24 Weeks = 6 Months?

The whole pregnancy week counting thing is confusing. Everyone thinks you're pregnant for 9 months, but you are pregnant for 40 weeks (if you go to term). 40 weeks converts to about 10 months, right? This is because you are actually "pregnant" before you even get pregnant....which goes into health talk and gross things that make me uncomfortable to discuss even on a blog-- anyway...needless to say it sounds cooler to say I am SIX MONTHS PREGNANT, but in actuality I am only about 5 1/2. Regardless, the baby has made some super cool milestones in this 24th week of gestation no matter how you slice it.

Beginning with Wednesday night, the night before Thanksgiving, the baby was moving around a LOT, and Luke got to actually feel it for the first time. Since then, the baby is more and more active, and I actually wake up each morning to the feeling of it squirming around in there. It's fun to know when the baby is awake and then to picture the sweet baby sleeping, too. Apparently, it has developed its REM sleep cycle, which Luke informed me that means the baby can dream, too. I wonder what fetuses dream about?

I have a healthy, festive bump in my belly, which is really fun to dress these days (I say that 1/2 with sarcasm). My biggest complaint is with PANTS! I hate pants! I hate wearing jeans, even maternity ones. I hate wearing dress pants. I just want to be in sweatpants all day long, and it isn't fair that I work in a profession where you have to be "dressed up" every day. I know, Boo Hoo, Ashley...the majority of the world works in such professions, too. I just think the world would be a happier place if we were all allowed to work in sweat pants, don't you?! I was totally "that girl" today in church and wore spandex-ish workout pants. I don't care. God is just happy I am there. He doesn't care what I am wearing. I was comfortable, which means I was able to focus more on the message the priest was delivering and less about how to unzip my pants without scaring the small children around us.

I just signed up for our childbirth classes, which will begin January 4th! They are going to be on Monday nights for four weeks. I am really excited!

Well, it's Sunday, which means I need to watch the Colts attempt to stay undefeated! Til next time...!

Black Friday!

Luke and I had a great Thanksgiving with my mom and dad. We ate and then lounged for the rest of the day. It was pretty relaxing.

Mom and I decided to go do some Black Friday Shopping. We really hadn't ever done it before. We had nothing we wanted to be up at 4 a.m. for, but we were out at the mall by 8:30. It was crowded, but nothing compared to the Target parking lot. WOW. With that crowd I would have thought they were giving away free Peyton Mannings. We decided not to even attempt Target.

We hit up Bath and Body Works (which had great sales and coupons) and though the line looked long, we probably only waited 15-20 minutes there. We went to Victoria's Secret, which wasn't bad at all. We also went to Old Navy. We got some GREAT deals there. Old Navy gets the big award of the day for best deals and assortment of sizes, colors, and styles. It wasn't too picked over, the employees were helpful, and you can't beat the prices.

While we were in line, we heard someone say that the line to check out at Kohl's was 2 1/2 hours. There was nothing we really needed there, so we decided this would be our last stop.

The biggest excitement for us came when the power went out! We were standing in Old Navy among hundreds of customers, and the store went dark. The entire mall lost its power. We laughed at first because we thought it was funny. Then the lights just flickered and didn't stay on, so then we started to get a little worried that we did all this shopping for nothing. Within a few minutes, the lights came back on and all was well.

However, when we left and went to find a place to eat for lunch on McGalliard (because there are hardly any restaurants NOT on McGalliard), we noticed all the stoplights were out, and all the restaurants and businesses off the road were dark and had no cars in the lots. Obviously, McGalliard was experiencing a huge power outage during lunchtime of Black Friday. I felt bad for the businesses and restaurants that probably lost of a lot money and potential business.

We ended up going to Scotty's in the village (along with everyone else in Muncie!), but we didn't have to wait too long, and we had some great food! All in all, we were out for about 4 hours, including lunch, and we walked away with some great deals and gifts.

After Luke and I got back to Indy, I had the urge to go back out and do more. I went to the Hamilton Town Center, going back to Bath and Body and Old Navy. Again, the stores seemed like they had PLENTY of merchandise even at 6 p.m. It was kind of nice-- not as crowded, but still all the great deals! I had to go to Target after, and that was just fine, too.

My feet and body held up remarkable well. I wasn't tired, and I stayed up until midnight for the first time in a long time. Woohoo! I can't wait until I have a little one to buy for NEXT Black Friday! :-)

23 Weeks!

I only have a few weeks left in the second trimester, which is unbelievable. It was nearly 20 weeks ago when I found out we were having a baby. The baby will be here in only 17 short weeks (and yes, I have heard that the weeks only feel longer from here)! I can't wait to see this little one's face, to know if he is a he or she is a she, to meet the little person who has now learned how to kick me hard enough to wake me up!

I found this on another blog, and I thought it would be a fun way to update. I need to do something to keep me distracted and from wanting to buy every cute baby thing I see!

How far along? 23.5 weeks

Total weight gain: It's hard to tell. I think 17 lbs.

Sleep: I am still learning how to master sleeping on my side. I LOVE sleeping on my belly, and I just can't do that! Recently, I have been pleasantly woken up by the feeling of little feet and hands kicking and punching me in the middle of the night!

Best moment this week: Luke got to feel the baby kick from the outside. This was a momentous thing! It was a great Thanksgiving Eve gift!

Movement: I am feeling it a lot more, and I think I am realizing when the baby is awake and when he/she is asleep.

Gender: Still thinking girl...

Labor Signs: I sure hope not! Though I know of a lady who just delivered twins at 24 weeks. They were under 2 lbs each. They are OK for now, but I can't imagine delivering this early.

Belly Button in or out? Getting close to being just even with my belly...not in or out. But still in at this point.

Cravings: I am not craving sweet stuff as much. I just want salt and LOTS of water. I drink well over 100 oz a day.

What I miss: I miss going out for drinks with friends, or drinking at social events. I don't know why I miss this. It sounds like I am an alcoholic, which I am not. I just really enjoyed social drinking, and now I have been pregnant for 3 weddings, 1 Homecoming, 2 Halloween parties, 1 birthday party, and I am getting ready to be pregnant for a whole bevy of Holiday festivities, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and St. Patty's Day. :-) I know my trade-off is so much better than a little buzz from a drink, but sometimes you just want to partake like the big kids!

What I am looking forward to: Feeling more movement and other people being able to feel the baby from the outside.

It's a girl!

OK, so I am saying it is. I have no proof. I only have circumstantial evidence that points to me carrying a baby girl.

1) I crave nothing but foods that are bad for me. If I was carrying a boy, he would no-doubt be like Luke, and he would be craving hummus and salad.

2) The baby barely moves. She (I will just say it) moves enough for me to know she's OK, but not enough for being 23 weeks (in my opinion). I think she is a big lazy girl like her mom!

3) I am getting uglier, and I have heard that girls steal your beauty. :-)

So...despite all that....I still can't wait to meet HER (and if she's a he, I will love him so very much, too!)

Two Steps Forward...

...three steps back.

Do you ever really feel like you are making progress, and then you do something/say something to send you back a ways? That's me....a lot. It takes some balls to own up to this, and that is also part of my maturation process. Admitting when I screwed up.

Luke and I have some heated conversations at times, and they usually always center around one topic. Not revealing what this topic is, I can tell you that is something we will probably always disagree about. I can't get him to see my way, and he can't get me to understand his. This is a major flaw within us both...difference is, he doesn't have a blog to confess his wrong-doings to.

Anyway-- I wish I could see myself getting angry and just walk away. But I always want to hang in there for the fight. I want to let me voice be heard, my point to be taken. I want to win the argument. I want to be told, "You're right."

This never happens. Luke is as stubborn as me. I never get what I want out of this, but I continue to try anyway.

Why can't I just drop it?

Blah.

I still have my adult training wheels on.

On the flip side, I had a great night last night with a group of girlfriends. I am thankful for them in my life!

Ahhhhhh!

I seriously canNOT wait for our little one to get here! These next 17 weeks better go by quickly!

Milestones

I have hit a lot of milestones here lately.

I have gained a new perspective thanks to advice I have been receiving from someone who really knows what she's talking about.

I am learning ways to cope and manage my stress so that it cannot penetrate my daily life.

I am accepting that I am not perfect. I am me. I will live my life in truth.

My faith, which I was beginning to think was fading away, has made itself an ever-present force lately-- and I have proof of its power.

I installed a digital converter box and antenna to an old TV all by myself.

I let Luke make pork tenderloin for dinner, and it was really good.

I have been growing a baby for 22 weeks now.

21 Weeks and...

...I threw up for the first time during this pregnancy!

I don't know the exact reason, but I know that I took my prenatal vitamins, DHA supplement, and my Tamiflu this morning, which I usually don't do because I typically take them at night (but I forgot last night when I got in at 2:30 a.m. from Kelley's wedding in Chicago!). Almost within minutes, I started feeling really yucky.

Luke was going to take me out in the car and maybe get some food or some fresh air, and the motion sent me over the edge and I demanded he turn the car around and take me back to the house. I ran (yes, I ran!) to the bathroom and thankfully made the toilet as I "tossed my cookies" for the first time in 21 weeks.

I cried because, of course, I HATE getting sick. It is just the worst feeling ever...and then my hormones took over and I cried more because all I wanted to do was do what's right for the baby (by taking the vitamins)...but then I got over it, ate some crackers, and I am fine.

I am sooooo thankful I haven't had to deal with morning sickness or nausea. SO thankful!

Trip to ER

It sounds worse than what it was, but I found myself in the Community North ER on my Friday night last night. After feeling lethargic and sweaty and achy all day at school, I got home and felt worse. I had a sore neck, sore throat, swollen glands in my neck, and the worst headache I have had in a while. Luke's little warning light went off and said we should go to an urgent care facility.

We went to MedCheck by our hospital and they got a few vitals on me and then decided that I should go to the ER. With the stiffness in my neck, they were wanting to rule out meningitis. Of course, the lovely H1N1 is also going around, so that was a concern as well.

We headed to the ER thinking that we would have a 3 hour wait at 9:00 on a Friday night. There were several people in there waiting already, but we managed to see the triage nurse really quickly. Being pregnant, they made me wear a pretty fancy mask over my face :-), which I think made them move a little faster.

I was put in a room and seen by a doctor in a matter of minutes. The doctor came in and quickly ruled out meningitis, but he said that they are no longer testing for the flu because of the inaccuracy of the tests (apparently only a 40% accuracy rate?). Since I had some flu symptoms, they decided to treat me as if I had H1N1 and prescribe Tamiflu. Luke and I were both happy with this, as Luke has told me that not very many people with H1N1 were even being treated with Tamiflu in the hospital, that they were just told to drink Gatorade and rest.

The doctor did say that I needed to lay low, stay down, and rest. HA! He also said that if I had a fever, I shouldn't go back to school until I was fever free for 24 hours. This put me into worry mode because I have a sorority sister/friend's wedding in Chicago today, and not only could I not stand the thought of missing it, we also had a hotel reservation and other friends riding with us to consider. We thought about it and decided that we shouldn't stay the night in Chicago, and we should go for the wedding and as long as we can make it to the reception and then head back that night. This way I could sleep in my own bed and sleep in on Sunday without worrying that we had to get up early and head home. We were able to cancel the reservation with no penalty (thank GOODNESS!), and we will still be able to see beautiful Kelley get married (double thank GOODNESS!).

I am more exhausted than I have ever been. I have been falling asleep before 9 on most nights (except Thursday for Grey's!), but when I wake up in the morning, I still feel like a walking zombie. Pregnancy combined with illness is not a good mix...and I just need the time to be able to recover. Hmm...maybe next weekend?

Anyway-- I am going to just fine, and we dopplered the baby last night because he/she is not moving hard enough to let me feel it (boo!), so I was worried and I wanted to hear for myself that he/she is OK. We got the heartbeat at around 145 bpm, so from our perspective, the baby is just fine, too.

In similar thoughts, I think it is LAUGHABLE that the health departments can administer huge, massive H1N1 vaccinations in malls, but yet not give supplies to enough OB offices to vaccinate their pregnant women, who are in the highest risk category. I called four different places, including my own doctor's office, someone else's doctor's office, and both the Marion Co. and Delaware Co. health departments, and I was told my doctor didn't have it yet, that the other doctor had it but couldn't give it to me since I am not their patient, Marion Co. didn't answer, and Delaware Co. is doing a "clinic" at the fairgrounds on Tuesday. I can call for an appointment Monday. Looks like this is my best bet. Again...laughable.

But hey, if we can't laugh, we'll cry, right?!

1/2 Way There!

I am 20 weeks this week! This means that I am halfway through the pregnancy. I am not wishing it away though. I know I miss this when it is over. I have been told that by every new mommy. They love their babies, but they miss their bellies (well, their pregnant bellies...I know I will continue to have a belly for a little while after, but it's not the same :-).

Not much to add. There's some stress at school which has caused me to question everything. Ev-er-y-thing. It's a lot of pressure to be a soon-to-mommy, bread-winner, med school wife. I just want to do the right thing for everyone.

I am trying to rely on faith and the encouraging words of others as I prepare to make some tough decisions in the months ahead. This is only the beginning, I know, of the tough decisions...and I know that through it all I must keep my priorities in line and listen to those who have my best interest at heart.

Ambiguously vague enough for ya?

Anyway-- take care, whoever you are, wherever you are.

P.S. Happy Halloween from Juno and Paulie Bleeker.