29 Weeks...Time is Flying!

How Far Along: 29 weeks and 2 days
How Big Is Baby: Acorn squash
Total Weight Gain: Around 16-17 pounds. Nobody seems concerned that my weight has tapered off except me. Hoping to make up for it by next appointment

Sleep: Still doing it all the time. Actually, I find I sleep more now that I am getting further along. 

Movement: She got the hiccups for the first time last week. It is so cute, but I feel a little bad for her when she gets them. I hope she doesn't mind them. She has only gotten them one other time since.

What I Miss: Bending down with ease!
What I'm Looking Forward To: Finishing the nursery. I am currently stuck. I have executed all the ideas i could think of and am now at a stand still.
Milestones: I just looked up the milestones online and it says one milestone this week is hiccuping. I guess she is right on schedule with those hiccups!
Symptoms: I am really tired this week. Not sure if this is the new norm or just a busy growth week. Friday night I fell asleep before 6, woke up at 1:30 to do my treatments and went back to bed at 3 and slept until 8! That is a heck of a lot of sleep!

Other: Got the results to all  my blood work and am so excited to say that I passed both my diabetes test and the test for anemia.I am so relieved that I don't have to deal with diabetes and happy that i am getting enough iron. Woohoo!

Blown Away...

Holy CRAP!!!

I got a new compressor today and never realized how awful my old compressor was! The amount of mist coming out of this neb is enough to blow me away! No wonder my old neb took twice as long as to be expected for treatments. Also, this one doesn't sputter so my computer screen is still clean after using my nebs.

Hey, if it cuts down on my morning treatments maybe I can sleep in a little...now that is a nice thought :)

Sleepwalking

I mentioned in an earlier post that I get up to pee so often that I have learned to practically sleepwalk to the bathroom so I can easily fall back asleep. To prove to you how skilled (or unskilled) I am at this feat I have a story to share with you.

Upon needing to pee in the middle of the night I stumbled out of bed like usual and dragged my heavy tired body down the hall to our bathroom. The bathroom is quite close to the bedroom and the walk is pleasantly short, but this particular night I overestimated how short this little walk is and *SMACK* I turned too early and walked right into the wall about 2 feet before the turn to the bathroom. 

Not gonna lie it almost happened again the next time I got up to pee too...

What happened to my bellybutton?

My bellybutton is quite fascinating these days if I do say so myself. It ever so slowly crept out of its cave until it was a flat plane blending in with the rest of my stomach. I discovered that bellybuttons are actually significantly softer than the rest of my skin, who would have thought! Well, just a few days ago my belly button decided to half way cave back in, but left the top half to ever so slightly protrude beyond my belly. I guess this is the course it is taking to become an outie. Oh, the changes of pregnancy.

I had a growth scan today which was basically an ultrasound to make sure my little girl is growing like she should. The tech warned me that it would not be in depth like the past ultrasounds and that he was just grabbing a few measurements. First off, my baby is getting SO big!! I can't believe how much of my belly she is taking up! Also, my breech little baby started off head down! Yay! Of course within 6 minutes she found her way to a transverse position. At least she is trying head down since she needs to get used to it!

The ultrasound was fun, but she doesn't fit nicely on the screen anymore since she is huge. We get to see her in parts. He did his measurements and I wasn't able to see too well, but my husband had a great view. The whole time my bladder was exploding because they make you drink a bunch 1 1/2 hours before the ultrasound and hold your pee. When he gets done with the measurements he says, that he has to wait for my bladder to fill because he can't get a look at my cervix. Uhhh, you mean to tell me my bladder isn't full? Then why do I have the urge to pee all over this bed? He said we may need to wait for another 30 minutes to get the measurement he needs and that I should drink more water while waiting. Telling a pregnant woman to hold obscene amounts of water for several hours is a mighty request, but I really had no choice so I crossed my legs and hoped for the best.

Luckily, to kill time he lets us see each inch of our baby: both hands, both feet and legs, and various bones. He then asked if there was anything else we wanted to see. I felt like we covered all the bases, but asked to see her little heart. One of the best moments in my life was seeing the little heartbeat of my baby at the 8 week scan and 20 weeks later it still fills me with awe to see this little heart beating away. The tech was awesome and zoomed all the way in so we could see all 4 chambers. It really was spectacular!! He was also the fourth confirmation ( 13, 18, 20, 28 weeks) that we are indeed having a little girl. I laugh when people say not to count on the sex guess because sometimes the docs are wrong. I am not so sure 4 different ultrasound techs can be wrong. We also saw a close up of her girl parts and there is nothing boy about her!

He was able to get the measurements before our 30 minutes were up which was a relief.  We find out in a week if she is growing on schedule. Next week cannot come soon enough!

Cough Cough

So I got the cold from hell. I have done really well this pregnancy not catching anything my little students have. I dodged two outbreaks of lice, the stomach flu, the regular flu a close encounter with whooping cough, and various colds, but somehow this one found its way to me. I was coughing all night and feeling exhausted all day due to coughing so much. I stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday which for anyone who knows me, is not something I do often. If I am not contagious I go to work and if I stay home I usually feel guilty all day about it. I am not sure why, but I hate missing work.After a lot of reassurance from my hubby that it was the right thing to do, I stayed home on Monday to rest. I had clinic and my numbers were down a little. The docs think it is from the cold/normal smooshing of the lungs due to baby. The docs didn't seem worried, but I was freaking out internally because I still have 12 weeks left would really prefer to delay the lung squishing.

Monday night I was coughing so much that I thought I would go insane. At one point I was pounding around the bedroom cussing like a sailor because I didn't know what else to do (attractive huh). My husband and I both sleep like rocks so all my coughing and cussing had no effect on him while he remained in dreamland. All of the sudden I felt the little tap tap of Peanut. My little girl had no idea that I was sick. She didn't know i needed to work and I was missing out on sleep. She didn't know that I was worried about lung function and CF and being a good mommy to her while she grows inside of me. So as pissed off as I was that I got this nasty cold she reminded me of what really matters, her. I didn't want my bad mood to effect her in anyway so I put my butt back in bed and took the next day off. I am feeling better today, but still not 100%. I will keep you posted about my lungs/health.


News about Peanut
I like writing this part because it puts me in a much better mood than talking about being sick. My little breech baby who loves kicking down low or likes kicking her little legs on my right side has become more adventurous which i love! I have started to feel her kicks on other areas of my belly for a change and she is spending much less time being breech which is good because I of course want her head down as she gets bigger and ready for her appearance. The strangest kicks I get is when she is transverse (side to side) and I can feel her on both the left and right of my stomach! I am not sure is she is bouncing off one side and hitting the other or is she can stretch across my whole stomach and I feel both kicks and punches, but it sure is cool to get so much movement. Her daddy and I love feeling her and my husband already loves playing games with her. I know many parents feel this way, but sometimes I can't imagine that any baby could possibly be loved as much as our little one.

3rd Tri and a Cold

I am officially (by most sources) in the 3rd trimester!!! I can't believe how quickly time is flying by! I sometimes feel like I have barely started this pregnancy and it will be over in 3 months! I want to meet Peanut more than anything, but part of me does not want to have this pregnancy end especially since it may be my only pregnancy. I don't want to lose my bump and I love knowing my little girl is with me everywhere I go.

The other part of me is very nervous about third trimester. Unlike my friends who are worried about labor and delivery or the discomforts of pregnancy I am more concerned on how my CF will be effected by the lack of space for my lungs. I was talking to a co-worker who was saying she remembers feeling like she could never take a full breath by the end of pregnancy and how it was such a relief to just be able to BREATH again after her son arrived. That is exactly why I am a little scared of third tri!

I may have finally developed a cold. I spent a large portion of last night coughing and woke up to the tickly feeling in my throat that always seems to accompany a cold. My colds usually start with either a sore throat or a tickly throat/chest area, followed by incessant coughing for about 48 hours which results in a loss of voice. Then it either goes away like normal people or it turns into a respiratory infection. I have been so lucky with this pregnancy, but I am so disappointed to get a cold. Yes, I work with a bazillion little germy students everyday and yes most people do develop a cold once in 9 months, but I am still not happy about it. My friend was complaining that when you are sick in pregnancy it is so much worse because you can't take anything. I wish that was my only concern. I usually don't take anything for colds anyway, but I am just so worried about it going to my lungs. I am going to try my hardest to avoid a respiratory infection. It is a good think I have clinic on Monday so if my lung function is hit by this cold I can catch it right away.

Last piece of news, my best friend who is also pregnant is visiting tomorrow for the weekend. I am so excited to have a preggo weekend and spending quality time together. I really hope I am not coughing the whole weekend!!

26 weeks

How Far Along: 26 weeks and 3 days
How Big Is Baby: The size of a head of lettuce..a very strong kicking lettuce!
Total Weight Gain: Around 15 pounds. Woohoo!

Sleep: One of my favorite things to do.

Movement: YES! All the time. She loves kicking my bladder and cervix, but she also recently started flipping around and kicking my belly which is way better than the bladder.

Food Cravings: No cravings. Boring!
What I Miss: Sometimes I miss a nice cup of coffee.
What I'm Looking Forward To: My very best friend (who is also pregnant) coming to visit me on Friday for the entire weekend. I can't wait to spend some quality pregnant time with my amazing friend!!
Milestones: She should now have eyelashes. I hope she gets my eyes lashes because poor hubby can't compete with me me in that category. She also getting her immune system ready (not really sure how). I think both my husband and I have amazing immune systems (which is great for a cyster) so I am hoping she will follow suit.
Symptoms: Nothing new, but next week I start my third trimester so that may change quickly.

Other: Drum roll please... We have a name!! First, middle, and last FINALLY! It is so much fun to finally have a name for our little one. Of course, we still call her Peanut 90% of the time...

Excellent Care and Alien Bumps

I feel like I have a million things to talk about especially since so much happened while we without internet. I am going to start with one of the most exciting things I have experienced with this pregnancy followed by my high risk OB appointment which was very informative and somewhat interesting...

This morning after treatments while I was sitting around in a robe little Peanut decided to give me some of her poweful kicks and it wasn't at my bladder! I am rarely sitting around doing nothing while she is kicking (work, moving, nesting all get in the way) or I am in bed with the lights out since she is my little night owl. Well, this morning being Saturday and the fact I accidentally poured boiling water on my hand while cleaning nebs rendered me useless I was doing a whole lot of nothing. I was sitting around being moping because I had so much to get done and I was stuck sitting with my burning hand in ice water when Peanut cheered me up with some really strong kicks. I opened my robe to play a little tag with her and pushed on my belly where she kicked. Sure enough she kicked back and along with the kick came a lump in my belly. I could see her little kick from the outside. She did it a few more times and then decided to move and kick my side where I couldn't see anything. How cool is pregnancy!?

I wanted to update about my high risk OB who I basically love. I feel like I get such amazing care. I had my appointment on Thursday and was excited to be brought to the ultrasound room. Little did I know they were doing a cervical length check which is with an internal ultrasound. Not so fun, but ended up being really cool. Since preterm labor is a higher risk in CF the doc wanted to make sure my cervix wasn't shortening which is a sign that labor may be getting closer. I had a resident do the check, but my doctor was standing right there. Since she was learning it was actually really informative because the resident had to explain to the doc what she saw in order to make sure she was doing it right. I got a nice lesson on the cervix. I also saw little Peanuts toes hanging out right by my cervix and bladder. The whole time they were wiggling around. I am so in love with her little feet! Turns out my cervix is super long. The third longest my doctor has ever seen or so he said! This is great news and I was told they won't do another cervix check for a long time since mine was nice and long and they had no worries of preterm labor at this point. It was a relief to know that preterm labor isn't something in my near future.

They also scheduled a growth check at 28 weeks because cysters can have babies with low birth weight so they want to make sure she is growing normally although it seems at this point that everything is perfect. Again, I am thrilled they are being so cautious and I am always excited for an ultrasound!! The doctor then asked me how work was going. I explained that it is going well, my energy is fine, and that I like routine. He said that he sees no reason why I can't keep working until the end as long as my health is maintaining. He did say however, that if at ANY point I decide I do not feel comfortable working all I have to do is call the office. No appointment necessary. I just have to say the word and he will do the paperwork to ensure I stop working. I feel like I am receiving amazing care and couldn't be happier with my whole pregnancy  experience.

Daddy Got Kicked!!!!

Daddy felt movement and we couldn't be more excited!!! Little Peanut loves being upright (breech) and adores having her little toes near my bladder which makes for a fun day at school. The bad part about this favored position (besides the obvious) is that nobody can feel her powerful kicks except me and my bladder. She will flip around once in a while, but only when I am home alone or when I get up to pee in the night and hubbers is sound asleep. Finally, FINALLY two nights ago she decided to cooperate!

Hubbers and I were snuggling on the cough talking about our day when of course we both fell asleep. Around one we woke up and made out way to the bed. We were just about to doze off when Peanut decided to give me some crazy kicks on my side. Now this has happened before and the second I wake my husband and tell him where to put his hand she stops or moves completely. I debated nudging him from his almost sleep state, but after 3 really hard kicks I figured it was worth a shot. He placed his hand on my belly and we waited. Silly Peanut already causing trouble. We were both exhausted and about to give up when I felt a thump.
"Did you feel that?" I asked
"I think so..."
"You did!?!" I practically screamed with excitement followed by, "Did you feel that?"
"Yes, there was a thump then a thump thump." My husband tapped my belly where he felt the kicks. I was so ecstatic because that is exactly what I felt.
 The next few seconds consisted of my husband singing some cheer song in Spanish to our little Peanut followed by my belly being showered with kisses. I am not sure which one of us was more excited, but that night I had the best sleep of my life and I am pretty sure my husband did too!

25 weeks

I have internet again!!!!!!!!


How Far Along: 25 weeks and 4 days
How Big Is Baby: The size of an eggplant! Wow!
Total Weight Gain: Still haven't taken out the scale from the move, but I have a feeling my weight slowed down because these past few weeks have been crazy and i have not been eating as often/much as I should.

Sleep: I am still sleeping well and still LOVE sleep! On the weekends when I can sleep in I get around 11 hours. On weekdays I try to get 8.

Movement: I panicked because over the weekend I did not feel her move AT ALL!! I was so upset that something was wrong because a day never goes by without movement. I called the online nurse and was on hold for over 15 minutes! I finally felt a little flutter so I hung up. Monday morning came and little Peanut was dancing all around! She continued ALL DAY LONG! I was so relieved!

 At one point I went outside to watch the kids for recess and have an hour before I could even potentially use the bathroom and she stomped so hard on my bladder I laughed out loud because she times it so well! Right when there was no possible way to empty mu bladder. She continues to dance on my bladder and kick my cervix all through the evening, but i was so happy to know she was okay that I didn't mind one bit!
Food Cravings: Still no cravings, but with moving I have not been as good about eating healthy. Sorry, Peanut!!!
What I Miss: Hmmm...at this moment nothing.
What I'm Looking Forward To: My appointment Thursday with my high risk OB. I so hope I get a sonogram.
Milestones: Baby knows which way is up and down now. I guess that is why she loves being breech and standing on my bladder.
Symptoms: Nothing new. just the same old, same old.

Other: We bought a CRIB!!! It is not set up yet, but it is on our to do list. I will post pics when it is up and ready. I love walking by her room and picturing the day she will be in there.

Missing Internet!

I wanted to let everyone know I am still alive and well!! I desperately miss blogging and keeping up on other blogs. We are officially moved into our new house! Yay! We seriously are so in love with it and I couldn't be happier! The bad news is a week ago I called our internet service to ask to set up internet at the new place. It won;t be done until tomorrow...really?! It takes a week to get internet? I assumed it would be a 48 hour kinda thing, but apparently I am utterly naive on the way things work in the internet setting up business.

Alas, I have been without internet for almost a week. Yesterday, I had the brilliant idea (well, a friend suggested it, but minor details) to go to a coffee shop with my laptop and catch up on my cyber life. Turns out my computer won't turn on anymore. So I am so hoping to be back (for real) tomorrow, but it depends on if my computer cooperates or not. I am currently using internet at my mom's house, but am trying to get out of here before traffic gets to bad so for now I will share what having no internet has taught me:

1. I need blogging as a way to sort out my ideas, thoughts, and life. It is like therapy!
2. I am seriously addicted to the internet.
3. When you don't have t.v., internet, and can't read while vesting, treatment times are HORRENDOUS!