To all those who commented regarding this blog name. I think I'll stick with it. :) By the way, I don't mind when people say something about my "eating for two" when I'm pregnant--because it's true! It's just when people would teasingly say that, just because I took a little more food than usual at a church supper or something, that I would find it a little bit trying. :)
It is so amazing how one's appetite increases enormously even in the early days of pregnancy! Sometimes it feels like all Sam and I do is eat all day. :)
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Friday, October 28, 2005
Prenatal Visit #1
I had my first prenatal checkup on Tuesday. Everything went very well. I really like my midwife, Sherry. If anyone is interested, here is a link to a little info about her. She actually reminds me in many ways of a combination of two of my aunts.
This was likely one of the most time-consuming appointments, the one with all the paperwork and the physical exam, bloodwork, etc. I found out one of the only negative things about having a midwife draw your blood rather than having it done in the lab at a hospital . . . in the hospital, they do it all the time and are very fast and proficient, whereas midwives don't do it as often and therefore aren't quite as skilled. I had to get poked 3 times in order to get enough blood--Sherry was rather frustrated with herself for not getting it right the first time, so apparently she doesn't usually have much trouble with it. Maybe my veins were just being stubborn. So the inside of my elbows were pretty sore that night and the next day, and I have a nice blue bruise on one arm from that! But that's OK . . . having blood taken really doesn't bother me anymore, it's just nicer when it can be done fast! Anyway, she finally got the 4 full vials that she needed, so that part is over with for now. I'm not sure, but probably I'll have to have blood drawn at least once more during the pregnancy. I'm RH negative, which means I have to have a shot of Rhogam to ensure that the baby will be safe if he/she has a different blood type, so I think I'll have to have my blood taken to check for levels of something, before getting the shot. And I may need to do a sugar test partway through, too. I was happy to see that Sherry has a Doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat, just like what is used at a hospital. We couldn't hear the heartbeat yet, though, which wasn't surprising. When you consider that the baby is only a couple inches long, and the little heart would be about the size of . . . hmmm, I can't think what it would be the size of! But very tiny, anyway!
Hopefully Jim will be able to go to my next appointment with me, and by that time we will likely be able to hear the heartbeat. My next one is scheduled for November 22, the week of Thanksgiving.
One cool thing happened the same evening. I had gone to a "Tastefully Simple" home party at a friend's house, and while there I got talking with another friend who I hadn't seen in a while. She was asking who I was going to for this pregnancy, and it turned out that she also had Sherry for a midwife a few years back when she had her 4th child at home! So it was neat to find out that I actually know someone who has worked with the same midwife. She told me that Sherry is a Christian, which was also neat to hear. I have liked the fact already that she has mentioned her belief that God created our bodies to perform the natural work of childbirth, which is of course what I believe as well. The midwives I saw at Dartmouth with my last pregnancy would say similar things, but they always left God out of it.
Well, I guess that is all that's new in baby-land! Thanks for reading. :) If there's anything that anyone has questions about, that I haven't thought of mentioning in my ramblings related to my pregnancy, please feel free to ask!
This was likely one of the most time-consuming appointments, the one with all the paperwork and the physical exam, bloodwork, etc. I found out one of the only negative things about having a midwife draw your blood rather than having it done in the lab at a hospital . . . in the hospital, they do it all the time and are very fast and proficient, whereas midwives don't do it as often and therefore aren't quite as skilled. I had to get poked 3 times in order to get enough blood--Sherry was rather frustrated with herself for not getting it right the first time, so apparently she doesn't usually have much trouble with it. Maybe my veins were just being stubborn. So the inside of my elbows were pretty sore that night and the next day, and I have a nice blue bruise on one arm from that! But that's OK . . . having blood taken really doesn't bother me anymore, it's just nicer when it can be done fast! Anyway, she finally got the 4 full vials that she needed, so that part is over with for now. I'm not sure, but probably I'll have to have blood drawn at least once more during the pregnancy. I'm RH negative, which means I have to have a shot of Rhogam to ensure that the baby will be safe if he/she has a different blood type, so I think I'll have to have my blood taken to check for levels of something, before getting the shot. And I may need to do a sugar test partway through, too. I was happy to see that Sherry has a Doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat, just like what is used at a hospital. We couldn't hear the heartbeat yet, though, which wasn't surprising. When you consider that the baby is only a couple inches long, and the little heart would be about the size of . . . hmmm, I can't think what it would be the size of! But very tiny, anyway!
Hopefully Jim will be able to go to my next appointment with me, and by that time we will likely be able to hear the heartbeat. My next one is scheduled for November 22, the week of Thanksgiving.
One cool thing happened the same evening. I had gone to a "Tastefully Simple" home party at a friend's house, and while there I got talking with another friend who I hadn't seen in a while. She was asking who I was going to for this pregnancy, and it turned out that she also had Sherry for a midwife a few years back when she had her 4th child at home! So it was neat to find out that I actually know someone who has worked with the same midwife. She told me that Sherry is a Christian, which was also neat to hear. I have liked the fact already that she has mentioned her belief that God created our bodies to perform the natural work of childbirth, which is of course what I believe as well. The midwives I saw at Dartmouth with my last pregnancy would say similar things, but they always left God out of it.
Well, I guess that is all that's new in baby-land! Thanks for reading. :) If there's anything that anyone has questions about, that I haven't thought of mentioning in my ramblings related to my pregnancy, please feel free to ask!
Monday, October 24, 2005
First Entry--11 Weeks
Well, here we go with my first pregnancy journal! I'm excited about keeping a record of what goes on this time around, as I really didn't with Sam. I do remember quite a bit from my pregnancy with him, but probably not as much as if I had written it down.
One of the things people nearly always ask a pregnant woman is how she is feeling. I'm thankful to say that (so far anyway) I have very easy, "textbook" pregnancies. I've never had much morning sickness to speak of. With Sam, I think I felt nauseous for about a week. With this baby, I would say I had about 3 weeks of off and on not feeling well, but I never actually got sick. It was more just having a woozy tummy and not feeling like eating anything, even though I was hungry nearly all the time! Animal crackers tasted good, so I ate a lot of those. Also, I had a cold for about 1 1/2 to 2 of those weeks, which didn't help. The other thing that has been worse this time around is tiredness. I know this is because I now have a little one to keep up with, and I can't just sleep in or take a nap whenever I feel like I need extra sleep. I'm going to do my best to get to bed earlier, because Sam is an early riser (like 5-5:30 am) and the amount of sleep I'm getting right now just isn't cutting it.
With Sam, I had a lot of heartburn trouble, especially toward the end of the pregnancy. I'm hoping this one won't be as bad in that regard. So far, so good. But the baby isn't very big yet!
I have the feeling I may end up in maternity clothes sooner than I did with my first pregnancy, as I never quite lost the baby belly! I don't think I've gained any weight yet with this one, but I didn't lose all I wanted to after having Sam, either. I feel like my tummy is already expanding. I think with Sam, I made it to about 20 weeks or more before wearing any maternity clothes--we'll see how I do with this one. I'm wanting to dig out the tote where they're stored soon, anyway, just to see what I've got. I've recently bought 2 church dresses and 2 short-sleeved shirts (thinking ahead to spring) at the local second-hand store, so that will expand my wardrobe some. I don't think I'll need much new stuff, since I'll go through the majority of pregnancy at a similar time of year as before.
I won't need to buy any baby stuff this time around anyway, unless we end up with a girl, which is doubtful! And even if we did, to start with she could wear a lot of the "gender neutral" nighties and sleepers and stuff that I had for Sam. We didn't know ahead of time which he was, so we received a lot of greens and yellows. That's nice for starters, though. Assuming we do have a boy, I doubt we'll have to buy any clothes, since we have tons from Sam, and the seasons for them should line up pretty well.
I will close here for now and post this so I can check out how my new blog looks. :) I'll try to tweak it and add more stuff later.
One of the things people nearly always ask a pregnant woman is how she is feeling. I'm thankful to say that (so far anyway) I have very easy, "textbook" pregnancies. I've never had much morning sickness to speak of. With Sam, I think I felt nauseous for about a week. With this baby, I would say I had about 3 weeks of off and on not feeling well, but I never actually got sick. It was more just having a woozy tummy and not feeling like eating anything, even though I was hungry nearly all the time! Animal crackers tasted good, so I ate a lot of those. Also, I had a cold for about 1 1/2 to 2 of those weeks, which didn't help. The other thing that has been worse this time around is tiredness. I know this is because I now have a little one to keep up with, and I can't just sleep in or take a nap whenever I feel like I need extra sleep. I'm going to do my best to get to bed earlier, because Sam is an early riser (like 5-5:30 am) and the amount of sleep I'm getting right now just isn't cutting it.
With Sam, I had a lot of heartburn trouble, especially toward the end of the pregnancy. I'm hoping this one won't be as bad in that regard. So far, so good. But the baby isn't very big yet!
I have the feeling I may end up in maternity clothes sooner than I did with my first pregnancy, as I never quite lost the baby belly! I don't think I've gained any weight yet with this one, but I didn't lose all I wanted to after having Sam, either. I feel like my tummy is already expanding. I think with Sam, I made it to about 20 weeks or more before wearing any maternity clothes--we'll see how I do with this one. I'm wanting to dig out the tote where they're stored soon, anyway, just to see what I've got. I've recently bought 2 church dresses and 2 short-sleeved shirts (thinking ahead to spring) at the local second-hand store, so that will expand my wardrobe some. I don't think I'll need much new stuff, since I'll go through the majority of pregnancy at a similar time of year as before.
I won't need to buy any baby stuff this time around anyway, unless we end up with a girl, which is doubtful! And even if we did, to start with she could wear a lot of the "gender neutral" nighties and sleepers and stuff that I had for Sam. We didn't know ahead of time which he was, so we received a lot of greens and yellows. That's nice for starters, though. Assuming we do have a boy, I doubt we'll have to buy any clothes, since we have tons from Sam, and the seasons for them should line up pretty well.
I will close here for now and post this so I can check out how my new blog looks. :) I'll try to tweak it and add more stuff later.
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