1st Miserable Day In 2nd Trimester

Last Friday Mitch and I decided to take a drive to Albuquerque and then to Santa Fe to drive around the Enchanted Ring. We were going to pick up our friend Tammy and her baby Marcelo on the way, come back and go w/ Tammy, David, and Marcelo to the Zoo for a concert. Well, right from the start of the day, nothing seemed to go right. It actually probably started the night before when we went to bed way too late! We of course got a late start in the morning just trying to get everything together for the loooong day and making sure that the dogs were all set for the day w/out us.

We finally got on the road, the lovely NM roads, and thought we could make up some time with Mitch's very calculated, skilled, and safe driving ;-). No such luck there. Slow traffic and of course those lovely NM roads were working against us.

I really wasn't feeling well at all. At first I thought it was just b/c I was tired, but then I noticed that my feet were already starting to swell up. Now here is where we have a dilemma. One of the reasons for water retention is not drinking enough water. So, here I am w/ Baby Rex pushing on my bladder as it is, no bathrooms on the lovely NM roads, a three hour ride just to Albuquerque, and swollen feet. I try to elevate my feet on the dash when suddenly I get so nauseous that I have to yell to Mitch to pull over immediately (not going to help us make up any time here). I swear, it was worse than the morning sickness in the 1st trimester. Here I am doubled over on the side of the road while the slow moving vehicles we just passed are once again in front of us. I get back in the car and we quickly realize there is no way we are going to have enough time to do what we had planned and be back in time for the concert at the zoo.

We get on our way once again, call our friend, and change our plans. I recline, elevate my feet, and attempt to try and feel better. We had told Tammy that we would call her when we were 20 minutes out so that she could get herself and the baby ready for the continued road trip to Santa Fe. Mitch asks for my phone when I realize that I don't know where it is. Thinking it had fallen out when I abruptly hurried out of the car during my emergency road side stop, we quickly pulled over again b/c we were going to have to go back to get it. In a panic I called my phone using Mitch's and was relieved to find it jammed under the seat.

We picked up Tammy and Marcelo and went to Wendy's for some people fuel. I ordered chicken nuggets w/ sweet and sour sauce, the sauce being the only reason to get the nuggets in the first place. We get back on the road and I distribute every one's food. When I finally get to mine...NO SAUCE! There were also no napkins and no straws. It took us so long to get our fast food that we decided it was better to just cut our losses and keep moving.

By the time we reached Santa Fe I had been in the car for 6 hours!!! At that point we chose to take the Turquoise Trail back to Albuquerque. This was a beautiful ride, but a far cry from our original plan to drive around the Enchanted Ring. When we get back to Tammy and David's we get a break from the car to get ready for a picnic dinner at the zoo :-).

We get to the packed zoo and find a nice spot on the grass and begin to make our sandwiches. It was nice to relax and get some "good for you" food (don't worry, the sandwich meat was all natural and nitrate free). We also met a nice couple and their 2 kids who were friends of Tammy and David.

We wanted to walk around and see some animals before they closed all the exhibits. I didn't make it very far before my feet were killing me and were so swollen they were bulging out of my flip flops...that's right the thong part of my flip flops cut into my grossly large feet. My hands were also swollen at this point so I decided to go back and put my feet up.

After the event was over we were headed to the car (to endure a 3 hour ride home) and I told Mitch that I had never been so uncomfortable as I had been that day and at that point. Between the tiredness, water retention, soreness, unsettled stomach, and constipation (sorry, just being honest), I couldn't wait to get home, get to bed, and not have to get up for anything!

There you have it, my miserable day. I don't think I was the only one either. All is well though now. We are rested and happy. This week will be pretty crazy seeing as how both Mitch and I are leaving this weekend to travel separately for the entire month of August :-). Mitch will be in Ohio for work training and I get to go to NY to do lots of fun stuff w/ family and friends. The dogs will be coming with me (should be interesting). Mitch will get a chance to drive up to NY on a couple of the weekends :-)...Phew! Ok, I'm done for now.

OB Orientation

Mitch and I went to OB Orientation yesterday. I think I had mentioned it in an earlier post. It is a function put on by the mental health clinic right here on base. I really loved having Mitch there with me, he made it fun :-). There were quite a few people and there was at least one pregnant woman in each trimester. It sure is amazing how people grow and carry differently when pregnant. A woman who is due 3 days before me looked as if she were about to pop any minute (this was her 4th child). Then there was a woman next to me who is due in Oct. and she was so tiny!!! Now mind you, she looked like she probably weighed 90 lbs when she got pregnant. There was even a woman who was 8 wks along but looked like I did at 12 wks.

We learned some useful tips and watched a cool video that actually showed a fetus growing. I think it may have grossed Mitch out a bit ;-). We also learned a lot about how our insurance deals with the cost of prenatal and postpartum care and what we need to do to get the baby registered. Someone from the dental clinic came in and talked about oral hygiene while pregnant and of course taking care of your baby's oral hygiene. Did you know they recommend parents brush their kids teeth (or at least help) until they are 8 yrs old!?! And dry brushing is the best way to get rid of tartar and plaque.

My favorite part by far was having my hubby there with me :-). It totally made my day! I just really enjoyed sharing the experience with him.

"Don't Bother Me In Here"

I thought this was funny... On Monday I went to see my PCM (Primary Care Manager) and when the Airman sat me down to ask the numerous (and some ridiculous) questions, he asked when my last menstrual cycle was. When I told him Feb. 10th he looked at me in shock and asked, "Are you pregnant?" Now mind you, I had on a relatively tight t-shirt. I looked down at my belly and said, "Why, yes I am." Next time I think I will say, "No, I am on this new fad diet called the all beer diet b/c I really like that beer belly physique." Anyway, when you are pregnant they apparently like to record the baby's heartbeat at your regular PCM visits. Fine with me :-). Not so fine with little Rex though. The nurse came in and was having a difficult time finding his heartbeat. My OB usually finds it right away. I wasn't worried though b/c I could feel him moving around like crazy. So, the nurse keeps finding a heartbeat, but its mine! When she would finally find his he would move and she would lose it. A couple of times he even kicked the "thingy" of course causing the nurse to lose the heartbeat again. Needless to say, she never did get an accurate BPM. He just wasn't having it!!! I, of course couldn't help but laugh :-).

22 Weeks Today!

Today we start our 22nd week. Yesterday I went to a 2nd trimester class and I was the only non-military expectant mother there! There are several classes that they offer here on base. They have a class for each trimester, even the "4th trimester" (about childbirth prep, the stages of labor, delivery, and after the baby is born). I had already attended the Basic Training For Moms class last month and on the 22nd both Mitch and I will be going to OB orientation together :-). There is also a prenatal class offered at the hospital that both of us get to go to for the month of Sept. I signed us up for that and I signed myself up for a breastfeeding class (I doubt Mitch would get much use out of that one ;-)).

Lets talk about my ailments...I finally got a perscription for my incecent heartburn!!! Get this, a nurse told me that there are actual studies showing a relationship between heartburn and a baby born with lots of hair! I still don't know if I bleieve this. My friend Alayna had pretty bad heartburn and her beautiful, now 1 yr old, still only has little blonde fuzz. If this child takes after me in the hair dept., then it doesn't stand a chance. I had peach fuzz until I was 3! Even when my mom would dress me head to toe in pink people would still say, "What a cute little boy." Now on to the hips. Mitch painted an accent wall in our bedroom this week so we decided to sleep in the spare bedroom for the night. We are used to our nice big king size bed and here we are with our two dogs in a full size bed. I have this amazing pregnancy pillow that wraps around me to support my head, back, hips, and belly that I decided against bringing into our temporary sleeping quarters. I even decided not to bring an extra pillow to put between my legs given our situation of limited space. BIG MISTAKE! I woke up in the middle of the night b/c of this terrible pain in my hips. I was so uncomfortable. It took me an entire day to recover. Conclusion: must have pillow between legs for sleeping...NO MATTER WHAT!!! The dreams are in full effect at this point too. They are so wacky and vivid, not to mention, completely random.

All in all though, I am still blessed, still thankful, and still loving being pregnant!

Ultrasound Pictures

It's a boy!!! This is the image we saw when the tech told us she could see his turtle.

What a cute little foot :-)

Maybe not as cute, but this is his face. You can see the eyes, nose, and chin.

And back to being cute- This is his profile. You can see the forehead, nose, and mouth here.

Its A...

Wow! What a morning. We have been anticipating finding out what our little Baby Rex was and this morning, after almost thinking the baby wasn't going to cooperate, we found out we are having a little BOY!!! We are so excited. It is nice to know and be able to picture him. Being able to go to the stores and look at the boy clothes, toys, etc. It turns out he is facing my spine so the technician had a hard time even getting her images in order to get the proper measurements. We tried poking and prodding. I even rolled to my right side b/c he tends to move around when I do that and he just didn't want to budge ;-). Our technician was great. She told me what everything was and what she was doing. After a while she said, "Are you sure you want to know what it is?" Then she said, "See this right here, that is what we call the turtle." I started my nervous giggle and stared at Mitch while he was sitting there staring at his little baby boy. Mitch called it though. Two years ago when his sister, Michelle was pregnant w/ her first he said that they would have a girl first and we would have a boy first. And when I asked him last night before we went to bed he said w/out hesitation that it was a boy. I honestly had no feeling either way, although I did have a dream about holding a baby boy. Its funny b/c there were so many people saying it was a girl. There were only a handful who predicted a boy. So, despite the high heartbeat and severe morning sickness, we will be buying blue ;-). As of right now my due date has been moved to November 18th and the baby weighs about 12 ounces with BPM of 160. Now to decide on a name...

20 Week Pictures

Front view of the baby belly
Side view w/ belly exposed
Side view- I know, I'm cheesey!
Mommy w/ the furry babies- Emily and Cheech

July 1st Dr. Appointment

We went to see the OB today. It's been over six weeks since our last appointment so we were more than ready ;-). The Doc said that everything is looking great. All of my tests and bloodwork have come back and show good things as well. I am still anemic so I will have to continue taking iron pills. We heard the hearbeat (150 BPM) which is always such and amazing thing. Even though I have been feeling the baby move quite a bit lately, hearing that heartbeat just makes my day!!! Speaking of movement, I felt a new sensation this morning. Baby Rex has decided to start rolling around in there :-). This is the first week that they start to measure my belly (I forgot to ask what the measurement was :-( ). I can say that the measuring tape ended about two fingers above my belly button. The most exciting news was that we get to have the ultrasound tomorrow!!! We are so excited :-D! Mitch is going to meet me there and we are scheduled for 9am. Can't wait!!!