26 weeks

I had a check-up this morning, and they tested me for gestational diabetes. I was told at my last appointment that I'd need to come to this one fasting, so I hadn't eaten since 9pm last night and my appointment was scheduled for 10:30am today. They called me back into a room at 11 and explained that I'd have to drink this sugary concoction before they could do the test, and I had to wait exactly an hour between drinking the orange mess and being tested. No problem. I'm starving, but okay. I drank the drink and waited for my doctor. I told her I felt pretty good, much better than last Monday when I was having sharp pain and Braxton-Hicks contractions, but that I was really hungry. And then she asked if I had eaten breakfast. I reminded her about the fasting test, and she informed me that I only had to fast between drinking the juice and having my blood drawn. What? She wasn't happy that I had been misinformed, and I almost started crying--which, really, was pretty much my whole morning. Taylor Swift's "Love Story" made me weepy. Yay, hormones! Anyway. I started feeling awful by about 11:50 and nearly freaked out. I thought I was going to have another panic attack. I think I was just hormonal, hungry, and frustrated, but I am a little concerned that my blood sugar WAS off and that contributed to the whole mess.

I discovered that I'm allergic to brethine (terbutaline), the medicine most commonly used to stop preterm contractions. The nurse at the Labor and Delivery clinic we went to last Monday told me that I have to tell everyone about my one medicine allergy, which I thought was strange since it was for asthma. Turns out, it's the same medicine! Last time I had it, they had to call a crash cart. I almost died. Which, technically, would stop the contractions, too.

I feel like none of my friends will ever, ever want to get pregnant after reading my blog. I promise that it's not all scary and strange. I love that we're having a baby. I love feeling him move. I love that Dallas reads nursery rhymes and The Chronicles of Narnia to my belly button and "dances" with our son. There are many wonderful things about this experience, but I honestly feel like I was unprepared for a lot of the symptoms I've mentioned on my blog, and I want people to know! For example, my abdomen muscles are starting to be forced apart by my growing uterus, and now when I use those muscles to sit up, I have this insane bulge that looks like a fist trying to force its way out of my insides. It's disconcerting, but normal. The nearly constant sharp pains at the bottom of my stomach? Ligaments breaking apart. Uncomfortable. Completely normal. One of my friends is a doula/midwife who knows far, far more about all of this than I do, and she said that Jenny McCarthy's book (Belly Laughs?) talks a lot about the un-discussed side effects of growing a human. There's a lot our culture doesn't talk about.

So here I am. Twenty-two days until I am officially done with the semester. Fourteen weeks until the due date. I've gained about 17 pounds, and I generally feel pretty good. I'm sleeping well, too, which is nice!

26 weeks

Nursery!

24 weeks

My parents, sister, little brother, and I all went to Buy Buy Baby in Birmingham yesterday to pick out nursery stuff. (I think the chain is owned by Bed, Bath, and Beyond, in which case they need to lay off of the B-alliteration.) My sister and I found cribs, dressers, gliders, car seats, and strollers! Whew. It was a lot. My parents are amazing.

I'm currently irritated about non-baby-related things, so I'll just content myself with posting a picture of the outfit Aunt D bought for Baby D and the belly picture of my sister and me (and the cousins) and say no more.

Babies is pimps, too.

17 weeks and 24 weeks

23 weeks

We had an appointment today to measure Dresden's skull and brain development, and everything looks perfectly normal. I have to schedule another appointment in three weeks for them to check my glucose level to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. Since regular old diabetes runs in both sides of my family for two generations, I've always been concerned, but I feel fine most of the time. Not so much right this second, but I'm going to bed. Right now.

22.5 weeks

Two thoughts:

I look pregnant! A stranger asked me if I'm having a boy or a girl, so it's officially official.

Two songs are guaranteed to get Dresden moving: "Just" by Radiohead and "Low" by FloRida. This kid is my favorite.

And an update:

I'll be 23 weeks on Tuesday, and I have another appointment on Wednesday. I've gained just under 15 pounds. I keep thinking I'll take a picture of myself the next time I'm properly made-up, but it never happens.

And a question:

What do you think about maternity photo shoots? Dallas is very much against the bare upper body shots, and though I have seen a few that are extremely well done, I don't think I would be comfortable with that level of exposure. In fact, I don't think I'd be comfortable in front of the camera, period. Not that I ever really am, but you know what I mean. I can't imagine shelling out hundreds of dollars for pictures of myself looking awkward and uncomfortable when I can achieve the same thing at the house. Whachuthink?

Half past pregnant. (20 weeks)

I'm getting ready to give my midterm, but I wanted to take a moment to commemorate this halfway point. Twenty more weeks! I'm having a baby! Crazy!

Dresden is supposed to be the size of a cantaloupe, but my belly isn't exactly "melon-sized" like What to Expect says it should be. I know he's the right size--if anything, a bit big!--but I hate the whole "your belly should be this big by now" approach because it makes everyone feel bad, either for being too big or too small. Dallas thinks I'm too small and that I don't eat enough, but I promise I do. I've gained 13 lbs, which I personally feel is reasonable.

Okay, so this is technically from 21 weeks, mid-cruise. As you can see, Dresden enjoyed the 24-hour availability of food and grew a whole bunch. I may have that melon-sized bump now!

Beware: Ultrasound pictures inside.

I told you! If you don't like ultrasound pictures, don't look. I don't post them on Facebook for a reason. They're a little bit creepy, and I don't like the idea of everyone seeing the inside of my uterus instead of my face as a profile picture. It's not a room with a view. I'm sure if I had one of the fancy 3d or 4d things, I would change my tune. Unfortunately, I only have the old-fashioned ultrasounds, and they make my babe look like a mini-Skeletor. But I have had far more ultrasounds than the average pregnant woman, and I think watching the progression from a lima bean sized blob to a recognizable human is fascinating. So here he is!

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This is embryonic Dresden at about 7 weeks. He is the bottom mass, about the size of a blueberry. The top one is what became the placenta, but at this point it was called something gross like a yolk sack.

This is about 6 weeks later, so 13 weeks gestation. Dresden was about the size of a shrimp. You can see his eye sockets. Weird. This ultrasound was done after the ER trip to check on my cervix and placenta.

The top picture is his head and spine, the middle is his "credentials" (as Dallas called them), and the bottom right is his legs and feet. This ultrasound was done at 17 weeks to measure everything since my uterus was "too big" for my original due date. Turns out that I'm just small, which makes my inside girl parts (and inside boy, I guess) seem bigger by comparison. Dresden was about the size of my palm from his head to his rump. He weighed 7 ounces.

And here are the pictures from today's ultrasound at 19 weeks. The first one on the left freaked me out because it looks like his head was sliced in two, but apparently he was just hiding beneath my belly button, which caused interference. I was assured that his head is in one piece. His profile is on the right, but it's hard to explain without being about to point at things. You can see his eye socket, his nose, and his open mouth. He was in the process of putting his hand in his mouth. It was cute. He's the length of a large mango and weighs 11 ounces.

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SO! I've actually had five ultrasounds, since they did one at the ER, too. And Dresden wasn't very cooperative today, so my doctor wants us to have another just before our next check-up on March 30. That will be the sixth ultrasound, and I'm pretty sure most women only have three? I'm worried about it, of course, but my doctor didn't seem concerned that they couldn't get a measurement of his head or brain, and she's clearly not in a rush to double check. As the technician said, they've seen my baby so often that they could probably estimate measurements by looking at the last few ultrasounds. I guess I'm just going to stay anxious and stressed until the kid is born.

I love that I always use passive voice when talking about The Birth. Like it just happens, without me having to do anything at all. "And lo! He is born."