"Halfway Point"

Starting Week 20!

And NOW we have movement!  For sure this time :)  About a week ago I felt a few multiple sensations of bubbles popping against my uterus and now I feel them several times a day.  It makes me smile every time, it's rather amusing.  I'm aware I need to enjoy this as much as possible before I'm complaining of lil bean moving and kicking my organs.

So what else is new... Nothing much!  Trying to figure out my income earning situation as of January 1st, a month earlier than I thought, but as I've had my official freakout I'm already on the optimistic track.

I urged Josh to try and read just the intro to each chapter in the pregnancy for Dad's book so he could also be connected to this new and exciting process with me.  That might have been a mistake on my part, lol.  As he read the first 3 pages of month 5, he learned that the baby can now smell and taste what I eat through the amniotic fluid.  This morning he convinced me to add tobasco to my eggs so our kid can get used to spicy and not have the aversion to spice that I do.  Seriously, I bet this will not be the first fun fact he'll find that will affect my habits I'm sure.  LOL

First Photo!

Today Josh and I had our first appointment with our OB, Dr. Kochenberger.  He's very kind and funny, we liked him.  He gave me my first sonogram and it was a blast!  I wish I could have gotten a photo of Josh's face, I'm not sure I've ever seen him with such a big grin.  He was amazed at how much lil Bean was moving :)  We saw his hands go up around his face and head, almost as if he was annoyed by the sonogram and trying to shoo it away, haha.

To many, this grainy photo may just be a few blobs, but if you look at the circle to the left, that's it's head and the black part the brain and at the top, the profile of it's nose.  The circle to the right is it's chest and the small black shadow in the center is his/her heart! :)

Other good news is that rough measurements show his/her size is right on track, shows a good, healthy spine, I have plenty of fluid and my placenta is up and away from my cervix.  All good signs.

Start of Week 18...

And the beginning of heartburn and back pain.  Good news is it seems eating coconut oil makes the heartburn go away.  I'll try this out a few more times and see if it wasn't a fluke.

I've got a little wedge that my friend Amy is letting me borrow.  I didn't realize I should maybe have been using it before now.  I didn't think my belly was big enough yet to need support, but my back is now telling me differently.  I ordered a pillow that will support my belly and fit between my knees, it should be here Thursday!   I've also been told that I may benefit from a belly band support thingy, a bit like what people where when doing heavy lifting.  I'm holding off on that for now.  If anyone knows anybody who used one, let me know what they have to say about it!

UPDATE:
So my SIL Sarah emailed me just after this post and said she used one and it helped a lot.  The very next day I went to my weekly chiro visit and the other Dr. there is 32 weeks pregnant and she had just gotten one.  She let me try it on and said as I get bigger, have Josh get behind me and hold up my belly for 1 minute.  When he lets go and I wish he wouldn't stop, then I'm ready for the belly support band :)

Just One Bean So Far ;)

Thursday afternoon I had a routine appointment with my midwife.  Josh wasn't able to come due to work running late, but I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary so it didn't bother me.  There was a brief moment when I thought he needed to be there... but no, everything is still on track and normal for now ;)  At my last appointment Pearl mentioned she was a little surprised that my fundus was a little taller (farther along) than expected at that time.  Again, she said my fundus was showing about 19 weeks, while I'm at 17 weeks.  My first question was "what are the reasons for this... twins??"  While that is one option, it's not the only answer thank goodness :)  As she found the little bean's heartbeat, my heart skipped a beat as she moved to the other side and we heard it again.  My eyes widened, but she assured me it was the same heartbeat.  And yes, I'm very aware that this early a 2nd baby bean could be hiding or quite stealth.  Josh and I would like a big family, but fingers crossed, we really just want one right now! 
I have a new patient appointment in a few weeks with an OBGYN and am going to inquire if I can get my 20 week ultrasound at that time, but I won't be surprised if they make it just a new patient exam and make you come back another time for anything else.

UTI & TMI

So I'm documenting my pregnancy and I have kept, and plan on keeping, some of the more extremely personal aspects to myself, but I'm an open book type person and I filter here just as much as I do in life.   This brings me to my recent week long battle with UTI symptoms.   The moment I noticed I drank a glass of water with a teaspoon of baking soda (this helps get your PH balance in check, lower any acidity) and over the next few days drank several quarts of cranberry juice, gallons of water and peed constantly.  I knew the dangers of getting a UTI while pregnant but also didn't want to jump into taking antibiotics either.  So in agreement with my midwife, I was going to monitor it for a few days.  I also read that even when the bacteria is gone, symptoms can last up to a week... so on day 5 we made the decision to go get a test which turned out completely clear, yay!   And wouldn't you know the afternoon after the test all symptoms were gone.  Of course.  lol. 

We have movement?

This morning I'm pretty sure I felt the baby move!  Only in hindsight will I be 100% sure... but I'm pretty sure :)  It felt like a little zipper went up through a small part of my uterus... could've been a stretching/growth thing...