terbear2b's Journal

Finally an Update
Well I know that it has been a while since I have posted but now that I have a more stable web connection I have no more excuses. I guess since it has been so long I will begin with some significant events. I also will have to learn how to put pictures up on the web that you all can link to.

-On September 15th I had my first maternity appointment. I feel like I made a nice connection with my midwife and she did a general exam and took lots and lots and lots of my blood. During the pelvic exams she noticed some cysts or polyp on my cervix. This was a surprise to me as I had just had a physical a month previous and there were no signs of anything like this at that time, yes I called the doctor to confirm this. In general I was convinced not to worry by all and I have a follow up appointment with an OBGYN on 10/23. The midwife also noted that my uterus had grown as expected and we made an appointment for 2 weeks latter to check for fetal heart beat. I know it was really early still, but I left feeling vaguely unsatisfied. I guess I wanted more evidence in some form that I was really pregnant and that if I was then that everything was okay with the baby. I am learning now that one of the hardest things about pregnancy is the waiting.

-I continue to have waves of nausea and fatigue though the sickness is not as intense (unless I make contact with fresh garlic that is). Every day at about 2pm. I have the strongest urge to just put my head down where ever I am and take a nap. Weekends are lovely because I can do this. This is a new one for me because I have never been one to sleep during the day unless I am a bit sick. I am also finding that most of my pants won't close. I am really liking pants with drawstrings right now. They are not the most stylish but they are really comfortable.

-On Sunday September 23rd I continued to worry needlessly that everything was okay and I wanted some reassurance. My wonderful friend John happened to get a new ultrasound machine at work and was happy for a subject to try it out on. This was just the ticket. All the way to the clinic I felt slightly nervous in the car. I was finally going to get some answers but what if something was wrong?? Well we got there and got the cold goop on my belly and found a fetus almost instantly. I was in awe. There it was on the screen a little being with legs, and arms and a head and it was moving around. How weird to think that the baby is in my belly moving around. It is still too small for me to feel any movement so it is kind of odd for me to think about it wiggling around in there. We could even see the heart beating. Before we left John got a Doppler and we got to listen to the heartbeat. That for me was totally amazing, even as amazing as actually seeing the baby. Of course it was still way too early to determine the sex. I have a scan set up for week 18 and hopefully the baby will cooperate and let us know what it is. At first I really thought I wanted it to be a surprise but now that I am in stores looking at stuff I want to know whether to buy the cute boy things or the cute girl things. Matt also seemed to really enjoy the experience and he had some fun as John let him drive the machine. So it was official there is a growing little baby inside me for real. We have 3 pretty good pictures that I will eventually figure out how to post. For the next few days I kept going back and staring at the pictures, in the same way that I kept checking the pregnancy tests I initially took. I also have to take pictures of them and throw the tests away as I think that they are kind of gross to be keeping around in my bedroom. THANK YOU john!

-The following Friday I went to see the midwife, as she wanted to check for the heartbeat. I knew it was there but felt it was a good idea to go through the motions and go to the scheduled appointment. When I got there I had to wait a while and that was okay. I relaxed in their comfortable living room and looked through their library of maternity books. Once in the room the midwife once again slimed me with goop and attempted to find the baby's pulse. After several minutes of not finding it I started to get nervous. She tried for another minute or two and then said that she could not find a heartbeat but that this might not mean that anything bad was happening. She then said that she was going to go see if the hospital had any openings for ultrasound that day just to be sure. It was at this time that I shared with her my ultrasound experience from the past weekend. While a coworker went to call the hospital she decided to try again, and soon after she found it. What a relief. I have to admit that for a minute or two there I had started freaking out, but there it was a nice and strong heart beat. I know that when the baby is small it can be hard to find the heartbeat but still when she started talking about an ultrasound I started to think that something bad had happened. I was a bit shaken after this visit so I took myself to Harvard Square and had some lunch. I then searched the paper stores for something I could use to make a scrapbook about the pregnancy. I found a suitable book and it is now on my shelf accumulating stuff to eventually get put in. I have this fantasy that I will have a few days off before the birth when I will have time to work on this.

On Friday the 13th I started my 13th week officially beginning the second trimester. I am very pleased to have reached this milestone. We celebrated over the weekend by buying a little something for the baby. I chose a Tigger sleeper that is SO cute. It has a tail and hood with ears and face on the top. It is very soft and I could put it on a boy or a girl. I just wanted to do a little something to mark the occasion and it was 40% off. Also John and Mieke took apart Karin's crib and passed it on to us a few weeks ago so that they would not have to store it. So now we have a crib in our house. I guess I am really going to have a baby.

In other news I had a wonderful weekend last. We went to King Richard's Faire, and then on Monday we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. The meal was awesome and just as awesome my many friends helped me cook and even clean up the disaster making it successful and not overwhelming. John and Mieke also upgraded their scooter and passed their smaller one on to use to store for them and use, as we would like to. This is so much fun. Yesterday we all took some time and went on a short bike adventure in the Blue Hills. It was nice to see the leaves turning and to be outside for a while with good friends. Matt has been furiously working on getting the house together and he is now fully moved out of his office, and Amy is getting ready to move down there. He has also begun to take out the upstairs bathroom in preparation for it's much needed remodel. I am sorry that this has been such a large entry and I will work on keeping this updated more frequently. I am sure that there are things I forgot but I have a banana pudding in the oven and it is starting to smell done mmmmmm........ Hugs to All!

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