17 week belly

Here you go... my first ever belly picture.  Me and my 17 week baby holding my seven year old baby. 

At the beginning of my pregnancy, my OB's office sent me information on genetic testing.  I read through the materials and thought it didn't sound like something I wanted to do.  My main question for my OB was - If there is no chance that I'm going to terminate this pregnancy, no matter what the test result, is there any point in doing these tests?  No - said the doc.  So I had my mind made up.  Declined the testing.  

Every appointment since then the nurse has verified with me that I declined the testing.  Side note - The OB office I go to has six female doctors.  Patients rotate through and see a different doctor for each prenatal appointment so they have the chance to meet each doctor that may potentially deliver their baby.  So last week I met a doctor that I hadn't seen before.  She flat out said - "I highly recommend the AFP screening test to all my patients."  More info on the test:
 
"The AFP test is where a blood sample is drawn from the mother to check the levels of AFP. AFP is a protein secreted by the fetal liver and excreted in the mother's blood. It is generally used for detecting neural tube defects, but it can also indicate: abdominal wall defects esophageal and duodenal atresia, some renal and urinary tract anomalies turner syndrome, some low birth weight fetuses, and placental complications. A low level of AFP could also indicate Down Syndrome."

The doctor said that even if I wouldn't terminate the pregnancy if the test came back abnormal... she still recommends it.  She explained that if the test was suggestive that the baby had a neural tube defect (an opening in the spinal cord or brain), then she would definately do a c-section to prevent further injury to the spinal cord/etc.  The way she explained it really made sense.  And I figured that she is the expert.  So, my blood was drawn.  I was told that I would get the results in two weeks.  TWO WEEKS?!?!  Do I really need something else to worry about?  Well the results came in the mail today - NORMAL.  Thank God.  Truthfully I wasn't that worried about the test.  I'm healthy, I'm young, I started taking my prenatal vitamins way before I was pregnant, yada/yada/yada.  Although, I kinda felt like a sucker after I agreed to the test.  I didn't want to feel like I was being pressured into something I didn't want to do - but none of the other docs had explained the testing from that angle.  The other docs made it seem like you only do that test if you have plans to abort an imperfect baby.  I guess that's part of being the patient - putting your trust in someone who knows a whole lot more than you do!  


My regular jeans getting tight.  My maternity jeans are too big.  What's a girl to do?


 

Week 17

I had good intentions of posting the first ever belly pic today. But... we can't find our camera! It must have gotten lost in the shuffle when we were rearranging our entire house. I may have to wait until my parents come at the end of the month and use their camera. Hopefully I find ours by then.

Three weeks from today is the ultrasound. I can't wait! I am dying to shop for clothes. I'm ready to get serious about picking a name too. I'm watching The Price is Right as I type this - there's a freak that keeps pacing and is really weird - of course he has the same name as my current favorite boy's name.

The weight gain has begun. My clothes are beginning to feel snug. Yesterday I tried on the maternity clothes that I've gotten so far. They don't fit yet which I guess is a good thing. I've started exercising regularly in hopes to gain all my weight in my belly and none in my thighs.

We moved...

... downstairs. For those of you who have never been to our house: We have two bed rooms on the main floor. Upstairs there are two more bed rooms. One is smaller which we used for a computer room. The other room is bigger and that's where our bed room was. We decided that it would be a lot of stair climbing if we kept our room up there and used the computer room for a nursery. So, we moved down stairs. We were basically using the two bed rooms on our main floor as his/hers laundry rooms. It was getting out of control. This move forced me to go through all of my clothes - what a chore!

I am going to share a secret: I have a laundry problem. I have two over-flowing hampers. When I go to do a load of laundry, I just pull out the clothes that I want to wear in the near future ... and forget about the rest. The clothes pile up. It got out of control. Yesterday I did FIVE jumbo loads of laundry. All my clothes, none of Mike's. It is a sin to have that many clothes. Today I found a home for all those clothes. It feels so good. Anyone need a new outfit?

So now we officially have a "baby room." We've been trying to buy some of the more expensive items now - crib, camcorder, yesterday we bought a stroller/car seat combo, I got Mike a jogging stroller for Christmas. Mike put the crib together today - is it too early for that? I wanted him to at least take it out of the box so we could see if it was damaged in any way during shipping. Once it was out of the box we didn't want to leave it laying on the floor for months. So, it's up. It's so weird to walk by and see a crib...

What I'm craving at this moment: strawberry smoothie, McDonald's cheeseburger, raspberry yogurt

Fun over the past week:

- Mike's company Christmas party: This was the first year we've been able to go. It was held at a hotel downtown. The dinner was awesome. Everyone dressed up. Door prizes like cameras, DVD players, Wii, navigation system, etc. (I really wanted to win the popcorn popper... didn't. Mike kept saying, "Of all those prizes, you want the popcorn popper? It costs like $10)." The best part of the night was after dinner - dueling pianos! I wish I worked for a company that could do stuff like this! As much as I love being a nurse, I admit to dreams of being a secretary. I want to work Monday through Friday 8am to 4pm. I want to have bins of colored paperclips and post its. Ahh...

- Getting locked out of the house: I had just gotten out of the shower (wet hair!!). Darrell really had to whiz. Usually we let him out the back door into the back yard. That day the back door was iced shut. So I decided to let him out the side door and just go with him. I left the main door open and shut the screen door behind me - little did I know the outside handle was also frozen! We were locked out! I was in my p.j.'s with wet hair! After a couple wimpy unsuccessful attempts to pry open a window... I almost started crying. I didn't have my phone, I don't know our neighbors, I'm wearing Sponge Bob pajama pants, temp of 4, no money, frozen dog. I ended up karate kicking the handle on the door until it opened. With each kick I was so thankful that I'm only 3 months pregnant, and not 8! I really need to think about hiding a key outside.

- Mischief: I'm pretty sure Darrell knows about the baby. He used to sleep curled up behind my knees or at my feet. In the past week, he's been curling up around my belly. Will not lay by my feet. Darrell's also been getting into a lot of mischief lately. Opening Christmas presents/ getting into the garbage which he hasn't done in months/ eating snacks out of my purse/ the list goes on. He's such a little pip-squeak that it's hard to get mad at him. And apparently our discipline doesn't work because he keeps doing it. Cravings this week: Asiago cheese bagel with cream cheese from Panera, cheese balls, gum balls.

Braved a blizzard to go to my 12 week OB appointment - only to have them dip my urine, listen to baby's heart beat, and out the door in 10 minutes - which I could have done at work for free. Oh well, it was exciting to hear it. The rate was 166 - he/she's wild! Gonna have a little hyper child. Running in circles and eating pixie sticks. Everyone thinks I'm having a girl because of the high heart rate. Since the day I found out I was pregnant I've thought it's a boy. I guess we'll see at the ultrasound - which I can't wait for! It's scheduled for Feb. 1. Then I can finally start shopping for bedding/clothes/etc. Recently I bought a crib:

It's still in the box waiting to be assembled. It's on Mike's chore list. I also bought the orange Bumbo I've been dying for. It's chair for babies basically, once they can hold their heads up. It's made of foam-type material. I really wanted the orange one because that's my favorite color, but it was hard to find. Only available at Target.com. I'm not planning on registering at Target so I just went ahead and bought it. It's so cute. I'm trying to get Darrell to sit in it.

No new cravings. No nausea - thank God! Still having a hard time brushing my teeth - makes me gag. No baby bump yet. I've noticed that everyone is staring at my stomach, trying to see if I'm showing yet. One girl at work even rubbed my stomach... yikes.

Week 12: On day two of being nausea-free! I'm hoping I've felt the last of that! I've been nauseous 24/7 for the past six weeks. Blech. I have an OB appointment tomorrow... should be able to hear the babe's heart beat. I've been resisting the urge to find/hear it myself at work with the doppler, but I'm waiting for Mike. I'm still feeling like it's a boy. In my dream last night I had a huge belly. My dream last week was that I was growing seven babies. My abdomen is starting to feel bigger. No weight gain yet. I read that in the second trimester I will gain one to two pounds A WEEK. That should be interesting. Been craving McDonald's fish sandwich with extra tartar.