A Week at the Beach: 25w6d and TMI

Last year, when I went on my family vacation, it was just after my first, failed IVF cycle, and at the beginning of my next cycle. I remember sitting on the beach, staring at other babies and asking myself why I didn't have mine yet. Hell, I thought that I'd be nice and plump and pregnant at that time...to no avail. I wasn't. I was empty. I told myself "maybe next year" and trudged on.

This year, I got to be the girl in my daydreams. I got to sit on the beach and show off my little belly. I got to touch it and feel my baby move and know that all I went through was worth it, even if the failure hurt so much the year before.

The pregnancy has been doing really well. This past week was a challenge for me, since it involved walking up and down a boardwalk, which was about three miles a day, and sitting out in the sun, which I don't normally do. I had a few lapses of BH contractions that slowed me down, and my husband kept reminding me to drink water and rest. I know I missed out on some things because I was napping, but it was all a strain, even if others maybe didn't understand it.

The baby was super active this week too. He was kicking and rolling all around, enough that other people could FINALLY feel him. Every time I let someone feel him kick, he goes still, as if knowing that he's being difficult. One morning, I put my husband's hand on the side of my stomach (where the baby has been hanging out lately), and the baby kicked him and rolled around in rapid succession. My husband pulled his hand away and said, "Okay, that was weird. It's like an alien in there!" Because the baby is moving up, I feel his little kicks up higher...and they aren't so little anymore. Yesterday, I could see his whole body roll over in my stomach...that was very strange to witness. I am glad he is moving up, though, because usually he sits WAY down low and kicks me in my bladder, or drops lower after I empty my bladder. It's so uncomfortable, and it causes me to have to pee a million times a day. On the way to the shore, in the span of forty-five minutes, I had to have my husband stop to let me use the restroom three times. Haha.

Now for the TMI...

Toward the end of the week at the shore, though, I became sick. Everything I ate immediately came back out the other end. This eventually caused some really, really bad hemorrhoids. Bad to the point where I was in tears, couldn't walk, and couldn't sleep without excruciating pain. I tried everything in my arsenal, had my brother-in-law run out and get some suppositories for me (totally embarrassing, btw), then decided to call the OB after hours line. It was either that, or go to the ER at that point, since I couldn't handle the pain anymore, and I rarely get to that point. I also have a hard time getting to the point where I know I need help, and then actually going to GET the help. I never think what I am going through is enough to warrant going to the hospital.

The OB called me back pretty much right away. He told me that he was concerned about the diarrhea, since I had it for two days straight, and I wasn't retaining the food I ate. He told me to stop drinking water, start drinking Gatorade, and find some fiber supplements to try and...uh...firm things up. As for the hemorrhoids, he told me to keep up with the OTC remedies and warm baths, but if it continues to be this bad in a couple of days, I might have to to go the hospital to get them lanced, since they might have thrombosed, or clotted.

Uh, no thanks.

 The husband ran out and got me some Gatorade, which I chugged down, and brought me some Fiber One granola bars...because that's how my husband rolls. That didn't help the pain any, though. Eventually, I gave up and tried to go to bed.

This didn't work. At all.

I stayed up all night long due to the pain. I cried, I tossed and turned, the baby tossed and turned, I shook from the pain, I walked around and tried to sleep again...and eventually I fell into a fitful sleep at around 3 a.m. and woke back up at about 6 a.m.. It was still very hard to move or walk, and we had to pack up the beach house to get ready to go home. I was still having the runs as of the morning, but I went out to breakfast and ate, because I knew I had to get some nutrients in me. After a short walk on the boardwalk, my husband and I decided to drive home, since I hurt too much to do anything else.

I stopped at the Rite Aid and bought a donut pillow to sit on for the ride home, some Tucks spray, and a sitz bath for when I got home. Thankfully, by the time we got to the first rest stop about an hour and a half in, I was feeling a little better in the bottom area. I was very, very bloated, but this was nothing in comparison to how I felt the night before. When I went to the bathroom, I saw that the hemorrhoids had started to bleed, which is good, because that meant they probably weren't thrombosed after all.

Long story short, after a sitz bath and some more donut pillow, they are mostly gone now, thank God. I am still having some issues with my bowels, and I ended up going to urgent care to get some tests done. Nothing is standing out but maybe a budding infection, which will be re-tested on Monday.

Oh, the joys of pregnancy. I love every moment...just not the hemmies.

Happy Father's Day!

Today is my husband's first father's day. I am taking him to his all-time, favorite restaurant, Fogo de Chao, since we've not been there in a few years.

Last night, he came home late from hanging out with his work friends. I tried to be patient knowing that he only has a few more months to spend his nights out until ass-early in the morning before we have a baby keeping us up. We spent time time just laying in bed and watching TV. The baby was kicking all over the place, so I put his hand on my tummy and let him feel for a little while.

In that moment, I just knew that my husband is going to be the best father. As much as I wanted a girl first, I am glad that I am able to give my husband a son to bond with. B did not have his father growing up, because he passed away before he was born. I think this experience is going to be life-changing for him in many different ways. I can't wait to watch him grow in this way.

I love my husband for sticking by me through the hardest years of our lives. This July marks our 9th anniversary, and I pointed out to B that I've been in his life for almost 1/3 of the time he's been alive. That's amazing, and so is he. :)

Moving on up?

Well, I thought that our baby was moving on up in this world. Earlier on in the week, he was settled up higher than he usually is, so much so, that when he booted me from the inside, I could see it from the outside. You know, you'd think that it'd stop being amazing from when you start to feel the baby flutter around, but then there's being able to feel it from the outside...and then it gets better! You can *SEE* it from the outside too!

He stayed up for a couple of days, then decided to settle back down in my pelvis again, so I can't see him kick anymore. I can certainly feel him kicking, though. When he is so down low, he kicks my bladder, and I know that one of these times, it's going to end up with me wetting myself. The woes of pregnancy, I suppose. :P

I like to sing louder now when I'm in the car, because I know that he can definitely hear me now. Sometimes, when he is being fussy, I like to scold him by name. Strangely enough, it seems like it works. :P He also likes to dictate which side I get to sleep on when it's time for bed. So far, he is most fussy when I sleep on my left side, go figure. Last night, I went to sleep, and he immediately started to act up, kicking me really hard. I put my hand on my stomach and pressed a little bit, just to let him know that I'm there, and he stopped. Obviously, I am there. He's inside of me. But, I think it comforts him. Or annoys him. Haha.

He also loves when I pee. I think my bladder gets so full sometimes that when I relieve it, he flails around in celebration that he has more room to be a baby.

This is my silly son. I love him to pieces. <3

22 Week Update

It's been a little while since I've updated, I know. I try to update at milestones or when something interesting happens, and turns out, I am having a rather easy-going pregnancy so far (knock on wood), so most things are boring.

Today, I had both an OB appointment and another ultrasound at the hospital to check on baby's heart since he was too wiggly last time.

I went to the appointment early hoping that they'd get me in earlier, since one appointment was at 9:30, and then I had to drive to the hospital to go to the 10:00 appointment. When I made the ultrasound appointment, the receptionist told me that if I was running late from my OB, it wouldn't be a problem, just to have the OB office call before I leave.

So, I got to the OB at around 9:10. They didn't see me until 9:45. I had the nurse call ahead, and she was told by the fetal assessment center that I only had until 10:15 to get there, or they'd reschedule. Great. Not only is that a pain in the ass for me, but my mom and my sister came down from Philadelphia to go to the ultrasound appointment with me.

The OB told me that everything is looking great. My uterus is growing on track, which means that my baby is  growing on track too. I asked the midwife (who was much more amicable this time around) about my weight gain, or lack there of. I have not gained any weight yet in my pregnancy. In fact, I think I weighed less this time than I did my last appointment. The midwife said that she's not concerned just as long as I am eating healthy and getting all three meals in.

That's all I asked about, since I had to run out of there like a bat out of hell and get to the hospital by 10:15.

I got to the hospital at 10:15 exactly. Thank goodness that they didn't reschedule me. They wouldn't let my mom and my sister back with me, so my mom went back. We got to look at baby's heart for a long, long time, since they didn't get any measurements the last time. I told the tech that the baby was very active this morning, but she had no idea just how active. Everytime she'd move the doppler around, the baby would kick her. At one point, she stopped, laughed and said, "You weren't joking when you said he was moving. I can feel him!"

At the end, she let us watch him squirm around on the ultrasound for a little bit. He was touching his face, then he put his hand in his mouth. Then, he grabbed hold of his little, kicking feet. It was so cute, and so amazing to see that even at this point in his life, he's a little human being doing little baby things.

I spent the rest of the day with my mom and my sister. My mom brought me some maternity clothes from the thirft shop, and they are super cute. She also got me two shirts from Motherhood Maternity. Love my mommy. And my sister took me into Sephora for the first time, since I'm too intimidated by the store to ever go in by myself. That was fun too!

Overall, it was a great day. My boy is very healthy and very active. Some nights, he won't let me sleep on a certain side, and he kicks at me until I roll over and get my act together.

He's going to be a little brat, that's for sure. And I'll love him all the same. <3