17/18 Week Update

Status: 18 weeks, 0 Days

Once again, I am begging for forgiveness from my loyal readers (if there are any - I may just be writing to myself, here). I apologize for the fact that it has been more than a week since I updated, but when you read below, hopefully you will find sympathy with how this week has gone and forgive me for taking so long....

The Bump - 17 Weeks

Yea, so I know what you're thinking...are you SURE your pregnant? Is there really a baby in there? You look the same....Trust me, I know.....the only reason I'm convinced there's someone in there is because they keep proving it to me with ultrasounds...and because I feel like I'm laying on a watermelon if I roll on my stomach.

Last Monday (17 weeks, 2 days), we went for the second half of our triple screen (basically, looking for genetic problems). They did a long ultrasound and looked at Tobe's heart, brain, and other body parts to make sure they were all there, and that there weren't any obvious problems. They also took some blood to do more levels on me. This type of testing is completely optional, but since it has no direct effect on the baby we went for it. (Also good to note we did a Jewish genetic panel on me that came back completely negative - whoo hoo!!!) We will still go back for a traditional 20-22 week ultrasound to look for birth defects (non-genetic problems). The pictures we were given from this ultrasound are below:

Head to the left...you can see the right arm and hand

Profile shot - you can see the nose and mouth

They always say, the proof is in the picture:
IT'S A BOY!!!!


Joel like this one - our baby cyborg
You can see one of the eyes, and parts of the skull

As usual, Tobe was a bit stubborn. However, because I have an anterior placenta (meaning the placenta implanted towards my belly button instead of my back, like most people) we discovered that if I was on my right side for the scan, we got much better pictures.

So that was the fun, nice part of my pregnant week. Now for the not-so-fun part. Since 15 weeks, 6 days (see earlier post) I have been dealing with an ever-increasingly annoying rash and itchiness. On Tuesday, after giving prescription steroids a try (with no relief), I finally got to see a dermatologist. He had a good idea of what he thought it was, but because it presented abnormally, he decided to do a biopsy (with stitches - my first, ever!) to make sure we were treating the right thing. When I get a final diagnosis, I will be sure to share it with you all. For now, my prescribed daily regimen is:

1. Showers with only white Dove soap
2. Triamcinolone (steroid) ointment to all rash/itchy skin after showers
3. Claritin in the morning and at 1PM
4. Benadryl as needed
5. Atarax (a much more potent anti-histamine) at bedtime

I'm supposed to stop all my lotions until we figure out what works, but because I'm a really bad patient, I have limited myself to once a day when my skin gets unbearable (usually in the evening). It took a couple days, but I finally had a decent day yesterday and an itch-free night last night (a miracle, considering I was up crying many nights because of the irritation). I go back next week, so we shall see what the results are!

And, of course, since we have now entered the 18th week of our journey, a new bump pic for your enjoyment!

Does anyone see anything yet????

Itchy, Itchy, Scratchy, Scratchy, Thank God There's Not One On My Backy!

Status: 16 weeks, 5 days

So, while we were driving down to Orlando on our 10 hour (yes, TEN) journey to Sam and Becca's last week, I suddenly began sprouting these tiny little bumps (they looked like bug bites) on my legs. They itched here and there, but I didn't think much of them because I randomly itch all the time.

Well, let's fast forward to today, 6 days later. Instead of going away, they have multiplied, called all their friends, and are throwing parties on my arms and legs! And these cute little bumps turn into evil hives the second I even THINK about scratching one! Today, I finally had enough. After trying Benadryl, Pepcid, oatmeal baths, and various types of soothing lotions (without much change or comfort) I called my primary care doctor's office and begged them to fit me in. They are awesome and saw me right away - literally 30 minutes after I called.

I am now going to be a steroid freak for the next 6 days - which sucks because it's Pesach and I didn't buy much to eat! Hopefully this will help, but there is a good chance I am going to be scartching until Tobe makes an appearance....can I get a big OY from everyone for that!?!

16 Week Update

Status: 16 weeks, 5 days

Let me begin this entry with a big apology for not updating everyone at the end of last week like I had promised. SORRY!

Ok, now that that is taken care of, let's move on to the current events. Last week, my mom was in town to visit and do fun baby stuff. It was a pretty successful week, if I do say so.

Things we accomplished:
1. Neither of us killed the other one, or attempted to kill the other one the entire week
2. Joel and I, along with mom's help, chose and ordered new furniture for Tobe (Thank you to MawMaw and PawPaw for this awesome gift!)
3. We found bedding/room theme that fits perfectly!
4. I learned to sew!
5. We had an elective ultrasound and got to see Tobe while mom was here!

I tried to post pics of the furniture, but it's not working, so you'll just have to wait and see it when it gets here. Sorry, again. Here's a pic of my sewing accomplishment, a Boppy cover:


So, yay for me now knowing how to use my sewing machine!

Now, about the ultrasound. We went to a place in Alpharetta called Baby's First Images. The staff there was really nice, and you can invite up to 10 people to come watch on this huge screen. Of course, being that Tobe was so small (and, as usual, so darn stubborn), we had an interesting time. The tech got a glimpse of the "goods" early on in the session, but didn't want to spill the gender until she could get a good picture for us. Well, that never happened because Tobe was either facing the wrong way, moving around, or just plain being stubborn (which was I was pretty sure would happen after the last ultrasound). Either way, she finally spilled the beans at the end:

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!

We were not completely shocked. I had kinda been leaning that way, and for some reason have never been interested in anything to do with baby girls - names, furniture, bedding, clothes, even stroller patterns. So weird! Also, because we didn't get the best pictures, we will be repeating our session in a couple weeks (for a very small fee) - so look for some 3D pics to be posted then!

And for those of you who are dying to know, yes, we have a name picked out, and no, we will not tell you. None of you.

We also had our 16 week check-up with the midwife yesterday (Joel couldn't make it). Little Tobe was being his stubborn self and running (or swimming, I guess) away from the doppler everytime she would catch his little heartbeat! It just makes me smile because he already seems to have quite the stubborn personality (wonder where he gets that??), and he especially hates being poked at by ultrasound wands and dopplers.

So, last, but not least, here is my 16 week profile shot taken last Saturday in Orlando:

15 Week Update!

Status: 15 Weeks, 1 Day

Hello to all my faithful readers! Just wanted to check in and leave a quick update before I dash out the door to work.

Last week started off miserable. I caught a cold (shocker, I work in a hospital) and spent most of Sunday in bed (with my wonderful husband taking good care of me and making me lots of his special throat-soothing tea), but still managed to make it through two days of work (Thank you, Sudafed - and yes, it is safe to take). I am officially over my cold, and have been for a couple days, so that's pretty exciting! I'm hoping to stay happy and healthy for the next week while my mom visits, and then we take a trip down to Orlando for Sam & Becca's Wine (for some) & Cheese party!!!!

Here is my pic taken yesterday (15 weeks exactly). I apologize for the face and the outfit as I was about to leave for work...


Check back near the end of the week for a special update!

Picture Perfect

Status: 14 weeks, 0 days

I will begin this blog entry with an apology for not keeping my commitment of blogging weekly. Sometimes I'm just too tired by the time I keep up with all my message boards (I frequent 5 of them, and am about to add another!). I know it's not a good excuse - sue me (you won't get much).

So I thought I would pop on because I FINALLY gave in and had Joel take a picture of me today. I have pretty much been avoiding cameras since we found out about Tobe, but of course I can't keep that up forever - as much as I would like.


Not too shabby for someone who is usually the subject of the picture and not the one pointing and shooting. As you can see, there is a small bump, but not much going on. I promise to try to take pictures with some kind of regularity in the future!

Our peanut is a "Peanut"!

Status: 12 weeks, 2 Days

So, I have been a bad blogger and have not been keeping up with posting as soon as something happens....blame it on me wanting to drag it out, being the queen of procastination, or just plain lazy.....either way, here is our latest update!

On Thursday (at 11 weeks and 5 days) Joel and I headed in for the first half of our sequential screening. Basically, they do ultrasounds and blood work at 11-13 weeks and then again at 16-17 weeks and use the results to tell you what your baby's chances are of having several genetic/congenital disorders. Honestly, the results don't matter to us, but we have agreed to do anything that does not risk the pregnancy itself. Anyway, on to happier things...

So, we get to the office and they take us back in the ultrasound room and get busy looking around in there - measuring the head, checking for a brain, looking at arms and legs, etc. After about 10 minutes of fun looking around, we get down to the business of getting a good profile shot so that the doctor can measure the back of Tobe's neck (Nuchal Translucency) - which is the entire point of this scan. Well....this is definitely my child! Tobe is soooo stubborn! The tech had me cough several times, and she even tried poking at Tobe with the ultrasound wand (to which Tove gave some very cute kicks and punches back)...after a good 35 minutes of this she finally printed out a bunch of views and took them to the doctor for approval. She said if they didn't see a good view, they would come back and try some more. Silly kid!

Luckily, the first shots worked! Here are a couple for your viewing pleasure:


To get to the point of the title of this post, if you turn your head to the left and look at this first picture, you can see the "Lucy" character from the "Peanuts" cartoon!

Another, not so clear view.....

This one appears to me to be Charlie Brown!

That's all for now, kids, check back for more updates soon!

Thanks to my partner in crime....

My BFF and partner in crime, Sarah, finally got me the videos we snuck of when we told my parents about Tobe...watch and love!