Saturday, March 19, 2011

Suck in that gut, lady!

No, that wasn't something I heard from a stranger mistaking a belly full of babies for a belly full of pudge.  It was something I said to myself as I walked past a mirror in the house, the other day!  So I stopped in front of said mirror, stood up straight, and to my amazement (and relief) this belly I have isn't something I got from one too many trips to Chipotle!  This was genuine "babies bump".

Now, this is usually where I'd post a picture of the fuselage of the Mothership, but I don't have a recent one and I'm not about to take one because I'm in old sweats, an old, tie-dyed t-shirt and have a mop of recently showered hair atop my head.  The internet does not need to see that.  I sort of promise to kind of attempt to get myself into a cute prego shirt tomorrow and ask Jeff to take a picture of me.  I do need more of them for my scrapbook, anyhow.


But for those of you who MUST know what the bump looks like now, this is will give you a good idea of what I look like.














Suckers.


Anyhow, I have another major announcement.  I'm calling the time of death for my morning sickness!  It has been an entire week without so much as a gag or the slightest wave of nausea!  I think I've more than paid my vomit dues with this pregnancy, that if I ever got pregnant again (don't count on it!!) I would have the opposite of nausea.  Not sure what that would be, but it sounds good.  I'm still not eating a ton, yet.  I get hungry, sure, but not the ravenous, lions tearing into a fresh zebra, kind of hunger.  But I still don't like coffee *frowny face*.

The girls are also moving a lot more.  It's the coolest feeling and I can hardly wait for Jeff and the boys to be able to feel them, too!  Until then, it feels like a sweet, little secret between me and my girls.  


Well, I managed to go the entire day without needing a nap!  However, this means that I need to go to bed.  Like, now.


G'night!

Monday, March 14, 2011

All is good in the baby 'hood

Sorry for the lack of update.  I posted the results of the scan on Facebook, but then forgot that some of you who read this aren't on Facebook.  Anyhow, my cervix is of normal length (I'm so glad I just put that phrase on the internet) and there isn't going to be any nasty cerclage business for this pregnant lady!  Since that day there hasn't been anymore discomfort or other reason to worry.

Well, unless you're my husband.  See, on Saturday I found one of those Maternity Ultrasound Spa places.  (These places do massages on pregos and also offer 3D images of your precious, bellybeans.)  Being nearly 16 weeks, they were able to tell me what we have growing in there:






GIRLS!  Two, beautiful, precious, little girls!  The one on my right is Natalie and the one on my left is Elizabeth.  Although Andy picked the name Elizabeth, I like to think that he wanted to name her after Ms. Taylor.  And of course, being the insane Natalie Wood fan I am, Natalie is named after Ms. Wood.

And that, dear readers, is what we have to worry about.  I once heard a comedian say, "Having a little boy is so much easier than having a little girl.  See, with the little boys, you just have to watch out for that little boy.  With little girls, you have to watch out for that little girl and all the other little boys."

Pink is just so foreign.  Pink squeals and wears frilly things and is just so...pink.  Look, I have nothing against girls.  Being one, I think we're pretty awesome.  However, I can say that because I've never raised one.  I've been swimming in a sea of blue for the past eight-ish years and I know how to navigate these waters.  These are fun, sometimes rough-and-tumble, waters.  All the dolphins have lightsabers and the seagulls wrestle each other.  

But a sea of pink?  How on earth do I scrapbook pink?  What kinds of stories do pink things like?  What games do these pinklings play?  Will I know how to speak pink?

I do have some help in my corner, though.  I have two little boys who are just tickled, dare I say it...pink, to be having sisters.  I have a husband who is going to be their hero.  And I have a love for them that started in my heart before these precious baby girls were ever even brought into existence.

I think we're going to be just fine.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Well that was slightly scary...

At the risk of oversharing (because it's just something my mouth and typing fingers force me to do) let me just say that this story started with a tiny bit of bright, red "spotting" and a slight tenderness/bit of pressure on my internal lady bits.  After a call to my OB, it was determined that a quick visit to their office wouldn't be a bad idea.

Considering how worried I was, especially when the tenderness/bit of pressure turned to the yucky feeling one gets when one's Aunt Flo is arriving, I was rather cool and collected.  My blood pressure was even really good, too.  (114 over 76 thankyouverymuch.)  So with a very fashionable paper-sheet skirt draped across my lower half, I waited for the doc and her shadow, a very nice student Nurse Practitioner.

The ultrasound paddle was applied to my belly and I was greeted by what I'd been really wanting to see: movement of the Bellybeans and strong heartbeats.  The OB needed to check to see if I was dilated, and I won't go into detail but that procedure involved a rather painful run in with a speculum.

Fucking OUCH.


Good news, no blood and cervix appeared closed.


Bad news, she still seemed concerned about preterm labor.


Fucking GREAT.


She asked if I was on Progesterone of any form and I said that we stopped PIO shots at 10 weeks.  She said that she was putting me back on PIO shots, but that they'd be weekly vs. daily.  Then she ordered an ultrasound with Dr. Siddiqi (same perinatal office that preformed the nuchal translucency test) so that they could check the length of my cervix.


Long cervix = good things.  Short cervix = bad things.


I go in on Thursday to have the thing measured and if it's short (let's hope it's not, ok?) I get a cergclage stitched in.


I wonder if they'll have to redeploy the laser wearing shark?


Anyhow, after getting my first shot in my ample rear (well, the first in about 5 weeks...the needle vacation was nice while it lasted!) my ultrasound with Dr. Siddiqi was scheduled for this Thursday at 10am.  Until then, I'm supposed to relax and take it easy.  No lifting.  Which, honestly, is pretty much what I've been doing since the womb squatters took up residence.


So to sum up: this isn't terrible news.  It ain't so great, but it's not terrible.  


Oh, and to the handful of women in the OB waiting room who gave me the side-eye because I wore my Mickey Mouse pajama bottoms: I hope you got a really cold speculum thrust somewhere.