Weddingbee boards

I just had to post an update because we reached a big milestone this weekend... It got me to thinking about how all of your pregnancies are going. So here's mine:

How far along? We made it to the age of viability this weekend!!!! Lemon is officially 24 weeks and 1 day. She needs to cook for a heck of a lot longer, but at this point at least she would be resuscitated if she decided to show up. It's crazy to think that there is a viable human being living inside me right now!!!

Total weight gain/loss: I've stopped checking now that I got over pre-pregnancy weight. People are finally able to tell that I've got a little bump, and I'm not going by weight anymore, but rather by what my body is telling me... It knows best!

Maternity clothes? It's fun to have a whole new wardrobe... A little weird to be using other people's clothes. But, sharing is fun because I'm wearing all these styles that I wouldn't have ordinarily picked for myself :)

Movement: All the time now! Her little movements just make me fall in love with her more each day. She still sleeps curled up in a little ball at the bottom of my pelvis, but when she stretches out, I can feel her above my belly button.

Food cravings: I still wish I had cravings :)

Belly Button in or out? Holding steady... No outie, no outie!

Milestones: 24 weeks. I've seen 24 weekers that have done really well with respect to outcomes. I'd prefer that she cook to term, but it's nice to know that things could be ok if she decided to come now.

Weekly wisdom: Be a strong advocate for yourself and your baby. If that means fighting the system to get what you need, so be it. It's not just about us anymore, but about another little person who needs protection, and no one is going to look out for you and your family like you and your partner will. Don't leave it up to your bosses, co-workers or anyone else to make sure that you are getting what you need!

How are you feeling this week???

Amandopolis- I love that you adapted the update!!!  Yours made my heart leap a little to visualize being on the other side of this whole experience :)  How cool!

Here's mine:

How far along? We're at 23 weeks!  Our DD is doing great, weighing in at 1 pound and measuring 8 inches.

Total weight gain/loss: 13 pounds

Maternity clothes? I bought some cute sweaters to keep me warm so I don't have to bundle in blankets all the time.  I also had to buy work maternity clothes because the one place you can buy a military maternity uniform was OUT in my size.  How does that even happen??  Well after a week of wearing civilian clothes, I stopped by the base thrift store and found my size maternity uniforms!  Yay!  I saved a ton of money and I got one of each (blues, whites, khakis).  So now I'm back to wearing a uniform at work.  The bad part?  The uniform hasn't been updated since the 70s and it looks like I'm wearing a tent.  In fact, since I work with 95% civilians, almost everyone has chuckled at my uniform or given me pity looks for having to wear it.  How's that for a pregnancy upper??

Movement: Thank goodness it's not hurting anymore!!  Before it felt like she was chewing on my intestines.  Now it's just bubbles of movement and sometimes pulling/tightness when she stretches all the way out or does her somersaults.  She's pretty regular in the car when I'm tense and at home on the couch when I'm relaxed (like right now).

Food cravings: Three words: Double Stuffed Oreos.  Had to have them, so my DH got me a whole bag.  Last week it was artificial crab and tofu with canned salmon.  My DH is REALLY glad I'm out of that phase.

Belly Button in or out? It gets shallower every week!  I know that the outie is coming, I'm going to predict in 4 weeks.

Milestones: While all the scary stuff continues, my subchorionic bleeds have reduced in number and have gotten smaller.  Every day more is a blessing for us!

Weekly wisdom: Seek positive sources in your life.  Avoid drama queens, avoid those "should" people, avoid those who (advertently or not) point out your new bodily insecurities.  Seek out people who tell you how beautiful you are looking, who praise your health efforts during pregnancy, and who make you feel good about your pregnancy/marriage/life.  Life is all about the positive, seek it out!

Aww... great updates... and Jilian, your husband made me laugh.  It took a long time to feel normal again, but most of my friends said between 12-15 weeks they started feeling better.

MS- I'm sad that they haven't updated the uniform for you.  Seems a shame.

December- so exciting!!!

Aww...  Elliott sounds adorable!

@Mrs Spring: OMG, that is too cute!!  What an adorable story!  You should write it down somewhere to tell your baby when he/she is older!  (And keep the tickets!)

@Derby: I was able to stay in my normal uniform until 21 weeks.  I didn't keep sizing up because honestly, at one point it will start to look ridiculous, and you just have to wear the ugly tent top.  I do have to say it is SO comfortable though!  Like I'm wearing Hugh Hefner's uniform to work, LOL.  It's good you already have your uniform, my size was on backorder for like three months.  I don't know what they expect women to wear for three months, but the NEX doesn't sell the maternity uniforms, so you can ONLY get them online, which they are out.  Grr...ANYWAY!  Being in the military and pregnant is interesting because everyone at work will tell you that whatever you're doing is fine for the baby and everyone at home will say "Isn't that dangerous for the baby?"  I'm not allowed to be stationed on ships, but my current job requires that I tour other people on a ship.  I don't know how that works, but there's the military for you!

@DG: Seriously, the pictures in the uniform guide are from the 70s.  They look like a punishment for choosing to get pregnant in the first place, LOL.  Check out this hotness:

@northernaz: I TOTALLY need to take your advice!!  Damn Google!!  I am a google victim myself.  Having had many complications so far, I lived in constant fear.  Down with the Google!!

Congratulations to those who have recently found out the sex!!!  How exciting.  And I can't agree w/ Northern Az any more.  Doctor Google even managed to freak me out with the pregnancy... and I know the medical literature!

Superstitions- they moved back our date once too.  We just decided that we have a birth month and Lemon will make an appearance when she sees fit :)

My due date changed a couple of times but I told the doctor: Look, this was the first date of my LMP...and this is the due date from my 8 week u/s.  They match.  That's the one I'm going with.  Those are the most accurate!  If I listened every time they tried to change the date, I'd never give birth, because they keep trying to push the date back.  SO not happening!

Janna- remember that the sequential screen does not give you positive or negative results!  It only gives you a risk ratio.  That means that these tests are incapable of telling you whether you are going to have a baby with problems or not, only what the risk of those problems might be.

The only definitive tests are CVS and amnio.

For example, I went into my screen with a baseline risk of Down syndrome of about 1:70 something based on my age.  I came out of my screen (based on proteins) with a risk of 1:24.  We decided we would want to know and prepare for a Downs baby, so we went ahead with CVS, even though 1:24 risk meant that 94% of the time we would have a chromosomally normal baby.

We came out of the CVS knowing that all the chromosomes appeared normal and that we were having a girl. 

I hope that helps assuage your fears.  There are no false positives with these tests (though people in the OB office often refer to them that way).

@Mrs Spring: Yay!  Don't worry about the breech position.  They still have room to somersault and cartwheel away until like 28 weeks.  My DD changes frequently.  And I have an anterior placenta too!

Aww Janna- so sad your hubs missed that US!  I thought it was even better than the 20 week US, because they spent so much time.

We are having another US on the 18th for high risk follow up and I had to have a 3 hour glucose test today because I failed the one hour (bad baby house!).  I just found out (as I was writing this post) it was NORMAL!  Woo Hoo!  No gestational diabetes here :)