Woke up in the middle of the night sweating and with indigestion (more in an upcoming post), which made it hard to get back to sleep, so I decided to "make the most of it" and come do another entry. Hopefully I'll be tired again in another 20 minutes or so...
SECOND TRIMESTERMay 27th, 2010 (16 weeks) - Official announcement at work!
May 28th, 2010 (16 weeks) - Bought "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" and began to read the birth stories. Starting to "warm up" to the idea of a natural delivery.
June 2, 1010 (17 weeks) - Appointment with Dr. Sandhu. No weight gain or movements yet, which worried me but Dr. ensured me things appeared to be growing fine and there was nothing to worry about at this point. That said, she offered two ultrasound sheets - one for the standard 20 weeks and another to go sooner and relieve my anxiety if helpful. (We ended up declining the earlier one - not worth it for the additional exposure to baby - but booked the regular ultrasound for June 21st)
June 4, 2010 (17 weeks) - Thought I felt first movements? Felt like a muscle twitch!
June 12-16, 2010 (18-19 weeks) - Felt tightening sensations in my lower middle abdomen for three days straight. Called Dr. who had me do urine test (negative); on the third day sent me go to emerg. Here the Dr did some bloodwork, tested my cervix for dilation (that was fun) and tried to find the heartbeat on the Doppler but no success (apparently she was using an old, crappy unit which was intermittently successful at best) though she did at least detect some movements which was reassuring! She didn't think anything was wrong (either early Braxton Hicks or simply "growing pains" down yonder) and thought we should keep our June 21st ultrasound rather than trying to book something in earlier.
June 17, 2010 (19 weeks) - Chris and I *both* felt a very pronounced kick! Chris said it felt like an "alien baby foot". It was exciting to not only feel a decisive movement but share it with the hubs! :D
June 21, 2010 (19 1/2 weeks) - Second ultrasound! So exciting to see Baby moving around and marvel at all the little bodily structures and organs - spine, bladder, stomach and the healthy little heart! S/he cooperated for the measurements but was also playful and energetic. Signature move was putting her little hand up behind her head, and there were more than a couple yawns! HB was 153 bpm. Placenta is in a good spot. We got lots of great pics including the following:
Just chillin'
Doing some sort of super-shrimp-baby kicky move!
Nice non-freaky shot of the head!
We did want to find out the gender during this appointment but apparently the particular place we went (Erb & Fischer Hallman, for locals) has a policy of not revealing this info during the procedure directly. Poop! Another 3-4 days of waiting until next Dr appt(s)....sigh!
June 24, 2010 (20 weeks) - Final visit with Dr. Sandhu. She is over 6 months pregnant too - didn't even pick up on this during the last appointment! This was a quick visit - fundal height was 19 centimeters and no concerns. Everything looking great! No ultrasound results, though she figured these were sent to my OB (who we'd be seeing the next day). Later that night, booked prenatal classes at the Childbirth Resource Room.
June 25, 2010 (20 weeks) - First visit with our OB, Dr. Schnarr. It was a loooong wait (almost 1.5 hours!) The nurse gave us some reading material before the check-up. A picture in one of the magazines of a Dad holding a newborn with Mom happily looking on made me cry! Dr. Schnarr thought something was wrong when she came in but told her I was happy (and probably hormonal) :) Heard baby's heartbeat right away... and ultrasound results finally came in at the end. She asked for final guesses and the word "GIRL!" echoed resoundly in my head. I was right! :) Chris had a perma-grin on his face for 10-15 minutes straight and doodled a picture of our little one in Paint that afternoon - so sweet! :) Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of work done that day! Later on, debated the whole topic of "tell or not to tell". Big choice!
June 26, 2010 (20 1/2 weeks) - Decided to tell people. Told Mom first as we figured we owed her this much after the whole announcement "debacle" :)
July 1, 2010 (21 weeks) - Finally gaining some weight! 6-7 pounds so far and a decisive bump happening!
July 5, 2010 (21 1/2 weeks) - Weight gain up to 8 pounds. Starting to research baby gear (cribs).
July 6, 2010 (21 1/2 weeks) - Really noticing the "pop" now! Belly button becoming less of an innie!
July 7, 2010 (22 weeks) - Babysat Avery. Tracey lent us some infant items - bath, baby carriers, swing & bumbo seat.
July 12, 2010 (22 1/2 weeks) - Huge weight gain spurt. 12 pounds now! (Up to 132.)
July 15, 2010 (23 weeks) - Hung out with Grandma Catherine. She felt Baby kick!
July 19, 2010 (23 1/2 weeks) - "Baby's first concert"! Surprised Chris with Jack Johnson tickets. Wonderful night!!
July 22, 2010 (24 weeks) - Started to research nursery colour & theme ideas.
July 23, 2010 (24 weeks) - First noticed Baby's movements through abdomen! Alien baby awesomeness :)
July 28, 2010 (25 weeks) - 2nd visit with Dr. Schnarr. Total weight gain: 14 pounds. Baby was hiding from Doppler but when she revealed herself HB was 160 bpm.
July 31, 2010 (25 1/2 weeks) - ENTIRE day of baby research! Nursery layouts, themes, gear, etc. Whew!
August 1, 2010 (25 1/2 weeks) - Hit up Baby Depot and Babies R Us with Chris. Set up base registry at BRU and grabbed some paint swatched from ICI Paints.
August 7, 2010 (26 1/2 weeks) - Hung out with Tami & Eric and they gave us some more stuff - baby monitor, another bath, inflatable baby lounger/gym. Also checked out their change table and it's really nice so we'll be borrowing that too shortly. Afterwards, headed back to BRU and bought a "snoogle" (long, curled preggy pillow to help with some lower back pain I'd been developing), and a Shermag Cody glider. Finally, viewed the UPPABaby Vista stroller at Baby Boutique. Hitting up Shoppers 20x points event on the way home, checked off a pregnancy "social milestone" - first random stranger (cashier) to ask when I'm due! In "no question" territory now ;)
August 8, 2010 (26 1/2 weeks) - More research on paint colours, nursery themes, etc. Lots of screenshots! Slowly but surely nailing things down...
August 13, 2010 (27 weeks) - Initial glucose tolerance blood test for gestational diabetes
That took an hour - whew! Alright let's see if we can get back to sleep here...
