So I saw my doctor again yesterday. I was planning to discuss the whole due date thing, but right before my appointment, I grabbed my old phone that I had taken a picture of my postive pregnancy test with, and noticed the time stamp as August 11th, not the 5th or the 6th like I thought. So, it's possible her estimation is correct, but I still stand by what I saw with baby's limbs and whatnot. I'm not going to worry about it anymore (see further down why) and didn't bring it up at my appointment. I will however still go by my initial due date estimation for my personal records; I see nothing wrong with doing that, teehee.
Anyway, I was weighed (of course) and I now weigh 113.1 pounds.. I was 111.4 at my last appointment so I've gained two pounds. The weight gain has to be from my expanding uterus, as well as my breasts.. I don't know what it is about this pregnancy, but my breasts have doubled in size since getting pregnant; if not more! This never happened when I was pregnant with Zoe or Ruthie; I didn't experience growth until my last trimester. I'm scared to know how big they're going to be by the time the baby's born! My blood pressure was 121/58. I ride low with my blood pressure; this is quite normal, although that is much different than what it was at my last appointment, 90/64. I think the difference was due to yesterday being a bit stressful, and I was engaging in a serious conversation with a friend of mine right before my appointment. That, and I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, and she did my pressure over it, so it's possible that affected my reading somewhat.
Dr. J came in and we checked the baby's heartbeat with the doppler.. it took her a few seconds to find the heartbeat, but we were able to hear it.. a little woosh-woosh. She said the heart rate was perfect, and then she of course asked how I've been feeling. I'm less fatigued, but I still have a noticable level of fatigue which I think is normal, considering I've got 2 kids already.. who wouldn't be tired running around after them and doing stuff for them all day? I told her that I'm not as down and sad as I was in my first trimester so that of course is good.
However, I did mention that I've been experiencing joint pain while laying in bed at night, and it was causing difficulty with me falling asleep; which is true but it doesn't happen every single night. I told her that I've been having pain in my shoulders hips and knees, and some of the time the pain isn't on the side that I'm laying on, but it's the opposite side.. which I find to be really odd. She asked if it's a problem that started with this pregnancy, and I told her no; I've been experiencing joint pain off and on for sometime now.. the worst situations are when I wake up with stiff hips and then I try walking, I will sometimes fall over because of my hip giving out from under me.. this actually has happened a few times; usually when I'm trying to walk downstairs or even right when I get out of bed; thankfully it hasn't happened in the last few months that I can recall, although I have had some weird episodes involving my knees recently. So, now she wants me to see a Rhuematologist, to rule out the potential of having Rhuematoid Arthritis. Keep in mind, while in the sense that it's the same as 'normal' arthritis in the sense it affects your joints, RA is a systemic autoimmune disease.. it will eventually affect the whole body, and it can trigger at any time; it's not exclusively something that is onset by age. I knew it ran on my dad's side of the family and I told my doctor this; however, after talking with my dad, I found out that it's primarily through his mother's side of the family; and my dad actually has it. I had to call Dr J's office this morning to let them know the local Rhumetologists will not see a patient or even allow appointments to be set without a referral and so I told the receptionists to leave a note that I spoke with my dad and that he has it, and so Dr J can put it in my file.
Of course, it's entirely possible that it's not RA, but it could be my thyroid instead; the symptoms tend to mimic each other, so it's just a matter of eliminating one over the other; although they can occur at the same time. I know from talking with both of my parents it runs on both sides of the family; I have one aunt from my mom's side of the family with hypothyroidism and a few aunts from my dad's side of the family; and it's possible that my sister has it; she's planning on going to an Endocrinologist sometime in the next month to see why despite a healthy diet and regular healthy exercise she's not losing weight like she should. However, due to the pregnancy hormones and their affect on the thyroid hormones, I was told at my last appointment that I have to wait until my second trimester. I reminded her again of it, and because I'm having my quad screening test done next month (blood draw), she's going to go ahead and order that the thyroid testing gets done with the same batch of blood. While some joint pain is normal during pregnancy, I don't think it should be occurring this early; nor should I be falling over from joint pain when I'm not pregnant.
Other than that, everything has been doing better! I've started experiencing round ligament pain -joy- and I've been feeling more energetic, but still not quite where I was before.. not that I had a ton of energy to begin with.
And yes, I'm finally starting to show! I'll have to have Jeff take some pics this weekend.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Baby's First picture!
The doctor put my due date back to April 23rd, however I think my estimation of April 13th is still correct. Mostly beacuse the baby's legs were stretched out further than they would have been if it was only 9 weeks old and if her date is correct, then I would have gotten a positive pregnancy test at THREE weeks instead of five, which basically means one week after conception.. which I don't think can happen. You miss your period 2 weeks after conception, not one, and I took the test the day my period was due. I wasn't going to argue my point, because... yeah.
Here's the difference between nine weeks and eleven weeks. At nine weeks, the baby's arms are still really stubby and short, so there's really no way that the baby's hand would be that far away from the body if they were stubby 9 week arms. Plus, as you can sort of see, the top (left leg) is in mid extension, and that's not possible if I was 9 weeks, cuz they can't stretch that far! Nor do they have knees.
Anyway, I guess we'll see what happens when I have my mid pregnancy ultrasound!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
My Pregnancy So Far
Well, today I'm exactly 10 weeks pregnant. So here's the summary of how it's been so far.
No morning/afternoon/evening sickness. However I have strong aversions to certain smells, and certain foods. The idea of eating tortillas for example.. totally grosses me out like nothing else. I've been craving red meat, cookies, spicy foods and sour/salty stuff.
No, I'm not showing yet. The only thing that's changed about me physically is that I've been breaking on my face more than usual, getting the gross under-the-skin-with-no-head pimples and my bra size went from a normal B cup to a D cup in about 4 weeks. And they are growing. As of 6.5 weeks, if I express, I'm already making colostrum which would account for the rapid growth in bra size. I also had cramping during weeks 5 and 6, but I didn't have any bleeding so I wasn't worried at all. I was also only cramping when my bladder was super full.
As weird as this sounds, I've already felt the baby move. At least once. It was kind of a rocking sensation with a soft little poke, and lasted about 10 minutes. I contribute this to several factors... I'm extremely sensitive to what goes on in my body.. for example I feel my intestines digest on a regular basis -not painful just weird-, I think the baby is situated high in my uterus, and my bladder was exceptionally full at the time, so I think it was pushing my uterus up higher and since we were driving in the car at the time and I had my seatbelt on, the belt was putting pressure on my uterus so.. yeah. I know I'm not crazy, since this is my 3rd pregnancy and I've been through the motions already. With Zoe and Ruthie though, I didn't feel them move until around 13-14 weeks, which makes me wonder if I'm carrying multiples or something. I was getting this sensation of something hard next to the movement that wasn't moving as well, but it could have been my bladder and so.. yeah who the heck knows.
Physically, emotionally and mentally, this pregnancy is really taking it's toll on me. I'm so tired all the time, which is not good since I'm a stay at home mom to two kids, and up to 4 times a week, I've got a third here. Fortunately, I won't be watching her much longer, so hopefully that'll help a bit. I've been more prone to outbursts, and I haven't been handling my emotions as well as I should. I feel bad beacuse the girls are having issues with handling their feelings and expression themselves, and I realize it's my fault but... I can't seem to help it. I've been all over the place emotionally and I realize I'm probably suffering from some type of pregnancy induced rage or something. Which makes me really think I'm having a boy, since I was not like this with my first two pregnancies.
It especially sucks, because I had to switch to a new doctor... something I really didn't want to do, but I'm having to be realistic. The OB I was seeing when I was pregnant with Ruthie is super awesome and amazing... he's an Osteopathic doctor, and I loved that. Unfortunately, he no longer delivers at the hospital I had Ruthie at, and the hospital he does deliver at is 30 minutes away, assuming we hit every green light on the way, and I go into labor at 2 in the morning where there's no traffic on the roads... which is highly unlikely. So, today I had to find a new doctor.. who's an MD -which is fine I guess- and who's a she. Totally okay with that I guess, it'll be interesting to have a female OB/Gyn. The other thing too is that she's just barely coming into practice.. according to her fact sheet on our insurance website, she finished her residency earlier this year. Which is I think a good thing.. some people prefer experience, but I prefer someone who's fresh out of med school, and who's got the up and up in what's new in medicine. Plus, I think doctors that are newer in the field tend to be less stuck in antiquated thoughts and mindsets. I guess on the bright side of seeing this new doctor, I get in two days sooner than I would have otherwise.. I get seen on the 21st instead of the 23rd.
Well, that's my update.. I'm 1/4 the way done with my pregnancy.. yay!
No morning/afternoon/evening sickness. However I have strong aversions to certain smells, and certain foods. The idea of eating tortillas for example.. totally grosses me out like nothing else. I've been craving red meat, cookies, spicy foods and sour/salty stuff.
No, I'm not showing yet. The only thing that's changed about me physically is that I've been breaking on my face more than usual, getting the gross under-the-skin-with-no-head pimples and my bra size went from a normal B cup to a D cup in about 4 weeks. And they are growing. As of 6.5 weeks, if I express, I'm already making colostrum which would account for the rapid growth in bra size. I also had cramping during weeks 5 and 6, but I didn't have any bleeding so I wasn't worried at all. I was also only cramping when my bladder was super full.
As weird as this sounds, I've already felt the baby move. At least once. It was kind of a rocking sensation with a soft little poke, and lasted about 10 minutes. I contribute this to several factors... I'm extremely sensitive to what goes on in my body.. for example I feel my intestines digest on a regular basis -not painful just weird-, I think the baby is situated high in my uterus, and my bladder was exceptionally full at the time, so I think it was pushing my uterus up higher and since we were driving in the car at the time and I had my seatbelt on, the belt was putting pressure on my uterus so.. yeah. I know I'm not crazy, since this is my 3rd pregnancy and I've been through the motions already. With Zoe and Ruthie though, I didn't feel them move until around 13-14 weeks, which makes me wonder if I'm carrying multiples or something. I was getting this sensation of something hard next to the movement that wasn't moving as well, but it could have been my bladder and so.. yeah who the heck knows.
Physically, emotionally and mentally, this pregnancy is really taking it's toll on me. I'm so tired all the time, which is not good since I'm a stay at home mom to two kids, and up to 4 times a week, I've got a third here. Fortunately, I won't be watching her much longer, so hopefully that'll help a bit. I've been more prone to outbursts, and I haven't been handling my emotions as well as I should. I feel bad beacuse the girls are having issues with handling their feelings and expression themselves, and I realize it's my fault but... I can't seem to help it. I've been all over the place emotionally and I realize I'm probably suffering from some type of pregnancy induced rage or something. Which makes me really think I'm having a boy, since I was not like this with my first two pregnancies.
It especially sucks, because I had to switch to a new doctor... something I really didn't want to do, but I'm having to be realistic. The OB I was seeing when I was pregnant with Ruthie is super awesome and amazing... he's an Osteopathic doctor, and I loved that. Unfortunately, he no longer delivers at the hospital I had Ruthie at, and the hospital he does deliver at is 30 minutes away, assuming we hit every green light on the way, and I go into labor at 2 in the morning where there's no traffic on the roads... which is highly unlikely. So, today I had to find a new doctor.. who's an MD -which is fine I guess- and who's a she. Totally okay with that I guess, it'll be interesting to have a female OB/Gyn. The other thing too is that she's just barely coming into practice.. according to her fact sheet on our insurance website, she finished her residency earlier this year. Which is I think a good thing.. some people prefer experience, but I prefer someone who's fresh out of med school, and who's got the up and up in what's new in medicine. Plus, I think doctors that are newer in the field tend to be less stuck in antiquated thoughts and mindsets. I guess on the bright side of seeing this new doctor, I get in two days sooner than I would have otherwise.. I get seen on the 21st instead of the 23rd.
Well, that's my update.. I'm 1/4 the way done with my pregnancy.. yay!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Some Math For Ya
+
+
+
=
the Five Hayfords!
(Well, we hope there's only one in there!)
ETA: 04/13/11
Oh, and of course we can't forget Casey. I LOVE this picture of him!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
SIGH.....
They say pet ownership is rewarding. Studies have shown that people live longer, have a reduction in stress and therapy animals really help wonders with sick and disabled patients.
They apparently never had their dog end up on a roof.
Now, I know you're laughing right now, and going "How did THAT happen?"
Well, let me tell you. Now, I don't profess myself to be a dog whisperer or psychic, so I can't tell you what was going on through Casey's head when he did this. But my inlaws have a deck in their back yard, and it USED to be two levels.. the second level being on the roof that's slightly higher than this portion.. you can see it in the top middle, or at least the metal flashing. Anyways, a few years back, they had the back part of the roof replaced, and due to the unstable nature of the top level deck -it was a DDIY or Don't Do It Yourself- and they had it taken down. Except they didn't have the stairs taken down. There's a window on the back of the house, and I guess it's a great fire escape route from the second floor. Anyways, The Sunday before last, Zoe got Casey to come up through the roof and got yelled at because he probably wanted to come in the house through the window. Well, we let the dogs in and I think rather than wait for someone to open the back door, he decided he was going to go through the window and get in the house himself. But that didn't work.
We think at this point, Casey got confused and went down the wrong way, and obviously started panicking when he realized there were no stairs to get down the side of the house and get all four paws planted on the ground again. So, this is a picture of Jeff trying to get him to move forward one foot to get ahold of his collar and drag him down to the edge so he can go ahead and pick him up off the roof (Jeff's standing on something the roof isn't actually that low). But that wasn't working. So I ran upstairs, expecting Tim -the youngest boy of Jeff's family of 6 siblings- to be home, but he wasn't. Luckily, one of his friends was still there and he was nice enough to hop out the window and help Jeff get Casey down by grabbing his collar and shoving him forward a foot and holding him there while Jeff got him off the rest of the way.
Moral of the story? Dogs don't belong on roofs. We'll see if Casey does this again.
They apparently never had their dog end up on a roof.
Now, I know you're laughing right now, and going "How did THAT happen?"
Well, let me tell you. Now, I don't profess myself to be a dog whisperer or psychic, so I can't tell you what was going on through Casey's head when he did this. But my inlaws have a deck in their back yard, and it USED to be two levels.. the second level being on the roof that's slightly higher than this portion.. you can see it in the top middle, or at least the metal flashing. Anyways, a few years back, they had the back part of the roof replaced, and due to the unstable nature of the top level deck -it was a DDIY or Don't Do It Yourself- and they had it taken down. Except they didn't have the stairs taken down. There's a window on the back of the house, and I guess it's a great fire escape route from the second floor. Anyways, The Sunday before last, Zoe got Casey to come up through the roof and got yelled at because he probably wanted to come in the house through the window. Well, we let the dogs in and I think rather than wait for someone to open the back door, he decided he was going to go through the window and get in the house himself. But that didn't work.
We think at this point, Casey got confused and went down the wrong way, and obviously started panicking when he realized there were no stairs to get down the side of the house and get all four paws planted on the ground again. So, this is a picture of Jeff trying to get him to move forward one foot to get ahold of his collar and drag him down to the edge so he can go ahead and pick him up off the roof (Jeff's standing on something the roof isn't actually that low). But that wasn't working. So I ran upstairs, expecting Tim -the youngest boy of Jeff's family of 6 siblings- to be home, but he wasn't. Luckily, one of his friends was still there and he was nice enough to hop out the window and help Jeff get Casey down by grabbing his collar and shoving him forward a foot and holding him there while Jeff got him off the rest of the way.
Moral of the story? Dogs don't belong on roofs. We'll see if Casey does this again.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
And They Aren't Even Teenagers Yet...
... and already Zoe's making signs like this:
Yeah, that's correct. It's a picture of Jeff (left) and me. And there's NO above our heads. Apparently, no parents are allowed in their room*. The N is a bit lopsided, but it's very clearly a NO.
Amazing.. Zoe's nine years away from being a teenager, and already this.
Well, we always knew she was advanced for her age.
*BTW, she still actually lets us in; however her door has to be shut during the day for some reason.
Amazing.. Zoe's nine years away from being a teenager, and already this.
Well, we always knew she was advanced for her age.
*BTW, she still actually lets us in; however her door has to be shut during the day for some reason.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Home Sweet Home.. and States Visited.. Revised
visited 15 states (30%)
Create your own visited map of The United States
I can't begin to even say how happy we all are to be home. Over the course of the next week, I plan on blogging about the trip.. it'll include pictures, stories and maybe even a video or two.
We expanded our 'states visited' list from 5 to 15! Only 35 more to go... LOL
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