20 Weeks: Halfway to the Halfling

Hey Humble Readers...

I hope that you all are having a great start to your new year.  Things here at the Hobbit-hole are still a little rough as we attempt to recover from our travels.  Sadly, and not surprisingly, I have picked up another bug.  This time it's a bug of the chest cold variety, so I'm coughing up a lung and trying not to pee my pants while I do.  *sigh*

Can you tell that I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired?

Anyway, onto happier things... yesterday was my 20 week ultrasound.  It went really well, except for being terrified that I was going to wet myself while lying on the table.  Halfling 2.0 is measuring right on track, and was sucking his/her thumb which was adorable.  Ginny was really cute, waving at the screen and saying 'baby, baby!'.  The only 'huh?' moment was when the technician asked me if I had a fibroid, which to my knowledge I never have.  I'm going to make sure that I ask Dr. B about that next week.  Here's some pics for you all...

Profile - Sucking thumb

Left Arm - sucking thumb again

Top of the head and two little arms

Obligatory scary wraith-face

And speaking of doctors, I still haven't heard from my new OB.  (For those who need a refresher, my wonderful Dr. U moved to Australia this past summer and his practice was taken over by someone new.  When I got my bfp this time around and called to book my first appointment I was informed that I would have to be referred again, and Dr. B has been dragging his feet on the matter.)

How far along? 20w3d

Maternity clothes? Oh yeah.  I went shopping at a maternity store in K-town during Boxing Week and got some great deals.  There's not many places where I can go into a store and try on plus size maternity clothes, and to get awesome deals at the same time... awesome!  And it was great to be able to buy clothes that I didn't have to make fit a dress code for work. 

Body Oddities? dry skin, periods of extreme fatigue (getting better), alternating constipation and IBS flares, acne, bruises from insulin injections, back ache (I'm going to see my chiropractor next week), cracking joints, super sore & slightly leaky boobs, increased earwax (happened last time too), dry/itchy eyes

Sleep? Actually better.  I think I might be past the insomnia!  Yay!  Now if only Ginny would go back to sleeping through the night, things would be great.

Best moment this week? Seeing our little Halfling 2.0 yesterday.  It went a long way to making me feel that this pregnancy might just be going the distance.  (I hadn't realized just how nervous I was about everything until I saw that little heartbeat)

Worst moment? Waking up the other morning and knowing that there was another cold bug taking up residence in my body.  I really hate to complain so much, but I feel like sh!t more than I feel healthy these days.

Movement? Absolutely.  He/she seems to like to do a lot of flip flops right now.  My Beloved is anxiously awaiting when he'll be able to feel it from the outside.

Food cravings/aversions? Not anything in particular, just really hungry the last few days.  I'm terrified of the scale at the doctor's office next week because I have been eating a ton lately.  Oddly, raw ground beef made me a little gaggy yesterday while I was making supper. 

Rings? Still on.  I'm wondering if I'm going to make it to the end with them on like I did last time.

Gender? I was really tempted yesterday to say yes when the u/s tech asked if we wanted to know the gender, but I said no.  I'm super strongly leaning toward girl.  I think of this Halfling in terms of the girl name that we have picked out, so I could be in for a very big surprise. 

Intense Dreams? I seem to be dreaming a lot more these days.  Perhaps it's because I'm sleeping a bit better?  Most notably there was a dream I had in which I was doing scientific research with Sheldon from Big Ban Theory. 

Medical Concerns? Gestational Diabetes (insulin 5 times a day... made it through the holidays with relatively few highs.  Pretty proud of that.), High blood pressure (on 100mg of lobetalol 3x daily), continued heartburn (on 150mg of zan.tac 2x daily), kidney stones.

What I miss? Energy, feeling healthy, my sex drive

What I look forward to? Getting the Christmas decor down from around my house, getting started on my ever growing pre-Halfling to do list.

Emotional State?  Varies depending on my energy and health status.  My poor Beloved has been so patient with me, he deserves a medal.

A Logistics Nightmare

Good Afternoon Humble Readers...

This is the situation.

Dr. U has ordered a 24 hour urine collection.  It has to be done this week.  After my vacation is later than he would like.

We leave for vacation on Saturday afternoon, as soon as I'm off work. 

So that leaves me tomorrow to get the collection done and to the lab by Friday.  Not impossible, right?

Here's the glitch...

I work in retail.  We only have a public bathroom available to the staff to use.  Not to mention the fact that the sample is supposed to be kept cool, preferably refridgerated. 

Anyone see a problem? 

Maybe, I can hold it for 8 hours?

An Update on the Update

Good Morning again, Humble Readers...

Two posts in less than 12 hours... how is this possible?

I just wanted to give you a quick peek in on my OB appointment today.  It started out a little odd, because Dr. U is now sharing his office with a pediatrician, so things were a bit more crowded than normal.  Also, he had an intern with him today, which was something new. 

While Dr. U was finishing with another patient, he had me give his intern a run-down on my history.  His quote was, 'tell him the story... it's got a good ending'.  Have I mentioned how much I love Dr. U?   I gave him the story of our losses and how long we had been ttc, and what's been happening with this pregnancy. 

So, after the intern had all my info he checked my blood pressure.  It wasn't perfect, but it was certainly miles better than two weeks ago.  Are you ready?  Are you sure?  Ok... well, since you asked so nicely...

130/76!!!  Soooo much better than last time!  Dr. U coached the intern through talking to me about pre-e and what to watch for, and then chided me for consulting Dr. Google too often.  He wants me to do a baseline 24 hour urine test, so we know when/if things change later down the road. 

Dr. U is so great.  He celebrates every appointment with me.  He understands how I'm nervous and excited at the same time.  He always ends my appointments with 'I told you we'd get here.' 

Ok... enough with the love-fest.  Back to your regularly scheduled blogging!

20 Weeks: A Rather Big Week

Good Morning Humble Readers...

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Mine was good, work was busy busy busy on Saturday because it rained all day.  Rainy days in the summer are good for the book biz.  Last night we had our annual staff bbq.  It was a little cool and breezy, and it started raining about halfway through, but we still had a good time.  I ended up eating a bunch of stuff I shouldn't have.  I also got eaten alive by the bugs. 

Here's this week's run down...

How far along? 20w0d

Maternity clothes? Absolutely!  My plus size maternity swimsuit arrived this week.  Just call me Shamu!  I can still fit into my pre-preg jeans tho...

Body Oddities? Hair growth is out of this world... my hair is longer and thicker than it ever has been, and it's growing really fast.  And don't get me started on how often I have to shave my legs and tweeze my brows!  (and then there's my newly fuzzy belly... what the heck is up with that?)  Leg cramps, heartburn, and constipation... sound familiar?  I feel like a broken record.

Sleep? It's been hit or miss, some nights I do pretty well and sleep until 4am.  Sadly, my work schedule has been different lately and that means I don't get as much time to catch up on missed sleep.

Best moment this week? A tie between seeing the Halfling on the ultrasound screen and feeling him/her rolling around inside me.

Worst moment? Nothing major.  Just some IBS pain.

Movement? Heck yeah!  Now that I can tell the difference between tummy rumblings and the Halfling, I'm feeling the him/her all the time!  Usually between dinner time and when I fall asleep is when I feel it most.

Food cravings? cottage cheese

Rings? Still on, but I won't count on that lasting. I'm actually kind of surprised that I've lasted this long.  (I am beginning to think they might last the duration.)

Gender? Not going to find out, but I think it's a boy

Intense Dreams? I had my first dream where I actually saw this baby.  In other dreams, I have seen him/her, but never the face.  In my dream, the baby was a very sweet little boy with a round face, blonde curly hair (where the curls came from I don't know) and big blue eyes.

Medical Concerns? High blood pressure (on 50mg Trandate/Lobetalol three times a day).  I will be going for multiple (3+) GD tests... yuck!

What I miss? pepperoni pizza, being able to sit the way I usually do on the couch with my computer on my lap... it's hard to explain (sort of curled up with my legs under me), but sitting that way hurts my hips and I'm starting to feel my stomach changing shape now.

What I look forward to: vacation (starts on Saturday at 4:30), starting to work on the nursery

Emotional State? I cry really easily these days.  I was watching the Prin.cess Diari.es the other day and I was bawling at the end.  How goofy!