...out of a turnip...

My bloodwork appt at the doctor's office yesterday was a success!  In this post, I shared that they were not able to get any blood from me because my veins kept moving around, etc.  So I had to go back yesterday.  The nurse, April, strongly advised me to be sure to drink lots of water the night before and morning of, and to have a big breakfast the morning of.

Duly noted.

I started Monday drinking my water and averaged at least 128 oz a day -- even more Wednesday.  Yesterday morning, I drank 4 16 oz bottles before I even GOT to the doctor's office.  I was not planning to have another episode like I did last week!

And it was worth all the trips to the bathroom.  :)

It took her a minute to get the vein in my right elbow, and I started to despair, but she finally got in.  Well, then my blood was just trickling out -- just drip...drip...drip.  It took awhile for her to fill the first 2 vials up even halfway.  I was doing okay, though.  No dizziness or anything.  She had me start pulsing my hand with the stress ball in it and that seemed to speed the bloodflow a little bit.

I guess my blood just had to get warmed up.

After that, the blood flow was normal and she was able to fill up the other 2 vials and even go back to the first two to get a little more.  Because I was still just fine sitting there (usually, when it takes awhile, as it ALWAYS does, that's when I start to get a little light-headed with all the squeezing and, well...just what's going on over there in my arm).

Hooray!  So glad to have that behind me.  I actually don't know my blood type (isn't that terrible??) so I'm planning to find that out and of course, they're testing for the Rh factor in my blood, something the baby could have adverse affects from during delivery, if it's passed from me to the baby.

So we wait.  But at least the blood is in the vials now and not still in my body.  :)

somewhere to sit...

Jeff has been working on a project since before we even found out we were pregnant but it's gonna come in real handy, now that we are...

Can you guess what it is?

You may be saying to yourself, "Why does it have to be so tall?"  Well...

Do you see how PERFECTLY the highchair matches our table & chairs?  Like we bought it with the set, right?  Yeah, that's just my husband for you.  Mad skills.  Brilliant.  Love.him.  :)

At least our kid will have somewhere to sit.  Now to work on the "somewhere to sleep" project... :)

13 weeks today...

I'm 13 weeks today.  This is my last week of my first trimester.  Time is marching right along!

According to babycenter.com, here's what our little one has been up to this week:

Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

A medium shrimp?  We went from a lime to a medium shrimp?  Seems to me that a lime is quite a bit bigger than a medium shrimp...it must be a steroids-pumped shrimp or something.  Somewhere off the coast.  :)  Hey, they're the experts, not me, so I'm going to just go with it.  In fact...

I could really go for some shrimp right about now...thanks, babycenter.com.  Thanks a lot.  :)

doctor's appt #2...

I had my 2nd doctor's appt yesterday.  This was my family history "interview" with the triage nurse, Shirley, who was really nice.  She asked all she needed to ask but also offered lots of extra information that I'd need to store away for future use.  In fact, she gave me a tote bag (ya'll know how I LOVE bags!) full of all kinds of information, books, magazines, free formula offers, etc.  Special thanks to both my moms (mine and Jeff's) for sending me all kinds of family history before my appt yesterday -- all of it was very helpful!

After the history interview, I met with my doctor, Dr. Hill, just to talk a little bit about how things were going, to cover any questions I had and to hear the heartbeat!  Oh, how I wish Jeff had been with me (he didn't come because the nurse said he'd probably be pretty bored with all the history stuff) -- I didn't know I was going to get to hear the heartbeat or I would've made sure he came with me.  Dr. Hill assured me that we'd get to hear at another appt so that's good.  It took her a while to find the heartbeat but when it started, it was so cool!  Definitely speedy and healthy.  :)

The last part of my appt was for bloodwork.  Unfortunately, I hadn't eaten anything yet (the appt took A LOT longer than I anticipated) so April, the lab tech (who was also really nice), suggested I go eat some lunch and then come back in an hour to get my blood drawn.  She also said to down the water because that pumps up your veins.  Well, I need all the help I can get because it is NOT easy to get blood out of me.  My veins are very hard to find and by the time the blood starts flowing (always with the butterfly thingy), I sometimes start to feel a little light-headed/dizzy.  It's not usually a fun experience for me to give blood.  But it's a necessary evil so I was just trying to be as cooperative as I could.

Poor girl.  I gave her an extreme challenge yesterday and made her earn that paycheck!  But it's a good thing she wasn't getting paid just on my blood because she couldn't get any from me.  She stuck me twice, once in my left elbow and once in the back of my left hand but each time she got the needle in, my veins moved around/disappeared and she couldn't ever get in.  She was really apologetic and kept asking me if I was okay during the whole thing.  I was fine throughout and I kept apologizing, too.

So.  I have to go back next week to try again.  SIIIIIGH.  I hope this isn't a premonition of things to come.  Because I have a feeling a girl gets "stuck" a lot during her pregnancy...

My next appt will be May 20 with Wilmington Maternal Fetal Medicine -- I've been referred there for an ultrasound because 1) I have a history of blood pressure issues and my bp has been elevated the last 2 times they've taken it (at my first 2 OB visits) and 2) their ultrasound technology is a step up from Carolina OB/Gyn's and they can get a better look at the baby to be sure everything is a-ok.

I was a little concerned about this before I talked to Karen (a nurse at Carolina) who explained all of that (above) to me.  She said the docs/nurses always err on the side of caution -- which I'm totally on board with and very appreciative of -- and that they "do this all the time" (meaning referring folks to WMFM or another office/practice).  That is what calmed me, that they do this all the time.

The good thing is by that point, I will be 16.5 weeks along and hopefully, if our little one is cooperating, we'll be able to find out if he or she is a he or she!  I think we'll have an even better chance because it's a better machine.  Yay!

12 weeks today...

Today marks 12 weeks for me.  3 whole months I've been pregnant.  That seems like a long time but when you say it in weeks, it doesn't sound like that long.

According to babycenter.com, here's what's been happening this past week:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long (about the size of a lime) and weighs half an ounce.

Size of a lime, huh?

I decided that I would start taking photos (of myself) at 12 weeks.  I'm not sure how often I'll take photos -- maybe every week, maybe every 2 or 3 weeks.  Enough to show progress, I guess.  Here's my starting point:

epidural...

I think I mentioned in one of my posts that once we got our official due date, I'd signed up to get emails from babycenter.com and whattoexpect.com.  And I've been getting them.  Lots of them!  But then again, there's lots of information to learn before our little one gets here, huh?

So I got one yesterday from babycenter.com and in the subject line it said, "Should you get an epidural?"  Some of my girlfriends may have heard me express my feelings on this subject.  For those reading here, I will reiterate.  I feel like I HAVE A VERY LOW TOLERANCE FOR PAIN.  Therefore, I am under no illusions that I will be "trying to do this naturally".  No.  Not this girl.  I'm thinking they can just go ahead and hook me up to the pain meds as soon as I come in the door, right?

Of course, I know that's not how it works, but you get the urgency of my feelings on this subject.  So when I got this email yesterday, I was a little hesitant to read it.  I know that "knowledge is power" but in certain cases, knowledge is scary.  But, my curiosity won out -- it probably is wise to be knowledgeable on this particular subject, yes?

So I read through it.

It gave information on how an epidural works, what the advantages and disadvantages were (note to self: list of disadvantages was a lot longer than list of advantages...) and then it gave information on those who wouldn't have the option of an epidural (those with blood disorders, etc.) -- thankfully, I don't fall into any of those categories.  Epidural is a go.  If I can keep my nerve up.  :)

After the article, there was a link that said, "Watch an epidural needle being inserted".  Seriously?

I sat there for a few minutes really considering whether or not I should watch that video.  Some of my friends have heard me express my feelings on THIS subject, too.  For you guys, I will reiterate.  I.HATE.NEEDLES.  SERIOUSLY.HATE.THEM.  And I don't EVER do them voluntarily.

I really thought I didn't need to watch the video because when I get mine (yes, when, not if), it's not as if I'm going to see any of that happening back there.  However, my curiosity won out again and, against my better judgment, I watched it.

And almost passed out.

I'm not sure if it was the iodine to sterilize that they swabbed all over the girl's back (thought it was blood at first, I promise you) or the GI.GANTIC needle they put in her back to insert the catheter, but whatever it was, I didn't do so well with all of that.  I had already heard stories about how big this needle was and surprisingly, this video showed it being a little smaller than I thought it would be but STILL.  It was a HUGE needle.  And what did I say about needles before?

Anyways, I was fine, almost to the end of the video -- the thing was in and everything -- and then all of a sudden my stomach did a type of flip-flop and I started to get real hot and then to see spots/stars.  Yeah.  Had to put my head between my knees and the whole thing.  Kind of embarrassing but it is what it is.

Despite that, I'm glad I watched it.  It cleared up some questions I had.

And I think I'm still gettin' one.

more gifts from family...

Yesterday we got a box from my Gram & Buppa (my grandparents on my mom's side).  What a sweet surprise!  I wasn't expecting that but I couldn't wait to get home so Jeff and I could open it together.

When we opened the box, all the items were individually wrapped in baby paper or pastel tissue paper.  There was a card on the top that was so cute.  It had a sweet message inside from both of them -- Buppa thinks it's a boy.  :)

After reading the card, we proceeded with our "mini baby shower".  That's what it felt like!  We took turns opening everything -- it was so much fun!  We got some receiving blankets, a travel healthcare kit, some disposable diaper bags (that seal in odors -- great!), a fleece blanket, some washcloths and a cute little wipes case.  See?

My mom told me that she & Gram went out shopping last week and had a ball picking up all kinds of stuff.  Gram, you did good!  Even though you couldn't wait until we find out what our baby is, you found lots of goodies that we can use -- thanks so much for thinking of us!  We love you both!