All is Well

Today, we had an appointment with our OB. We listened to the heartbeat - still going strong! - and I asked the doc if he thought there might be a second one in there. The doctor said he didn't think so but he didn't move the stethoscope thingy around my stomach to see if perhaps baby #2 was hiding in the background. We did hear some scratching sounds intermittently with the heartbeat. The doctor said that was the baby moving around and kicking. I have yet to feel any of this for myself, but the doctor said in the next few weeks, it will happen.

Not only do we have kicks to look forward to, but our first ultrasound appointment is set for July 21. At that time, we will for sure discover whether there is indeed only one baby in my belly and whether it is a boy or a girl. We are sooo excited! I think seeing the ultrasound and feeling something karate chopping me from the inside will finally make this all seem real.

Seeing Double?

A colleague of Court's recently called and asked how I was doing. Court responded by telling him that I had been experiencing severe morning sickness since April and that although I was now 17 weeks into the pregnancy, I was still experiencing morning sickness...at night. "Interesting" the friend responded. When my daughter was pregnant, she had terrible morning sickness the first trimester and then had morning sickness symptoms in the evening during the second trimester...she ended up having twins!!"

Immediately, I raced to the "bible" - What to Expect When You're Expecting - every pregnant woman's resource on the do's and don'ts during pregnancy. What are the signs that a woman might be carrying twins you ask?

• A relatively large abdomen. Check. No wonder everyone has been commenting on how big I am, right? (FYI - this is not me on the right. This is what I could look like at 36 weeks. gulp.)
• Exaggerated pregnancy symptoms (i.e. morning sickness, indigestion, edema, etc.)
  Check. I have been house-bound for months because I have felt so miserable.
• More than one heartbeat.
  Negative ghostrider. Only one heartbeat at the last visit but I have another visit tomorrow and the "bible" says that depending on the position of the babies, only one heartbeat may be detectable.
• Predisposition - twins run in the mother's family.
  Check. Twins run in my family! My dad was a twin - unfortunately, the twin did not live long after birth.
  
  The book says that if one or more of these factors leads the practitioner to the conclusion that there's a possibility of more than one fetus, an ultrasound will be ordered. I am not scheduled to have an ultrasound for another month!! ahhhh!! Where is Tom Cruise when I need him? He had an ultrasound machine set up in his home so that he and Katie Holmes could ultrasound the baby whenever they felt like it...and they only had one bambino up in there.
  
  So there you have it! I must be pregnant with twins. It is the only thing that could possibly explain 1. why I have felt like crap for so long, and 2. why I am scared to death, right? (If not following why I might be feeling scared to death, please review the pictures in this entry more closely.)

NOTE: The book also says that some women just have bad morning sickness the entire nine months and that some just gain more weight than they should - so I could just be an unlucky Doritos eater and not a twin carrier.

Cravings

All I want to eat is pizza. But not just any pizza. Mary's pizza from Sonoma. I want it so bad in fact I emailed them to find out the cost of overnighting a pizza to me. Surprisingly, they haven't emailed me back. I can't imagine why.

Hostage in my House

Morning sickness is still keeping me close to home most days and it hasn't been easy, especially now! Our farmhouse home came fully equipped with a handicap accessible bathroom. Ideal for the elderly and clumsy pregnant women, but not aesthetically pleasing or functional when said pregnant woman finally brings home the human she's been growing for the last nine months. Regardless, we figure a bathtub is a must-have.

So as of this past Monday, we have had workers in the house all day tearing up the old bathroom and prepping it for the new bathtub. Sounds simple and unobtrusive, right? Wrong. When you tear up bathrooms, it requires turning the water off - nearly all day - for several days in a row. For a puking pregnant lady, no running water is a scary proposition. They should be done in about two or three weeks. Should keep life interesting, as if guessing when nausea was going to overwhelm me wasn't keeping it interesting enough.

Word to the Wise

It is a natural phenomenon for women who are pregnant to gain weight. I know this. However, I think people assume (fellas - you are most guilty of this) that pregnant women, because they are pregnant, are comfortable with the fact that they will gain weight.

Let me make one thing clear right now. No woman, pregnant or not, is comfortable gainng weight. She may understand the necessity of gaining weight while pregnant for the health of the baby, but in no way is she comfortable watching the scale creep higher and higher on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

With that said, it is my personal belief that it is never ok to tell a woman, pregnant or not, that she is gaining weight or looks pregnant.

Today, I was told that I looked "big" and that I looked "like a mom." The perpetrator of these comments not only blatantly pointed out my weight gain but also indicated, by waving his hands over his face and then puffing out his cheeks, that my face was bigger. I thought I was going to cry. I mean I look like a mom?? What does that mean?? My jeans aren't hiked up to my armpits, I don't drive a mini-van and I don't have "helmut-head-mom-hair."

I know I have gained weight. I am not in denial. I can't escape the numbers on the scale every morning. However, that does not give anyone the right to make comments. The only comments that should be made to a pregnant woman is that she looks beautiful or that she is glowing (she will know you are full of shit when you say this but it is better than telling her the truth). Everything else is cold hearted and evil - at least that is how a pregnant woman's raging hormones take it and that is definitely how mine take it every time I hear that "I am bigger."

This can't be right, can it??

So today is the dreaded Friday the 13th. I am due December 13. By my calculations, I still have 6 months left to go with this pregnancy. Can that possibly be right? I feel like I've been pregnant for 10 years. How can I possibly have HALF A YEAR left?!?! HALF A YEAR PEOPLE! Think about that - it is a looooong time.

Visions of Father's Day

Can't we just see Court doing this on Father's Day! It makes me laugh every time.

My bump, my bump, my lovely preggo bump

Yes the beginnings of a bump have appeared and most of my clothes no longer fit. UGH. This has not only sparked a shopping excursion set for this weekend, it has also spurred the need to call "It" something besides "Dude" as Court likes to call it. So over the weekend we decided to name the bump "Bumper." So until you-know-who makes his or her official debut in December, it will be referred to as Bumper.

Like what you see?

If that is the case, you can now enter your email address in the space to the left and every time I update the blog, you will be sent an email! I mean typing in a URL address is super time consuming...and then to be disappointed to see that nothing has been posted that day is a total let down. (I know I have a cult following of readers who check my blog on a daily basis for updates.) Now, no more dissappointment or wasted web surfing. Your welcome!

Africa