Farewell, Second Trimester

I’m a little mad at myself for letting so much time pass since my last pregnancy update. As a result, this is gonna be a long post. I need to document everything since I’m using this as a journal entry of sorts.

The day we found out our cute baby girl’s gender feels like forever ago! I remember being on cloud nine for days after that first ultrasound :) I had a constant smile plastered on my face and felt overwhelmed with happiness every time I looked at the ultrasound pictures. That lasted about a week and then the fear of not knowing whether my baby was still alive and okay in there set in again. Waiting 4 weeks in between doctor visits to know whether your baby still has a heartbeat is torture. Fortunately, week 17 brought with it the best reassurance of all—baby kicks.

I was home for lunch on March 28^th (meaning I was exactly 17 weeks and 1 day pregnant) and I was determined to feel this baby girl move! I had been told it would feel like a fish swimming around in there or butterflies in my tummy. I had also heard that shining a light on my stomach could cause the baby to move because she could sense light by that time (despite the fact that her eyes were not yet open). So...I sat on my couch very still and proceeded to bug that baby of mine. I grabbed my cell phone, opened my flashlight app, pulled up my shirt, and placed the light directly on my skin. I immediately felt a weird jolt/flutter inside me (I probably scared the poor kid). However, I was still unsure whether that was the baby. So, I decided to move the light around for a few seconds and then sit very still with my hands on my stomach and my legs propped up on our ottoman. After about 3 minutes of waiting I felt three distinct “taps” right where my right pointer finger was laying on my skin. It was the cutest, sweetest thing. After that, I noticed the baby all the time and it has been the most exciting experience ever. Nothing is cooler or weirder than feeling your baby move inside you. My husband finally felt her move when I was about 18 weeks. She was shy for daddy J Now she gets extra excited whenever I start eating. It’s pretty fun.

 With week 18 came a baby bump that was finally visible to more than just me! Though still quite small, it was finally obvious my baby girl was in there. I also started to get some pretty annoying upper back pain at that time from sitting with poor posture in my desk chair at work every day. That pain lasted a few weeks. I also had my anatomy ultrasound this week, but the baby was too stubborn to show us her cute face/head/heart so they told me I would get to have another ultrasound the next time I came in so they could get a better look at her lips and heart to make sure everything was developing normally. So, even though we came out of that appointment with no exciting ultrasound pictures, I was grateful to have another opportunity to see my baby girl!

With week 19 came my worst pregnancy symptom of all. I woke up around 4:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 4^th with extreme pain on my right side. My first thought was that it was just round ligament pain or something so I tried to roll over and fall back asleep. Unfortunately, no position helped relieve the pain. All of a sudden I felt the need to throw up so I rushed out of bed and into the bathroom. However, nothing came. I stood up, paced back and forth writhing in pain, and then tried sitting down on our couch as I wrestled with the idea of calling my mom and waking up Colby. The only things I knew were that I was pregnant, I had never been in so much pain in my life, and that the pain just kept getting worse as time went on. I finally forced myself to realize this was not some regular pregnancy symptom that would soon go away and I better get help.

I walked back into our bedroom and quietly said “Colby, something’s wrong.” He immediately woke up and jumped out of bed in fear. He rushed to my side and held me as I writhed in pain. I couldn’t even relax in his arms because it hurt so badly. Both of us were nervous something was wrong with the pregnancy and I’ve never seen my husband so concerned. It was pretty sweet, actually.

He drove me to the ER and they immediately gave me some morphine to help with the pain. Unfortunately, it didn’t do much. Once they realized I was still seriously struggling, they gave me another dose and I could finally sit still. Colby laid on the hospital bed with me and just held me. At this point we had no idea what was wrong. After a while they performed an ultrasound and confirmed that everything was okay with our baby girl, which gave me even more relief. I then gave them a urine sample, in which they found blood. That told them it was most likely kidney stones, but since they didn’t see them in the ultrasound (and I couldn’t have a CT due to my pregnancy) they couldn’t give me any “for sure” answers. So, I was sent home with some medicine, pee strainers, and a  packet of information about what to do if my symptoms worsened.

I was fine for the rest of the day so I decided to be brave and go to work the next morning. Not a good idea. For an hour and a half I was okay. Then at 9:45 I felt my side starting to tighten up and get sore…within 15 minutes I was silently crying at my husband’s desk in pain (the benefits of working in the same office building as your husband). He dropped me off at home, but had to go to work so I called my mom and she talked to me for about 2 hours as I had to go through another pain episode without the morphine. I didn’t want to take the medicine the hospital sent me home with because I was scared what something that strong might do to my 19-week old fetus. However, I finally gave in and took one pill after a few hours…unfortunately it didn’t do much. My sister came over to care for me and her husband (fiancé at the time) gave me a blessing. 5.5 hours after the pain started, I was finally able to handle it with the help of a heating pad. Longest day of my life. A few hours after my blessing (around 7:00 pm), I passed the stone.

Weeks 20-22 were filled with wedding festivities for both my brother and sister’s weddings so I was quite distracted with family in town and lots to do. However, everyone got to feel baby girl kick while they were here and I think they were all more excited to see my baby bump than they were to see me ;). This kid is already stealing everyone’s hearts! Around week 22 I started getting Braxton Hicks contractions regularly (I had a few earlier in my pregnancy, but didn’t know that’s what they were). Not really a fan of those. Though they don’t “hurt,” they are quite uncomfortable…especially as my uterus grows. I am also now plagued with leg cramps that hurt so badly they wake me up at night! I have audibly gasped a few times as a result of my calve muscles cramping up while I sleep. Definitely not a fan of those either :).

The baby’s kicks got much stronger around week 23 and I began to notice that when I would lay on my side at night, she would always kick the place where the bed was hitting my belly. Guess she likes her space. If you put a heavy hand or arm on my belly she will kick that spot too. It’s actually quite adorable. I had my second anatomy ultrasound around this time and was told everything looked perfect except for one small thing that showed up in the left ventricle of her heart… I guess they see it all the time, and most of the time it just ends up being feedback from the ultrasound, but they scheduled ANOTHER ultrasound for my next visit so they could take a better look at it. She said if it did end up being an issue, it would just be a very minor one. Unfortunately, the thought that perhaps something (even minor) was wrong with my baby girl left me in tears all day long. It was a rough day. Luckily, I had that third ultrasound a couple days ago and they said her heart is absolutely perfect, so they stressed me out for nothing! I have never been so relieved!

With week 24 came baby hiccups! Cutest ever. My whole belly bounces in rhythm and I can feel it strongest down near my bladder. LOVE the hiccups.

Other symptoms: round ligament pain, nosebleeds, always hungry, nausea without throwing up

I am now 27 weeks and officially in my third trimester. One day less than 3 months to go! Can’t believe I am gonna be a mama so soon. I have so much preparing to do before our home is ready for this wee one. There is definitely no more hiding this baby bump…it just sort of erupted around week 21 and has been getting more and more obvious ever since! And though I was 3 pounds “underweight” at my 18 week appointment, I have now officially gained 20 pounds since the start of my pregnancy…so I’m definitely on track now. Still a little in shock about the numbers I have been seeing on the scale (and I’m a little scared to see how much more I gain in the next 3 months), but it’s good for the baby, so I am just trying to embrace my new, larger self.

How cute are those little legs? She’s so dainty and wonderful. I talk and sing to her all the time and she will kick in response. It’s so cool growing a human inside you. Super weird and super uncomfortable at times, but honestly the most amazing thing in the world. I feel blessed beyond belief. I can’t wait to meet her.