Not Pregnant Anymore, Thank You Very Much

I'm working on the birth story, but in the meantime (since I have only yesterday ventured back into checking the blogs - a daily ritual I have truly missed) I will regale you with the story of what happened to me the first time I ventured out post partum.
The circumstances were very sad. Bryant's cousin's husband had died. The visitation was Tuesday night, the funeral was Wednesday, graveside. Knowing there was no way I would make it through a 97 degree graveside funeral, I wanted to at least make it to the funeral home to see her. I was really feeling OK, so Mom came up and watched the boys. I would be gone no more than an hour.
The funeral home was nice, and I was so glad I did go. I can't imagine losing my husband at 41. Unfortunately, we had just been there two weeks earlier for B's grandmother's funeral, so there were a lot of the same people there. Of course, I was big and pregnant then. Now, I'll grant you that I did have on a maternity shirt, but still...two people came up to me and asked when I was
going to have that baby! Are you kidding me?!? He was 7.1 and if you add in the placenta, I dropped over 8 pounds on Sunday! That's over half of what I had gained in total!
So I ask you, which is worse? Assuming someone is pregnant when they aren't at all or assuming someone is pregnant after they have just delivered? I mean, I know I'm not back to my catwalk physique but I am definitely not as ginormous as I was this time last week!

Nearly 38 Weeks

Carma. That's what it must be. Not that I was rude to the receptionist last week, but I should have known better than to even mention my frustration with her on the blog. I knew it was going to be this way. I got "squeezed in" for my appointment today, and what should have been a quick 30, maybe 45 minute visit turned into an hour and 45 minutes. On a positive note, I now know many more secrets to improving my golf game than I did before I walked into the office. I also know that the shaft angle of the newer, bigger drivers is sharper than it used to be, forcing the golfer to stand closer to the ball than he would otherwise off the tee. I think I only closed my eyes three times.
Anyway, here are the stats:
Heartrate: 120's
Weight Gain: 1 pound
Dilation: basically same as last appointment, maybe 1-2 cm's
Becky has ordered another ultrasound for next Thursday, mainly just to check the amniotic fluid level and re-check the baby's size. She's not worried, just wants to be sure of the size since my total weight gain for this pregnancy has been only 14 pounds. Well, 14 pounds since my first appointment. I know I packed on a few pounds before that appointment! No talk of inducing, which is fine with us. Hopefully, that will still be the case after Thursday as well. Open house at Reeves' school is on my due date. Should be interesting. I remember washing the car on Reeves' due date back in 2005, so I'll probably try to squeeze that in too. It'll be a nice way to cool off if nothing else.

37 Weeks

I had a doctor's appointment this morning. Unfortunately, it was at the Jim Island office so the audio heartrate machine does nothing more than acknowledge the fact that my baby's heart is beating. It doesn't give them the number. Thanks, the constant kicks to my diaphragm have assured me that there is a heartbeat. That drives me crazy! The nurse agreed with me and said she'd try to switch it out with one from one of their other offices. That's great, but unless I have a third child, it's not going to do me any good.
Anyway the stats are:
Heartrate - yes, there is one.
Weight gain - none
Dilation - maybe 1 cm, but I haven't really dropped
The head is still down, so that's good.
No talk of inducing yet. I told Becky I'd like to hold off since Reeves starts school on the 27th. I'm sure I'll be quite uncomfortable, but I still think it will be easier pregnant than fresh from labor. Of course, I could be completely wrong. Who knows?
As I was scheduling my next appointment, which Becky had said should be within a week, the receptionist punched her little keys, looked up at me and said, "How about the 17th?" Ummm, have you seen me? Can you read? ONE WEEK, LADY!! I could have this child by the time you get around to scheduling me. Unbelievable! But I kept my cool and just mentioned that the doctor had said I needed to be seen in one week. Luckily, Becky was within earshot and told her to set me up on Wednesday. I mean really, it's not like I'm booking my yearly physical where we do have a few weeks playroom on either side. I've got a bun in this oven, and I'd like to be seen again before it comes out! So, check back for the next update then.

Deuce News

Just got back from my appointment with Becky. Despite the huge amounts of food that I ate last week at Kanuga, I have lost a pound. I can't believe it, but I'm not going to argue with it. Since I started out this pregnancy a bit overweight, Becky is fine with my weight. It appears that the baby is getting all it needs. I'm thinking the weight is coming off from my ring finger because my ring is still spinning, and my thighs don't look to be any smaller! Typical. Deuce's heartrate was in the 130's. I have dropped a little but not too much. The best news of all is that Deuce has turned over. He/she is now head down, butt up! I was pretty sure this was going to be the case today. I have been feeling kicks against my diaphragm which have made me a bit short of breath. This didn't happen before that last ultrasound. I think the baby flipped over the day after that ultrasound. I was in Costco and felt the most unbelievable pain on the left side of my belly. I had to lean on the cart for support. I cannot even imagine what my facial expression was. I was hurting! After 15 or 20 minutes, the pain went away. I am convinced that was when the somersault happened. Whenever it was, Bryant and I are just happy to know Deuce is taxiing to the runway in the correct position. Thank you all for your prayers about this.
On a non-health related note...Just before bedtime Wednesday night, after Bryant had finished reading to him, Reeves came and got on the sofa with me. Deuce was moving all over, so I put Reeves' hand on my belly. He got to feel a really big move, and he recognized it. Something clicked. We honestly think he knew he was feeling something inside Momma's tummy moving, and not just the tummy itself. He was so excited and kept wanting to feel more movements. We loved it.

Deuce News

We had our second ultrasound for Deuce today. Apparently there was some concern that the baby was a little...little. I'm glad we didn't know. Well, all worries have been put to rest. Deuce is 4 1/2 pounds - 58th percentile. Perfectly on track according to the tech and the doctor. Heartrate was 148 today. Up considerably from what it had been in recent visits - generally upper 130's, lower 140's. All the measurable bits look good. Amniotic fluid is quite plentiful. Interestingly, we can't see any sign of the fibroid that I had with Reeves. I wasn't too worried about it, but it's nice to know it's not there now. They're all hormone related. I just knew I was much more pleasant with this pregnancy than with the last one! (Right, B?) And there was no sign of the "telltale bits", at least not to Bryant and me, but, since we had a different tech today, I do have to now live with the knowledge that someone else out there knows what I'm having!! There was one bit of news that we found out that we didn't know before....Last night, I was lying in bed, B was at the computer. Deuce was moving all over the place, as is our routine whenever I stop moving. I have recently been feeling movement quite low on my belly. I mentioned to him that I wouldn't be surprised if we went in tomorrow and found out that this child was breech. Well, call it mother's intuition or a keen interuterine sense of space and movement or whatever, sure enough, Deuce's head is right up by my left ribs. I guess this is the child that will always be trying to be closest to my heart. No one is worried about it at the moment. Becky said babies often will turn themselves around. We will check again at the next appointment and the one after that. If towards the end, Deuce is still breech, we have two options. First, we can try to turn it from the outside. That is, we would go into the hospital, get on the monitors, and she would see what she can do to turn the baby. I'm not so sure about this since, in the office today, she showed me just a little bit of what she would have to do, and it nearly made me jump off the table. Not so sure I want to go through that - intensified and for even longer. But I do feel like I would want to endure that as opposed to the second option which is a C-Section. I haven't really thought about a C too much. I mean, I knew I didn't want one with Reeves, and since he came out fine (and I use that term loosely), the possibility of having one with Deuce hasn't even ever really entered my mind. But now, now that that outcome is a very real possibility, I am surprised by the way I am feeling about it. I really don't want one, but I would never put Deuce's health in the way of my not wanting a scar or not wanting the difficult recovery time post-partum. So, for the next 8 weeks, we'll be doing a lot of praying that Deuce flips over and decides that head down is quite a comfortable position. Well, that and trying out Becky's answer to my question of "Is there anything I can do myself to try to get it to flip?" That answer was to stand on my head - seriously. She said that doing that sometimes encourages them to turn over. Who am I to question? This is only my second baby. She's delivered hundreds, probably thousands, and had four of her own. I'll take her advice, maybe it will even help relieve some of that pressure on the underside of my belly. But just in case, please pray that this baby turns itself head down on its own.

2 Months

Well, I just looked at the calendar today and realized that August 25 is exactly two months from today! So much to do, so little time!

Lilypie Tickers

Nancy, just for you! Well, and for me. It's terrible. I kept track of practically how many days pregnant I was with Reeves. Now, I have to seriously rack my brain when someone asks me how far along I am. I ususally just answer with my due date. No, we don't know the sex, despite many claims to the opposite, but for those Old Wives out there, the heartrate was in the 130's at my last appointment. Fundus measured perfectly for how far along I am. I gained one pound. Still having my discomfort at being crab-cracked, but generally feel great other than that. This child, if my memory is reliable as there was no blog at the time, is moving much more than Reeves did. Nearly every time I stop moving, this one starts up. I must admit. I love that feeling. Bryant is fascinated with what it must feel like. It just warms my heart each time I feel the flutter or kick or punch. It is really one of the special gifts mothers get from almost the very beginning. My next appointment is Wednesday. We'll see what that one brings!

Pregnancy Brain Strikes

Well, it has finally happened. Pregnancy has affected my brain. I lost my car in the Wal-Mart parking lot on Sunday. Seriously - lost it. I had amazingly gotten a decent spot. Great on the way in, not so great on the way out when you end up two rows over and twice as far down. I actually had to stop and look around for my car. News flash: the Volvo station wagon is not a very high profile car. You can't see it above the other cars! It took me WAY longer than it should have to get to my car. And...I didn't even have Reeves with me, distracting me. This was just me and my recently scattered brain. Can't wait to see what August brings. I'll probably just be wondering the streets looking for my house (hopefully I will have remembered to get dressed), and Bryant and Reeves will come driving up to take me home and give me some hot tea and a nice afghan to cover my legs.

The BIG Ultrasound

Where does the time go? And why does it always seem to take my motivation with it? "Oh, thank goodness for the blog! I am going to document every bit of this pregnancy!" Yeah, right.
We had our 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday. Of course, this would be the one morning when Judy would be having cataract surgery, and we couldn't take Reeves out until later in the morning. And, of course, we'd scheduled the earliest appointment so that we wouldn't have to wait very long. And, of course, the office had set up a new rule that children aren't allowed into the ultrasound room. Oh well, Murphy's Law. Thank heavens the ultrasound lady is a friend of the family and was almost as excited to see Reeves as we were to see Duece, so Bryant was able to sneak him in. (After all, she did take Reeves' first picture. My, how he's changed in two years, what with all the tissue he's got surrounding his bones and the breathing air now!) Reeves actually made it for a good 10 or 15 minutes, but then he wanted me to hold him, and he was quite interested in playing with the jelly on Momma's tummy. It doesn't taste quite as good as strawberry Smuckers. I know this because he tried to get me to taste it. So, Bryant had to leave with him, but not before he was able to see some really good pictures. We even watched as Duece put his hands behind his head, just like Reeves does. Can it be hereditary? And, No, we didn't find out the sex. I am only using "his" and "him" because I don't like calling our child "It", and I'm too lazy to type his/her everytime, and I've been saying "his" and "him" for 22 months, so why change now.
Everything looked great. The due date was right on according to this ultrasound - August 25. Duece's heartrate was 138, but please note that I had not yet had my cup of coffee that day, so I'm not sure that's a reliable indication of determining sex. Momma gained another pound, but I blame that entirely on Grandmother's macaroni and cheese that she made for Easter. That stuff should be illegal. I could exist on that and that alone, it is so good.
As I was leaving, Debbie (ultrasound nurse), told me to tell Bryant that she knows what it is. What!?!? Why are you telling me this? I know, in the rational side of my brain, that she has been doing this for 20 years, and she surely can spot the sex on an ultrasound immediately, but I can't. And she never mentioned during the whole appointment that she saw it, or that I should turn away. So, to my happily ignorant, pregnant mind, she didn't know, and that made me happy. But now, I know that she knows, and knowing that someone out there knows what you don't know isn't a good thing to know, ya' know?
Next appointment isn't for another month. I will post ultrasound pics once we get them decently scanned. You wouldn't see much more than a black box right now.

Lucky Daddy

Well, after all the excitement of Saturday, as we were settling down to go to bed, Bryant was able to feel his second child move for the first time. I have been feeling it for a while, but I could never feel it from the outside. Finally, Saturday night, I felt it with my hand and immediately called him over. Deuce was quite active and kept playing long enough for his/her Daddy to get to feel him/her too. You can imagine Bryant's excitement.

Getting Ready

So, even though we've told almost everyone, I guess it's not really official until it's on the blog!

Looks like both of my guys are going to be plenty of help by the time our second child gets here. They've both been practicing for their new roles! Right now the due date for "Deuce" is August 25.
More to come later....