Week 15 of the JellyBean Progression

Week 15

Hoo boy, I do not know what is going on with me. Maybe it’s part recovering from being sick, maybe it’s part JellyBean doing a lot of growing , but the last few days I have been starving. Like needing to eat a sandwich every two hours and still feeling like snacking in between. Yikes. The scale still isn’t moving much though, so I’m not too worried. I think to date I’ve gained less than 5 pounds. However, it’s hard to keep up with my metabolism. I’ll eat until I’m full and then two hours later start feeling a major sugar low is coming on, which means I need to eat again. I remember feeling this way with Fletch, too, so it’s par for the course.

JellyBean’s about the size of an apple now, weighing around 2 ½ ounces. Hopefully I will start feeling movement next week – that’s always so exciting. And we have two doctor visits next week. One is my usual monthly check up and the other the follow up to the first trimester screening I did a few weeks ago. Hopefully JellyBean will cooperate and we will be able to see the gender!

Thank heavens we are over the plague – poor Fletchie was not a happy camper. But we are feeling much more ourselves now and have stopped quarantine. Fletch really missed Brody and asked for him a lot while we were locked up trying not to spread plague. We had some great snow early in the week so Heidi and Brody came over to go sledding with us. It was a lot of fun but cold so we didn’t stay out very long.

Week 14 of the JellyBean Progression

Week 14

Things were busy and fun over the holidays, with the added bonus that somewhere in there, I got strep and Fletch got strep, an ear infection, pink eye and diarrhea to go along with the cough/cold/general plague he was already working on. Needless to say, things have not been pretty around here. Mr. Fantastic has been a trooper so far but I think he may be starting to succumb to the combined plague of his wife and child.

Fletch and I both saw our doctors yesterday and are on antibiotics, plus Fletch gets eye drops also. Hopefully we’re both on the mend and maybe daddy won’t get as sick as the two of us. You should see the poor kid – he’s a walking disaster and just looks so terrible. He’s not sleeping much, so his eyes are all puffy, plus red and crusty from the infection, and he’s sneezing and covered in snot all the time. Nevertheless, he is still a joy to behold. :)

Despite being plague-ridden, otherwise I’m doing pretty well. Still really tired but that may be due more to the plague than to being pregnant. Been able to eat okay lately, although being sick lost me a few pounds again. JellyBean’s about the size of a lemon now – so hard to believe something that big is in there and I can’t feel it. It should still be at least another couple of weeks at the earliest before I start feeling movement. My pants are definitely uncomfortable now and I’ve gotten out all the maternity clothes to see what I’ve got. Unfortunately, most of the pants I have are for when I’m MUCH bigger. I’m going to have to dig around and see if I’ve got some jeans up a size or two hiding somewhere that might work.

God, there are days – even days like today, with his crusty, puffy, sticky little face – when I look at Fletch and my heart just clenches and swells with pride and love. And then I think, oh boy, I get to have another one of these?! How did we get so lucky? Whether JellyBean is a boy or a girl, it won’t matter because he or she will be ours – that we made! And grew and bore and have the opportunity to teach and love every day.

Overcome by plague.

Overcome by plague. Going to bed. Happy New Year.

Week 11 of the JellyBean Progression: Continued

Still Week 11

We told the family this weekend! Dad, JT & Sherry came over for dinner on Friday and were very pleased to find out. We had been trying to plan a trip to Vegas for all of us in the Spring and I was bummed to tell them we won’t be going. I know I could go to Vegas but honestly, after going when I was pregnant with Fletch, it’s definitely one of the last vacations I would pick to go on while pregnant. Can’t drink and wanting to be in bed by 8 pm means I wouldn’t really get much out of the trip. Especially since I’m not much of a gambler either. We’ll all just have to plan another trip, maybe for later next year.

Told all the Farleys on Saturday night and they were just as thrilled. As I expected, Katie and Kathy had their suspicions but were just waiting for us to announce it. I know Kathy is excited to have another grandbaby to add to her flock.

Also told the Clark girls at the brunch at Ginger’s on Saturday morning. Also as expected, that announcement got the biggest reaction. Heidi and I had discussed how to tell them and decided that I would make a toast, thanking Ginger and saying how nice it was to see everyone and here’s to a healthy baby in July.

It was really funny to watch the reactions – everybody just looked confused for a minute and then there was an explosion of exclamations. Hayley especially was so excited and happy for me – she was shaking when she hugged me. I love that they love me so much.

So, phew. Cat’s finally out of the bag with family. Now I need to tell work but am trying to decide when the best time is. With the holidays it’s hard to find a good time to schedule a call with my boss. I may just wait until next week.

Had my first trimester screening at Platte River Perinatal this morning, which included an ultrasound so I got to see little JellyBean. I remember from my last pregnancy around this time feeling like there’s nothing happening – you’re not showing, you can’t feel the baby moving – and like last time, I have this tiny little worried feeling like maybe something’s wrong. No reason for it, I feel great; I’m sure every pregnant woman goes through this.

Anyway, it was nice and reassuring to see the ultrasound today. The heartbeat was fluttering away – 155 BPM (and the old wives’ tale is that anything over 140 means girl!), and JellyBean was hopping around in there, happy as a clam. Since I’m 37, I’m considered higher-risk than younger women but they were careful to tell me that I’m not an actual high-risk pregnancy. However, initial test results look good, although they also did a blood test which we’ll get results of in a few days, but initially they said everything looks great. And I have to go back again in a month where they’ll do another blood test and I can ask them to do a “gender peek” while I’m there. Can’t wait to find out who our little JellyBean is going to be!

Week 11 of the JellyBean Progression

Week 11

11 weeks already…can’t believe it. We are telling the family this weekend…Dad and JT & maybe Sherry are coming for dinner on Friday so we can tell them, and then the big Farley Girls (with boys) Christmas party is on Saturday night, so we’ll tell all the Farleys then. And also on Saturday morning, I’m having brunch at Ginger’s, so I’ll tell the H’s et al then too. Heidi is VERY glad that the cat will be out of the bag soon so we can talk about it openly (and so she doesn’t have to worry about slipping up!)

I was starting to feel the teensiest bit less tired and then I started getting the plague this week, so I’m back to feeling exhausted. I also forgot that something about pregnancy hormones makes it hard to sleep, which is a bummer because lately I’ve been waking up at 4-5 a.m. and haven’t been able to fall back asleep until it’s time for the alarm to go off. Sigh.

Still pimply, right now it’s mostly my temples and the sides of my forehead. I do seem to have escaped so far with hardly any neck pimplage, so that’s nice.

Week 10 of the JellyBean Progression

Week 10

Still more bleargh. I am doing my best to eat regularly but ugh, it’s a chore. The week before I found out I was pregnant, I had been having increased episodes of hypoglycemia – horrible sweating dizzy spells that happen when I don’t eat right or often enough. I’d had literally one a day for almost a week and thought it was really strange because usually I’m really good about keeping on top of it. But with the increased metabolism gestation brings, my blood sugar was all out of whack and I had no idea why so I hadn’t changed my diet. So now I am back to eating smaller meals (whatever I can force down) more often. I did eat some tomato soup last night that was like the best thing I ever ate. I may have to do more soups for right now. It tasted good and didn’t make me want to die, so I got that going for me. Which is nice. At least I haven’t lost any weight this time, although I don’t think I’ve gained anything either. But at least this way I don’t have any ground to make up like last time.

So the website tells me this week JellyBean is the size of a kumquat. I still think this is a poor size comparison for those of us not from the South Pacific. For us ‘murricans and those of us who refuse to venture beyond the apple-orange-banana section of the produce department, that equals roughly just over an inch long. S/he has finished the most critical development part and is now rapidly growing tissues and organs. Vital organs – including kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver – are in place and starting to function. There are even finger and toenails growing already!

My forehead continues to be a disaster area. I need to go look up last time when all the pimples finally went away. Still tired and peeing a lot but in general I’m doing well. I swear I’m feeling movement, although it’s probably just gas because the first time around they say not to expect to feel anything before 20 weeks. And even though everything happens sooner (or you notice things sooner) with subsequent pregnancies, I think 10 weeks is still probably a bit early to be feeling a kumquat that weighs a half ounce.

And of course, it’s also still too early for me to be showing – I didn’t even need maternity pants until week 19 last time around, but I swear to you that despite the scale not moving, I swear my pants are already getting uncomfortable. Am I allowed to start going around unbuttoned and use the Bella Band yet? This is crazy. Or maybe it’s because I wore sweatpants the majority of the time last time and am now having to dress for the office much more frequently and so maybe I didn’t realize it this early before. Anyway, time to go dig up the bag full of maternity/fat clothes and sweatpants I have tucked away. No sense being uncomfortable when I have 37 pairs of sweats calling my name.

Week 9 of the JellyBean Progression: Continued

Still Week 9

Bleargh. Am having food aversion in full swing. Same as last time, I am STARVING – my tummy is actually rumbling and I can’t eat anything because the minute something goes in my mouth, it makes me want to barf. Or if I can manage to keep something down, it feels like a cannonball for the next hour. Ugh. Why do my babies always hate me? At least this time I’m not quite as pimply. But the peeing, bloating and gassiness are just the same.

And I remember being tired last time but I don’t know if I was THIS tired. I’ve only been up for three hours and I could totally go back to bed again already. Must have something to do with chasing after a spirited toddler (who will be TWO in February, OMG.)

Week 9 of the JellyBean Progression

Week 9

First prenatal appointment today. Mr. F and I discussed and have decided to keep the same OBGYN office as last time, even though they only deliver at Rose & that’s where the office is. Rose was very conveniently located when we lived in the condo – only a 3 mile, ten minute drive. Now that we’re out in the ‘burbs, it’s about 13 miles or a half hour-ish drive. Mr. F said it was fine with him as long as it was fine with me, since I’m going to be the one in labor for the half hour drive.

This time around it will also be different because when I was pregnant with Peanut, I was working from home full time. Now I’m in the office three days a week. That makes it easier to schedule and get to prenatal appointments as long as I plan it for one of the days I’m at the office. But they also have a South office not too far from home if I need to go on an off day.

The bad thing is that I won’t be able to wear sweatpants every day or take pantsless naps at will like I did with Peanut. But it will be good going in to the office and seeing people and wearing fun maternity clothes and in general being more active while pregnant.

So the prenatal visit went great – they’re guessing I’m about 9 weeks, due sometime between July 5 and 11. Maybe we’ll have a 4^th of July baby! Everything looks good, they did an ultrasound and I could see the little heartbeat fluttering and the yolk sac. The yolk sac is there for nutrition while I’m growing the placenta. Incidentally, the growing of the placenta is one reason I’m so tired all the time. They say that a pregnant woman lying down is working harder, metabolism going faster, etc. than a non-pregnant woman working out.

Anyhow, even though I know it’s impossible to get a false positive on a pregnancy test, there was still this little nagging disbelief in the back of my mind that I was actually pregnant again. Once again, it was so easy and I had been sure that it being so easy the first time was a fluke. Thank goodness I have always been, ahem, careful because apparently I get pregnant at the drop of a hat. Or something. Anyway, it was good to have the ultrasound give me visual proof that there is indeed a little JellyBean in there. I also got a couple of ultrasound pictures to take home and a little “goodie” bag with a bunch of coupons and junk and I’m supposed to go back in 3 weeks for my 12 week visit.

So last time, I accidentally spilled the beans early because I had my camera out at my birthday party and it had a picture of me with the pregnancy test on it and my nosy cousins saw it. Plus we had already had a family trip to Vegas planned and I knew my in laws would know something was up when I wasn’t drinking, so everybody found out pretty early on.

This time around, we’ve so far only told my cousin H3 and her husband and plan on waiting to tell the rest of the family around 12 weeks, which means we get to do it at Christmas. Yay! However, I’m sure my mummy-in-law and at least one sis-in-law have taken note that I didn’t drink on Thanksgiving or at MIL’s birthday dinner and so have probably already sussed it out. As H3 said, anybody who knows me would notice my sudden ceasing of both diet Coke AND wine and have a clue. Heh.

We found out I was pregnant so early last time – like two weeks – so this time I’m already amazed at how far along JellyBean is! S/he is already the size of a grape and the tadpole tail is already gone. Aww, I never had time to be concerned that I was growing a frog in there.

Coming soon: Fantastic 2.0

A week or so ago, I took a pregnancy test since I was starting to have some similar symptoms from when I was pregnant with Fletch. Unfortunately, just missing my period isn’t a good indicator of pregnancy or not – due to my PCOS, my cycle is unpredictable and it’s not unheard of for me to go 8 weeks in between.

However, I’d been feeling really tired – like, the idea of going to bed at 7:30 (or even 4:30, when I got home from work!) was really appealing. And I started getting crops of zits on both my forehead and neck. At least with Fletch, my skin was kind enough to take turns on where the crops were located.

So anyway, I took this test and got an “inconclusive” result. Like the result I got was one of the three YOU DID IT WRONG pictures in the instructions. So I must not have peed on the stick long enough or something. Seriously, I don’t know how you screw up a pregnancy test, but if it’s possible, you know I will do it. In my defense, this was an old test, the one left in the box from when I tested positive with Fletch. So perhaps it was an expired test and not operator error.

A couple days ago, I sent Mr. Fantastic to the Dollar Store to pick up another test for me. I have to digress and say that you should never, ever buy your pregnancy test at the regular grocery store again. Even the cheapie, store-brand ones are like seven bucks at Safeway. But you can get ‘em for ONE DOLLAR at the dollar store! Last time we were in the dollar store, we saw the display of pregnancy tests at the register and commented on it to the cashier and she said we would not believe how many of those they sold – it’s one of their highest revenue generators. Mr. F and I thought that was pretty funny, but you know the minute we needed one, that’s where we went.

So I got out one of my dollar pee tests this morning and checked to make sure it was all sealed and not expired or anything (‘cause you just never know when you’re buying something at the dollar store – caveat emptor!). This one was not a pee-on-the stick kind; instead, I had to pee in a cup and then use a little pipette to suck up the pee and carefully drip four drops in the little circle. Just like high school chemistry! (Um, for certain values of high school experience.) Mr. LaRue would be proud of me; I didn’t spill a drop. I think this way is actually easier than trying to pee on the stick for ten seconds and also much cleaner (for me, anyway; I somehow cannot manage not to pee on my hand as well.)

Without delay, the little pregnant line came up – no inconclusive result here! I didn’t even have to wait 3 seconds, let alone 3 minutes. But in that three seconds, whoosh…my whole life changed again. The major difference this time is that I don’t feel nearly as scared as when we found out about Fletch. This time I feel like an old pro! Check me out; I already have one kid who still has all his limbs and stuff. Despite never having had to pass any sort of parental competency test, Mr. F and I have so far done okay by our little Peanut.

We are so excited for this new chapter in our lives! I know it will be hard with two – currently there are moments when little man runs rings around us both, so we have only to hope they don’t wise up and gang up on us at some point. But I am up to the challenge!

I am also looking forward to being pregnant again. For the most part, I really enjoyed pregnancy last time. There were some drawbacks (food aversion, failing the glucose test, ANGRY LADYPARTS) but I know how to deal with all those this time around. Let’s hope there are no new curveballs!

And since it will be a while before we find out if this one’s a boy or a girl, we are calling this one JellyBean until further notice. Cheers to you, JellyBean! Can’t wait to meet you some time next summer.

*Meep-Clench-EEE*

Yesterday I had one of those heart-meltingly wonderful moments with my son that made my whole day...heck, my whole month.

He climbed up on the kitchen chair to hug me, and as he put his head on my chest, I said, "I love you, baby." and clear as day, he replied, "I love you." He's never said it before and generally doesn't string more than 2 words together, but apparently this is something Mr. Fantastic's been working on with him.

What a great feeling. My whole heart went meep-clench-EEE! ♥ This is just one of the many reasons I love being a mom.