and then there were four…

Okay, I know I haven’t posted in forever. No excuses. I’ll attempt to be better.

We went to the doctor today—no ultrasound, just a routine check. Everything is going well. My blood pressure is excellent, the baby’s heartbeat is strong, and apparently I’m not gaining TOO much weight. We got the genetic testing bloodwork back, and everything is fine, which is so nice to hear. Granted, it doesn’t detect everything, but it is nice to know that overall, our baby will be healthy. Best of all, I’m halfway there. Well, the doctor says 20 weeks, I thought I was at 19 weeks, He double-checked my chart and said I was right, but we were close enough to go ahead and say it and not to worry about one week. (haha–it isn’t an exact science, after all).

We are going next week to get the “big” ultrasound from the hospital’s Women’s Diagnostic Center. Apparently, they have those really specialized machines that can measure the baby to make sure my due date is on track with the doctor’s estimate from his machines, etc. I guess it does lots of other things too; I’ll have to find out on Monday and report back.

I know it sounds really mental, but I am looking forward to my belly button popping out. I feel like (as silly as it may sound) that will REALLY make people see that I am pregnant, and not just fat. Because, at this point, I just feel like I look like a heavy person, and not a pregnant person. Granted, I know my body and know what my pregnant bump looks like, but because I have always carried extra weight in my stomach area it may be harder for others to ascertain. I just feel like that belly button will be the way for everyone to say “aww, she’s pregnant, look at how cute!” I usually think that when I see a pregnant lady. I’m just looking forward to being that cute pregnant woman. Or, hoping to be that cute pregnant woman—haha.

I’m looking forward to feeling the baby kick (as is my husband, he’s really excited about that). I think I’ve been feeling the baby move around a bit, that “quickening” they talk about. A funny feeling, but it doesn’t hurt or anything. Who knows? It could very well be gas or indigestion. But I THINK I’m right. I’m really excited about this next stage of pregnancy. Feeling the baby move around and later, seeing the baby move around, weird, but amazing.

Oh, just so everyone knows: I really do appreciate the comments. It’s been so nice to hear everyone’s positive response. However, I’m not allowing the comments to be seen by the public, ONLY because I am attempting to be anonymous (to some extent). Some of the comments are from those of you who know me; therefore they have names/locations/etc. I’m definitely getting the comments and loving every one of them. Thanks and keep reading!

I’ve been feeling a lot of dull aches and cramps in my abdomen for the past week, so I decided to call my doctor. I wasn’t too concerned because there wasn’t any bleeding, but I didn’t want to wait until my scheduled appointment next week, just in case. So, I talked to the nurse and she said to come in right away, just to be safe. This, of course, freaked me out. I called my devoted husband and he dropped everything to pick me up at work and drive us to the doctor.

We get to the doctor and the nurse brings me into the room, squirts this cold, cold jelly on my tummy and rubs the Doppler machine over my tummy to see if we could hear a heartbeat. I’ve never been moved to tears in the doctor’s office before, but I cried when I heard that “whoosh whoosh” sound my baby’s heartbeat was making. I know it sounds cliche and silly, but to hear that little baby inside of me, it made me weep.

The nurse said the heartbeat was really strong, so more than likely, all was well. However, the doctor wanted to do an ultrasound. So, we sat in the office waiting for the other room to open up and looked at the huge bulletin boards full of babies delivered by my doctor. We were laughing at the weird things parents dress their kids up in, and realized we would have our baby’s photo on a board in his office in a mere five months. Either the doctor asks for it, or all parents love to give their delivering doctor a photo, because they were everywhere. Old pictures, new pictures, babies who were minutes old, first grade class photos, there was even a kid who had their photo taken with former President Clinton.

When the room was finally ready, we went in and the doctor came and put more of the cold, cold jelly on my tummy. He tried to use a cloth to protect my clothes and said “we don’t want you to leave here with goo all over your pants” I couldn’t resist, so I retorted, “yeah, that’s kind of how we got here in the first place.” He chuckled a bit, my husband kind of looked at me like “don’t be gross” but he relented and smiled at me, because it was kind of funny in the moment.

The baby is fine and was actually kicking and moving around quite a lot. It was hilarious to see the baby moving around in that way. Before, it was just there, safe and serene. But, I have a feeling this baby is going to be active. The doctor said that with that much movement, there wasn’t really any concern with my cramps. More than likely, he explained, it was round ligament pain. We saw a 3-D photo imaging of the baby’s face, and it was a bit weird (kind of like the moon man photo) but it was still beautiful to see the baby was forming fine. The baby had one hand behind their head, and its little elbow was sticking out (kind of how I sleep at night, one arm slung over my head). I was just so relieved that everything was going well and I don’t have to go back until the end of the month. I’m going for the blood tests next week, but other than that, I’m progressing well. And I’m so happy.