Doctor Update

We went to the doctor’s yesterday for a follow up appointment after having blood drawn again to check my thyroid. To make a long story short… I had to have my blood drawn again because my thyroid is still overacting and in the zone of “you need to pay attention to me, but I’m not super dangerous.” We’ll have to wait a bit for the results and see where we go from there. We might just have to keep an eye on it during my pregnancy.

I’ll be getting some more blood drawn later today for the 2^nd trimester blood screening test they do. It’s basically a repeat of the big blood test they did during my first trimester.

Want to know about my nausea? It’s been gone for just over a week! I’m hoping it’s gone forever. ^_^ And my cold symptoms are basically all the way gone now too, so I’m almost back to normal. I can’t wait to have more energy return so I can go visit family and friends, run errands by myself, do housewife things, and more! I would have announced that my nausea was gone sooner, but I was afraid it would come back since I had a few half weeks in there without nausea. But it seems to be gone. I’m still dealing with my normal sensitive stomach issues, but those should be a lot easier to manage without the nausea and cold. My normal stomach issues still seem to be slightly more sensitive than normal, but I’ll blame that on the extra pregnant hormones.

Now it’s time to gain weight! And yes I think this is the only time you’ll hear me (or see me type) with excitement that it is time to gain weight. Last night at Bible study I think is the only time I will ever write a prayer request to gain weight. Why am I so excited again weight gain, you ask. Remember how I lost weight at the beginning of my pregnancy? Well, I finally gained all that weight back, plus one pound! But I still need to gain more weight for my pregnancy. In fact, my doc wants to me do my best to gain about 10 pounds in the next months. I’m thinking Thanksgiving should help with this. But my appetite has finally seemed like it has returned. I’d say it’s official return date was two days ago on Tuesday when I ate 3 slices of chicken pot pie, and some left over Mexican tostada with chips, and a few other things. That’s a heck of a lot of food for me!!! And yesterday I ate 4 slices of pizza for dinner when I usually only eat 2. So, yay for appetites! ^_^

Want to know some more exciting news? I just scheduled our 2^nd ultrasounds! This is the ultrasound where we will learn is our little Tadpole is a girl or boy. So exciting! I cannot wait to find out. ^_^ But this almost makes me curious as to what you all think I might be having. Thus, I ask you to direct your attention to the right of this blog where you will see a poll where you can cast your vote! The poll will be up an available for the next two weeks. I’ll let you all know what we discover shortly after we find out. Until then, stay tuned!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Christmas is approaching, and I’ve been asked to make a wish list. This used to be an easy task, or easier at least. But my outlook on life has changed a bit, and I mostly only want necessity things. At to tell the truth, that list is pretty darn short when I’m told to make a list for ME that doesn’t include lil Tadpole. I mostly have thought of Target and Safeway gift cards. Or even a PetSmart one to spend on Hoshi for her kitty needs. But since I was asked, I thought I’d try to go ahead and create a list. I took the idea my brother has used the last couple years and created an Amazon wish list.

Now, I’m used to only buying movies, books and music on Amazon, but it is my goal to try and branch out. Most people who know me know I have a movie addiction. It’s not as bad as it used to be since I went on a two year streak of not allowing myself to buy a single movie for myself. But there are still movies I’d like, so I figure it’s okay to ask for them. After I did that I just stared at the Amazon site trying to figure out what to add to my wish list next. I tried looking at their purses, since mine is starting to fall apart, but would rather check those out in person.

And then it came to me! “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.” I think it’s safe to say this book (see pic below), is my favorite kids book, or at least one of my top favorites anyway. I’m really surprised I didn’t own this book as a child, and that I don’t own it yet as an adult. So I added it to my wish list. And yes, this would be a book for me that I could share with Tadpole.

Well, from there I thought of other awesome kid books like “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?”, “How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?”, “The Monster at the End of This Book”, “Spot Goes to the Beach”, “Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy”, “Down By the Bay”, and so many more. My wish list currently contains 51 items. 35 are children’s books. 3 other items are baby related. And only 13 of those items do not relate to children (except for a maternity shirt I want that I guess technically relates to children). 

What does all this tell me besides I can’t figure out what *I* want for myself? It tells me I really want to make a baby registry. Which is very true. I really do want to create a baby registry. Andrew and I have already visited Babies R Us once, and we’ve been checking out baby/kid things at other stores as well. But we’re holding off on creating a baby registry until after we know if we’re having a girl or boy. Why you ask? Because part of what we register for (in our opinion) depends on if we’re having a girl or boy. And no, if we’re having a girl we are *not* going to get everything pink. I’m not a huge fan of the color…  We’ll probably mostly get gender neutral items, but the point is, we want to know before we register. And we probably have about a month before we find out.

And yes, we will share if we’re having a girl or boy. However, the name shall be our little secret until our child enters the world. ^_~

Oh, and if you have not checked out any of those children's books, I suggest you do. They're all a great read. Especially "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom."

Maternity Clothes

As mentioned in my last post, some friends are letting me borrow some of their maternity clothes, and it’s much appreciated. I think another friend was going to bring clothes to church this morning for me to go through, but sadly I am home sick with my cold. =(

Over the last week though, I have noticed that my brown jacket that I have been in favor of wearing is starting to get snug around my belly. It still fits. The buttons on the lower part just look like they are going to pop out, and I am starting to feel chubby wearing it since it’s doing this and my tummy is pudging out. It basically got to the point this weekend that I wanted a new jacket that would fit me better. So, yesterday we took a short trip to the mall to stop by the maternity clothing store, Motherhood Maternity. And what was awesome was that they were having a sale! Perfect timing.

We found some shirts and a jacket to try on. I loved the jacket! And it was on a bit of a sale, so we bought it and one other short that I really liked. What was really cool about the changing room though is that they have this pillow belly waist thingy for you to put some so you can see what you’ll look like in the clothes when your belly get’s bigger.

So here’s a little taste for your entertainment for what I might look like in a few months:

Not my actual size now. I'm only 16 and a half weeks preggers, and thus not nearly this big.

 And yes, that's the shirt I bought. Sorry you don't get to see my jacket that I love. Maybe in a different photo in the future.

Yays and Nays

I have a new niece! Her name is Adelyn, and she was born on November 9^th to my brother Tim and his wife, Beth. She looks so precious and cuddly. I can’t wait to meet her and hold her and love her in person! But sadly I won’t have a chance to do that until sometime next year. =(  Andrew and I shall be spending both Thanksgiving and Christmas up here in the Seattle area, and probably won’t make it to Cali until February or March.

In other good news; this week I have had even less days of nausea. This is really nice compared to my week that started off great last week, but ended in 3 days of awful nausea. On the bad side though, I have developed a cough and it’s turning into a cold. =( So I’m still stuck in the not feeling well category, but now what I’m feeling is contagious (or at least possibly contagious). This is a bummer because it means I’ll probably have to skip out on the women’s outreach event at my church tomorrow, and on teaching the 4 and 5 year old classroom on Sunday, and teaching the music to the 1^st-5^th graders for the Christmas musical. I think I’m mostly bummed about missing out on teaching in the 4 and 5 year old classroom. This Sunday was to be my first day back teaching. But it’s not good to spread colds to kids. I don’t think they’d appreciate me sharing a cold with them. We’ll see how my cold develops or perhaps goes away for this weekend.

On another good note, two friends have graciously shared some maternity clothes with me! This is such a help, not only for comfort, but financially too. I’m not big enough yet to have to wear different style t-shirts, but I am slightly big enough to start wearing maternity pants. Which are totally comfortable, and it’s like, why don’t I always wear jeans like this? So thanks Alison and Ellen for sharing! I totally appreciate it. ^_^

As for an update on the thyroid thing, well, we have an appointment with my doctor next week on Wednesday, so I’ll be able to give you an actual update after that. But since we need to go in for an appointment, I’m figuring this means my thyroid is still overacting…  grumble, grumble, grumble.

But, yay! I have a new niece! ^_^

A Bit of Organizing

My belly isn’t big yet, as I’ve explained, but after I eat (especially if I was able to eat a whole meal), I’ve already found it difficult to lean over to pick things up. Okay, or maybe difficult isn’t the right word… Uncomfortable? Different? Annoying? I don’t know what the right word would be.

Let me back up a bit. See I have always been a person who gets light headed easily. And with pregnancy comes a higher chance of lightheadedness. So, when I lean and bend over now, there is a higher chance of getting at least a little lightheaded. Plus, if I have eaten recently or had a lot to drink, it tends to make me feel a bit nauseated. And when you lean over when you’re pregnant, a whole lot more is moving with you, and things are getting smashed and crammed inside and it’s a bit uncomfortable. Any pregnant woman can tell you that.

I thus decided to rearrange my dresser draw yesterday. I put all the things that are summer wear, or don’t fit anymore, etc, on the very bottom drawer, and moved the things I’ve been wearing most often up higher to easy access drawers. I imagine I’ll be doing this a few more times as my size changes and what I wear changes. But I’m happy I did a bit of the reorganizing now. ^_^

On an exciting note… that Andrew doesn’t even know yet (which is why I waited until he was on his way home from work to post this) is that I was able to make dinner for us tonight!!! Whoohoo!!! I am so excited! I didn’t make it all from scratch per say, but I did throw it all together. It’s my little surprise for Andrew when he gets home tonight. ^_^

You see, we had some spaghetti meat sauce in our freezer, and some stewed veggies left over from the dinner Andrew made last night. I simple sautéed some carrots, zucchini and a small bit of onion in a pot, then added the leftovers, plus some chili seasoning and some black beans, and wa-la! It’s a chili concoction!! I just hope it taste good… I usually cook by smell, but since my nose is still sensitive, and smelling food too much still makes me feel nauseated, I have no idea if I added the right bit of chili powder, or if I should have added something else as well… Of course I had the fans going and the windows open to help me get though making our meal. Oh, and I am cooking some rice right now that we’ll put it on top of. I really hope it taste wonderful. This is the first full on meal I’ve made in nearly two and a half months!!! So you can see why I’m excited. ^_^

"If the Shoe Fits"

My fit jeans don’t fit anymore! And my loose pair are starting to get snug. My baby bump is growing, and I think it’s exciting, even if other people can’t tell I have a baby bump yet. I told the kids at church that are involved in the children’s musical (I’m one of the directors again this year) that I’m pregnant, and that if I start looking like I’ve been eating pizza and burgers, that’s totally not the case and they better not call me fat. Then one of the kids looked at me and said “You don’t look pregnant.” I had to explain that I’m only 14 weeks pregnant and that pregnancy doesn’t start to show in women (typically especially with their first pregnancy) for a couple more months.

Along with a slightly bigger belly has come the inability to find a comfortable position to sleep in for the night. I’ve found myself waking up a lot more than normal just to change sides and try to figure out a position that is comfortable to sleep in. I really didn’t think this was supposed to start happening until later into the pregnancy, but I guess I was wrong. On a totally up note, Andrew and I have loved that we can at least tell that I have a little baby bump. ^_^

On a different note, today is my brother Jay’s birthday… So… HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAY!!! Love you!!!

And last, but definitely not least, my best friend, Alison had her baby girl yesterday! I can’t wait to meet little Soleil, but unfortunately that won’t happen until sometime in 2011. She looks so adorable! Before she was born her nickname was (is still?) Gummybear. I told Tony (the father), that I’ll have to call her “Pumpkin” now since she was born on Halloween.

Me and my best friend at Andrew and my CA reception in August. Funny this is that we had no idea at this point I was pregnant too. So this is the only best friend baby bump pic we have, and we didn't even know it!

 

 

 

 And since yesterday was Halloween, here a pic of me in my retro outfit for my Bible study's "retro night," and a pic of Andrew and I. Enjoy!

Vampires...

I have the joy of having more blood taken from me later today. I do fine with the whole getting stuck by a needle, but I don’t enjoy it. I have to go in today though because I need to have my thyroid level checked. From the last time I had blood taken, the results showed that my thyroids are overacting a bit. Just enough to draw attention to them, but not enough to have to go to a specialist to get my thyroids working “normally.” So my doctor decided we’d do another blood test to see if the results are the same.

For those who don’t know, thyroids are two glands that are found in your neck. As Wikipedia puts it, “the thyroid controls how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls how sensitive the body should be to other hormones.” They also produce a couple hormones. When they become overactive, they create more hormones than you need and don’t keep all your other hormones in check as much as they should.

If my thyroid glands are overactive by just a little (or have returned to “normal”), than it’s nothing to worry about. However, if their activity heightens, then it can become dangerous for the baby and unhealthy for me. So, thank goodness my thyroid level wasn’t super overactive! I’m hoping that the results will be better than last time, and at worse, the same as last time. Thankfully there are things that can be done to make the thyroid glands work the amount they are supposed to.

The extra rise of hormones in my body could possibly explain why I’m still getting nauseated. All pregnant women have a rise in hormones. Those that also have overactive thyroids have even more extra hormones, and thus nausea last longer or is more intense.