13 weeks–baby alive and kickin’ — literally!

Wohooooo- yea. 13 weeks! This is getting better and better. I feel a lot more confident compared to when I first found out I was pregnant again. Not too many chances now of something really bad happening. Yes, the chance of m/c is always there, but it’s significantly lower now, and I feel so much better knowing that and being there – at 13 weeks.

So what’s been going on this past week? Hmmm… let’s see. Saturday we were at one of our German-American Club events and I wore my black maternity dress for the first time. Pretty much everyone there knew I’d been pregnant back in October. Some of them knew I miscarried, and only a couple knew I was pregnant again. So when the event was over and we helped clean up, one of the ladies came to me and said: “Are you pregnant again?” And I looked at her with a smile and answered: “Yes.” And then she said: “I thought so. Because you usually have a flat belly.” … wow, you can’t believe how good that felt haha. (even though I normally wear a corset, which makes my fat disappear a little when I’m not pregnant) Still, I do begin to show a little baby-bump as my organs are being pushed around to make room for our little one. I can’t wait to be carrying a proud big baby belly! 🙂

There will be photos of the event and of me in the dress down below, as well as the promised PAX East photos.

Yesterday was the main event of the week. I had my next midwife appointment. We talked a lot about nutrition, which is important to both myself and her. She tested my blood pressure and urine – all checked out great. And then of course we tried to find baby’s heart beat on the doppler again. Three-four weeks ago we’d been unable to find it. Today, we did find it! Yay! That quick wush wush wush sound was the most amazing sound I’ve ever heard in my life. Baby’s heart rate was 153 bpm, which is great! When DH got home we listened to it again and the heart rate was 156 bpm – baby must have gotten excited haha – or mad at us for bothering him/her again 😀
But here is the best part of it: before DH came home, we were also able to hear another amazing sound while listening to the heart beat– kicks! We heard two kicks on the doppler. When I heard that sound, my midwife said: that’s a kick. I was totally overwhelmed. It was the cutest thing ever. After the second kick baby went into hiding. We couldn’t find the heart beat any longer. That’s why I said earlier he or she may be mad at us for bothering him or her haha. I think the kicks were a way of saying: leave me alone, I’m snoozing here! When DH got home we found the heart beat again, but soon afterwards it went into hiding again. What a sweet little baby!

Progesterone – I did stop taking the gel last Thursday. I was terrified! I checked every wipe more closely than usual. Checking my wipes has almost become a habit by now, but since I stopped with the gel I got really obsessed with it. After about three or four days went by and I didn’t see any blood whatsoever on my wipes, I began feeling much better about it. And of course after yesterday I feel perfectly good about having stopped taking prog supps.

Those were this week’s highlights, so let’s look at good old preggo symptoms:

Morning sickness: ugh, it’s still there. Often when I’m very hungry. But I think it may be slowly on its way out.

Frequent urination: I’ve been spared a little bit this week. Haven’t had the nasty urge I had last week. I think baby is done pressing on my bladder haha. This past night was the first night in a while I did not need to get up to pee–which I find quite amazing considering yesterday was the first day in weeks I actually managed to drink 70 fl oz of water!

Weight gain: Well, we pigged out a little bit this week–with the event and some laziness and leftovers, such as cake. I’ve been bouncing around between 147 pounds and 150 pounds. This morning I had 152 pounds! wow! Just like that one week when I’d suddenly gained 2 pounds more overnight. I think that will go away within the next couple days. Overall, I’d say I gained an average of 4 pounds so far.

Headaches: I’ve been getting headaches recently. I could find all sorts of reasons for them, but at some point I run out of excuses. I generally get headaches with quick weather changes (sometimes), if I sleep too long (nearly every time) or if I’m too warm in bed during the night, and of course I can get a headache if I don’t drink enough (though that rarely happens to me, oddly enough). I’m slowly unable to match those excuses to what is actually going on. Weather change – okay, could be. Definitely haven’t slept longer than usual, and my drinking patterns haven’t really changed. So it must be hormones. Of course my midwife advised me to drink more – and I have to, I know that. Why is this so hard? Sunday morning I woke up so thirsty. I went to the office, grabbed my water bottle and emptied what was left in it. I went in the kitchen to put the empty bottle away, taking a deep breath after drinking, and DH asks if something is wrong, cuz I was sighing. I told him I wasn’t sighing, just catching my breath after drinking. I actually felt thirsty! I hardly ever feel thirsty – feels so good! (Now, how many people would say that? haha). I want to be thirsty more often! Come on!

Other symptoms: Sometimes I find it actually difficult to figure out if what I’m feeling is hunger, being full, or heartburn. I’m pretty sure there’s been some more heartburn though, not much. I’ve been noticing that I’m getting more break-outs on my skin these days, especially between my breasts (which are still sensitive by the way). I’m slowly getting the feeling this may actually be a girl. Would be so awesome!

Well, this is all for this week. Stop by again next week 🙂

All right, here are the promised pictures, enjoy.
(click to enlarge)

At the Pax East in front of a giant D&D monster 🙂

At Pax East, overlooking the huge convention hall

At Pax East, playing (learning to play) D&D

This was our April event at the club. It was a potluck.

This is my new maternity dress, which I wore at the event 🙂 -- obviously this was taken after the event

Okay, a side view. I look huge in that dress because I stuffed my belly that night, all right? lol