I had had other sensations prior to this that I felt uncertain about.... but there is no uncertainty in mind that what I felt today was our little baby moving about inside of me.

I think it is the first moment in my pregnancy that I really feel connected to this little person. Prior to this it was just seeing pictures or video on a screen. But this makes it feel so real. I've felt several little movements in the past half hour. Amazing! I am in awe.

Stings

The one good thing about my stinging, burning injection site on my stomach from my 9pm lovenox injection, is that I no longer feel the stinging and burning from my 9am injection. See, always a silver lining! :-)

19 weeks

19 weeks today! Bonus... I got to have an unexpected ultrasound today! Nothing wrong with baby, but had some cramping all night long that the doctor wanted to check out. All is good, but I probably just have a "sensitive uterus" as my doctor put it.

As she did last week, once again our little girl had her hands all over her face, making the profile shots very difficult for us. At one point she crossed her forearms in front of her face in an X as if to say, "No more!". We also caught her rubbing her palms and fingers up and down her face, apparently enraptured by her own features.

Make sure to check out my newest baby video uploaded to my youtube account (see the right hand column of my blog). It's from last week's ultrasound.

Hockey and 18 weeks

On Wednesday night, Daniel and I got invited to a Colorado Avalanche Hockey Game... and we got to sit in the Lockheed Marin Suite! We had a fantastic time and splurged on all sorts of fatty foods. Nachos, hot dogs, and funnel cake! Yum!


And on Thursday, I reached 18 weeks!