Urine Overload!

Oh my goodness! How much urine can a one-pound little creature make?!? My bladder can only hold so much, and I don't feel like visiting the bathroom every hour.

During my first trimester, my trips to the bathroom increased. I was going every hour or two. I can completely understand that. 1) My body wasn't used to the extra production of urine and my kidneys were working overtime, 2)I started drinking more water, bringing a jug to work each day, so that I would get enough fluids for the baby, and 3)the baby was situated low in my body, so he was closer to my bladder.

The frequent bathroom trips slowed down to normal by the beginning of the second trimester. My body got used to it and the baby moved up to around my belly button and not so much on top of my bladder.

But all of a sudden, in the past two days, I have had to pee constantly! And when I go to the bathroom, it's not like there is just a few drops to come out. I feel like I'm sitting there for five minutes straight with pee coming out.

I am so over this pregnancy thing. What do I have...four months left still?? Sigh...

Chest Pains

I've had chest pains since I was a little girl. When I was growing up, they were excused as growing pains. In college, when I wasn't exactly growing anymore, and I still had them, my dad suggested I go see a cardiologist. So, when I lived in Raleigh after college, I did just that.

They told me that I have heart palpitations - an irregular heartbeat. Other than that I was perfectly healthy. They told me that if I got dizzy or passed out to come back and see them. They didn't proscribe any medicine or recommend anything additional.

The chest pains aren't constant. They occur maybe once every couple of months. They feel like someone is stabbing me right below my left breast (up and in) when I breathe in. If I'm not breathing, I can't feel them at all. They are never accompanied by any other "heart attack" symptoms. They usually last about 5-10 minutes, and then I won't have another for several months. It's almost like one of those cramps you would get in your side if you were not used to exercising and had just started a running program...except that it's about six inches higher in the chest area rather than in the stomach area.

There's not any specific thing that I'm doing at the time that they occur. That I can remember, they've never occurred during any kind of exercise or strenuous activity.

I don't know if it's because of my increase in blood supply or if it has no relation to my heart at all and it is just my ribs expanding with the relaxin hormone, but I've had the chest pains off and on for the past two days.

They're more annoying than anything else. They keep me from breathing normally, as I have to breathe shallow or press against my ribs while breathing to keep the pain down.

I'm not really worried about them. I've had them all my life. I've gone into the doctor way too many times due to the spotting issue I've had, so I don't plan on going for this. I just wish it would go away.

Feeling Baby Kicks

I've been feeling the baby move now for about three weeks. This week it's gotten a little more distinct. I can actually see my shirt moving when the baby kicks. He doesn't stick his fist or foot up to stay, but the little movements can be seen.

Rob still hasn't really felt it. When he tries to feel, he says it just feels like I have gas. If I can see the kicks, maybe this week he'll be able to feel it.

I've gotten to that awkward stage where my regular shirts are a little too short for me to wear, but my maternity shirts (even the XS ones) are a little too big. I'm wearing a maternity shirt to work today, and I feel like a cow because it makes me look so big. I really don't want my belly to get any bigger, because the stretch marks will start, but I don't like this in-between phase.

It's a Boy!

We had our 20 week ultrasound and anatomy scan on Monday afternoon, and it's a boy!! I'm so excited. A boy was what I wanted. Now we can adopt a little girl, and I won't have to have another...unless there's an "oops" baby.

The follow-up appointment yesterday went well also. According to the preliminary results of the anatomy scan, everything appears normal and healthy. The midwife didn't have the full results, but seemed confident that all was well.

And, I hadn't gained any more weight since my last appointment on March 26th. I actually lost 1.8 lbs! So now, I've gained a total of 18 lbs since my last menstrual period. I'm still at my heaviest I've ever been (at 133 lbs), but I'm pretty confident that I can get this weight off after the baby is born while training for the Las Vegas marathon in December.

The nursery is going to have a monkey/jungle theme. I'm planning on painting the walls a light blue color because most of the decorations I want have mostly green with some blue in them.

Robby wants to keep the name a secret until the baby comes. We have picked out a very special name, and I can't wait to be able to share it.

Emotional Easter

Yesterday was an extremely emotional Easter service for me. It probably had a lot to do with my pregnancy hormones, but I cried three times during the service. All of these were tears of joy, of course. Rob's parents purchased an Easter lily in honor of Baby Simon, and when I saw that in the bullitin, I cried. When we sang Amazing Love, I cried. When the paster shared a story about a little Down Syndrome boy and how he really knew the meaning of Easter better than his classmates, I cried. I probably looked a mess!

But Easter and the Day of Atonement for me are two of my favorite days of the year. They really make you stop and think about the huge sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross, and about His ultimate power over death and Hell to bring us into a relationship with God. We cannot stop to thank Him enough for the pain, torture, humiliation, and rejection by God that He had to go through to take on our sins as the perfect sacrifice.

Sick and Bleeding from Everywhere

First of all, there is no need for concern. The title is a little misleading.

Last week I traveled to Dallas for work. While there, I started feeling congested and just generally yucky. I couldn't sleep a couple of days because I had to get up ever few minutes to blow my nose. It was no fun.

I assumed it was just allergies. I don't normally have bad allergies, but do get them mildly in the spring. I was hoping the congestion would go away when I got back to Georgia.

No such luck. I'm not feeling as bad as I did in Dallas, but I'm still congested and now have a bit of a cough starting too. I don't want to take anything because 1) even if it's supposedly safe for pregnancy, it's still an adult dosage, which isn't good for a human being that is only half a foot long and half a pound heavy, and 2) a child's dosage wouldn't work well enough for me.

Yesterday, I blew my nose, and tons of blood came out.

I don't ever remember having a bloody nose before. I remember Amy having them often growing up in Ohio, but I wasn't ever a victim. I may have had one here and there and just not remembered, but it sure didn't happen often.

So now, I'm spotting off and on, bleeding from my nose when I blow it hard, and bleeding when I poop.

I really don't like this whole having double your normal volume of blood thing.

Running truly is the cure

So yesterday I was still spotting. It had been two days. Sure, the doctor had pronounced me healthy and said I was fine, but when it happens you still wonder.

So last night I decided to go for a run. It worked last time to stop the spotting, so why not test the theory again.

Rob was kind enough to walk me down to the basement to make sure the boogie man wasn't there. Yes, until we get an alarm system, I'm scared of the basement. The basement and the laundry room are the easiest places for a burgler to access our house because they are hidden from the road and easy to get in. Hopefully we'll get the alarm system put in by the end of the month.

Anyway, so I went downstairs and ran five miles on the treadmill my in-laws were so very kind enough to give me.

Today I have no spotting.

At my next doctor's appointment, I am going to make them put that in my records. My theory is that exercise stops spotting. I'm sure this has never been tested, because when I called the advice nurse, their advice was to take it easy, put my feet up, etc. If they knew anything about me, they would know I wouldn't do that anyway.

I bet they tell everyone that, so they have never tested the theory that exercise is actually good for you when you're spotting.

My thoughts are, if you are having a miscarriage and that is the reason for the spotting, there's nothing you can do to stop it anyway. By the time you have the spotting, it's a done deal. So why make yourself more depressed by sitting around doing nothing?