Hiccoughs

This morning, right when I woke up, I felt our little one hiccough! I can't describe how excited I felt. I never felt Oliver get the hiccoughs, although I'm sure he had them at some point. It almost felt like when you lay just right and feel your own pulse. It was very regular and rhythmic and adorable.

I'm counting down the last few weeks! Six to go, unless she feels like hanging out in there for a little longer.

Third Trimester

Friday, I entered into the third and final trimester! This pregnancy has flown by. I'm happy that the past few months have been healthy with no bleeding or other unusual problems.

As of today, I also think our little one is out of breach position! For weeks, all the kicking I've felt has been very, very low. Finally, today, the kicking is up high in my ribs. I'm so excited, and I feel like we're another step closer to a healthy delivery.

Symptoms have been fairly mild. Walking two blocks feels like I ran half a mile. I'm not as sleepy and have been able to wake up earlier and stay up later. I have to pee a couple times an hour, and when I'm active, a small amount has started to leak. That never happened in my last pregnancy! I've had heart burn a couple times, both episodes at night. My body aches, especially in my hips and the lowest part of my back. My feet aren't too swollen, but my face is. I still have the acne that developed a few months ago. The acne and facial swelling make me feel pretty gross.

I'm trying to focus on enjoying the pregnancy because I don't plan on being pregnant again. It's challenging most of the time. I'm looking forward to having our little one and having the pregnancy behind me!

Pregnancy Update

My pregnancy symptoms have been close to nil, which makes me both happy and worried. I feel like it's normal to not be very symptomatic during the second trimester, but I also worry that it means something is wrong. Also, I haven't had much of an appetite these last few weeks, and it's hard to make myself eat enough protein. When I do eat, I just want a bowl of cereal or an apple.

The only symptoms I seem to have are a bit of swelling and frequent urination. There are some parts of the day when my wedding rings start to feel tight from my swollen fingers. I'll probably have to remove them soon. As for peeing... it wasn't bad at all during the first trimester, but it's been terrible this whole trimester. There are frequent periods where I have to get up and pee every 20 minutes. Embarrassingly, I've also made sure to always wear a liner because a small amount urine seems to leak out a couple times a day. It's not enough to go through my clothes or anything, but I don't want to stink like pee! I know it's a fairly common side effect of pregnancy, but I don't like it one bit.

The good news is that I've gone two mornings in a row with absolutely no bleeding or spotting. This is the longest I've gone without bleeding in about three weeks.

I'm officially well into my 18th week of pregnancy and have started month five. I don't feel any kicks or movement, which makes me feel confident that the sensations I felt starting in week 12 were not kicks at all. I knew they were too strong, but I couldn't image what else they were. They felt exactly like strong baby kicks. Now, I wonder if they were strong muscle spasms from straining myself too much because I haven't had them at all since I was put on limited activity.

My next check-up is in a week and a half, and I'll get an ultrasound. I can't wait to see the ultrasound and know that everything is going OK. I really hope to see lots of movement, a healthy heartbeat, and no blood in the uterus!

More Pregnancy Scares

So, Monday morning, I discovered I'd bled quite a bit. I filled the toilet with dark blood and went to an urgent care clinic run by Swedish Hospital. Yesterday (Tuesday), I woke up, and I dripped out as I got out of bed. I didn't bleed as much as the day before, but it was still significant, and I was terrified. Andrew took me straight to Swedish Hospital. The bleeding had stopped before we left the house.

Again, they ran tests. This time, they drew vials of blood, did an exam, and did an ultrasound. The ultrasound wasn't as detailed as the one I'd gotten the morning before, but it did let us know the baby was doing well, moving, and had a heart beat of 140. After three hours, I was sent home. The doctor talked to me and told me everything else looks good (my cervix is still closed, but he could see dried blood), but bleeding is not normal. He told me that resting is a good idea and might be able to help, but he also explained to me that everything is basically out of my hands. He said, "Rebecca, if you're going to miscarry, you're going to miscarry, and there's nothing you can do about that." I think that was something I needed to hear, but it was also something I didn't want to hear. I wanted to be told that if I did a certain thing, then the baby would be OK. He couldn't tell me that.

My mom came home with me again to help with Oliver. Poor Oliver has been quite a trooper through everything. He had a really, really rough time learning that I'm not going to be picking him up and carrying him around any more, but he's also really risen to the occasion. That little boy has learned to do so much by himself in a short amount of time. He climbs upstairs when he wants to play up there or get a diaper change, and he climbs back down. When we leave the house, the crawls down the front steps and even has crawled off the curb to get to the car. He's learned to hold my hand while crossing parking lots and has just been absolutely, completely amazing. I can't do as much house work, so I sit on the floor frequently to play blocks or bowling pins with him. He's definitely getting a lot of love and attention, but it's hard for him sometimes. He still holds his hands up to me sometimes to pick him up. I'll sit down and get on the floor with him, and (for the most part) he's stopped crying at this.

This morning, when I woke up, I had a few drops of blood, but it wasn't even enough to change the color of the toilet water. It was a lot less. I felt good this morning. I wondered if I'd torn something, and when I sleep, maybe my muscles relax enough for the blood to come out. A lot less blood is a good thing, and maybe it means the tear is really healing. If so, I'm hoping there is no blood tomorrow (or almost none).

People have been coming forward with so much support. It actually helps a lot. I've never really been in a situation where I needed people to rally around me, but now that I'm here, I feel so loved and cared for. In addition to my mom's help, Colleen (Andrew's mom) took the day off today and is going to watch Oliver. Andrew and I cancelled our road trip/camping trip with Oliver (which was supposed to take place from yesterday evening through Sunday), but he kept his days off to help Oliver adjust and to help me. I've gotten phone calls from friends and relatives--even Andrew's great-aunt called. People have given me supportive messages on Facebook and told me they were thinking positive thoughts and praying for me. While I'm not a religious person, I know that those things really do help people. For example, the "power of prayer" works for people when they know they're being prayed for. I keep reminding myself of all the people who want this little baby girl to make it through. Andrew keeps telling me to picture the end result, so I keep imagining this little swaddled baby being handed to me at the hospital with a pink cap on.

I also keep thinking of how remarkable and impossible it is that our baby girl is here. I think about how my ancestors had to immigrate from Denmark and Germany and Poland and Ireland, and they had to meet and get married and have kids at a specific time to create the gene pool that created me. Andrew's Welsh and Irish ancestors had to immigrate here. His parents had to move back to Denver, and mine had to move to Denver for us to meet. We both had to drop out of our universities and decide to go to community college to meet! Who would have thought that those actions would lead to something so amazing? Circumstances and timing had to be absolutely perfect for this tiny little girl to exist. I think about how she has made it this far, a statistical impossibility in some ways (if you think about it), and I'm determined to meet her. She's made it this far, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she gets another five months in my womb to grow and thrive and have a chance at life.

In five months, I want this baby. It's past the first trimester. Miscarriages at this point in the pregnancy are so rare. The worst is over. Now I just need to take it easy and let her body grow.

Health Scare

This morning, I woke up and found that I was bleeding. I had passed a decent amount of bright red blood. It was only one episode, and the blood stopped. Terrified for my pregnancy, Andrew took me to the urgent care a few miles from our house.

The doctor spoke to me for a while and then ordered an ultrasound. I was glad she'd ordered it because I wanted to see that the baby was moving and had a heart beat. I was also terrified of what it could show.

When the ultrasound tech wheeled me into the ultrasound room, I could feel my stomach do a flip-flop. I felt so afraid of what I was about to see. It turns out, I didn't have to be afraid. The little one was wiggling all around, doing flips and rolls and moving all about! The tech also checked the heart rate, which read 154. That's a healthy rate!

After checking other parts of my body, from the cervix to the ovaries, the tech announced to me that my first ultrasound tech was right. We are having a girl! I was trying not to have ugly cries at that point. Our baby was OK, I was OK, and our baby's a girl!

The doctor later let me know that it looked like there was a very small separation of the placenta from the wall. She said it can heal if I take it easy, and it's important I don't make it worse. She told me I shouldn't bend over too much, and I shouldn't lift heavy things. She said I need to carry Oliver as little as possible and try not to pick up objects heavier than five pounds. She said I shouldn't do a lot of housework and shouldn't do strenuous exercise. She said I don't need to be on complete bed rest, but I do need to rest and try to heal.

My mom came and spent the rest of the day with me, helping Oliver adjust to a life of not being carried all the time. Thankfully, the little man has done quite well for himself. He looked so proud holding my hand and crossing the parking lot to the car to go home! It's going to be a rough few months for him, but I'm going to do everything I can to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby girl.

Midwife Appointment

I saw my midwife today for a quick appointment. She said my uterus is about the size of a cantaloupe and is about a finger's width below my belly button. I also got to hear the heartbeat--140bpm.

I didn't realize how much I wanted to hear that heartbeat until I heard it, and then I felt so much better! A good friend of mine from high school was expecting a baby with his wife, due about the same time as ours. They had their first child shortly after we had Oliver, but they lost the pregnancy this time. All the talk of high HCG and the weird, early kicks I've been feeling have had me on edge. I just wish I could fast-forward 6 months and have a good delivery and a healthy baby.

Meanwhile, my back is killing me this afternoon. It hurts so much! I finally Googled the symptom to see what was up. Apparently, the hormone relaxin (which relaxes your ligaments allowing for your hips to expand) peeks at week 14. I read that it can cause aches and pains. Boy, let me tell you! Ouch.

It's funny that my first pregnancy left me so exhausted. All I did was think of sleep. This go around, I have a little more energy and less exhaustion, but so many more aches and pains! I guess it's a good trade off since I have a toddler to chase around this time, but I have to say that I'm glad this pregnancy is passing quickly. Twenty-six more weeks to go!

Baby Kicking? Part II

I'm still not sure what to make of the sensations I'm feeling. Two weeks ago, I started to feel an occasional spasm that felt exactly like a baby kick, but when a baby is much older (like 25 weeks). I finally decided that it must not be the baby because the feeling was so strong.

This morning, I was holding Oliver on my left hip and leaned to my right and felt a huge "kick" on my right side, near my belly button. It startled me so much! I was shocked how strong it was and felt more confident than ever that it wasn't a kick. No baby this early could kick so hard! I worried it's a weak muscle or something spasming.

Then, just a few minutes ago, my husband called. Oliver was playing with his bowling pins, so I took the opportunity to sit on the couch and rest. I sat down and talked to him for about two minutes when I felt a sudden, firm "kick" in the same place, about two inches directly to the right of my belly button. It was so firm and startled me so much that I let out a scream and dropped the phone. I tried to explain to my husband that it didn't hurt at all (it felt like a baby kick, but how could he know what I meant). He worried, though, which made me worry, so I called my midwife. She was telling me my "pains" could be gas pains. I understood she was trying to keep me from worrying, but I knew that I wasn't feeling painful gas. This was a momentary burst of sensation that feels just like a baby kicked me. It's not a cramping and extended pain. She told me it's certainly possible to feel a baby at 14 weeks, but I still felt like there could be no way that these hard "kicks" could be baby kicks this whole time. How is that possible?

Have any of you felt distinct, firm baby kicks this early? Enough to make you yelp in surprise?

Pregnant? Maybe!

I bought a generic early-test pregnancy test. It was a two pack, and it said you can test as early as five days before your missed period (which, for me, was yesterday). Of course, the accuracy of testing that early is only 53% (only 53% of pregnant women will test positive that early). Yesterday morning, I took the test anyway, but I didn't even get the control line. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but it definitely did not work.

This morning (four days before my missed period), the accuracy is supposed to be 74%. I felt pretty comfortable with those odds, and so I used the second test. Thankfully, the control line popped up right away. At least the test worked! But, tragically, I couldn't read the test after two minutes. There was the faintest line I've ever seen in my life. A faint line is supposed to be positive, but this one was so faint that it could have been a shadow. I showed it to Andrew, who thought it was a real line. I read up on the test online, and, sure enough, it said that tests can get an evaporation line in the test window, which can resemble a shadow of a line. I read that if you see a line that is so faint it could be a shadow, that you should test again in 1-2 days.

And, so, with two tests under my belt, I'm still not sure if I'm pregnant. I have to say, I think I am. I've had sudden, random feelings of anger, which I experienced throughout my last pregnancy (the hormones must cause me to feel angry, lol!). I've also had a sweet tooth, which I don't usually have, and I never had with my pregnancy with Oliver. Finally, Andrew had on a new chap stick or something the other day that was so gross, I couldn't kiss him for about 24 hours. It really made me want to vomit. Also, I've experienced a bit of cramping throughout the week, and, although I haven't had any nausea, my stomach has done a few flip-flops. I also haven't been very hungry, which actually is one of the symptoms I had with my last pregnancy. When I was first pregnant with Oliver, I lost five pounds before I knew I was pregnant because I just wasn't hungry. Finally, I was so exhausted yesterday that I couldn't make dinner and had to lay down on the couch for half an hour instead (that's another symptom I had with my last pregnancy, and it lasted the first two trimesters). On the other hand, my breasts haven't been tender at all. I say that because breast tenderness was my first sign of pregnancy last time.


Like my last pregnancy post, I'm not going to publish this one until later. Once I've verified I'm pregnant (if I'm pregnant), we're going to hold off telling almost everyone. I think we'll tell Andrew's parents before my parents this time (as we told my parents first last time). Andrew and I discussed telling them when we celebrate his dad's birthday in early April. We'd probably then tell my parents later that same day. Most likely, I'll tell my good friends Aminta and Stasa this upcoming weekend because I'll be in Miami visiting Stasa (and it'd be nice to tell her in person).

As of now, the only people who know we've been trying are our friends, Dom and Corinne, and my childhood friend, Sam. Dom assures us that we'll get pregnant without any hassle, as Andrew and I got pregnant last time when I was on birth control. He thinks if we could do it without trying, surely we can get pregnant when we are trying! I'm inclined to agree, and I really think we were successful after our first try!

Early Signs of Pregnancy

I won't be publishing this post for months. I want to write what I'm feeling now, but I don't want to share it with everyone until a big announcement is made in a few weeks or months.

Well, Andrew and I started trying for another baby this week. I think it's worked. Even though it's insanely early, I feel like I already have pregnancy signs. Two days ago, I had an upset stomach. I dismissed it as a coincidence or the power of thought. Well, yesterday morning (Saturday), I woke up to get Oliver. As soon as I sat up, my stomach did a flip-flop. I didn't even have pregnancy on my mind, but as soon as my stomach did its thing, I thought immediately of it. Well, this morning, I started to get menstrual-like cramps. I'm not due for my period for nearly two weeks, so I'm wondering if this couldn't be a (very) early sign of pregnancy.


I leave for Miami to visit one of my best friends at 11pm on March 4. We'll take a test the morning before I leave. Hopefully, we'll know for sure when that time arrives!