Photo magnets: How to

These photo magnets are perfect for any time of the year, but I especially love to give them around Christmas time! They're perfect for any member of the family, and you can use any kind of pictures you want, even generic decorative photos just for fun! I personally use photos of my children, so I can give them to relatives.

The materials you're going to need can all be picked up at Michael's, I don't know exact prices but I know it's less than $20 for sure! I was able to make 5 batches of magnets!

Clear Adhesive (Amazing E-6000)
Clear flat sided marbles
.5" circular magnets
8.5X11 Photo paper
Gift card tin

The first step is to choose your photos. The key is to pick a picture where the subject is centered and further back in the photo so that it will fit underneath the marble. You can practice by choosing a few photos, printing them on plain paper, and then placing a stone on top to get a clue as to how they'll look.

I picked out as many photos as I needed and added them all to a folder called 'Magnets'. I selected all of the pictures in the folder, right click, and print. When you get to the print screen make sure you have photo paper selected, and the size 8.5 by 11. You should be able to choose how big you want the photo to be, such as 8X10 or 5X7, you need to choose the option called 'Contact Sheet' which can print up to 35 very small pictures.

Once the page has printed I placed a marble on top of the photo, centered it to how I wanted it to look as a magnet and then used a pen and made a rough tracing. You don't have to make it exact, or beautiful, as you'll be cutting well within the lines.

Once each photo is traced take a pair of scissors and cut within the lines. Place the marble over the cut picture and trim the sides as needed. They don't have to be perfect circles, the marbles aren't perfectly round, and are also pretty forgiving.

Once you have them all cut out it's easiest to divide them into a couple of groups to glue. Add a small dab of glue to the center of each photo, then press a marble flat side down onto each picture. Press firmly until you see the glue spread underneath completely.

Once each marble is placed you don't need to wait for them to dry. Lay your magnets out and add a small dab of glue to the center of each one just like you did with the pictures.

Take the marble/pictures and firmly press them on top of the magnet. Once that was complete I placed them all into the gift card tin to dry. It is best to let them dry and air out for a few days before you put the lid on the tin, because the glue can be strong smelling.


And that's all there is to it! An easy DIY project that takes little time, and little money!

38 Week Update

I just realized that this is probably my last weekly update post! It doesn't necessarily have to be my last post, because I can always post next Tuesday night to wrap up my feelings on this pregnancy (no promises though, we have company arriving this weekend and I'll be beside myself getting things done and worrying about my girls the night before), but I will try!

I'm also writing this post about as prematurely as I ever have because I'm loaded up on two cups of coffee and I have no idea what to do with myself! I don't have all the energy in the world, but my head is buzzing and I need to keep myself occupied! Although, I have been feeling that way for the past 3-4 days now, so I can't say it's all attributable to this newest caffeine intake. How much more caffeine is in coffee as compared to Mt Dew? I usually drink a can during the day (no judging!)

I'm looking forward to having the cleaning lady come tomorrow. I picked up and cleaned everything this past week so that she can do the deep cleaning of the important rooms like the bathrooms and the kitchen, although it's been difficult not to clean some of it with all of this nesting going on! I really do hate cleaning bathrooms though, gross.

I'm packing my hospital bag today! I set that goal for when I turn 38 weeks and here I am! I probably won't be able to put everything into it (toiletries and such) until the night/morning before but all of the clothes and other personal effects on my list are getting packed today! I will probably go and do that soon in fact. I'm also finishing my other to do list item today and taking the girls to their WIC appointment this afternoon, unless I'm passed out from a coffee crash ha

I received quite the surprise last Thursday at my second to last BPP, and my final growth scan ultrasound. I was hoping he'd be over 6lbs at least, and I think I estimated him at 6lbs 3oz in my last post. Much to my surprise, he measured about 6lbs 14oz! That's 2oz shy of 7lbs! I'm thinking we're going to have an 8lb baby boy on our hands next Wednesday! I'm very pleased that he's growing so well! And as for myself, as of yesterday my total weight gain for this pregnancy has been 15lbs! I'm very proud of that!

Friday I have my very last BPP ultrasound, and then on Monday I have my very last NST and Dr appointment, Wednesday is the big day! I'm nervous, excited, scared, excited, and sad and worried about leaving my baby girls alone for that many days. They've never been without mama like that :( I hope I'm more distraught than they are! It would kill me to have them get upset and screw up their days and schedules because I'm gone, absolute guilt!

Symptoms - Back pain, acne, lightning crotch from him pressing his head down, heartburn, really sore and puffy gums, and a lot of pressure!
Food cravings - I perhaps have had enough Jimmy John's, nothing else comes to mind!
Size of baby - I'm going to guess his birth weight to be 8lbs give or take 2oz!

37 Week Update

This is it! The final stretch! On Sunday I officially crossed my last milestone, you could say my very final milestone is to meet Bitty! 14 more days!

I'm excited, but I'm also uncomfortable and counting down the days. I can't say I'm anywhere near being as in pain and uncomfortable as I was with the girls' pregnancy, but pregnancy itself is difficult! I'm not one of those lucky women who doesn't have any problem and sails right through, I'm a complainer lol

My back hurts, the braxton hicks are frequent and annoying, sometimes a little too uncomfortable, and when Bitty moves certain ways it's very painful. His movement has slowed down quite a bit the past week or so, he still moves don't get me wrong, but I think his butt is just a little too big in there ha

Tomorrow I have my second to last BPP ultrasound and he'll finally get measured. I thought he was going to get measured for size last week but they said they do it every 3 weeks otherwise it's not as accurate. I'm looking forward to seeing how much they think he weighs! On Monday I had my NST which he passed again, without any caffeinated assistance I might add, and my Dr appointment. I didn't have any questions about my impending surgery, even though when I start to think about it I get really nervous, doesn't matter that I've done it before, I think knowing what's going to happen might just be worse on the nerves! The spinal block wasn't that bad I keep telling myself, but it's still so scary! And I'm worried about recovery as well. I can't wait to see this little boy, and hear his first cries, and announce his name to everyone.

I did some final shopping this past week for the newborn shoot, which the girls are going to participate in as well. I bought Bitty the cutest crocheted puppy hat and diaper cover set and I can't wait to see it in person! I have some cute outfits for the girls, but they needed a new matching headband for it so I found one last night, very excited about that as well! I sent an email to the photographer asking a few last questions before I book the date (hopefully the 19th when he's a week old) so I hope that's all taken care of!

I made a list of what I'm packing in my bag, basically the same as I did last time along with a few things I wish I had packed the first time around (my own socks, the hospital ones slide around on my feet and drive me absolutely nuts, some slippers for walking around, snacks are also on my list this time instead of having to eat a bunch of graham crackers in the middle of the night because that's all that is available, and chapstick for sure, hospitals are dry!!) I'm planning on actually packing when I'm 38 weeks, gives me a little goal to look forward to, but in case something happens this week I have the list all made out anyway!

Justin is having a cleaning lady from work come in next Thursday to deep clean the bathrooms, kitchen, and do some mopping and dusting. I hate cleaning bathrooms even when I'm not 38 weeks pregnant! I'm looking forward to that! We also need to take the dogs to the groomer to be bathed and so Carrie can be shaved and groomed in preparation for baby. We probably won't clean and arrange the van until the day before I go to the hospital because I still drive around with the girls and won't be able to lug my belly into the very back seat to buckle them into the new configuration, especially since Nessy will be rear facing still. She isn't 20lbs yet so we can't turn her around, Allison is just barely over which I don't like, but we don't have a choice. She'll probably love forward facing though. And finally on my to do list is to make a WIC appointment for next week to have the girls' weights taken and get 3 more months of checks. I'm curious to see if these past two months of pediasure have helped the girls to gain any weight, or if it was a waste of time, even though they really enjoy drinking it and it's definitely not hurting anything!

Symptoms - Back pain, acne, lightning crotch from him pressing his head down, heartburn.
Food cravings - Jimmy John's, I could eat it every day!
Size of baby - I'm going to guess that he weighs 6lbs 3oz!

36 Week Update

According to my ticker there are 21 days until he is born! That doesn't seem like that long, but in pregnant time things tend to seem a lot slower! Sunday will mark me at 36 weeks 4 days, which is how far along I was when I had the girls, so on Monday I will be the most pregnant I've ever been! Obviously no worries about preterm labor over here!

I didn't make a 35 week update, oops! I was planning to do it on Thursday after my ultrasound again but I forgot, then I kept forgetting, and I also was not using my desktop computer to get online for almost a week. Every time I sat down to the computer my back was screaming at me, I could not even sit here for 5 minutes, so I was just using my kindle to check facebook and that was it!

Updates this week - On Sunday I had some momentary energy and decided to get all the laundry and a bunch of dishes done. I started noticing a pretty drastic increase in watery discharge lacking any distinct smell (it didn't smell like pee basically lol) and it lasted all day long. Luckily I had an appt right away on Monday morning so I mentioned it to my doctor since they were checking my cervix for dilation anyway so they checked and said there wasn't anything leaking as far as they could tell. I requested an ultrasound just to verify fluid levels and everything was perfect there too! I still have the increase in discharge, but at least now I know it's pretty much a normal 3rd trimester thing and not amniotic fluid! Apparently amniotic fluid will have a very distinct sickeningly sweet smell so hopefully if anything does happen I will have some type of clue.

Last Thursdays ultrasound was really cute, he was sucking on his hand when we went to get a picture of his face! He even yawned and opened his mouth up real big! On Monday he was really really sucking on his hand, you could see his little mouth just sucking and sucking away! I swear it was probably the cutest thing I have seen so far, and he's been adorable the whole time! He must have been sucking pretty good cause he had the hiccups from it! I think we might have another pacifier baby on our hands, since my other two are STILL fighting me tooth and nail not to get rid of theirs at 19 months. Oh well at this point!

The girls are still doing swimming lessons on Saturdays, due to technical difficulties with the pool and then the instructor getting sick we've only had 3 classes, but it's like night and day difference the way they act in the pool now! Allison is a kicking/swimming machine, and Vanessa doesn't kick the whole time but she's getting much much better at it! Allison has absolutely no problem going underwater, in fact you have to watch her cause she'll do it regardless if you are asking her to or paying attention or not! It's a good thing and a bad thing, bad that you HAVE to pay attention to her every second (not that you wouldn't obviously), but good that she's not afraid of the water. Vanessa has her moments, she doesn't exactly mind going underwater and will do it willingly enough but once she's done she's done! But that's her personality, she's my more reserved baby, much less high demand than her sister!

Looking forward to having the baby get here, I'm getting more and more uncomfortable especially since he dropped right after my 35 week mark. I have to pee even more, which I never even thought possible and walking around for extended periods is uncomfortable because it feels like there's something heavy about to fall out lol I don't think I have much to do to prepare, his bed is all set up and there's the bassinet already in the living room. I have a couple of packs of diapers, and so so many clothes! Might need to buy some new pacifiers sine the ones the girls used are discontinued, but that's about all I can think of!

Symptoms - Back pain, acne, lightning crotch from him pressing his head down, heartburn.
Food cravings - Jimmy John's, I could eat it every day!
Size of baby - He gets measured again tomorrow, I'm going to guess that he weighs about 5lbs 12ish ounces.

34 Week Update

I meant to update on Thursday evening instead of Wednesday so that I could include the results of my BPP with his growth scan all in one post, but then I forgot/didn't feel up to it. Yesterday I hit a mini wall when I woke up too early and felt sick all day, towards the evening I started getting a headache and a lot of pressure in my head so I borrowed my dad's blood pressure machine, but everything was perfect. It was just a bad day! I'm trying not to literally hit one of those pregnancy walls because I still have 5ish weeks to go and that's a long time when you feel really bad every day! Especially with two toddlers that don't care one way or the other!

I also don't really look forward to getting on my desktop computer lately because the moment I sit down in this stupid chair my back screams at me and it hurts a considerable amount. I'm dealing with it as I type this right now, but I'm not staying on the computer much longer. I usually check my FB and look stuff up on my awesome Kindle Fire, which I can lay around and use anywhere! I also read books on it! I'm so glad Justin let me buy it (even though I had to sell my other kindle first) even though we're in a money slump right now. Can't wait for the weather to cool down and the snowbirds to return and start buying cars again!

Anyway, Justin and I went to my ultrasound on Thursday morning. Bitty was awake and kicking, breathing and moving and being his normal adorable self. He wiggled his toes and smiled at us again, I just love that he does something different each week! He weighs about 4lbs 14oz which is really good growth in just over 2 weeks. The ultrasound tech said that they gain at least a 1/2lb every week after 36 weeks so if she guestimates correctly he'll probably weigh about 7-7.5lbs when born. I'm leaning towards the 7.5 mark, he's growing really well! I can also handle 7.5lbs, I only carried 9lbs of baby last time ;) and that wasn't even full term! There were also more arms and legs to deal me blows, but this little guy has rivaled that and more. He is everywhere!!

Last night he was being strange, but kind of awesome at the same time. I was propped up on a pillow reading my kindle when I noticed my belly was heaving rather rhythmically. I started watching it and pushing on his little butt that he sticks up way out of my stomach, and realized that I could literally see and feel him practicing his breathing! He was breathing pretty quickly in there, and you could see all of it! I made Justin come and look and feel, but I don't think he understood what I meant. He did it for at least 10 minutes, it was pretty cool!

Symptoms - Back pain is the worst symptom right now, not entirely sure that's going to get any better though!
Food cravings - Nothing, still don't feel like eating much, and the heatwave we've been having isn't helping either.
Size of baby - 4lbs 14oz, and I have a feeling he's going to be a long one too (20-21 inches)

33 Week Update

6 weeks left! So close, yet so far away!

Remember when I was complaining a few weeks ago that my acne was so bad I wanted to jump off a bridge, or shower in benzoyl peroxide for the rest of my pregnancy? The acne gods must have been listening because my skin has been so much better! I'm not saying it's perfect, but I'm hardly as embarrassed as I was and my face is as close to perfect as it's going to get being pregnant! I use the first two steps of my proactiv every night, with a new washcloth (white ones, that stuff bleaches colored ones yikes!), followed with my clean & clear salicylic acid moisturizer since I'm allergic to the proactiv one. I had been using my salicylic acid body wash from proactiv but it was a tiny trial bottle so I found a large bottle of Neutrogena Acne Body Wash with the same ingredient for 5.50 at Walmart. That stuff is amazing! Within two days I kid you not my skin was at least 50% or more cleared up on my chest and arms! And it's even better now! So thank you acne gods, thank you very much!

In other pregnancy news I get more uncomfortable as time goes on, although I'm still able to do what needs to be done. I've been getting some pretty intense braxton hicks contractions lately, sometimes they come and go for a few hours which starts to get a little wearisome. I know I drink enough fluids, otherwise I wouldn't constantly be going to the bathroom literally once every hour if not more. It probably doesn't help that his cute not so little head is sitting right there on my bladder, and he throws a few punches in from time to time to help things along as well. He's also in the habit of punching and/or kicking my right hip bone which has gotten inreasingly sore. The right side of my ribs also endures kicking attacks, I just try to push him out of there when I can. He's a painful little guy, and he's only getting bigger!

Monday we failed our NST, despite my large mcdonalds orange juice and a glass of really cold water, oh and the buzzer which scared the crap out of him, I seriously saw his whole body jump out of my stomach lol so we had another BPP ultrasound, which he passed right away, although pretty sleepy the whole time, she had to shake him a little to get him to move the required amount of times. I'm thinking mornings just aren't his thing. You and me both little man. Another BPP tomorrow, Justin gets to come along so he can see his fat little cheeks and maybe catch a smile in there, can't remember the last time he got to see an ultrasound.

In cute little twin news - the girls started swimming lessons last weekend. Saturdays at 9:30 we take them to one of the community pools in my parents' subdivision where a girl gives private lessons. We sang songs, swam them around, and dunked them under water for the first time. I thought I would have a huge problem with that part, but amazingly they did so well that I wasn't scared afterwards! And amazingly, after just one session they are doing remarkably better in the pool! We practiced with them today and I'm pretty sure Allison thinks she can swim by herself! Vanessa is a little more reserved, especially about going underwater, but they both do great and are having so much fun! They are growing up so fast, and doing so many amazing things all the time now, I just love those little girls like nothing else. They have brought an immense amount of joy into our world! I don't know what I thought about life before them!

Symptoms - My stomach is stretched and uncomfortable, but otherwise I'm not doing half bad! Heartburn, acne, and even my back pain has been really good this past week, and my feet aren't even swollen!
Food cravings - I guess you can say I need to drink milk. I am a milk drinking machine when I'm pregnant, and I'm almost at a gallon a day, if not definitely every other day. Strong bones for me and kiddo! I think it has a lot to do with it being soothing for my stomach, helping with the heartburn whereas everything else I drink gives me heartburn. Plus I like it!
Size of baby - Doctor said my belly is measuring 34 weeks, so if he's growing that well then he's probably at least 4.5lbs and 17ish inches long.

32 Week Update

Another milestone bites the dust! I'm running out of them! I feel like perhaps I've been making them too easy, but then when you think about it it's been at least 4 weeks since I made the 32 week milestone so it wasn't that easy! I think my 2nd to final milestone will be to achieve 36 weeks 5 days, which is the day after when I had the girls making me the most pregnant I've ever been. Sounds reasonable enough! My final milestone will be 39 weeks when I finally have him! 7 weeks away!

Monday I went in for my first NST, not really know what to expect! They set me up in a regular exam room with the machine and put two monitors on my stomach. One was to monitor his movement and my uterus and the other his heartbeat. He was really easy to find and stayed on the whole time (only kicked off once but it came right back). I also had a little clicker that I was to click every time I felt him move. It was kind of hard because the monitors put pressure on my stomach which is basically what it feels like when he moves, but I was able to do it. He was pretty sleepy though and was moving at a regular once every few minute pace. After ten minutes they came in with the buzzer and she buzzed my stomach a few times. His heart rate jumped from 148ish to about 165! I think it scared the poor guy! He started moving more, but it wasn't enough. At the end of the 20 or so minutes they came in and said the Dr was going to send me over to ultrasound for a BPP, because he didn't pass the NST.

What I learned about the NST is that they look for accelerations in his heart rate when he's moving well. When he moves his heart rate should change between 5-15 beats and they should see some movement of his heart rate within that 20 minute monitoring window. Bitty stayed the same the whole time, so that's why he failed.

I was pretty worried at this point, but excited that I got an unplanned ultrasound! She put the probe on and  you could immediately see his little butt up by my ribs, still head down! He was practicing his breathing really well the whole time, and wriggling around. It was weird that some of his moving I didn't even feel, so that didn't help the NST either. She also measured him and he's weighing 4lbs and measuring exactly 32 weeks! If he gains weight at a normal pace like he has been he could weigh anywhere from 6-8lbs when born. I think it's strange enough that he weighs what Vanessa did when she was born past 36 weeks, she was such a peanut! Still is, actually.

So tomorrow we have another BPP, I'm going to drink some orange juice before hand and wake him up a little but I think we'll be in and out of there in no time if he behaves like he did on Monday! I got some really cute pictures of his face in 3D this time as well. He has the cutest chunky cheeks, and he even smiled at us! It really made me excited to meet him and see what he looks like in person, but I can already tell he looks just like his daddy and sisters. He's going to be perfectly adorable!

Symptoms - Starting to experience some weird pica like cravings, so am taking iron supplements. Back pain has gotten really bad, acne is getting better though!
Food cravings - Nada! Although Jimmy John's isn't unappealing, I don't exactly crave it.
Size of baby - He's 4lbs! Growing perfectly!

31 Week Update

I just want to complain!! Whine and complain, possibly throw myself on the floor and have a real temper tantrum just like the girls do, just for a little while! And it's not even to complain that I'm uncomfortable and that I want this baby here NOW, because that's not the case at all. Although I will admit to being excited to meet my little man, time seems to be flying by on its own and I'm a little apprehensive about how we're going to fit him in (ok so I'm scared!) so he can bake a little longer!

I want to complain about this stupid acne! It's driving me insane! I wash my face religiously and I try not to touch it or rub it to clog my poors, but nothing is helping. I do think that if I weren't using my proactiv my face would be much much worse than what it is, but even using it it's still pretty bad!! And that isn't including my poor chest, shoulders, and arms. I've even been finding acne on my forearms, wtf is that all about?? I'm like a giant walking pimple! They're sore, they're unsightly, and I just can't wait until they are gone. Acne was the reason I had the mirena removed, I just can not handle what it does to my self esteem/image, and I'm already dealing with being overweight. At least I know there's an end in sight, I just have to keep thinking about that.

I'm also glad that acne is the worst of my problems! I keep thinking about my pregnancy with the girls around this time and I was pretty much down for the count until they were born. I hit a wall around 28 weeks and it only got worse from there. This pregnancy is much easier and much less painful! I can walk without severe pelvic pain, in fact the only time I have any pelvic pain is at night when I'm trying to sleep, rolling over seems to make it hurt pretty bad. Sleeping is probably the worst of the pain I do have during this pregnancy, my hips and back get pretty sore and stiff but I'm living with it. Although I'm not sure the pain is worse than waking up every two hours like clockwork to pee! My energy is depleted from this tortuous cycle.

Next Monday I start my twice weekly appointments, Mondays are NST day and Thursdays are BPP day. I'm excited to see him on ultrasound!! I'm not excited to be doing all that driving every week until he's born, but I'm sure it'll go by just as fast!

Symptoms - Acne, back/sciatic pain, tired, but otherwise doing much better than I thought giving the heat of the summer.
Food cravings - Nada still! I have lost hope on this one!
Size of baby - Over 3lbs and 17ish inches, gaining 1/2lb a week after this point. His movements feel like Allison and Vanessa at the end of my pregnancy and they were 4 and 5lbs, so perhaps he's about 3.5lbs or more?

30 Week Update

We're in the 30's! The home stretch! We're also at single digits, with only 9 weeks to go until my scheduled cesarean. It seems so close, and yet so far away at the same time. I think time is flying by though, and I don't know if that worries or scares me, or makes me excited. We'll see how it goes when he gets here I guess!

Had a Dr appointment on Tuesday, everything was as normal as it has been. My bloodwork all came back perfectly normal. So my thyroid is fine, I don't have gestational diabetes, and my blood pressure is perfect. I gained 1lb within the past two weeks, putting my grand total at 9lbs. Maybe I'll make my goal of 15lbs total? I start my twice weekly appointments on the 23rd. Mondays will be the NST and an appointment with my doctor, and Thursdays will be the BPP ultrasound and that's the day that I look forward to! She also said that they'll schedule growth ultrasounds on a 3-4 week basis, which means I could end up with 1 or 2 of those as well.

Remember when I was wondering if he was ever going to get the hiccups? I'm laughing at myself now! He hasn't woken me up in the middle of the night (yet) but he does get them at least 2-3 times a day now! So far today he has had them twice!

I was given the all clear to use whatever my heart desires on my acne, although I'll admit to already using my proactiv a few times. My face isn't cleared up but I'm not sprouting as many new ones a day and it's looking better, which better is fine with me as long as it's not as bad as it was getting! I have good days and bad days as far as being tired goes, today I started the day off really tired so I really needed a nap! My sciatic pain also plays around, today it was bad so I ended up taking tylenol so I could walk! I love going swimming and cooling off in the pool, but it seems to have the opposite effect on my sciatic pain making it worse instead of better. Go figure.

Symptoms - Acne, back/sciatic pain, tired, but otherwise doing much better than I thought giving the heat of the summer.
Food cravings - Still not craving anything! I'm saddened by this! No fun!
Size of baby - He should be 3lbs by now, and around 17ish inches.

29 Week Update

It's 4th of July! I'm 29 weeks today and my little princesses are exactly 18 months old as well! I can't believe they're already a year and a half, where does the time go! They will be just over 20 months when Bitty is born so time is inching steadily closer!

We grilled hot dogs and had some friends over for the 4th, it was a good time chatting and hanging out, but unfortunately our citywide fireworks were cancelled due to some rain that we had during the day. It is an absolutely beautiful, albeit humid, night so I don't know why they cancelled them, but they will be shooting them off on Saturday instead so we won't be completely without! I'm going to assume it's because the rain lasted so long today that they just did not have the time to set up so many large fireworks before it would be time to shoot them off, or maybe the ground is too wet, or it's too humid outside, who knows! I'm disappointed though, I wanted to see how the girls liked them, but we can wait a few more days I guess!

My little sister went home last night, we took her to the airport for her red eye midnight flight and was sad to see her go. It was weird waking up this morning to an emptyish house without her here, her presence didn't bother me at all, it was actually kind of nice to have someone here! I'm really going to miss her Kindle Fire and my Angry Birds, but I can't buy one for myself until I sell the Kindle Keyboard that I already have, and I haven't had any takers, ugh!

I can't wait for my ultrasound in 3 weeks to find out how big this little boy is, because he certainly feels pretty big in there! He did not want to go to bed last night, and I'm not sure what he was doing in there but it was very painful and I just could not sleep! No matter what position I was in he was fidgeting and kicking me so hard in the side that it really hurt! I pushed on him, poked him, moved positions, nothing helped! He physically assaulted me haha he better not do it again! For the life of me I can't figure out what he was doing in there either, except perhaps stretching his legs out and kicking/pushing as hard as he could, wish I could see in there sometimes!

Symptoms - Acne is still horrible, been washing my face every night with Cetaphil but it's not helping at all. Going to ask my OB what I can do about it! My back really hurts if I over exert myself, or carry two toddlers around all day. I'm still on top of the heartburn which is good!
Food cravings - Not really craving anything special at the moment, I ended up getting a Jimmy John's sandwich so I'm not craving them anymore, although I wouldn't turn one down!
Size of baby - He's gotta be about 10 lbs! Actually he could be anywhere from 2.5-3lbs right now and 15-17 inches from head to foot. Can't wait for my ultrasound to see!

28 Week Update

I have a semi good excuse for not updating for two weeks! My little sister has been staying with us since the Tue/Wed before last and I was entertaining her rather than sitting on the computer writing blog posts. I did think about it, but really my 27th week was pretty much like the previous few so I decided to wait. Now, onto week 28! My goal is here! It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was setting 28 as my next goal and now it's here! I think we're going to aim for week 32 next, because that's when I start my twice weekly doctor visits. Yup, I said twice weekly!

Had my 28 week checkup this past Monday, when I also did my glucose test. I was given a really yummy fruit punch drink that I actually liked a lot better than that flat orange one. Downed it in about a minute and my sister was impressed haha so we waited in the waiting room, got in to see the doctor and was checking out when my hour wait was up and I had blood drawn. I really like how they set that up, so that you have your appointment during the hour wait it makes time go by fast and is very efficient! The blood draw was bad though. He was able to draw out of my hand, which hurts much less than in my arm but he had to take 6 stinking vials so by the 6th one I was seeing black around the edges, sweating, and sick to my stomach. I almost passed out and probably would have if it went on for another 30 seconds!

The appointment was uneventful, although I did find out that I lost 2 lbs which I'm not sure is a good thing or a bad thing but that makes total weight gain 8lbs so far. I hope I'm on track to only gain about 15lbs total, so we'll see! I'm also not sure why they are seeing me twice a week starting at 32 weeks, but she mentioned something about my BMI being so high that they monitor closely. I get the feeling they do it for everyone though? Or perhaps it's because of my BMI and my hypothyroidism? Either way, I'm happy to be getting an ultrasound every week, but not happy about having to drive up there twice a week for 7 weeks!! I also asked her if my chances of going premature were increased because of my weight and she said no, so that's good! I want Bitty to cook the whole time!

Bitty had his first hiccups today! I have been waiting and waiting (and almost getting worried!) for him to start getting them, because the girls had them all.the.time! Seriously, 5-10 times a day! I didn't even do kick counts I would just count how many times a day they had hiccups! They also had hiccups frequently during the day after they were born as well. I can't say I want him to get them frequently because they can start to get annoying (especially when you're woken up in the middle of the night and they last 10+ minutes!) but I read that hiccups are a good sign of brain development. Not implying that babies who don't get hiccups in utero are not as developed, I just liked that thought.

In complaints, he has decided to kick the hell out of my ribs this past week. It's very uncomfortable and I wish he'd stop! lol I don't think he's listening though, and he's starting to feel big in there! His movements are becoming less kick/kick/punch and more of a rolling whole body movement, which is painful when it's in your ribs! I hope he's a good size when born.

Symptoms - The acne is just horrible. My whole face is covered, my chest, even my stomach is starting to get some! My arms aren't horrible, but my tan helps hide the redness as well. I really hate it! Back pain and hip pain when sleeping, along with some pubic pain when rolling over while laying down, or when getting up from sitting for awhile.
Food cravings - I'm craving Jimmy John's, which will probably last until I actually get it, so it's probably just a usual food craving. Still enjoying Panda Express!
Size of baby - He'll be about 2.5lbs and 15-16 inches head to foot, but he feels like he's 10 lbs when kicking in my ribs!

26 Week Update

In approximately 6 days or so I'll be officially in the 3rd trimester! I'm excited about this prospect for some reason, though I'm sure I won't feel any differently next Wednesday than I do right now it's pretty much the final stretch! I have about 13 weeks to go if you count up to my scheduled c section date which is at exactly 39 weeks. I am having a hard time believing that I've been pregnant for 5 months already! It seems like just yesterday we were finding out and I was wondering how I was going to get through all the months ahead!

I've noticed that I'm getting more painful in my hips and lower back as the days progress, especially when I'm laying down trying to sleep. I've been trying to use a pillow in between my legs and to support my stomach but I really don't like sleeping with things or having stuff touch me while I'm trying to sleep (except a blanket of course!) so it's an adjustment for me. It does seem to alleviate some of the pain so I really do try to make an effort to use it. Fortunately my pubic bone doesn't really hurt until I'm in bed trying to roll over, but that's much better than all the time hurting!

Heartburn is good and managed right now. I'm only taking 150mg twice a day because I'm afraid the 300mg is what made me sick last week and I'm going to be too scared to even try to take 300 again for fear of the consequences. We'll just hope and pray 150mg does it for me for the next 13 weeks!

Symptoms - Hip and back pain, especially when trying to sleep, very mild heartburn sometimes, tired most of the time, and I'm pretty sure I've developed a waddle.
Food cravings - I still miss my McChickens! And Panda Express sounds good pretty much every day. I also craved Chicken McNuggets for a few days this past week, and ate them those few days too, but don't feel the craving anymore. That's how my cravings usually work.
Size of baby - He should be about 2lbs now and about 14 inches in length. I think he's supposed to start gaining pretty rapidly in the coming weeks, fattening up! I wonder how much he's going to weigh? I'm guessing between 6-7lbs.

25 Week Update

Late again! Want my weekly excuse? I was sick this week, ugh! Woke up around 3am Tuesday morning throwing up, didn't really get much sleep after that, and continued to not be able to hold anything down the rest of the day. Justin and I caught "What to expect when you're expecting" at this cool movie theatre in Scottsdale in the afternoon, and I was really hungry so we took full advantage of the order from your seats service that was provided. It was a great experience and the food was good, but towards the end of the movie I could tell things weren't sitting too well... Justin wanted to see this guys SRT4 that was for sale that lives in Scottsdale so while we waited in the parking lot I couldn't take it anymore and had to go behind some bushes right in broad daylight, it was gross. There were spiders all over the place, and I didn't even care! Got home, took a nice long nap, and drank a little bit of water and was able to hold that down before I went to bed.

Wednesday I woke up feeling much better! I was able to eat small amounts and drink and I thought for sure the worst was over! Thursday I woke up at 6am even sicker than I was on Tuesday, it didn't even matter if there was anything in my stomach or not I was throwing up the whole time. I called my OB because I was afraid I'd start getting dehydrated and they sent me to L&D at the hospital. Got there that afternoon and was checked in. I gave them a urine sample that they said they could check for dehydration and then laid there watching stupid court shows for maybe 45 minutes. A nurse walks in and starts talking about discharge, go home get some rest and drink fluids. I was like "Um, I'm here because I can't keep any fluids down!" She was a little flustered, then she spotted my cup of ice chips and asked if I had kept those down. I had, even though I still felt sick to my stomach so she said to go home and eat some ice chips and drink very small amounts a little at a time. I was very disappointed in my lack of treatment, not that I wanted an IV or anything but they didn't really even do anything and I'm pregnant! Bitty seemed to be fine the whole time, he wouldn't even hold still to get the heart rate monitor and kicked me relentlessly so I'm glad he has been ok.

I've been fine the past two days, fingers are crossed that I don't get sick again! I don't know if it was because I started taking the 300mg Zantac tablets that made me sick (even though I had been taking 2 150mg tablets which is 300mg for over a week) or if it was some type of bug. I just hope it doesn't happen again! It's hard to take care of the girls when you are puking the whole time, and my parents left for WI this morning and will be gone for two weeks. So if I do get sick, I'm on my own!

Aside from being sick, there's not a whole lot to report. Bitty kicks and punches up a storm, definitely taking advantage of not having to share a room! He hasn't gotten the hiccups that I can tell yet, but I'm waiting for it to start. The girls had hiccups 24/7, I wonder if he'll be the same way? I'm excited to get closer to my 3rd trimester! It officially starts at 27 weeks, which is just over a week away! The home stretch!

Symptoms - My hips hurt if I lay on one side for too long, and my stomach protests the whole day if I eat too much, so I have to eat very small amounts throughout the day otherwise I feel like complete crap.
Food cravings - I still miss my McChickens! Haven't craved anything else.
Size of baby - Bitty should be somewhere close to 1.5lbs and 9-10 inches head to rump, he feels pretty big in there!

24 Week Update

I'm back! Actually, we've been back since early Saturday morning but I've been regrouping since then. I'm pretty excited to be 24 weeks because that means it's V day! Viability week! Bitty has a 50/50 chance of survival if he were to be born right now and every week after this his chances increase. It makes me feel good, but I also want him to stay put for 15 more weeks! I'm not showing any signs of complications, so everything is good!

Our vacation was pretty good! I can't say there wasn't stress, it's very hard to pull yourself in 50 different directions while 50 different family members and friends have schedules that you have to work around (and everyone wants a piece at the same time!) J and I clashed a few times when we wanted to see certain people at certain times when the other one wanted to see someone else, but we worked through it and I think we did a good job of making sure everyone got to see the girls at least once!

The girls did great on the airplane ride there, it was a short flight about 2 hrs 40 min and they slept for a little while and whined over who got to sit with daddy in the window seat. It also helped that the plane wasn't even half full so I switched to the row behind us and sat in the window seat so both girls could enjoy the view. The girls also did great the whole time we were there, not including the standard meltdowns from lack of taking a nap, but otherwise they did exceptionally well! They had fun everywhere we went, really enjoying running around outside. I've started to notice that I'm slowing down quite a bit. Chasing after them is getting harder and I get tired and just want to sit much more easily now. I can only expect that to get worse! Anyway, they slept great at night, had a lot of fun, ate a TON of food and we had an enjoyable time! It was nice to come back to my air conditioning though, it was pretty hot while we were out there and everyone there is used to it so they don't use their air, or don't even have it! My babies were sweating a few times! haha The plane ride on the way home was a nightmare, it was too late at night and the girls were overtired and only wanted to be held by me, they cried during most of the ride and it happened to be an extra long ride, over 3.5 hours! We survived though! Can't say I want to do that again anytime soon, early morning seems to work better for plane rides!

Bitty is doing well! We had a Dr appointment yesterday and everything looks great. I have a glucose test in 4 weeks and I'm confident that I'll pass that one this time around too. Uterus is measuring perfectly, a few inches above my belly button and sticking out pretty far! I think I'll feel comfortable taking a picture at 28 weeks. He's been kicking and moving up a storm, really getting moving! He's much stronger and I can almost always see when he's kicking and moving from the outside. I've started getting the pressure from feeling his whole body move, can't wait to see that from the outside too! Sadly I've gained about 7lbs, though from what I'm reading 15lbs at this point isn't abnormal so I guess I'm doing well? I blame it on the vacation food!

Symptoms - Sciatic pain has been pretty bad, sleeping has been getting more difficult, I get up at least 3-4 times to pee and my hips and legs have been hurting a lot. Heartburn has been horrible, I asked my Dr for a higher dose prescription so I'm on Zantac 300mg twice a day, hoping that helps!
Food cravings - I miss my McChickens! Haven't craved anything else.
Size of baby - Bitty should be somewhere close to 1.5lbs and 12 inches, like a little banana! He's definitely growing from what I can feel!

22 Week Update

22 weeks! Honestly, my due date still seems pretty far off, especially when I count the number of summer months that I still have to endure. Not looking forward to it! I'm trying to tell myself that I don't really want to rush, but it's hard, I really do want to meet him! I can stall the newborn days a little while longer though!

Had our follow up anatomy scan ultrasound today so they could get the other heart measurements that were missing from last time. He was kicking the whole time, but everything looked perfect and it was so easy to see! He is head down of course, which makes me kind of wonder what I'm going to "miss out on" but things can change too! I'm still going ahead with my csection regardless. We saw his little hands and feet and he was facing perfectly so we got a profile and the front of his face, soooo cute! We left the girls at home with grandma so Justin and I were able to sit and stare at the screen without any interruptions and it was nice! I always miss my girls, but a little breathing time is good for the soul too!

On Saturday we are flying to Wisconsin/Illinois for a week 'vacation' visiting family and friends. I'm so excited to see my family and my best friend! They haven't seen the girls since they were about 6 months old and they are so different now! I won't be able to blog my 23 week update, so I'm going to save it all up for my 24th, but then it's business as usual after that!

Symptoms - The constipation is killing me, fortunately it wasn't anything a spicy chicken sandwich from Wendy's couldn't solve, but then I pay for it with a stomach ache and really bad heartburn. I just can't win! Everything else is still pretty much the same!
Food cravings - As much as I enjoy those darned Spicy McChickens, I am dying for a regular McChicken the minute we land in WI! They better have a McDonald's in the airport!
Size of baby - Baby measured 22 weeks exactly today (he lost a few days, which I'm trying not to worry about from past experience) and he weighs exactly 1lb! I'm not sure how long he is, I don't think they can really tell from the U/S but he should be approximately 11.5 or so inches. He's a perfect little miniature baby, just needs to fatten up in the next months!

21 Week Update

Oops, late again! I kind of thought about only updating every 2 weeks on an even week of pregnancy, but maybe that's just my laziness talking. I don't know if I'd remember a specific turn of events on the day it happened if I was writing every 2 weeks, so weekly it is! For now!

Turn of events for this week - I could see my belly move when Bitty kicked me starting yesterday! I've been scoping out the situation for a little over a week now to see if I could find some movement, but he hasn't really been kicking with much force or as much as he has the past week (since last weekend I'd say) He moves a lot nowadays! In fact, this morning I was awakened around 4am from another strange as hell pregnancy dream (or nightmare?) by someone furiously kicking me for a good 15-20 minutes. I have not felt him move that much so far, he was having a party in there!! Getting ready to be an early morning newborn I guess!

I must admit my surprise so far with this pregnancy. I went into this pregnancy considered obese, not overweight, actually obese. From what I've read women who are largely overweight/obese might not reach certain milestones as early as women of average weight, but I have not had that problem at all! In fact, most of our milestones have been faster than they were with the girls, which can largely be attributed to this being my second pregnancy, but I will still admit surprise! I'm very happy and grateful that I get to enjoy this pregnancy like I wanted to, just surprised! I think I look mostly fat though, instead of pregnant. If I weren't a large woman I'd definitely be showing, but it mostly translates into the fat on my stomach being pushed out extra far. I probably won't get the "showing" milestone until well after 30 weeks, but I'll survive. I'd rather people just think I'm fat so I can forgo the "omg twins and pregnant again!" stupid comments that would likely ensue! We're enough of a circus show as it is!

I hardly update about the girls, even though I have them in the title of my blog! I've been doing the unthinkable and really trying to teach them how to talk. I know most people (and I have experience with talking toddlers too!) would say "Omg enjoy the peace and quiet while you still can!" but like most parents, I want to ensure that my kids are healthy and thriving, and at 16 months old our next step is learning to talk! If you were a fly on the wall at my house you'd probably put in ear plugs at the mom who walks around repeating the same words a million times a day! The progress I've achieved so far is that they pretty much understand everything I say, they just don't repeat it back to me! I can tell them to go get me certain toys (doggie, birdy, cow, monkey, car, ball) and they'll look around the room, spot the toy, and bring it to me. It seriously warms my heart to see them learning and responding so well! They know their body parts, they know each other, they know mama and daddy, their favorite toys, and of course FOOD! The words they can say are daddy, mama, dog(gie), num num, and nini (night night). Vanessa has started running up to me going "ni ni! ni ni!" when she's ready for nap time, it's so cute! And I'm constantly berated with NUM NUM! while I'm trying to fix them food if I'm heaven forbid not fast enough! I'm happy with how they're doing, and I'm sure we'll see a word explosion soon! I will learn to regret these days of teaching them how to talk! haha

Ultrasound on Wednesday to get final measurements for the anatomy scan, I can't wait to see how big he's gotten!!!

Symptoms - More RL pain, stomach seems to grow every day! He's moving and kicking up a storm, I can even see my belly move from the outside now! Nausea is getting better again, but the heartburn is getting so much worse! I'm grateful that I haven't started breaking out (yet), and the pubic bone pain usually doesn't hurt unless I've been sitting too long (on the couch especially) or at night if I've had a really long day.
Food cravings - Spicy McChicken's from McDonalds.... they are SO BAD! They tear my stomach up and give me horrible heartburn, but I can't get enough! I had one for dinner tonight, but so far my stomach seems fine (knock on wood)
Size of baby - Baby is about 11" and could be nearing a whole pound! From the way he kicks and moves, I wouldn't doubt it! We'll find out on Wed when I'm 22 weeks how he's measuring!

20 Week Update

Halfway!!! Well, you know technically I'm past halfway, but 20 weeks just feels exciting to me! Now I have to figure out my next short term goal, I'm thinking maybe 28 weeks when they do the glucose testing? Yeah that sounds good! And of course, 27 weeks and some change is the start of the 3rd trimester, so 28 it is! How fast is time going? Geez!

Last weekend I went to Arizona Mills with a friend for my first baby shopping spree. I was very disappointed in the lack of boy things that appealed to me. I didn't have a whole lot that I wanted specifically, just something affordable that jumped out to me as cute! I didn't see anything. I then decided that maybe I want to dress him in stuff that has cars or puppies on it, or both! Yeah, that turned out to be next to impossible as well. Who would think that finding cars on boy clothes would be that hard? And I don't mean fire trucks and police cars or even dump trucks, just a good ole family sedan would be fine lol or even a race car or something! I finally found two outfits sets at Burlington Coat Factory which were really good prices, but I'm still not happy!

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday, Justin refused to believe me that it's been 4 weeks since my last appointment, that's how fast time is going by! My uterus is right up above my belly button, exactly where it should be, and the doctor said it's not going to start growing out at least a cm a week! I already feel huge haha my back and my feet start hurting pretty bad when I'm walking around a mall for two hours, but otherwise I'm doing pretty well. I have also sadly gained weight in the past 4 weeks, I'm not sure why or how but I'm up about 3-4ish lbs and kind of sad! Doctor said she expects 15-20lbs, UGH I seriously do not want to see the scale register 20 more lbs because it's already way too high to begin with!

Symptoms - Pretty intense RL pain this week, cramping, back pain, heartburn, fatigue, but I love feeling him move and punch/kick!
Food cravings - I swear I'm going to buy an Icee machine! Nothing else though.
Size of baby - Baby should be 10.5" and about 10-11oz and will gain up to 1lb in the next month!

19 Week Update

I keep thinking "1 more week and I'm halfway there!" but that's not necessarily true because my csection is scheduled at 39 weeks so technically I'm halfway there in a couple of days (Saturday!). How exciting!

A bunch of new developments this week, but I'm going to start with our anatomy scan! Last Friday, the 20th Justin and I took the girls for my ultrasound. I had been worried that they wouldn't let the girls in the room, or that they'd act up so much that it would suck, but neither really happened so it was a good appointment! I can't say the girls were angels, they cried for me to pick them up when they saw I was laying on the table, but the technician was awesome and let me hold the girls on the table and told me that if I thought they were bothering here at all that I didn't need to worry because she has kids too and knows exactly how it is. She thought they were the cutest things ever, and she was really nice during the ultrasound. Bitty was a little quiet, kinda sleepy, he did move and twist a little bit but he wasn't going crazy or anything. She wasn't able to get all of his measurements because he was so sleepy so I have to go back in 4 weeks for another follow up ultrasound, not that I mind!

And if you didn't notice the pronouns I was using in that last paragraph, yes Bitty Bean is a BOY! We're so excited to bring a little boy into our family and I can't wait to see how much like daddy he looks like! He's going to be the cutest little guy in the world if he's anything like his beautiful sisters, and I get happy and excited every day thinking about meeting him! I'm trying not to be impatient but it's hard!

Another new and exciting development - on Saturday night he started kicking me! I could feel distinct little thumps and they've been getting better every day since then! Yesterday he was just kicking and thumping away, and he's been a busy little guy today too! I LOVE feeling the movement, it just makes everything so much more real! Feeling movement this time around has been almost 2 weeks earlier than when I felt it with the girls, so I was surprised to say the least! I thought for sure I was going to have to wait until 20 weeks again! Not complaining though!

Symptoms - Stretching cramps, have good and bad days with fatigue, always have heartburn, but now I get to add baby movement to the list!
Food cravings - I got an Icee on Friday, and another one on Saturday!! I still want one!
Size of baby - An heirloom tomato apparently. At the ultrasound he was approximately 9oz, and according to websites he should be about 10" or so. It's so weird that you can literally feel someone so small!

18 Week Update

Lots of cramping today! This is going to be one big baby if he/she keeps it up! I've been getting pretty bad cramps for over a week now, and a lot of stretching along with it. It's just round ligament and stretching pain, but it's quite uncomfortable! I drank a bunch of ice water (who wants warm water?) and Bitty went nuts in there for awhile. I've been feeling flutters and little movement for two weeks now, but that was the first time I felt sincere movement! No kicks or punches yet, but I didn't feel those with the girls until 20 weeks, so hopefully soon!

We are all over our sickness now! That was a really bad week, probably one of the worst and most difficult since the girls have been born. I get bad days, but a bad week just sucks! It didn't help matters that I didn't have any help either!

Tomorrow is the big reveal day! There's still a small chance that what was predicted 4 weeks ago can change, but I doubt it! I can't wait to see the baby on the ultrasound, and find out 100% so that I can announce to everyone and then go shopping! I'm a little apprehensive about the appointment though. We still don't have anyone to watch the girls so Justin has to come with me to the appointment with both girls. Past experience is that they don't like being cooped up at the Doctor's office and they act up quite a bit when we are there. I seriously hope they don't act up in the ultrasound so that Justin can at least see Bitty for a little while, and hear the sex too! I also hope the ultrasound tech doesn't just automatically say "No kids allowed" because then Justin wouldn't be able to be in there at all! I'll resort to begging, just giving him a minute to see the baby please!!

Symptoms - Starting to get sick to my stomach again like I did in my first trimester... I hope this isn't a bad omen, perhaps I'm just still getting over last weeks sickness? Pubic bone pain comes and goes, some days it's bad and some days I don't notice it at all. I do notice it when I get into bed and roll around, it kind of hurts when I initially lay down. Everything else is still mostly the same!
Food cravings - Nothing really, but I found an Icee machine at Target... too bad it's a 45 minute drive!
Size of baby - Baby is a sweet potato! Can't wait to see how big baby is measuring tomorrow!

17 Week Update

I'm late once again, but only for a day which is actually really good for how this past week has been going! Our family has been sick since this past Saturday, it's been a form of torture to say the least, and we're still not 100% yet either.

Saturday I was taking a nap when I heard something in the bedroom, at first it sounded like a dog collar or something, but a lot closer than outside my window so I opened my eyes and J is standing there taking off his work clothes! He's usually not that quiet, so it scared the crap out of me to just see him there, especially on a day that he doesn't get off work early. I knew something was wrong! He climbed into bed saying he was freezing and his body was like a furnace, we took his temperature and he was at 103.1, so we got some tylenol into him and I figured if he didn't feel better in the morning he was going to urgent care so that the rest of us didn't get sick. Sunday morning he didn't feel any better so we took him up to Urgent Care and he got antibiotics, laid around and didn't do much the rest of the day, the girls and I were fine. Sunday night rolls around and I start coughing, slowly at first and then by the time I went to bed I couldn't stop and had to take some cough drops, I knew what was coming. I woke up in the middle of the night stuffed up, headache, feeling like crap, couldn't sleep... it came super fast, and it came hard! I was worried about getting a fever and hurting the baby so we made an appointment that morning to see my OB that afternoon. Now I'm on antibiotics and feeling like death warmed over! We're at Costco getting my prescriptions and Allison starts running a fever, throwing tantrums over nothing, and not acting like herself. Justin and I had to hold her and rock her and rub her back, she fell asleep in my arms right there in the store! She was definitely not feeling good to act like that, instead of running around and acting like a toddler like she usually does. We made an appointment for both girls with their Pediatrician for the next day, figuring Vanessa was right behind her. Loaded them up with Tylenol to cut the fever, she was up to 102.6 when we got home, Vanessa was normal. The next morning Vanessa is up over 100 with her fever, but pediatrician says it's probably viral and to give them ibuprofen as needed.

So I've been feeling like death this week, with two babies that also don't feel good and want to be held constantly, and a husband who also doesn't feel good! My house was in shambles, and it's not much better now but it'll get there. I'm not 100% yet, woke up this morning feeling like crap but got a nice nap for once and felt better when I woke up. Hoping tomorrow I'll have the strength and stomach to do the dishes finally, I think we're out of bowls and forks lol

Symptoms - Being so sick this week I haven't really been paying attention to my pregnancy symptoms, because they're all the same! No appetite, nausea, the whole drill. Probably lost weight this week the way things are going. I did start to notice the baby moving last week, and it's not always consistent but I feel it at least once or more a day which is nice.
Food cravings - No food this week, ugh...
Size of baby - My books say baby should be the size of the palm of your hand! Grow bitty grow!

16 Week Update

Didn't I just write my 15 week update? Probably doesn't seem like that long ago because I was 2 days late on it, but boy time sure has gone by pretty fast!

Had a Drs appointment yesterday, everything went very well, but as usual I forgot the most important thing I went there for! I don't have any refill's on my Zofran prescription left, not sure how many pills I have left either (too afraid to count them now!). I figured I'm 16 weeks now, maybe I'm just taking them every morning for nothing (even though I still feel sick when I wake up and do vomit at least a few times a week if I don't take the pill quick enough) so this morning I ran a trial and didn't take my pill. Everything seemed fine, I even ate my breakfast without a problem, but then I laid down for a nap around noonish and my stomach revolted. After that it was impossible to keep anything down, though it's kind of funny to be retching your guts out and hear your toddler walking around copying you (they're so nice to mama!) Anyway, I had to cave and take my pill otherwise I'd never make it through the day, or through dinner and I'd hate to starve myself or Bitty Bean! So I'm either going to have to call my Dr and ask if they can get me a prescription, or when I go for my ultrasound in 2 weeks ask for one then. I'll have to count my pills and see if I have 2 weeks!

I also received good news today! Well, first my anatomy scan is scheduled for April 20th, so we'll finally know without a doubt whether Bitty is a boy or a girl and will be able to tell everyone then. I also received a call to schedule my C-Section! She gave me a choice of the 10th, 11th, or the 12th. The doctor that I like to see was scheduled for the 12th so I just went with that, seems like a nice even number to me! I'll be exactly 39 weeks! Unless Bitty decides to come earlier, which can happen, but I highly highly doubt it! I'm sure once the 10th rolls around I'll be kicking myself in the ass, but I want to make sure Bitty gets to stay in for as long as possible while I'm still level headed about it!

I was also really surprised when we got to the Dr and I had to step on the scale. I thought for sure I had gained at least 3-4 lbs considering my hunger has soared in the past 4 weeks and I am eating a lot more than I was! I didn't gain anything! Not that I really need to or anything, but I'm happy that it's going so well!

Symptoms - Obviously I'm that pregnant chick who gets morning sickness the entire pregnancy, oh joy, and thank god for zofran! Otherwise it's business as usual. Been getting some pretty good RL pains, especially when I'm picking up one of the girls, going to have to be more careful... not sure how to do that! Toddlers could care less if you're pregnant or not!
Food cravings - I think Justin wanted Panda Express more than I did, we had it like 3 nights in a row and I'm so over it now! I still haven't devised a way to get an Icee, unless I drive all the way to chandler and go to Sam's Club for no other reason lol
Size of baby - Baby is about 5" and 3.5oz, the size of an avocado! Apparently the next few weeks is a large growth spurt (my crampy stretching uterus is overjoyed) and Bitty will double in size!

15 Week Update

If I were a thin girl, or maybe not half as fat as I am now, I would have started showing this week! I've definitely felt an increase in size and discomfort over the past week! And yes, I realize I'm about two days late, but I have skipped nap time the past two days so I'm dead tired by the time the girls go to bed and I can sit down and write anything in peace. I've been reading The Tea Rose instead of doing anything productive, like sleeping, but I just can't put it down! I'm almost finished with the first of three books, the second is already loaded on my kindle!

When I first found out I was pregnant in the wee days of January I really thought April was sooo far away! This is the month that we'll find out for sure whether we're having a boy or a girl! I can't believe it's already come up so quickly and that I'm 15 weeks! Having two rugrats must make time go by so much more quickly this time around!

I did have my early sex determination ultrasound last Friday, but I won't be posting those results on this blog until it's confirmed or denied at my anatomy scan. This blog is public, and I've listed the link on my facebook even though I didn't tell anyone specifically about it, it's out there and I'm not about to ruin the surprise! I already have a girl name that I love, but it's going to be extremely difficult if I have to pick out a boy name! I should have my anatomy scan within 3-4 weeks, I'll be 18 weeks on April 18th! I have a Dr appointment next Tuesday so I'll schedule my scan then!

Symptoms - I still throw up in the morning, and if I don't drink enough water I feel sick to my stomach more often than not. My chin/neck, chest, and upper arms have started to really break out so it's only a matter of time before my face joins the club, just like last time! Pubic pain has been getting progressively worse, yay... I also experienced my very first (two) Braxton Hicks contractions last night! Freaked me out a little, but apparently it's normal to experience them early on in a 2nd pregnancy. I doubt if this were my first pregnancy if I would even have noticed them!
Food cravings - I can't get enough Panda Express orange chicken! I've had it about 4 times in the past two weeks, but I doubt Justin is going to put up with it much longer lol
Size of baby - A naval orange this week! Baby is 4.5" and 2-3 oz and I can tell he/she is growing like a champ! Can't wait to start feeling movement this coming month!

14 Week Update

I thought about cheating and not posting until tomorrow, but I'm awake and on the computer so I might as well get it done! The only problem is, I don't really have a whole lot to write!

This week has been trying already, to say the least. The girls must think they are 2 years old already, because they are throwing tantrums like you would not believe. If they don't get what they want, exactly when they want it, all hell breaks loose! They scream, they cry, they throw themselves on the ground, Allison even slaps at you when you piss her off! They screaming and crying though, man does that wear on you after awhile! They seem to be so tired in the morning, it's been a little bit harder to keep them awake until nap time, not sure what the issue is, other than them getting a couple of bottom molars in this past week. That has to be the cause, and hopefully it eases up now that all teeth have broken through! I desperately need a vacation after all this!

I'm also upset at the progression of pain in my pubic bone. It seems to be reverting back to the old ways much more quickly than I had anticipated, and it's so early on that I'm starting to get a little afraid of the future. And by a little, I mean I'm pretty much scared shitless! Towards the end with the girls, it was all I could do to walk to the bathroom, I couldn't drive, I could barely sleep, just going on a walk to help the pain would sometimes reduce me to tears because it just hurt so much! So yes, I'm scared.

Symptoms - Still tired! Hope that eases up soon, cause I'd really like to enjoy nap time as some quiet time to myself instead of having to also sleep! Pubic pain has also started getting worse :( Also having a good deal of cramping and RL pain, so this baby must be growing!
Food cravings - Nothing yet, but I have been getting hungry, and actually finding things that sound edible when I go look for them, so that's definitely an improvement!
Size of baby - A lemon! Baby should be approximately 4" and 1-2oz!

13 Week Update

I realized I had forgotten to write my update as I was crawling my tired butt into bed last night, and I'm thankful that I'm motivated enough to even do it tonight! I had a very long day! We had the house painted today, and while it looks terrific and shiny and new, the girls were a pain in the ass all.day.long.

I can't normally complain about taking care of them, I'm usually alone with them from morning until night doing everything by myself (just call me a single mom on the majority of days), but it's like a whole new dynamic when H is home, because the girls KNOW he's here and I KNOW he's not helping me at all. They get all whiny and complain and cry whenever he walks out of the room, or when they see him and he doesn't pick them up and give them attention. And it's not jealousy, they do the exact same thing to me, which is why I've taken to hiding just to get them to play for a little while, cause if they see me all hell breaks lose. H has no concept of this, he's in and out of the house all day long today, and all day long they see him and cry and cry... I didn't leave the play room all freakin' day, and even while I was in there he's walking in and out, in and out (which is a pet peeve of mine in the first place) and they're in there (with me!) crying and freaking out every time! At the end of the day, mommy had herself a good cry too, cause I just could not take it anymore! He wasn't even helpful about it, acted like it was MY fault that they were crying, even though I was doing everything I could to entertain them, which included the pull all of mommy's hair out of her head game, and I'm pretty sure I should have a fat lip and a bunch of scratches all over my face too!

Anyway, they're sleeping now, I'll be sleeping soon... tomorrow is a new day! Only 2 days until I officially reach the 2nd trimester! A pretty big milestone!

I also scheduled a 3D/4D ultrasound for next Friday. They said there is a 96% success rate at predicting the gender at 14 weeks, so I'll be 14 weeks and 2 days with a baby that is measuring at least 5 days ahead... so I'll theoretically be like 15 weeks right? haha I'm excited anyway! It's really cheap, you get 25 minutes of ultrasound in amazing detail, a dvd and a bunch of pictures, and a gender guess! I'm going to walmart right afterwards and buying either a blue or pink outfit and wrapping it up with the pictures and giving it to H, because it's going to be a surprise for him since he told me I couldn't do the ultrasound in the first place haha I'm not going to tell any family or friends what gender they predict until we get a more definitive announcement at the 18-19 week anatomy scan, but at least I'll know!

Symptoms - Most noticeable is that I'm still really tired. I take a nap while the girls nap, because if I don't I'm a zombie for the rest of the night and don't feel well. I also don't feel well if I don't eat, so I'm trying to get better at that. Nausea is a lot better, though I've still had bouts of actual morning sickness and I have to take my zofran still, I feel better! I just wish I wasn't still getting up 3-4 times a night to go pee!
Food cravings - I've noticed that I really want a cherry Icee all the time. It has to be the Icee brand though, cause the cherry icee drink from the gas station isn't the same!
Size of baby - A peach! How sweet :)

12 Week Update

12 weeks! My first self proclaimed milestone! Now I'm going to wait ever so impatiently for 18 weeks to get here, even though I'm not entirely sure I'll have my anatomy scan exactly then. My Dr could make me wait until 20 weeks, not sure of their protocol, will find out when I have my next appointment on April 3rd.

Went in for my NT Screen yesterday. We had the ultrasound first, which was amazing! Bitty Bean looks like a bitty baby now, and so so cute! My very first though was that Bitty looks just like Vanessa, and when I went back to their old u/s pictures the resemblance is totally there! Everyone keeps saying 'boy, boy, boy' but I'm starting to feel girl, and have had two dreams now where we find out we're having a girl. Either way I'll be happy, but I find it a little displeasing that everyone has to think and say that we automatically need to have a boy just because we have two girls. Maybe I want all girls? Why is the "perfect" family always boy and girl, what about those who have all boys? It's annoying, though I know their heart is in the right place, I'll take what I get, and blame it all on Justin! You know the sperm is what determines gender!

Bitty Bean was bopping around, moving quite a bit! Did a few rolls, kicked the legs around, moving arms all over the place. (S)he kept her arms and hands up near the face which was really cute! The NT measurement was really good, I think it was either 1.10 or 1.20 which is normal. I have to wait for a call about my blood work to give me my chances of down syndrome or another chromosomal abnormality, but I think we're ok!

The blood work was awful though. I had to have a few vials drawn to also check my thyroid levels. I have always had really bad, deep veins. When I was pregnant with the girls they always drew out of my hands, but I think the more weight I gained the worse my veins got (too much fat!) and now even my hands don't work as well. They usually draw from a forked vein in my left arm, so I showed the tech and he went to work. Ended up digging in my freakin arm for about a minute, I almost passed out. Then he moves to my right arm, and digs around in there for another minute or so. I was in tears, and close to passing out! He finally leaves and grabs another girl, she digs around in a vein by my wrist which hurt even worse and didn't get anything!! They FINALLY go grab an RN and she goes to my other wrist and gets it immediately, and it didn't even hurt! I was so mad, she asked me if I was crying or going to cry, and I told her no, but yes I was very teary eyed and very upset! Worst blood draw EVER!

A snapshot of 12 weeks:
Symptoms - I've noticed that the hair on my legs is growing twice as fast, I don't remember if this was the case with my first pregnancy or not, but for someone who really hates shaving it's very annoying! My hair has also started falling out again, oh joy. The girls each had at least 5 or 6 strands all over their PJ's today, they would play with them while I tried to gather them all up. I'm going to be bald! My nausea has been a million times better! I still have moments of sickness, and some days haven't been as good, but it's easing up and I'm so so so grateful! I'm still very tired, and have been taking naps and then sleeping all night (and getting up 3-4 times to pee). The past two days, I don't know if it has been my imagination or what but my pubic bone feels slightly sore, even when I'm laying down. I'm seriously hoping it's just a fluke, or my imagination haunting me, because I seriously can not handle that pain coming back THIS soon. It didn't start until 18 weeks with the girls, and I really don't want it to come back at all!
Food cravings - Nothing yet! I have been wanting Panda Express since yesterday, but I get these fleeting little cravings all the time, even when I'm not pregnant.
Size of baby - A plum! Baby measured 12 weeks 5 days on the ultrasound, very good growth!!

11 Week Update

The other day I was thinking about the 2 digit milestone, but it's not really a milestone because you're essentially 2 digits for 30 weeks!

I really, really need to do my overflowing sink full of dishes, but I really, really don't have any motivation. Ugh I hate this feeling so much!

So here's the good news! Yesterday I noticed quite a bit more fullness in my lower belly, and a shirt that I haven't worn in a few weeks was fitting strangely as well (it fit perfectly a few weeks ago!) Justin touched my stomach and even though it's all fat right now it was a little harder than usual and he's like "Already?" and I was like "That's what I'm saying!" I even noticed some resistance while trying to put my shoes on, thank goodness summer and flip flop season is coming up!

Anyway we're in bed later that night and I just had this overwhelming feeling that we might actually get lucky if we used the doppler, so I broke it out and concentrated really hard! I noticed something strange right away, I wasn't getting the usual open air "nothingness" sounds like I have been the past two weeks, it almost sounded like there was something in there, something that was not holding still! I kept getting strange snatches of possibly a heartbeat that was very light, but then would move away right away. It wasn't even 5 minutes later when I found the heartbeat, no questions about it! It was very quick, but I was too excited to count it at the time. Justin got to listen too, it was awesome. I can't even describe the feeling of relief and happiness that comes over you to receive such great confirmation that everything is still going on down there! I've been scaring myself that this is too good to be true and I'm going to have a nightmare when I go in for my NT scan next Tuesday, but now I'm not worried a bit! I plan on breaking it out in just a little while and getting a heart rate just so I can listen to it again!

A snapshot of 11 weeks:
Symptoms - I've got greasy hair, a queasy stomach, sore boobs, a tired body and mind, and a burgeoning belly.
Food cravings - Food and I are still taking a break, not sure when this relationship status will change!
Size of baby - A lime! Baby should be about 2ish inches and 1/2 an ounce, seems like it's growing like a little baby weed!

A few symptoms

I just want to begin by griping for a moment... I wish I remembered, or knew exactly why, I never wrote a blog while pregnant with my twins? Maybe I just wasn't that into blogs at the time, maybe I was a little too busy being busy and/or miserable... or maybe I just don't know! I really regret it though, it would have been SO much easier as a baby book (which I have filled out approximately 5% of and they're 14 months old) but I also find myself really really wanting to compare these two pregnancies, and not being able to! I remember quite a number of things, but a lot of specifics are lost to me, and it makes me sad.

What I'm really writing for, is to list some of the symptoms that have been getting on my nerves lately! Number 1 being my oil production! I can seriously take a shower at like 9 or 10 am (yeah, I'm a lazy late showerer) and by 6 pm my hair is so greasy I can run my fingers through it and it doesn't move back to its original location... and if there's one thing in the world that annoys me, it's the feeling of greasy hair! If this is how bad it's going to be, I'll be taking 2-3 showers a day by the end! Or not, cause I'm actually pretty lazy. I haven't started breaking out yet, but from what little I remember with the girls I didn't start getting a lot of breakouts until 15+ weeks, which is not that far away.

Constipation and gas. OMG it hurts... I never had such horrible gas pains and stomach cramps when I was pregnant with the girls, I don't think ever! The constipation is getting a little bit better now that I've stopped taking my vitamins, but the gas pains and the sudden cramping of my guts is so painful! And there's nothing I can do!

All of the old wives tales aren't helping me figure out if it's a girl or a boy, while my weird gut instinct is telling me that perhaps this is a boy, if I go by heart rates we're having a girl. Chinese gender predictor, which was wrong for the girls, is telling me we're having a girl, and when I peed on some baking soda (shut up) it says girl too. Excited to find out!!!

10 Week Update

A day late, and a dollar short! I remembered late last night that I hadn't made my update, but my brain was already fried and I was exhausted so I pushed it to today. I'm still fried and exhausted, but I'm gonna push it!

Had my doctor's appointment yesterday, took the girls by myself because all of my help is gone! My double stroller doesn't fit through ANY freakin doorways, so I loaded each kid into her umbrella stroller and looked like a dumbass trying to push them both at the same time, get them in the door, and lug my purse and diaper bag in too... but we're alive! The girls were not good during the appointment, Allison wouldn't let me put her down, they kept whining, then when I was trying to actually talk to the doctor about my concerns they started crying... it was a cluster fuck! I got to the car, got everyone loaded up, and almost started crying when I realized that I had forgotten to ask him to check my ear because I feel like I'm getting an ear infection! The most important thing, and I didn't even get it looked at! I guess I'm just waiting to see if it'll go away by itself, otherwise I have no idea what to do.

I asked him about the cyst, he said it's pretty normal during pregnancy, and even the size of it isn't that big of a deal. If it were like 10cm maybe they'd look at it, but otherwise it's probably a corpus luteum cyst that's there to maintain pregnancy, and he's not worried. Phew! I asked about this summer and it's effects on my blood pressure, he said we'll just wait and see but my blood pressure is fine now and it was fine during my pregnancy with the girls, so it shouldn't be too big of an issue hopefully.

We scheduled my NT Scan for March 6th, and I'm going to try my hardest to get the tech to guess the gender, even though I know it's early they do say that a really experienced tech can give you a pretty accurate guess! I'll probably get one that won't guess though, just so they don't get in trouble if it is wrong... I'm so impatient!

I was really sick the other night, and ended up losing my dinner and my prenatal vitamins. The next day I felt really good!! I attributed this to the fact that I didn't take my prenatal (technically) but after asking the doctor about it, he said go ahead and not take it if it's making me that sick, so I haven't been taking it, and am still pretty sick... I think I'm gonna go get some flintstones vitamins or something, because I feel guilty not taking anything.

And I've also lost 3lbs so far, which isn't that much, but at least it isn't gaining too much! I think by this time in my pregnancy with the girls I probably had gained about 5lbs, so it's a little different.

A snapshot of 10 weeks:
Symptoms - Still pretty sick! By the time 4pm rolls around I'm falling asleep on the couch, which is harder to do than it sounds when as soon as I fall asleep I have little fingers poking me in the eyes and up my nose waking me back up... my boobs are a lot more sore this time, every day they hurt! I'm just counting down the days until 2nd trimester and hoping I feel better!
Food cravings - Nothing yet!
Size of baby - A bitty prune! Baby is pretty well developed now, and is going to start growing and filling out and moving all around! I can't wait to see all the movement at my ultrasound, the girls were moving away at that time and it was so awesome to see even if you can't feel it!

I think I also previously mentioned trying to find the heartbeat around 10 weeks, but I've come to the conclusion that my $20 doppler is probably not well suited for such early detection, especially when they couldn't find the heartbeat at the doctors office with a much better one. I'll probably wait until 11 weeks, because that's how far I was with the girls, but if I can't even find it then I'm not going to worry, I know bitty bean is just fine!

9 Week Update

This past week 8-9 has probably been the worst so far! I feel like throwing in the towel and giving up, moaning and groaning the whole way, and I'm ONLY 9 weeks in! I can't wait for the sickness, the fatigue, and the utter lack of ambition to just go away! At least for the 2nd trimester, I'm sure it'll be back before this pregnancy is completely over.

I have my next doctor's appointment next Tuesday, so I will update about that during my 10 week update, but I already have a number of questions that I plan on asking. First being, I'm still worried about that cyst that they saw on my ovary and the discrepancy in sizes in just one week between those two ultrasounds. I've been having a lot of sciatic pain this whole week, and I'm seriously hoping that cyst hasn't grown and is going to cause problems like that!

I'm also going to ask about what health concerns and issues I'm likely to face being overweight and pregnant. Gestational diabetes? Blood pressure? I'm worried about this summer being 110+ every day with my blood pressure and any swelling that is bound to happen, kind of scared actually. Oh I wish we had a pool!!

The past few days, anytime I drink water that horrible pain my stomach that I went to the ER for has reared its ugly head. It takes me laying down and 30 minutes of tears and moaning for it to finally stop, it's not fun and I don't know what the hell it means! Do I have an ulcer or something? My heartburn has started coming back, been chugging milk again lol wonder if I'll be back to the 12-13 gallons a month I was drinking during the girls' pregnancy!

A snapshot of 9 weeks:
Symptoms - Nausea has been worse than ever, and eating makes it ten times worse. I've become afraid to eat, which isn't good, but when I do I either vomit or fight the urge to vomit and get severe pains in my abdomen for the rest of the day, who would want to eat? Heartburn, still tired, headaches more often, and a big lack of enthusiasm to put it nicely!
Food cravings - Please don't talk about food!
Size of baby - A green olive! Getting bigger bitty bean!

8 Week Update

8 weeks! When I first found out we were pregnant, just barely shy of 4 weeks, I felt like 8 was going to be the magical number. Like I would feel more secure by now, after having a first ultrasound, first doctors appointment, and making it this far period. It certainly feels like an accomplishment, but it also feels like just about every other day!

I think my next mini goal is either 10 weeks or 12 weeks, not sure which one I'm looking forward to more, but if 4 weeks goes by this quickly then I suppose 12 weeks will be here before I know it! I wonder if I'll be able to feel my uterus by then? Not counting on being able to see it of course, won't get my hopes that far up! 10 weeks is when I'm going to break out the doppler, so I suppose I'm looking forward to it all!

This week has gone by amazingly fast, especially with going to work every day. The mornings are a struggle trying to keep my thyroid medicine down for at least 30 minutes until I can take my zofran, but so far I've been doing ok. I give myself at least an hour and a half in the morning to get ready, just in case I don't feel well and so I can take care of the girls and just mope about going as slow as I please, it really only takes me about 45 minutes total to get ready, but the extra padding is nice!

A snapshot of 8 weeks:
Symptoms - Pretty much everything is still the same, nausea is worse on some days more than others but it's pretty constant. I'm having more food aversions than not, and eating usually upsets my stomach rather than calms it. I'm still having pain in my left side, but it's not as bad as it was on Friday at the ER. I'm getting more tired as the days go on as well, though I'm not nearly as tired as I was when I was in my first trimester with the girls so I'm thankful for that!
Food cravings - Thinking about food makes me want to vomit, no cravings here!
Size of baby - A cute little raspberry today! Baby should be starting to move around in there now, can't wait until I can feel the movements again, I loved that about my first pregnancy!

First trip to the ER

So yesterday, Friday the 3rd, I had to make my first trip to the ER. I'm not usually such a big baby, in fact I hardly ever spent time at the doctor's office before I got pregnant (mostly routine, maybe a UTI here or there over the years) but when I'm pregnant, I like to err on the side of caution! With the girls I didn't go to the hospital until I was almost 23 weeks, so I went straight to L&D, but I'm only 7 weeks so I got to visit the ER for the first time!

Anyway, so what happened was, I was at work like usual when my stomach started hurting pretty bad. The pain escalated then kind of moved to my back, so basically my whole left side where my stomach/kidneys are located was like this huge, never ending, really painful cramp of pain! I tried moving around, changing positions, walking around, nothing eased the pain! I was in tears after 30 minutes, started feeling nauseous so I called my OB and they directed me to the ER since I was in so much pain.

We didn't really wait that long for stuff to happen, which surprised me! It was pretty busy in there too! I peed in a cup, talked to the doctor who gave me some percocet and zofran for the pain. Had to get my blood drawn AGAIN! This makes 3 times in the past month! I told Justin that no sooner does a blood draw bruise heal, then they're poking me again! And I have more bloodwork to do on the 21st! I'm going to be bled dry! haha

We waited a little longer for ultrasound to get there, then Justin and I were both disappointed when he didn't get to come with me! I figured I'd tell him all about it, but when I got into the room I wasn't going to be able to see anything either! I had my kidneys looked at first, then she moved on to look at the pelvic region including baby. She couldn't even tell me if she saw a baby or not, because I had come in as an "emergency" patient, only the doctor could talk to me about it. Booo! But when I was getting dressed I sneaked a peek at the screen and saw some pictures of my Bitty Bean, who was much bigger this time around! Made me feel a lot better!

So the results came back, there was some bacteria in my urine and my WBC was a little higher than normal, but everything in my kidneys and bladder looked fine. So most likely it's the start of an infection, but man what an infection to cause that much pain! I'm on antibiotics now, even though I hate taking medication when pregnant! I'm going to transcribe my paperwork here, just so I always have another copy!

Ultrasound - Single viable intrauterine pregnancy with cardiac activity documented at a rate of 143 beats per minute. The crown-rump length is 8.8 mm (1.1 cm), corresponding with a gestational age of 7 weeks 1 day. There is a normal appearing yolk sac. No subchorionic hemorrhage is identified.
There is a 3.1 cm rounded anechoic, thin - walled cyst within the central aspect of the right ovary. No free fluid is identified. The left ovary is unremarkable.

Bloodwork - Serum Preg - Positive! BHCG Quant - 132,793

So basically, everything looks good except for that damn cyst! It is possible that the tech used a different setting, or had a different machine, or something wonky when measuring and the cyst is the same size that it was a week ago when my other ultrasound was measured.... BUT the baby measured exactly a week later, which was spot on. I'm going to call my OB on Monday and make an appointment to follow up and talk to them. I will be upset if this cyst is growing that much in just a week! I'm also hopeful that I get another ultrasound out of it, and this time I'm asking for a damn picture!

Well, that's all I've got for our first trip to the ER! Uneventful as it was, I'm glad I got to see Bitty Bean and know that he/she is doing ok in there! Growing like a champ, hope it keeps up!

7 Week Update

7 weeks already! I will probably say that every week, but it seems like just yesterday we found out, and now we're already going on (knowing) 3 weeks! Every week that goes by without any problems gives me a little more room to breathe and relax, though I will probably worry the whole time the first trimester is a little more stressful when you have NO idea what's going on in there! It's not like you can do kick counts, or get a heartbeat on the doppler, you basically just wait!

So far so good though. I have been working for a week now! I've noticed my energy levels getting lower and lower every day, today being probably the biggest struggle as of yet. I try to keep my head high, and do everything I need to do and not let it get to me, but all I really want to do is crawl into my bed and SLEEP! But I'll save my naps for the weekends, give me something to look forward to!

I find myself wondering and worrying about weight gain. I've started this pregnancy still dealing with my hypothyroidism and the massive amount of weight I put on from that, add a pregnancy on top of it and I'm not sure what's going to happen. In a secret heart of hearts I sometimes worry that I won't even look pregnant at the end, just really fat instead. I know this is probably not going to be the case, obese women can look pregnant too, I just hope I do! I wonder if it will prolong when I start to show? I haven't gained any weight so far, in fact so far I'm probably down a poundish and my OB said it's very possible for me to lose a little weight when my thyroid medicine increases as well. I hope I lose weight, just not impact the baby in the process.

A snapshot of 7 weeks:
Symptoms - Still getting up to pee, my digestive system is on the fritz, and the nausea is starting to get really bad. I had to start taking my zofran a few days ago, and some days I feel like I might need to take it twice daily (I like to only take 1 a day, though you can take one every 8 hrs). I'm getting more and more tired every day, BUT my insomnia has gone away!! And even though I haven't gained any weight, my clothes feel snugger than usual, and more constrictive, which isn't pleasant.
Food cravings - You know how when you have the flu and the thought of food (or seeing a commercial for food) makes you want to vomit? That's how I feel most days. I have to force myself to eat, and it usually doesn't make the nausea any better.
Size of baby - Baby is getting bigger, we're now a blueberry!! I wonder what he/she looks like on an ultrasound today?

What am I looking forward to? My next ultrasound and getting to 10/11 weeks so I can get out my doppler and try to find a heartbeat! I found the girls' at 11 weeks, but I'll probably start torturing myself and trying this time around 9 weeks.