way to go cervix!!

This is the last week of the second trimester and my cervix is holding strong with good measurements! yay!

Baby girl is also doing well, she is measuring right on track size wise but weight wise she is in 75th percentile! Chubby baby. Last estimated weight at the ultrasound last week was 1 pound 14 ounces which is exactly double her weight from 4 weeks previous.  Heart rate was a little high at 179 but tech said it goes up and down.

After all the measurements were done I fished a little and the ultrasound tech (nicest one EVER) turned on 4d for us! We got to see her in 3d but LIVE, it was SOOO freaking cool!  She kept putting her hands up in front of her face but we got a few good pics.

If everything continues to be good I won't have to go back to the Maternal Fetal Care center anymore, I have another appointment with the MFM in September so technically I'm still high risk but all the docs are pleased with how everything is going. 

Pain wise, well that comes and goes, I have days where I feel almost normal then I have days where walking is almost impossible. I have found that I can't be on my feet for more than 20-30 minutes at a time and I can't bend from the waist, both of those things trigger pain.  I have Yoga tonight, I'll have to tell teacher I can't bend from the waist but I think the yoga actually helps so I want to keep going.  I need to start walking on the days I feel good but I'm kind of concerned with getting very far from home and having a bad pain episode with no where to sit down. 

Other symptoms, my hands have started to swell a little, blood pressure is holding steady and I drink tons of water so must just be pregnancy.  Its not bad, just enough to make my rings tight once in awhile.

I do seem to be on an upward trend for my weight, I have days where I am starving! Last night 2 hours after dinner I ate a bagel with cream cheese, a pickle, some grapes and a handful of nuts and then was hungry again before bed but didn't eat again. Guess little girl doubling her weigh every month will do that!

How far along?  26 weeks!  

Total weight gain: -7.6lbs!   

Baby is the size of: bowling pin

Maternity clothes:  bought a few new shirts last week

Stretch marks: None that I didn't already have

Sleep: what's sleep? I toss and turn a lot from back pain

Best moment this week: I was sitting in a meeting with my hands crossed across my stomach and she was kicking so hard she was moving my hands

Miss anything? Beer

Movement: She's quiet when I'm up moving but if I sit down and get quiet she starts dancing

Food cravings: green grapes

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really

Labor signs: Nope.

Symptoms: Back pain, gas, heartburn, pelvic pain 

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy

Looking forward to: Getting the stuff cleaned out of the nursery room

Oh and here is a quick reference on the months/weeks thing

Maternity Clothes

They say the clothes make the man, or in this case woman...

I've struggled with clothes since my boobs came in when I was about 16.  Being overweight makes it worse of course.  So I was not at all looking forward to shopping for maternity clothes but it became a necessity.

I'm of average height (5'7"), weigh in at around 230, I'm short waisted, have an hourglass figure (with a few too many hours in it), am THICK in the thighs and calves (like really) and have huge boobs.

Pros of maternity clothes

• Stretchy waist don't hurt my oh so tender expanding middle
• You look MORE pregnant in maternity clothes, as opposed to just fat (more on this later)

Cons of maternity clothes

• Not made with the short waisted in mind, many of the stretchy parts of the pants come all the way up to my bra
• A lot of the pants have no pockets
• Many of the pants have a pleated look to them, not flattering
• The length of the pants seems to be oddly long
• The shirts tend toward empire waist but my boobs don't fit in most empire waist styles

So here are 3 pictures of me, all within 12 hours so no change in baby bump size, these demonstrate how different clothes make you look either pregnant or fat.

First of all the empire waist shirt makes you look very pregnant

Then I went home and put on my PJ's and just looked fat again

Today I put on tighter fitted maternity tank

Rest and relaxation at last

A week of laying on the beach doing nothing sure does do a lot for your mental state.  Just got back from Mexico where I did virtually nothing for a week, it was really nice.

Here is me, haven't weight at home in a week but according to the scale at the hotel I'm down a few more pounds. I enjoyed a lot of fresh fruit, fresh juices and french fries :)

Left to right is 4 weeks, 8 weeks, 11 weeks and almost 13 weeks.

Here is me in my swimsuit, I felt pretty good in it, the boobs look pretty awesome :D  Anyway, that's it for now. 

9 week update

Sorry I haven't been posting much have been stupid busy at work and by the time I get home I am just done and can't really function.  So here is a breakdown of what's going on with me and baby

Weight: still losing a bit, not as fast though

Nausea: its been pretty bad most days, I've been dry heaving quite a bit, brushing my teeth is an exercise in self-control. I found that taking Unisom before bed helps with nausea the next day but I don't want to take that every night.

Boob soreness: this is starting to dissipate some, my nipples are still extremely tender and sensitive though.

Mood: still irritable as all get out, some of that could just be work stress though

Food Cravings/Aversions: Still off dairy it just does not appeal to me at all, not big on sweets for the most part. Salty carbs are what I eat the most of but I try to get some protein in when I can. I had two days where I craved buffalo chicken.

Fatigue: still present and accounted for, I'm in bed by 9pm most night but I'm not falling asleep at my desk during the day anymore, mostly because I've been too busy.

Digestion: I mostly still have the same digestion as before, 2-3 days of diarrhea followed by a day or two of not going at all.

Had my first migraine while pregnant the other day, was able to head it off by slamming down an extra cup of coffee.

My clothes are starting to fit differently even though I'm losing weight, my boobs are overflowing my bra and my lower stomach is pooching out a bit, especially at the end of the day.  I still worry about being one of those women that so fat no one can tell they are pregnant.

belly pics

So I keep forgetting to do this!!! here is just about a month apart, loose shirt in the first one so hard to tell but as you can see I've lost a few pounds.

Bloat

So even though I've lost a few pounds my pants were uncomfortably tight this morning so I improvised.

My stomach has been very upset all day, I got hungry once and got a salad after a meeting but then after a few bites I had a stomach ache and had to stop eating. Then I had to do some research because the salad had gorgonzola cheese on it, apparently though the vast majority of cheeses, including soft cheese, in the US are pasteurized, its only high end cheese that is not, this was not high end.

I got my hair cut after work, and had to run pick up some prints,  I'm exhausted, can barely keep my eyes open, its going to be an even earlier night than usual I think

Welcome

Welcome! Thanks for joining me on what I hope will be a healthy and happy journey to motherhood.  A little bit about  me... I'm 40 years old, well technically 40 years and 4 months. I'm fat, not just a bit overweight, I'm fat.  I'm just under 5'7" and as of the day I got my positive HPT I weigh 241 pounds.  And as you have guessed, I'm pregnant!

It's been a long journey getting here, we have battled with infertility for over 3 years, I'm not going to bore you with that whole story, but if you want to read about it, head over to http://anivfblog.blogspot.com/.  What I will say is that we had a loss last November so my panic and paranoia are in full swing already.

What can you expect here?  Well, I've never done this before so I'm doing this as much for myself as I am for others, I want to keep a record of this journey. I'll try to be honest as possible, there will probably be times that I overshare.  I may post every day or I may go some time between posts, I don't know yet.  I will post some pictures. Feel free to subscribe to get updates.

That's all for now... stay tuned.