It's a girl! And I like her!

So we finally found out the sex! It's a girl!! Our second experience with the imaging center was much better. We had a different ultrasound technician, who was highly more competent and pleasant. She looks so much more like a baby now. I'm starting to finally feel connected to her. This lady also thought it was ridiculous that the previous woman didn't print any pictures for us, because apparently it was totally possible. So this time, we got a couple. I got to see her moving and kicking a ton and putting her little hands by her face. So cute! I also am really feeling her kick and punch now. Here's her pretty profile.

I went back to the midwifery center and that's where I'll be staying now. I listened to her heartbeat again on the Doppler and she kept finding wherever it was and directly punching it. Then she whooshes away again. I like her. Haha.

The midwife wants me to write down everything I eat for 2 weeks. Doing that has veered me more towards the right choices and has made me think twice about French fries and too much ice cream. It's kind of annoying! But it's helpful. I want my baby to be used to all the good stuff and not have the taste buds for just fatty and sugary things. Yikes.

I have to schedule my glucose screening test before my 28 week visit. I don't know how long it takes to get those results. Should I go a few days before my appointment? A couple weeks? I'll be at the beach from August 4- August 18 and my appointment is on the 21st. Is it enough time to take the test on the 20th? Or maybe I should try to find a LabCorp in South Carolina.

On a different note, I'm obsessed with baby girl clothes and I wish I had bajillions of dollars so I could go crazy. I'm hoping for a Gap sale soon because those $30 baby dresses that she'll only wear for a couple months are irresistible!

We took a tour of the apartment we almost moved into back in May. This time, we saw the 2 bedroom, which is like a tiny town house. Emphasis on tiny. The bedrooms are microscopic. The prices have also gone up. No surprise. The 2 bedroom started at 1295 and the one bedroom, which used to be 1000, is now 1287. Great! The search continues. There was another property we had in mind that is just down the street from this other place. We finally actually went to talk to them and took a tour. There is a one bedroom with a den which is less than the 2 bedroom, but is definitely enough space for us. The den will be our nursery/ craft and piano room probably. I don't know yet. We'll probably had a bassinet in our room and a crib elsewhere. The size is nice and it's not fancy, but we can make it cute. We're going to opt for the un-renovated kitchen to save $100 a month. The renovated one is not so impressive anyway. I just dont want to be on the first floor. The apartment is not ideal, but it's in our price range, it's in a good location for us, and we can work with it. We're hoping to move at the end of August or beginning of september. Hopefully august so we can use the pool for a few weeks. And so that we're not stuck moving on our anniversary.

I've moved down from 40 to 32-36 hours at work. Mostly 32 actually. It feels a lot nicer, but I still wish I didn't have to be on my feet so much. I gotta hold out for 4 more months! We need the money.

We leave for the beach in 11 days and I need another swim suit or 2. I can't wait to be in the sunshine finally. I have never been this pale this late in the summer. Thanks, retail hours. Danny's excited to spend 5 hours a day on sand castles. Hooray!

Time for a smoothie and some yoga.

~21 weeks, 5 days~

Banana baby

Oh my, it's been a while since I've posted! Where to begin?

I'm halfway done with my pregnancy! That's hard to believe. It feels more real because I FEEL pregnant. For one thing, I look it. The bump looks less like I party with 40's too hard, and more like a baby bump. It's even almost obvious through my apron at work.

I'm starting to feel movement, although it doesn't feel like kicks. The kicks usually feel like I have to fart, and it's annoying when that symptom isn't relieved. This little girl or guy sure is a fast mover. Speaking of lovely things like flatulence, my constipation had pretty much been healed due in part to some homeopathic medicine specifically for constipation during pregnancy. It really works! I've always been more of an herb girl, and kind of skeptical about homeopathics, but now I'm singing a different tune.

I just started taking some arnica now that I'm a believer. Internal combined with topical is supposed to be more effective, and I've been slathering Traumeel on my back when I remember. I've had trouble with my back for years, and I've just gotten used to being in pain all the time, but I decided to try to start fixing it before I deliver, because being aligned and unafraid of throwing my back out seemed like a good idea. I went to a new chiropractor, who was recommended by a coworker patient. Her friend went there originally because her babies were breached, and Dr. Tania Howard moved them so that she could deliver vaginally after a c-section. They have tables that accommodate your bump and they are all natural. My thermal scan and other scan were surprisingly bad! It makes sense why I hurt so much! I have tons of nerve compression, muscle tension, and disc turning. Thankfully, my scoliosis is muscular, not spinal, so it can be fixed. Hooray! 23/24 is a great age to be fixing and being pregnant makes your body kind of like Gumby, so it's a great time to do pt. I'm going 2x a week for at least 12 weeks. I love it there! The place is called Broadneck Family Chiropractic. I'm starting pregnancy yoga a couple times a week at Charm City Yoga to help with recovery as well. And I'm signing up for Yoga Birth with Danny. It starts in September. I need to be looking at Bradley Method classes as well!

I'm officially switching back to the Midwifery center. I have to get the doctor to send over all of my tests and information, which I'm afraid will be somewhat of a hassle. My next ultrasound is tomorrow, because they missed some things, or rather didn't get clear pictures. It's probably because I was a little short of 18 weeks. Now I'll be about 21 and hopefully everything will be clear- including the sex! I'm not getting my hopes up, but we probably will know by this week! My next appointment with the midwives is on Friday. I only have a couple weeks to decide if I want to give birth in the birthing center, or the hospital, because there is a lot of paperwork. I'm not sure what to do. Some people have been scaring me into a hospital birth. I trust my body, but there are still questions. If something went wrong, and it was time sensitive, and they couldn't deal with it in the center, I would never forgive myself. I also can't think like that! But at least I'll be with the midwives, even if I deliver in the hospital. Anne arundel medical center is nice, i hear I want to take a tour! Hopefully I can do that soon.

We will be taking a tour of the apartment we want on Wednesday. Still trying to decide between the 1 bedroom and the 2 bedroom. We'll be there at least till the baby is 10 months old. It's only like a $200 difference. We're on a waiting list right now, but hopefully we'll move in at the end of August, or early September. We'll be in Myrtle Beach for 2 weeks starting August 3rd, and only Danny has 2 weeks of PTO. Therefore, we'll be a little low on cash, so money wise, later is better. Sanity and stress wise, the sooner the better. I want to settle and be able to afford paint and decorations for the "nursery". A shorter commute to work is highly welcome, too. 18 minutes rather than 50 will be very nice.

I took this career test through towson again. I've done it a couple times now, because it's interesting to compare results after I figure more about my work preferences, values, etc. Last time I took it, I had more options, which was confusing...too many choices. I've worked at Whole Foods for a year now, and I've been out of college for over 2. I've been able to streamline what I want out of a job. Having a baby on the way changes some of the answers, too. So this time, hallelujah, I only had ONE category as my results. Applied Arts. Makes sense! Performing arts was out as a career because I wouldn't make enough money for all the work I was doing and all the time spent away from my family. Underpaid feels like under appreciated to me, so I wouldn't be happy. If I perform, it's going to be for fun, not out of necessity. So that was out. Other things were out based on my abilities and interests. So I'm left with applied arts! I could be a graphic artist- print or software, a fashion designer, interior designer, industrial designer, photographer, etc. I could have my own company for a lot of it, which means I could work at home. When I'm doing something hands on and creative- a 40 hour work week is a breeze. I don't count the hours when I'm doing something I love. I have to force myself to take breaks. So maybe I will be a photographer after all. There's so much I could do with it! I could write cookbooks and do the pictures for it, I could take great photos of clothing I sew and design. I could obviously do weddings- which I think are great. Etc, etc. I might start school in the fall. It depends on whether or not my professors will be ok with me possibly delivering during finals, haha. So that's exciting for me...

Anyway, I'm getting off track of the whole pregnancy thing. Here are my symptoms...heartburn, shortness of breath, frequent pee trips.

I will post a picture of the swimming baby ASAP assuming there will bra good one this time. If not, I'm definitely scheduling a 4D. Speaking of D, I need new bras and bathing suits. I better be pregnant a few times, because all this maternity clothing adds up!

Well that's all for now. Time to get another hour of sleep before work.

~20 weeks, 5 days~

Thunderstorms, awkward technicians, and free onesies

The biggest thunderstorm of my life hit us on Friday. It was so crazy. The house was shaking violently, it was pouring, and at least a million trees were blown over. The power went out and we still can't get the Internet to work. On our way to work the next day, we had to turn around at least 3 times due to giant trees blocking the road. I had already not showered in three days prior to the storm, so not having water was concerning. (We have a well, so electricity controls that, too). Last night, Danny and I finally went over to our family friends' house to swim and shower in their pool house. It feels good to be clean! We went to sleep at 10 because it was so dark and there was nothing to do anyway. Right as we were drifting off, the fan started to turn. Hallelujah! A breeze amidst the 100 degree weather. So the power, including A/C and water came back on to save the day.

Ok...so...I'm 18 weeks and I have my next OB appointment at 20. She told me to make an ultrasound appointment before that so they could do the anatomy check and everything and send it to the doctor before my next appointment. I got the feeling that it took longer than it actually does, for the doctor to get the pictures and info. So I called the medical imaging center earlier last week and was ready to make an appointment for a week before my doctor's appointment. They took me off guard saying they could take me pretty much right away, so I made an appointment for Friday, because that is when I was off of work. I was super excited to find out the sex of the baby!

Well...my excitement was dampened, because that didn't really happen. We got called into the sonogram room and I was told to lie down on the table thing. She squirted enormous of warming ky Jelly on my stomach and went straight to work. I couldn't see the screen, she wasn't narrating, and I was super uncomfortable. At least an hour went by of back aches and frustration about not knowing anything that was going on. I was so jealous of Danny, because he got to see everything. I wouldn't have been so jealous if I had known how disappointing the images were. Still, he got to see the baby kicking and moving around. I finally got to see a couple boring still images when she told me to lay on my side in order to try to get the baby to change positions. What we saw is not what I expected to see from other peoples' sonograms and what you see on the internet. She never did a full shot of the baby, never a profile, never anything interesting. All we got was a kidney here, the head circumference there...She mumbled the whole time and was just quite an awkward human being. I fell asleep at one point! Ugh, what a disappointing experience.

As if it didnt suck enough already, she couldn't really see well enough to determine the gender. The baby's legs kept crossing when she was trying to look. She viewed the area from behind and the bottom, because it was head down. She said "hmm, those lines right there look like they could be labia". I said, "ok..." (I wasn't convinced.) "GIRL PARTS." yeah thanks, i know what labia are. I asked how sure she was and she wavered. She said she would put money on it. That doesnt mean much to me, lady! How much money? So i'm not exactly ready to start picking out nursery items and registering for sparkly shoes just yet. :(

So then at the end, when she finally was done scanning me for body parts, she said "oh yeah, sorry, normally you would get so many images, but our printer is broken." "um...what?" "yeah, a lot of people like to have stuff for their scrapbook." "uh. Yeah!" "yeah, sometimes we could do a disc of the images" she said as she was basically chasing us out of the door. "...so...can we get one?". I felt like I was at an amusement park where they are trying to sell you the picture from the roller coaster you just went on. Well, I wants to buy it! "oh yeah, sure, I'll go make one". Great! Cool! Why didn't you say so in the first place? Well it wasn't really worth it anyway. I mean, it was free, of course. Silly me. But it didn't open on my Mac, so I took it downstairs to my parents' pc. And yeah, the pictures are super disappointing. And I still don't know whether it's a boy or girl!! Ah!

So, I guess I'll just have to keep waiting. Normally, if you're a low risk pregnancy, you don't get many sonograms. I might pay for the 4d ridiculous one now, which I said I wouldn't do, but not I'm desperate. I want to see it's face! And I want to know boy or girl. I just want to knoooow! Hopefully, my doctor will help me figure this all out in 2 weeks at my next appointment. Mrah.

Some good news, small as it may be, is that I got a few free glass bottles and 4 free super cute onesies from shrunk items at work. :) there's a silver lining about inventory!

Blah, blah.

~18 weeks, 3 days~