My Baby

There are first-time moms out there who are completely cool and collected their entire pregnancy, and then there are the other 99.5% of us who are normal and worry uselessly if our baby is going to end up being a mutant alien freak, or worse. Well, partially out of my own paranoid selfishness, and partially because I really do have a desire to help others, I signed up for this nuMoM2b study. It's a study to try to find indicators for babies born early, born with low birth weight, or mothers who develop high blood pressure during pregnancy. I'm sure there are other things they're looking for, but that's just a few. Some of the perks of this study are ultrasound exams during each of the three visits for the study. This is definitely a perk since my insurance only covers the ONE ultrasound at 20 weeks. Do they realize that 4 1/2 to 5 months into a pregnancy!?! I'm sorry, that's far too long for me to know if my baby is developing properly. Thus the selfish part of my participation. Unfortunately Cory had to work all day today, and he couldn't come to the appointment with me. He was pretty bummed. But I went straight over to show him the pictures they sent me home with (and I also happened to have a choir concert tonight... it's just convenient they're in the same place).

So this is our baby!:



Feel free to take your guesses. Half a dozen people have their suspicions already.

Either way, I'm pretty excited.

My sisters and mom have all called or text me asking how everything went (well before my appointment, mind you). I love how excited and supportive they are. After all, this will be grandbaby #19... It makes me even more excited knowing that there are a bunch of people out there on the edge of their seats waiting to hear news. It makes me feel really special even though there are a million pregnant women out there. I guess they only have one pregnant sister right now... and I'm the littlest sister.

And can I tell you about the other little adventure Cory and I had this week?

Well, we went to a friend's house for dinner and we all brought food to share. You know, pot luck style. Anyway, we all overate and were uncomfortable. A few hours after eating, I was still really uncomfortable... and I kind of attributed it to being pregnant and eating too much. That is until I got home and COULD NOT for the life of me find a comfortable sleeping position. Everything hurt. I tried and tried to fall asleep and just sleep it off. It wasn't working. Finally around 2am, I got up to go to the bathroom, deciding that would solve all my problems. I guess it did because I just threw up EVERYTHING I ate that day. It was super gross... and the first time I threw up this entire pregnancy up to that point. It was not fun. I was up and down all night, but got more sleep the second half of the night than the first.

There was no way I was going to be able to work the next day, and I always feel bad for calling in since there is no one to cover for me at all and it completely throws off our routine (BAD NEWS!). Well, Cory ended up calling in that morning too. He was heaving a lot, but I don't think he ever threw up. He also slept a lot better that night. I had a final that afternoon that I could not miss, so I ended up going to class for a couple of hours and being completely dizzy the entire time. I just hope I didn't fail the exam. And then the fun part of my evening began. I had to work 3 student recitals in a row. There was no one to cover the shift for me there either, but I tried to work despite my aching body. It didn't go well. I mean, I put on a happy face for the patrons and others who were around me, but once I got back into my office, I was down. Seriously. Not. Well.

This morning was only a little better. I called in to work again. I hate doing it. Slept all morning, and ended up feeling a lot better than before. Not 100%, but at least 55%. I attended my last class, and went to my concert. By the end of the night I felt at least 70% better. But let me tell you that food poisoning (we're pretty sure that's what's going on) + pregnancy = bad stuff all around. And I am STARVING, yet, nothing looks good or edible.

This could explain why I have lost 7 lbs. in the past 3 weeks (since my last dr. appointment).

I'm just grateful for modern technology and that my baby is okay. I'm counting my blessings!