At 13w 4d we celebrated Halloween! Lots of candy = one happy preggo! At 14 weeks, my belly finally "popped." At 15w 2days, I was driving back to Tennessee from a visit home in Alabama and felt my very first little kicks! They were so light they almost tickled.
It honestly took me about a week to figure out that what I felt was indeed know as quickening, or the first baby movements I could feel. Two days later (15w4d), we had a very special appointment at the elective ultrasound studio. It was time to find out baby's gender!! For a week before this, we conducted a poll on Facebook to see what percentage of our friends and family thought boy or girl. My fabulous friend Sophie was available immediately after our appointment to take our reveal photos.
It turned out that our friends and family were right, IT'S A BOY!
I was honestly surprised. I really thought baby was a girl! But I was not upset. Back when we first started TTC, we sat down and discussed names. We were able to agree on one girl name and one boy name. We also agreed to keep them mostly a secret until each were born. Now I have to say that we really really really love the girl name the most and I cannot wait to (hopefully) have a little girl some day. For now, we will be enjoying a little boy with which my husbands middle name will be passed down to, just as it was passed down to him at birth.
On November 20th (16w3d) we rushed to the emergancy room in the late hours of the night, but it wasn't for me! Turns out my poor husband had appendicitis. We spent 8 hours in the ER, a couple in the room after he was admitted and then he was wheeled away for surgery. I was lucky enough to have many baby kicks to keep me company while I calmly worried myself to death haha In the end, he was fine. We spent the night and were released the next morning.
My prenatal visit at 17 weeks was nothing special, except that I finally met my actual midwife. She also sent me to radiology to schedule my 20 week anatomy scan. From the day after that appointment until about 10 days later, I wasn't able to feel baby move at all. It was terrifying. I read as much as I could on the internet about it, and it seemed it was pretty common. But still really scary!!! Next came Thanksgiving, which was full of plenty of shameless eating. In the midst of this, another emergency took place. That first week in December my parents called with news that my great aunt had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was looking to only make it about another week. Much to my surprise, dad had my sister flown in from Alaska. She is in the Army (just like my mom and husband) and we hadn't seen her in two years. Although it was so hard to lay a woman we all loved so very much to rest, visiting with my sister was amazing. It's something we both really needed to help us reconnect and try to get back to how close we used to be.
While I was back home, my belly really started to grow! A few days after I made it back to my husband in Tennessee he was able to feel baby kick for the very first time! He said it felt REALLY weird haha
Two days before Christmas, we went to our anatomy scan. This was an ultrasound done at the hospital to check all of baby's measurements. The technician confirmed that baby was indeed a boy! This was great news for us all since we had purchased many boy-related gifts for Christmas. On Christmas eve we hosted a dinner with friends. The next morning we enjoyed waking up with the kitty, having coffee and cinnamon rolls and digging into presents. A few hours later my family arrived with gifts and spent the rest of the day with us. The following Monday we had our 22week prenatal appointment. My midwife said baby looked perfect on the ultrasound and didn't schedule to see us again for six whole weeks. Talk about feeling like an eternity! Sheesh.
Bringing in the new year was really nothing special. Frankly, I really didn't enjoy the night too much. It was a neat feeling to know that this year we would be having a baby, but that's about it.
My appetite started growing about as fast as my belly! I actually had to go up a size in underwear, (what a weird feeling haha). I also found I struggled to function without chocolate, oops. Back pain also started to set in.....just in time for a week long trip back to Alabama with my husband.
We visited with friends and family, and also visited the local hospital. I had been having pains across the bottom of my belly. Considering the intense ligament pain I experience in the first trimester and the fact we had been sleeping on a not so comfortable bed, I waved it off as nothing. The pain continued throughout the day and then there was blood in my urine. We spent about 4 hours in L&D where my urine was tested, kidney's were given an ultrasound and baby was monitored. They diagnosed me with hydronephrosis, meaning my kidneys were swollen due to a build-up of urine from a possible obstruction. They released me once my pain subsided and told me to come back if the pain worsened.They figured I passed a clot or stone on my own that night. A few days later we had our first baby shower at my parent's home. It was mainly traditional, except that it was co-ed. It was nice to see the outpouring of love from friends and family for baby. But, like many "big moments" in life, there is always a lesson to be learned. It sucks to see what friends were no-call no-shows that you really thought you were close to. Even now (at a little over 30 weeks,) we haven't heard from them.
While in Alabama, I had to purchase a belly wedge to be able to get some rest. In a later post I will review the exact wedge but for now, I'll say it was SO worth it!! Other symptoms this trimester not mentioned earlier include some very dry, itchy skin (I partly blame the weather for this one), the dreaded sweat between the bottom of my boobs and top of my belly, and so very much gas haha
Pregnancy sure is interesting, lemme tell ya!
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