I meant to post these photos earlier. Here are the ultrasound photos from last week!
Looking straight at the baby's face and belly.
The baby on its knees, facing down.
On its back again, with face in profile.
The ultrasound was a little strange, but all told it went fine. The baby is of average size, and there were no abnormalities with the heart or brain or anything else that they look at during the procedure. Right toward the end, the nurse called in some strange doctor-man, saying "I'm calling the doctor now. He reads the results" This threw both Dave and I back a little bit, since we didn't know in advance that we would be seeing a doctor. He came in and shook my hand, muttered something about "looks good" and then asked if I had any questions. I didn't, other than why he was in the room. I equate this to when the dentist comes in and looks at your teeth after the hygienist spends 30 minutes cleaning them. I think it's just to be sure that you feel like a real professional is working behind the scenes, and to ensure that the visit costs the insurance company the $1200 per minute fee that the doctor charges. Just one more reason I'm feeling confident in our homebirth plan. It's pretty rare for a stranger to walk in during the birth when you're in your home with the midwives and support people that you've chosen.
Speaking of homebirth midwives, Dave and I met with Gail and Clare again last week. It was fun to see them, and I'm glad to begin the process of getting to know them. We covered a lot of ground in the hour we spent with them, but we honestly didn't talk much about the birth. We talked about diet and exercise, my health history, and they listened for the baby's heartbeat using the fetoscope. Unfortunately, they weren't able to pick it up, but they were able to hear all sorts of kicks and punches coming from the baby. The ultrasound revealed the the placenta is anterior, making it more difficult to hear the heartbeat and also making it a little more difficult for me to feel those first kicks. I am feeling them pretty regularly now, and Dave got lucky and felt one through my belly the other night.
I wish I was a little better at keeping up this blog. If I updated daily, it would look more like this:
Everything is great! I feel great! Pregnancy is fun! Whee!!
Dear lord, someone get me a pillow and a blanket, I need a nap.
Pregnancy rocks! I rock at being pregnant! Woo hoo!
Is that the time? 7:30 pm? Geez, I better hit the hay I need to get 12 hours of sleep.
Unfortunately, I tend to only post when I'm not on those emotional and physical highs, so it sounds all down and sad and poor me. When I look back over the past 2 months, though, things have been wonderful overall. Just in the last week have I hit the good day/bad day dynamic, and it's taking some time to get used to. I'm exhausted again, and not sleeping through the night. I haven't had time to fit my naps in, and when I do they just make me more tired instead of more rested. I know that the third trimester will bring some exhaustion with it, but I'm not there yet. I feel a little cheated that I didn't get the full second trimester full of energy (4 more weeks!)
I've been meaning to take a photo of me from the side - I've started visibly showing in the last few weeks, and I'm loving that. My weight gain is still hovering around 10 pounds total so far, but my belly is poking out over my pants, and I'm having a hard time keeping it covered. It's definitely time to move into maternity pants, but I don't feel like shopping or going to a store at all. One thing I definitely need to buy is a maternity swimsuit. I'm still swimming laps 3 times a week, and even though the suit I have is a few sizes bigger than usual, it is no longer doing the job. My internet searches have turned up nothing other than tankinis, a style that I do not want to swim laps in. You'd think with all of the advice to swim while pregnant, someone would make a decent swimsuit that covers your belly but doesn't come down to your knees (why do they put skirts on swimsuits? why?). I have to make it a priority to find one soon, since it's become uncomfortable to swim in the one I've got, and I don't want to get out of the habit of doing my laps every week.
In other non-pregnancy news, we're getting excited for Thanksgiving. I can't believe how quickly November has blown by, the holiday is next week already! My mom and brother are coming to share the meal with us, and hopefully my mother and sister-in law as well. My dad and step-mom are flying in on Friday, so they'll miss the meal but will still see us. This is the third year that we've hosted the holiday, and we have a great time doing it. We cook an entirely organic meal, using as much locally grown food as we are able. Even though we're vegetarian, we cook a turkey for everyone else and rumor has it that it's pretty delicious. We insist on a free-range, organic bird, something that our family members wouldn't buy for themselves. I think its deliciousness is partially due to that and partially due to the fact that Dave is a fantastic cook. We always invite friends for wine and pie after dinner, and hopefully we'll have some people show up again this year. I'm doing apple, pecan, and pumpkin pies again so if that's not enough to draw them in, I don't know what would be. I'm glad that our families are coming again this year, we weren't sure if we would just be cooking for 2 this time.
I think it's time for me to go find that nap that I've been raving about. Hopefully I can take off from work a little early and sleep the afternoon away.
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