Showered With Love

I just wanted to extend a thank you to everyone who hosted and attended both baby showers for miss Zoey. Those who couldn't make it to either but sent something anyway, thank you as well! This little girl is definitely loved and I couldn't be more excited to see her use everything we got.

December 19, 2009
The Belew House

February 28, 2010
Centennial Women's Hospital, room 6223

Dear Placenta, you're hearby GROUNDED.

I think I like how Amanda put it the best... "so sorry your placenta's being a jerk." Yeah, that's right placenta... you're a big jerk.

It looks like my placenta hasn't moved a single bit. It's still completely covering the cervix... not just a little bit... I'm talking completely downtown, going from front to back. This means that my dream of letting Zoey come on her birthday instead of her "due date" is a thing of the past.

When my OB was telling me this, I was fighting back tears. I asked her if there was still a chance at all that I could deliver normally and she said it's highly unlikely. Next Tuesday, January 26, I have to go see a high-risk doctor to get the final confirmation that I will have to get a c-section. My OB assured me that she is not passing me on to a new doctor, she is simply sending me to an expert to confirm what she thinks is going to happen. I was told that it's imperative that I do not dilate past a 2. If I bleed at all, even a little bit, I have to go to Vanderbilt hospital and I will be put on bedrest. She told me under NO circumstances can I go to the local hospital because they do not have the blood supply needed. So IF this happens, we're off to Vandy. The c-section will happen between 36-38 weeks, depending on how I'm progressing... if I'm not dilating on my own, I can go longer (which is my hope), but if I do dilate, we have to do the c-section ASAP and stop labor. I was told I'll have to get steroid shots to make sure Zoey's lungs are developed before the c-section... as long as we can control when it happens.

I'm thankful that my daughter is healthy... today she measured at 27 weeks and is 2lbs, 6 oz. all 4 of her heart valves looked beautiful on the ultrasound... both her kidneys are functioning properly and she is inhaling as she should... we were able to see her actually inhale amniotic fluid and see up her little nose, LOL. She was a cutie.

The bright side of all this is I will get to see my daughter a lot more... I'll have more ultrasounds than I'll know what to do with from here on out... as if I haven't already had enough. Now to await the glucose tolerance test results........

100 days to go...

There are only 100 days left in my first pregnancy. When people ask when the baby is due, I always say "the end of April, which means early May." However, the fact that my ticker says I only have 100 days left is putting me into nesting overdrive! 100 days left and so far this is where I stand:

Weight Gain: 27 lbs. This means I've outgrown nearly all the maternity clothes given to me and finally had to purchase some of my own in my 25th week. All the clothes given to me were previously worn by a mother who gained 33 lbs in her first pregnancy and 27 in her second... this is why I'm busting out of them so soon. Holy moly. Thank goodness another friend brought me some clothes today :) They should help get me through the next 3.5 months.

Stretch marks: I never thought about stretch marks taking over my inner thighs, but alas, there is a colony marching up and down my legs. This baffles me. I knew they crawled up the boobs and belly, but legs? I've always had a few on my legs from growing a little too fast as a kid... but now they are ALL OVER THE PLACE. It seemed to happen overnight. I'm not even going to try to do something about them right now. As for my belly, I do have a couple starting at the bottom. This is because I have become horribly lazy when it comes to applying my magic lotion. My fault. Oh well. What's a girl to do?

The Nursery: Zoey's room decor + bedding came in on January 12 and it's above and beyond what it looked like on the internet. It's brighter and just completely warms my heart. Today, the paint colors were picked out. We're going with a light yellow and a green accent wall. Operation Nursery will begin shortly... I'm hoping on the 23rd. I'm itching to actually open her furniture and get it set up. I'm ready to take all the gifts from my first shower out of the gift bags and put them in their places. I'm ready to walk into her nursery and feel extra anticipation for her arrival as I watch everything come together...

Pains: Zoey is consistently sitting on my sciatic nerve, and lately it feels like she's literally dancing on it. I feel like a foot is going to fall through my cervix any second now. She's obviously moved into a foot-down position. It's the weirdest feeling and I'm ready for her to correct herself. All her movement is downtown and I don't like how it feels. I wonder what she is thinking right now... is she more comfortable? Mommy sure isn't.

I can't believe I'm less than 3 weeks from my 3rd trimester and just 3.5 months from giving birth. It seems like just yesterday I saw those 2 pink lines in the bathroom at work. Tuesday, January 19, is the glucose tolerance test and another ultrasound to check on the placenta previa. With as much downtown action going on, surely the placenta has moved into it's proper place... only time will tell.

The next 100 days are going to include a lot of preparation and OCD-ness. I look forward to seeing what happens...

Zoey's Nursery -- Love Bird

http://www.bananafishinc.com/
Coming Soon!

Zoey's Nursery -- CSNBaby.com

Well folks, I didn't expect to say this until well after New Years... but Glenn and I have purchased Zoey's nursery furniture and we saved so much money, I can't even fathom it yet. The 4-in-one convertible cribs we had been looking at at Babies-R-Us are roughly $400-500 alone. That is just the crib... no mattress, no railing for the toddler bed... just the crib. The choices were sparse and we had "settled" on one we liked, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking about this website I had come across before I even got pregnant. This site is a lot like Overstock.com... tons of nursery items for a fraction of the cost, but limited stock. I had been browsing back and forth over the past few weeks, looking at different sets and keeping in mind that I could purchase a set of two nursery items for the price of one crib at BRU.

Tonight, at random, I was browsing the website and noticed that
1. Some of the nursery sets came with a FREE mattress
2. The website offered an additional 10% off the order if placed before New Years
3. FREE shipping
4. NO taxes.
I got to looking at the prices, and I just couldn't believe what I was passing up if I didn't order. I turned to Glenn and told him what I was seeing... I was told to order it. I didn't think twice!

So after it was all said and done, for $529.13, we were able to get this set:

http://www.csnbaby.com/DaVinci-K5101F-K5152F-DV1612.html

...including the free mattress and conversion rail kit so when Zoey is becoming a "big girl" (God, please slow down the hands of time) she has a toddler bed to crawl into. I'm so excited about the lifetime bed... we're going to save so much money because she will be able to grow up with it. It eventually turns into a full-size bed! Seriously!

We decided to skip on the big dresser because neither of us are "dresser" people. The hutch that comes with the crib is a changing table on top, but it will also be a good shelf later on, it won't permanently look like a changing table. It has shelves on the inside, so I can put some cute bins in there for socks, onesies, etc. This leaves more open space in the room for other things.

What gets me the most is that our baby girl is going to have a headboard and footboard before we do. *ahem* I think it's almost time for mommy and daddy to get with it and buy a headboard from Overstock.com at least.

Overcoming PCOS: A Photo Session with Jennifer Adams

Last weekend, a photographer I go to church with offered to do a unique maternity photo session centered around the PCOS awareness jewelry I blogged about earlier this year. Jennifer did a wonderful job and was so much fun to work with. You can follow her photography journey here: Jennifer Adams Reflections.

This is the intro posted on her blog:

It was such an honor to be apart of this growing families life, and to be there through some of their times of going through these obstacles. Mom to be was so excited to start adding to her beautiful family, but soon found out that it was going to be a little longer and harder than she thought. She soon found out that she had a condition called, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). After finding an amazing doctor and having a wonderful support system from her family, friends and church family, she stayed strong and embraced this full force.

Well fast forward to now, she has over come PCOS and is now happily expecting her first miracle, expecting a girl in spring of 2010. So this session was a special session to celebrate the bravery and faith in overcoming this and being able to move forward with this beautiful miracle showing that all things are indeed possible!

Thank you mom and dad to be for allowing me to document these moments in your life, here is a little sneak peak and I will talk to you soon…

Zoey Elizabeth

Obviously I have a lot to share with you all. :) My 18 week ultrasound revealed that I have a healthy little girl growing in my uterus. It's hard to believe that between then and now she's grown to be from the size of a sweet potato to the size of a cantaloupe. Where does she even have room to grow?! I know that with her growth, I'm starting to feel her more more often. I noticed that the stronger movement is at the top of my belly and now I know why.

Placenta Previa. It sounds a lot scarier than it is, but basically, the placenta is at the bottom of my uterus, covering the cervix. You cannot deliver the placenta first. So either it has to move, or I'll end up having a c-section, which I don't want. Usually it moves, so I'll just get a few more ultrasounds to check for the movement. That is the good part. :) So anyway, the reason her movement isn't as strong at the bottom is because of the extra padding. I do feel her a lot more, but Glenn won't be able to for a while... hopefully that will change soon. I think he's itching to be more involved in the pregnancy and experience our baby girl.

My sciatic nerve pain has finally gotten easier! If it wasn't for that cuddle pillow, I'd be in some major trouble. I've just been extra careful lately, and I honestly don't have a choice because the belly is getting bigger and harder... which means it's more difficult to move around. Standing up is already a task... I worry and hope I don't end up gaining 70 lbs like my mom did with me... so far I'm at 21. My goal was to keep it below 40... I have a feeling I'll say goodbye to that goal soon.

Stretch marks? Not a single one. :) I hope I'm not speaking too soon... but I'm always on the lookout for the creepy crawlies, just waiting for one to show it's ugly face. I lotion up regularly and remind myself to stay hydrated and that I have good genes. Mom never had any, so maybe I won't either. :)

I'm ecstatic that we have a daughter on the way. I would have been just as ecstatic if it was a boy though. I'm more happy that I finally have something to plan for... up to now we haven't actually purchased a single thing for the baby. I'm approaching my first baby shower (December 19) and we're all registered at Babies R Us. We'll register at Target sometime soon... my next shower isn't until early March. We're very excited and as soon as the holidays are behind us, we're going to start on her nursery... I can't wait to show you guys what we have planned. She's going to have the coolest chick pad in Robertson County.

Say "HI!" to Zoey Elizabeth...

Learning to take it easy...

This is not easy for me. Taking it easy feels like pure laziness to me and so far I haven't done any of it. I've always been told that when pregnant you can't lift heavy things and you can't do as much as you once could because your body is more prone to sciatic nerve pain, among other things. Lately, I haven't been able to so much as wrap a Christmas gift or swiffer my floor without feeling like someone stuck a paring knife in my lower spine. The heaviest thing I've lifted lately is a 2 year old at church. I at least pay attention to what I lift... but just living every day life... I had no idea how many hings can cause back pain.

I recently purchased a cuddle pillow to help with such pains when trying to sleep at night. Overall, it works great. Last night, however... I think I finally did myself in. I sat in the floor and literally wrapped two... yes, two presents... I got up off the floor and with every step I took, I felt like I was going to collapse. So I lost a lot of sleep last night... and today I'm not any better. I am wearing a sticky heating pad to help, but I feel like I need to wrap my butt and legs in one just so I can function. To add to the nerve pain, I have a large cyst on my right ovary that is giving me more trouble than I could have imagined. I guess even in pregnancy, PCOS never ends...

I don't want to come off as complaining because I am very thankful that I even have a baby growing inside me to cause all this pain. I'll take it! It's just hard. I'm used to doing a lot, not sitting around. I thought it'd be easy to relax, but I'm too stir crazy and OCD. Now that I am approaching the half-way mark in the pregnancy, it's time to slow down a little. I admit it. I've done a few things I shouldn't have since being pregnant... the biggest no-no recently was when I ran out of the house (yes, ran) down the street after the dogs when they ninja'd their way out of the fence again. I wrestled them one-by-one back to the house... try being 5'1" and 5 months pregnant wrestling a 102 lb Great Pyrenees back to your house... when there are other dogs around distracting him from behaving... it's not easy. It was a bad move. Very bad move. I won't be doing it again.

I'm learning to take it easy and I hope I have learned my lesson enough to just stop trying to do everything like normal. We'll see...

Dance, Baby, Dance! + My Growing Belly

My little avocado baby started moving this week. I think of David Bowie in the movie The Labyrinth when he's dancing with the baby and all the goblins... yeah, I know, kind of odd, but I keep talking to the baby and telling it to dance for me so I can feel something. Tuesday, day one of 16 weeks, I started to feel a pushing sensation on the lower right side of my belly while driving home from work. I was listening to Jeremy Camp in the car. Moments later, I felt it again a little higher. I think baby is a fan. ;) I wasn't sure if it was really the baby until it happened again yesterday and today. Now I'm sure. Baby is moving in there. I can officially document fetal movement beginning at 16 weeks. :)

I've also been told that I have been a slacker on the belly pics... so here you go... enjoy!

5 weeks

10 weeks

13 weeks
15 weeks

15 week ultrasound

At my 15 week appointment, we unexpectedly did an ultrasound. My OB just wanted to peek at the baby since I had been spotting again and have been sick lately... the heartbeat was in the 170s and everything looked good. We could (somewhat) clearly see the toes wiggling and everything. Since this was an external ultrasound, and I did not drink all the water I needed to prepare, things were a little fuzzy, but regardless we were able to see my little orange doing well. The heartbeat has slowed from it's once 185 beat but that is to be expected. It was in the 170s. We now have 2 reasons to believe the baby is a girl... fast heartbeat and a hamburger...
We all know that at 15 weeks, it's still an uncertainty as to whether or not the baby is a girl or a boy. But my OB clearly said, "THAT is a vagina." HA! But she did follow that with, "Well, we won't know for sure for a few more weeks." Yeah, yeah I know... but I do think my instincts have been right all along. I think I have a little Zoey in my belly. My heart was put at ease even more when I started talking to my OB about her move. This was my last appointment with her at North Crest Medical Center... my anatomy scan will be at Stone Crest Medical Center in Smyrna. That's right, I have decided 100% that I am following her to Smyrna! I feel so at ease with this decision and my heart is comforted. My OB is amazing, I cannot pass her up.
There you can somewhat see the femur bone, the shin bone, and the monstrous Wallace foot.

We're going to schedule the anatomy scan for the week of Thanksgiving. I'll be 18 weeks, and ironically the baby will be the size of a sweet potato. Go figure! I cannot schedule it for sure until she starts her new job, so on November 16 I have to call and get it all scheduled. I am so excited to find out what my little stowaway really is... a little Glenn or a Zoey.

I'm on cloud 9 right now.

Not my week... more spotting plus H1N1 v/s Sinus Infection

I'll start with the first part. I woke up at 1:00 a.m. Monday with bright pink spotting. I didn't burst into tears this time, I stayed calm and simply reminded myself that I was not cramping and that this should lighten up. I went back to bed calm as a cucumber, saying a few prayers that everything is okay with my little lemon. 4:00 a.m. the spotting turned brown. Bingo. It also lightened up in flow quite a bit. Since then, I've spotted brown every day. No cramping. Looks like I'm going to be one of those few women who have a "mini" period every 4-5 weeks during the entire pregnancy. Not too excited about that, but hey... I'll take it as long as baby is doing okay.

I went to the family doctor today because this "cold" has gotten out of control. After 10 days on Tylenol Cold and another 4 on Zyrtec, my body has decided to go into sickness overdrive. I woke up on Tuesday morning with a sore throat. I thought it was just allergies so I still went to work. By noon I was miserable... the left side of my head hates me. The nostril is runny, the neck is swollen, the ear hurts, the tonsil feels like it's about to explode, and the sinuses above and below the eye are swollen. I came home from work early and made a doctor's appt for this morning.

My first fear was H1N1, but I haven't had a fever. I went to the doctor with the notion that it has to be a sinus infection. He decided it would be a good idea to check for H1N1... I already knew what he was going to tell me... negative. But then he sits down and starts talking to me... "Half the time this test comes out negative when it's really positive." Okay, so what's your point? I don't have a fever. "It doesn't matter with H1N1, that's the thing about this virus." Oh goody, I'm so excited to know that I could have H1N1! He proceeds to turn me into a human science experiment, and basically tucks tail and runs because I'm pregnant. He tells me to start taking Tamiflu and if I rapidly feel better, we know it was H1N1... if not, then it's a sinus infection and the antibiotic will clear it up. But he wanted me to consult with my OB first.

Okay, thanks for taking my $20 co-pay and telling me to check with my OB on what to do. Really? Why did I even bother. So I checked with my OBs office... she told me to go ahead and take both at the same time. With me being pregnant, we can't take any chances. So here I am, pumping my body full of more medicines with no idea if I have H1N1 or a sinus infection. So this puts me at a cross road... do I bother getting the H1N1 vaccine? I've had the seasonal flu vaccine... but if this really is H1N1, why get the vaccine? I'm really quite upset that I don't have a real answer as to what the heck is wrong with me. I'm spotting, I'm sick with something either viral or bacterial, and I'm 14 weeks pregnant, terrified that something is going to happen to this baby with all this crap that has been going on the last two weeks.

I hope and pray that my immune system gets its butt in gear after this and stays healthy. I worry about giving the baby too much medicine... I worry about my sickness putting a damper in the baby's health... I don't know what to do or think at this point.

I thought the 2nd trimester was supposed to be the "honeymoon period" of pregnancy....

The 2nd Trimester

Well, I've made it. I'm in the 2nd trimester! This is a huge accomplishment for two reasons.

1. In my mom's side of the family, women don't carry their first pregnancies past the 1st trimester. They don't even come close. There has never been a known reason for this...

2. PCOS women are more likely to miscarry, especially their first pregnancies, than healthy women. To help with this, most of us (including me) stay on Metformin through the first 3 months to lower the risk.

With the double whammy I faced, I hoped and prayed I'd be able to make it this far. I didn't know what to expect, but came into this with as much optimism as I could. I've gotten a lot of love and support from friends and don't know what I would do without my fellow soul cysters. I really think that people don't understand just how big it is to make it to the 2nd trimester unless they have experienced loss or faced the high risk for loss. It really is a huge milestone to overcome and I can stand proudly right now, belly in tow, and say "I've made it!"

Unfortunately, I still have to be cautious... but I can be more optimistic than before and know that my chance of loss has gone down. PCOS is a terrible thing that no woman should have to face... it's downright evil. But all we can do is stand up to it, as if it's a bully in school, and tell it "no more... I may have you in me life but you don't own me!" Everytime a fellow cyster announces her pregnancy, I feel such joy, as if it's me all over again. I wait in the wings for more to come... hoping and praying for those who deserve these babies more than most.
So far, the 2nd trimester hasn't been gentle on me. I've been fighting what feels like the same headache for 10 days in a row. Tylenol is weak, so I've turned to an alternative remedy... peppermint oil. Rub this on the temples and across the forehead... within 10 minutes the headache is gone. However, this only works for headaches in the front of your head... not the ones that make you feel as if you've been hit in the back of the head by a wood plank. For those, I have to resort to Tylenol and a nap. It does the trick for a little while.

I've also had a nasty cold since week 12. Eight days now. I'm finally at the tail end of it and able to function with less tissue in my hands. Starting on day one of the 2nd trimester, my ribs hurt. It's usually in the afternoons and evenings. I've noticed a big change in my belly... it's filling out at the top, under my breasts, instead of at the bottom. This would explain the rib pain. I take it proudly, knowing this means the baby must be growing. I'm guessing I'm going to carry high... I've had people tell me both. No one really know what they are talking about, I've decided....

I anticipate the moment I feel it for the first time... what will it feel like? Gas? Popcorn? Tonight I thought I felt a rolling sensation in my belly... could have just been my stomach thanking me for dinner. My next OB appointment is on November 10... I'll be 16 weeks. I'm going to ask for my gender scan at 18 weeks... it'll be the week of Thanksgiving... and I hope to tell immediate family on that day, extended family in our Christmas cards. So bloggers, you'll have to wait until the Christmas cards go out, I'm afraid. ;) But don't worry, I'll be too excited, I'll start making them on Black Friday and put them in the mail the following Monday. Once I'm sure everyone has received theirs, I'll post... proudly!