15th Week... Actual Weight Gain or Just Too Much Turkey???

Today on the scale I was up about a pound from my starting weight, but I don't know if that is baby weight or turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pie weight! I guess I'll give it a few days and then weight myself again to see if it sticks...

We can definitely feel my baby bump now, especially when I'm laying down! If the clothes I wear are form-fitting you can definitely tell there is a little something extra there :-) Some of our reading has mentioned that a few people start to feel movement as early as the 15th or 16th weeks. While I'm sitting and resting I really pay attention and a few times I thought maybe I felt something - but more than likely it was just some bubbles in my tummy. I think it was more around 19 or 20 weeks when I first felt Madeline moving around :-)

Other than that things haven't really changed much this week. My hips aren't hurting quite as much when I'm laying in bed , but I still have to switch positions quite a few times each night. The headaches are fewer and further in between, but the round ligament pain seems to have increased a little bit. In general I'm feeling great and looking forward to our next prenatal visit next Friday :-)

Here are a few pictures of Madeline and I from this week's photo shoot... She loves to sing to the baby (You are My Sunshine) and give the Baby hugs and kisses :-)

Week 14... Pregnancy Brain, Mrs. Clumsy and My Growing Belly

Once again, there isn't much to report this week. I'm feeling good and that's great! I do think that my "pregnancy brain" is starting to settle in. There is no scientific evidence to back any of this up, but MANY pregnant women feel like they tend to forget things more often when being pregnant - especially all of that short term memory stuff, like where you set your phone down or that you started a load of laundry that need to be put in the dryer. I don't think it's a physical change as much as the fact that you have so many more things running through your head. Whether consciously or not, I know that I'm thinking about being pregnant almost constantly and that just takes up more space in my brain... leaving less room for all of that short-term memory stuff :-)

I'm also feeling a lot more clumsy these days - dropping things and completely missing things that I try to grab too quickly. Again, I don't think this is a physical change, but has more to do with my mind racing all the time. All the thoughts of Baby Frantz running through my head has to mean that there is just less time to concentrate on all of those little things that I'm doing :-)

This biggest change this week is that I feel like I'm starting to "pop". Not enough that I think other people will notice (take a look at the picture and let me know what you think), but enough that I notice. I just can't suck in my belly any more and that means I won't be able to for at least another 6 months! I'm pretty sure this is earlier than the first time around (maybe more like 17-18 weeks the first time), but I also started off a little bigger with our first pregnancy and know I was more in denial :-)

I haven't actually gained any weight yet, but that isn't surprising to me at all. With Madeline I actually lost about 10 lbs. the first trimester and then gradually began to gain the pregnancy weight. My previous OB and I attributed this weight loss to feeling nauseous and not wanting to eat as much, along with the fact that I was just being so much healthier... Lots more fruits and veggies, eating breakfast regularly, eating smaller meals more frequently, less dining out, drinking LOTS more water, the elimination of all adult beverages and regular exercise. I think the same is holding true with this pregnancy, but because I started off a little lighter there wasn't as much to lose. So, the transition to a healthier lifestyle has probably lead to an even exchange of unnecessary weight I was carrying before getting pregnant and the extra weight I've put on because if being pregnant :-) CNM Cheryl agrees and says that everything is progressing just as it should! I'm predicting the weight gain will start really soon, but hopefully be pretty gradual, just like last time :-)

Still no need for maternity pants, but the selection of non-maternity pants that I have that continues to fit is gradually decreasing. My maternity attire may make an appearance sooner rather than later :-) The first time around I was like many first-timers and just didn't want to "give-in" and say that my normal clothes weren't fitting any more - and probably went a little longer than I needed in jeans that were just too big instead of buying my first pair of maternity pants. This time I know just how comfortable that 3 - 4 inch wide maternity band can be! I've already dug them out of hiding and they're just waiting to make their debut :-) I just wish that I could remember what I did with that pair of khaki maternity pants that I just loved when I was pregnant with Madeline... did I put them somewhere different than my other maternity clothes or did I lend them to someone and I just can't remeber who... dang pregnancy brain!

Week 13: Getting back to a Routine

Not very much to report this week... Food is tasting pretty good again and All-Day Sickness is limited to Only-Before-I-Get-Out-Of-Bed-In-The-Morning Sickness :-) The evening headaches have pretty much disappeared, but been replaced with a little reflux... another one of those things that is hardly worth mentioning because it has been so mild :)

All in all I'm feeling good and concentrating more on being has healthy as I can be. Not that I wasn't being healthy before, but eating and exercising regularly got pretty tough when I felt like losing my cookies all the time! I'm going to try getting back to some sort of exercise routine this week. My goal is to get on our stationary bike for at least 1/2 an hour 4 days a week and doing more core strengthening exercises now that we have our exercise ball here at the apartment. I'm sure I'll start off pretty slow, but getting into the routine is really what I need to do. I know that it will give me more energy and make me feel better in general. I'm going to need all of the physical stamina/energy I can get when it comes to the delivery!

12 Weeks... Heartbeat Sounds!

Not really anything new this week... I consider that a good thing! I'm still not feeling very good before I get out of bed in the morning, but once I get moving I'm just fine for the rest of the day :-) Still a few minor headaches at night, but I think the extra fluids I've been drinking later in the day have helped with that too! I have started to get a little energy back, so that's another good thing!!!

Today we went for another prenatal visit with Cheryl. My blood pressure is way down... 102/61 compared to the 122/75 it was last month. I think that has a lot to do with how worried I was during our last visit (at that time we still hadn't been reassured that there weren't any problems). Not much else happened at this visit, except that we got to hear the heartbeat again and this time it was super easy to find and really loud! We recorded the beautiful sound of Baby Frantz' heartbeat with our phone and have posted it here! Take a listen...

11th Week... Starting to feel better - Really!

This week I really started to feel better. I'm still not feeling all that great before I get out of bed in the morning, but once I have some breakfast I'm usually pretty good for the rest of the day (as long as I keep something in my stomach). I was really sleepy this week, but that may have more to do with how busy we were as opposed to anything pregnancy related :-) Feeling dizzy when I get up too fast has also continued - something that I remember from being pregnant with Madeline.

One thing that has seemed to get a little bit more intense this week is the hip pain I've been experiencing at night. I've ALWAYS slept on my side but this has become pretty uncomfortable. I've been waking up several times a night having the switch sides because my hips are hurting so much. I've noticed that if a sleep with a pillow between my knees that it helps a little so I'll continue to do that. I guess I really shouldn't be complaining about sleep discomfort at this point because I haven't even started to show any kind of "belly"... waking up several times a night from here until the baby arrives is just preparing me for the nuances of a new baby - right? :-)

One new thing that I've noticed this week are very minor headaches after dinner. Nothing that I feel I would need to take anything for, just something I've noticed. I've read this may be related to the amount of water I'm drinking. I'm so good at drinking a lot of water early in the day, but I always seem to reduce my intake as the day goes on. I'm going to try and stay more hydrated throughout the entire day and see if this helps...

Our next prenatal appointment is this Friday and I'm super excited to hear the heartbeat! I'll try and capture a recording with my phone and post it next Saturday. This appointment is one that I've especially been looking forward to... If everything checks out this week the chances of miscarriage are dramatically reduced and we'll announce our pregnancy to everyone we haven't already told :-)

Like I said, we've been pretty busy this week and I just didn't get around to taking my weekly belly picture. I'm going to take one tomorrow for the beginning of the 12th week and try to make it something I do every Monday :-)

10th Week... Spoke too soon

Well, I wrote last week about how I was starting to feel better but then for the next few days I felt just as icky as before. I'm still feeling nauseous on and off throughout the day, but now it seems more related to how often I eat. So, I'm trying to snack more often and that seems to help a little :-)

Have I mentioned how brushing my teeth makes me gag? This is definitely something I remember from my pregnancy with Madeline. It wasn't too bad the first couple of weeks, but it has been getting worse. I can't brush my teeth right away in the morning any more - so I've been waiting until an hour or so after breakfast. The gagging hasn't actually made me "lose my cookies", but I thought it might, so I hope waiting an hour or so will help me avoid that all together :-)

Not much else happening this week, but I've always thought that no news is good news!

This week I had Madeline join my weekly photo shoot. Here are some of my favorite shots...

We'll continue to take pictures together every week - I really think she'll love these pictures when she gets a little older :-)

9th Week: Feeling Better

The week didn't start much different from last - more nausea, very tired and not much of an appetite. Just as our CNM, Cheryl, told us, these symptoms usually peak around weeks 8 and 9 so I wasn't surprised... But, as of yesterday I started to feel a little bit better! Less nausea when I wake up at night and, if I keep something in my stomach, the nausea has been a lot more tolerable during the day. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't disappeared all together, but it's definitely getting better :-) Food still doesn't look/smell very appetizing to me so keeping myself from getting hungry hasn't been the easiest thing to do. I'm still tired, but I've kept that at bay by heading to bed somewhat earlier than normal :-)

According to the experts morning/all day sickness sometimes starts to lessen around this time because the placenta starts to take over the hormone production for the baby. This means mommy's body can cut back on the extra hormone production, occasionally leading to a decrease in nausea - yeah!

The night-time nausea has gotten better, but sleeping hasn't been that much easier... I've always slept on my side, but the past few nights I've woken up with quite a bit of pain in my hips. I flip over and try the other side for a while, but the pain just seems to get worse as the night goes on. Once again the experts have an answer for this too: during pregnancy (sometime as early as the first trimester) our bodies release hormones that help relax and soften the joints and muscles, causing discomfort in some pregnant women... well, that would be me - I'm so lucky!!!! I guess I'm just going to have to experiment with different things (pillows, etc.) until I find something that works.

We had our second prenatal visit on Friday. It was a long, but very good appointment. Cheryl let me ask a ton of questions and she answered every one of of them. I really like the way she talks with me instead of just spitting out a bunch of medical numbers and statistics. She really listens to my wants and concerns. I feel like she is really trying to get to know me as a person rather than just a patient. I think this is so important, especially when trying for a natural birth. She encouraged me to find a supportive doula and said that in her experience having a natural birth had a lot to do with mental preparation. She said that preparing physically was definitely important, but that the mental preparation is what she has seen hold others back in the past. She suggested taking a few yoga and other prenatal classes at a place called Blooma not far from where we live now. This was very encouraging because I had already planned on going there - I've heard nothing but great things!

The appointment came to an end with a search for the heartbeat. It took quite a while, but we finally heard a couple seconds - what a wonderful sound! It didn't last long, but finding the heartbeat with an external doppler at this stage is still a challenge with most pregnancies (the baby is just still so small!). Our next appointment, in 4 weeks, should give us a better listen :-) Cheryl left me with a hug and a lot of confidence - how many doctors would do that?!?!?

This week I also started my search for a Doula to be by our side during labor. Back in February I met an amazing woman, Jen, at an ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network) meeting who had just given birth to her beautiful daughter just days earlier. She had a successful, completely natural, VBAC - my hero! Anyway, I bumped into her again a few weeks ago at the screening of the birth film that I attended. Once again I was inspired by her story and she said that her Doula had been amazing and highly recommended her. After a few e-mail exchanges I got in contact with her doula and found out that she herself was due with her second child any day! I asked if she was going to be taking on any new mommies next year and she said definitely! I plan on meeting with her some time in November after she's had her baby and her life has settled down just a little. I don't know if she'll be right for us, but it's exciting to begin our search :-)

As promised, you can see my first belly shot in the new slideshow above. I'm really going to try and get a new picture posted every week!

Week 8: So Tired

Our family road trip to Indiana this past weekend went really well - we had such a good time :-) We spilled the beans to Matt's parents and they were very excited. Madeline had her "Big Sister" t-shirt on for a good 5 minutes before Matt couldn't take it any more and asked his parents if they liked Madeline's new shirt... Once they realized what it said they thought it was wonderful!

We also ended up telling most of our college friends... it hard to keep a secret like that when everyone is wondering why you're not acting quite the same as you usually do :-)

The car ride wasn't very pleasant for me, but I survived :-) I had to eat a few crackers every 20 min. or so to keep from feeling completely nauseous, but once I took the wheel and drove for a while I felt better - the front seat was a lot nicer to me than the back seat! Madeline was a trooper - she tolerated the 10 hours (each way) in the car a lot better than I did :-)

Our midwife mentioned that the morning sickness usually peaks around weeks 8 - 11 and that seems to be ringing true for me. Pretty nauseous all day lately and having a hard time finding anything to eat that actually looks/smells appetizing. Not to worry, I'm still eating, just maybe not quite as much as normal :-)

Sunday the extreme exhaustion settled in. I've really been having a hard time keeping my eyes open for the past few days. A short nap when Madeline lays down in the afternoon has really helped.

Just like during my pregnancy with Madeline my face seems to be breaking out, I'm guessing it has something to do with all of the hormones racing through my body right now! I'm also back to gagging whenever I brush my teeth - not so pleasant! My stomach has also been overly "bubbly" lately, so keeping a few Tums on hand has been helpful :-)

A few days ago I had a little cramping and started to worry, but I-Am-Pregnant.com put my mind at ease, saying that this is common around this stage. My uterus is growing (obviously) and sometimes this causes tightening or cramping. Just one more worry laid to rest :-)

We have our next appointment with CNM Cheryl tomorrow and we're praying that everything is going well. I don't know if we'll be lucky enough to get another ultrasound, but we should at least be able to get a chance to listen to the heartbeat. This will also be a great opportunity to talk with Cheryl about our wishes for this pregnancy and birth. I'm looking forward to hearing her answers to our questions and feeling reassured that we've made the right prenatal care choice :-)

I know I promised belly pictures this past week, but because we were out of town it didn't happen. I'll make sure to take the first shot this Saturday (9 weeks)!

Week 7: Still Queasy...

The morning sickness has set in and I don't think it's going anywhere for a while. As soon as I start to feel better I try and eat something which eventually leads to me not feeling so hot about 20 min. later - vicious cycle, but I'm starting to get used to it :-) Still no throwing up, so that is definitely something to be thankful for :-)

A new "symptom" this week is feeling light-headed if I try and get up too fast. After doing some reading I think I can attribute this to the 10% increase in blood flowing through my veins which can lower your blood pressure. I'm pretty sure the consistent "falling alseep" of my arms and legs might have something to do with this too.

As expected I'm more tired than usual, so the waking up 3-5 times a night to go to the bathroom hasn't helped. I don't think the getting up would be so bad if I didn't feel so nauseous by the time I got back into bed, but eventually the exhaustion takes over and I fall back asleep... just to wake up an hour or two later having to go to the bathroom again and the cycle starts over :-(

Not too much else to report. Just as I've said before (and sure I'll be saying over and over), all of the inconveniences I've been describing are very welcome signs that everything is going well and they are all very worth it!

I've decided to start taking the belly photos at 8 weeks, so those should be posted every week from now on :-)

On another note... We're so excited to make our trip to Indiana this weekend and let Matt's parents in on the good news! It will be so much fun to let Madeline "tell" them in person :-)

Call me crazy...

Ever since deciding to add to our family we have discussed the possibility and hope of doing things naturally this time around. The engineer in both of us wanted to make sure that this was something that was both safe and healthy (even after having a C-Section with Madeline). Books have been read, hours of research has been done on the internet and dozens of discussions have been had with people that see things from both sides. After taking all of this information into consideration we truly feel that a natural birth is right for us.

In continuing my education on natural birth, tonight I went and saw a documentary all about women who chose to give birth naturally either at home, in a birthing center or in a hospital. The film was very inspiring and helped confirm my feeling that this is what I would truly like for this pregnancy. I hope Matt also has the opportunity to see the film soon and share in this feeling :-)

Because of my previous C-Section with Madeline we're not sure if a home birth is right for us this time around... and because Birthing Centers aren't available in Minnesota, we have chosen to see a midwife with the hope that she can help us achieve a natural birth at the hospital in Waconia. We'll also be looking for a doula in the area for extra encouragement and coaching along the way :-)

We have the next 8 months to continue learning all that we can to help make this birth experience the very best it can be :-)