So this post will include a bunch of my thoughts over the last month since our computer has not been very nice to us lately - shame on you you now so essential piece of rubbish! We love em, but we hate em too! So we'll start by saying our little bundle is as active as can be. I got a glimpse of lil' tadpole on the ultrasound machine the other day and that child does not sit still. In fact, the Dr. could not find a heartbeat which was not fun, but once we saw the cartwheel and the flip we were both relieved! I really am not kidding when I say cartwheel and flip - this baby is a pro at the water ballet I tell ya! So our baby is about 3 inches long can you imagine? I am really excited to see the little baby bump. It just makes you finally feel pregnant, that and the little flutter movements you feel. Most women don't feel the baby move until about 18 weeks, but no not me man - I felt our little one move last week. I told a friend it feels like the tickle in your tummy when you finally have the first kiss with a man you really love or like an eyelash kiss, however one might explain it - it is AWESOME! It changes to more of a jab and then a punch - ughfff, but all the movements are really cool! So if your wondering what the second photo is, please let me explain. So if you wanna keep your super cute and tight jeans for a little while longer, but don't want the uncomfortable feeling when you sit down, use the hair band trick. You loop the button then string the other side through the hole and back over the button (this trick is also good if you have eaten too much or you are just feeling bloated). The second thing that is on my list of "things to write about in blog after computer is fixed" - which it is still not, but works a little bit is the c-section itch. Now this means two things, it really means that the scar from my c-section is really itching and if you are not aware this scar is uh hum well quite low on your abdomen. So I look like a crazy woman and catch myself every so often scrubbing that spot with my nails - like a dog with a flea might I add. Oh my gosh - how embarrassing. So if you catch me please know this is like no other itch I have had before and well please forgive me! The other meaning of the c-section itch is that I have a chance to do a VBAC - Vaginal Birth After Cesarean. My doctor says I am a good candidate since I work out and healed well. The only small detail that is blocking my sleep at night and causing sweaty nightmares is their is a small percentage of women whose uterus explodes. Yes, that was what he told me. So now I wake in the middle of the night wet with perspiration with images of a blood splattered surgery room filling my brain. So in my mind I think, well you know c-section. You know what to expect, you know how long recovery is, you know when to start walking and when to start back to regular daily activities. Plus you get great pain meds and with a VBAC - yeah sister your on your own, I guess they give you an ice pack and call it a day! So the c-section seems to maybe fit...or does it. I want so badly to look at Fraser and say it's time. I want him to hold my hand on the drive to the hospital telling me to breath. I want the experience you see on TV and that your Mother had and her Mother and all the Mother's before her! I want Fraser to see how much a woman goes through - I mean a c-section is no walk in the park, but I handled it well and I think Fraser thinks its just all that easy ya know! So I guess we'll wait a bit longer to make this decision, but if these nightmares don't stop along with the midnight (and 3AM and 6AM) bathroom trips I fear I will not have a full nights sleep until I turn 40. Oh and speaking of age, my last thing to cover in this entry is "Advanced Maternal Age". Uhhh...are they serious? Yes, this is my diagnosis which puts me on a higher alert. It also gives me another ultrasound which means I get to see Baby K#2 do another performance - sweet! It also means - sequential screening. They screen for birth defects which I guess immediately after you turn 35 you have this enormously heightened (being sarcastic) risk of having a child with birth defects. No really your levels are slightly increased and they do a few extra tests on you. The great news is that I don't have to do the quad screen which last time was positive for Down's and we had to endure 2 weeks of hell waiting for the more advanced test. This time we skip right to the more advanced testing. We do a Nuchel (which I am spelling incorrectly I am sure) Thickness test. This measures the skin on the back of the babies neck which is a marker for a chromosome abnormality. This test is cross referenced with a very detailed blood test and lastly I get to have a high resolution ultrasound. So hopefully we won't have any false positives this time around. One good thing about being "Advanced Maternal Age" better tests, they don't mess around with us old folks! Until next time...mua!
Here I am at the 12 week mark, you know the time when everyone says the nausea will end. The magic moment when all is good in the pregnancy, you feel more energetic, less nauseas and you begin to have that pregnancy glow. Uh hummm....well my baby and my body don't seem to realize that we have met our 12 week point now and its time to move on to the fa la laa laaa fun pregnancy bit. Really I should not complain because the ALL day nausea is now gone...phew. Now I just have low level nausea during the day (sometimes not at all) and then get hit hard in the evenings. And I mean REALLY hard. Most nights I just curl up on the couch, not enough energy to even get my buns up the stairs to my bed. I have tried the craziest things to help subside the nausea. So for future reference to those of you wanting to have a family, let me tell you the things I tried. Everyone is different of course and what worked for me may make you run to the "Living Room" (remember this is the bathroom for you non-preggers gals, but it begins to feel like the living room after a few weeks of nausea - trust me)! So I tried saltine crackers and that made it worse. Halls Citrus cough drops worked one night and made me terribly sick the next - so sick I could not try it again. Bomb Pop Popsicles - these actually would give me about 5 minutes of relief and when your sick every minute of everyday - 5 minutes is 5 minutes. Ravioli was the only thing I could keep down or think of eating in the beginning - sick I know. Citrus (oranges) - uh not for me. I tried everything - oh lemonade/Koolaid - that actually worked. I know why as well. You see when your first pregnant your hormones double EACH day making you feel unwell! This in turn lowers your blood sugar and that makes you feel even more nauseated, so you see why sugary drinks and Popsicles would make you feel a little better. It is just your body becoming acclimated to being pregnant. Because I lost 6 pounds in the first month of pregnancy (I pretty much ate nothing), my doctor was less than happy with me at the next appointment when I still had not gained weight. He called in a prescription for me, Ondansetron - generic for Zofran which is what they give patients undergoing chemotherapy. So again these crazy nightmares and thoughts of me taking this medication and causing severe damage to my baby kept them on the shelf in our linen closet. I mean do I really want to take the chance of causing damage to my unborn babies heart or something. I kept seeing those class actions suits on the TV saying if you took such and such while you were pregnant and your baby has severe respiratory problems call this law firm. So I sucked it up - like all the other women before me. I still haven't gained weight yet and have been told I had better start eating lots of chocolate or something as I had one month to gain a few pounds and then I would HAVE to take the medicine. OK OK...I'll force down some chocolate cake if I have too, but it will have to be in the morning as that is the only time I feel good! Ha ha! So since the subject of the post is about being sick I thought I would brighten it up with a few photos of our little Vivian and a creative beach photo from our trip to Florida for Christmas. The snow photo was taken just a few days before we left, I do feel like the sun did help my nausea a little bit. I will also tell you a sweet story. When Vivian went with me to the doctor they did a quick ultrasound to find the babies heartbeat. Viv was on the lower part of my ribcage because she never wants anything to pass her by - she is quite inquisitive. As soon as the image of the baby came up she said baby. When given the little print out, she pointed and said picture. She kisses my belly all the time saying baby. It is kind of wild as we never really talked about it being a baby and so forth - I guess it is obvious she is a genius. Ha ha! Well, I love you all and I do see light at the end of the tunnel - I just wish I could drive a bit faster! ;) 
