Rainbow Baby: Week 13/14

13 Weeks Pregnant:

Weight: 170 pounds

Waist (at belly button): 35.5”

Hips: 43”

Bust: 38”

Total Weight Gain: -3 pounds so far

Baby’s Heart Rate: Found it with my doppler last night and it was 155 and SO perfect!

Number of times I get up in the night to pee: 2-3…

Thoughts about growth: I expect to start rapidly gaining because my activity is now down to zero as per doctor’s orders. I literally can only get up to pee and shower. It’s the most exhausting thing in the world, which I find completely ironic since all I can do is lie around and do nothing… But more about that later…

How I am feeling emotionally: I have been emotionally exhausted this past week. It seems like every day something else happens that taxes my emotions, but I am just handling everything one step at a time and trying to stay as calm and relaxed as possible.

How I am feeling physically: I notice that I have “contractions” when I get too worked up or stressed out, so calmness is definitely key. I talked to the doctor about these possible contractions and he assured me that they are probably just more or less my muscles stretching and tightening, and not actual contractions… I am not too worried yet because they aren’t regular like they were with Leila, but more or less I am just paying close attention to my body responses so that I don’t miss any important signs.

Cravings: Fried pickles. Jalapeno poppers. York Peppermint patties and pineapple juice… At the same time… Chocolate anything… Pumpkin anything…

Things that make me green: Still ground beef and red meat… And now, lettuce. Ugh. The thought of lettuce. I actually CRAVED a burger and then when I tried to eat it, it had lettuce on it… and I barfed. Yuck… I still like spinach but not as much as I did in the beginning… It’s mainly the light green/white iceberg type lettuce that makes me sick. And the smell... Oh yuck the smell. On the upside, I haven't ACTUALLY been getting as sick as I did with my other pregnancies. This is so foreign to me! I don't know if it's just a small lull in this pregnancy and then the sickness will pick back up, or if I am going to have a somewhat "normal" pregnancy and not be sick any more! I am excited to see what's in store for this pregnancy.

Activity: I am officially on bed rest. I had my surgery on Tuesday and my cervix was in worse shape than the doctor had thought. The doctor said that in all of his years of doing cerclages (which is at least 25 ish), that I have one of the worst he has seen… Originally he had said I would just need to be on light modified bed rest with limited activity, but after the surgery he decided that I need to be on complete bed rest for at least a week, only getting up to pee and shower. And then starting in a week or two, I can just begin to move around. Even then he wants me to keep it very minimal and no bending or lifting. This will have to continue until at least after the holidays. So three months of bed rest, and then we will see where I am at. As much as I hate to admit it, the doctor seemed like he didn’t expect me to make it as far as he had expected before. We are still aiming for at least 28 weeks, though of course I would be thrilled to go longer. My biggest goal is 36 weeks, because anything past that is very unlikely. My realistic goal is 32 weeks, though I pray every day that this baby can stay put until 36.

Doctors Appointments: My surgery was Tuesday, as I mentioned above, and before that I had an appointment on Friday. I got to see the baby on Friday and I have to say, he or she is absolutely gorgeous. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the screen. Everything was right where it is supposed to be and looked perfect. I have another appointment next Thursday where they will check on the baby and make sure the stitches are taking well and that there aren’t any complications. So far I haven’t had any bleeding since the stitches were set so I think I am good to go.

Boy or Girl: Still leaning toward girl but occasionally I think boy… so I am going to be honest: I haven’t a clue!!! I was so sure with Landon and Leila, maybe this baby just wants to be a surprise! I think my birthday present to myself may be to find out early. I will be 15-16 weeks on my birthday, so the tech should be able to tell... but my doctor said they won't do an anatomy scan until 20 weeks, even though I have frequent ultrasounds!

Miscellaneous: Right now my sister is here taking care of me and Landon and I will be honest: I don't know what I would do without her! She is a life saver, literally. I had prepared about 15 casseroles before she came so that she wouldn't have to cook a lot, so I am going to be posting those recipes as well as some suggestions for where to find recipes to fill your freezer with meals! I have to be honest, it has been a blessing to know that dinner is taken care of!