yes, i'd like a new battery, please

I feel worn out.  As if my battery is completely drained. 

And the crazy part is that I'm having trouble sleeping.  Go figure.  It's kinda like a cruel joke because I will definitely not be able to catch up on sleep once baby arrives.  That was something I really had to adjust to when little guy was born.  I'm fine on 7-8 hours of sleep, but it was definitely a challenge having that sleep broken up by waking up every 2-3 hours.

Some of my sleep problems are from all the adjusting I've been trying to do.  We were on vacation for one month, in a completely different time zone.  When we came back we were still on summer break so we did the night owl routine of staying up all night and sleeping all day.  But now we need to change.  I start work in a couple of days and little guy will start school next week so we've been trying to shift our sleeping pattern.

But I keep waking up.  I wake up to pee.  I wake up because I'm hungry.  I wake up because I seem to be having some leg problems (only in one leg, it could be worse I guess).  And then once I wake up, I stay awake, thinking. 

You know, thinking can be a dangerous thing.  This brain of mine is in overdrive.  I, of course, think about all things baby.  I think about preparing for the baby.  I think about preparing little guy for the baby.  I think about managing work, two children, and a husband (because we all know that husbands are like children).  I think about the new school year that I'm about to begin.  I think about what kind of students I'll be teaching this year (God, please let them be well-behaved angels).  I think about thinking, and then get mad at myself for doing so much of it. 

And btw, this is all different than worrying.  Worrying is an entirely different category that I'm doing a pretty good job of defeating.  For now.

So, every morning I wake up after only 3 hours of sleep.  I go do the pee thing then try to lay down to sleep only to be greeted by my belly grumbling for food.  I go downstairs and eat a bowl of cereal or drink a glass (make that a double) of milk.  Then I head back up to bed to try and sleep.  And that's when the thinking or leg discomfort (sometimes both) begin.  Then I lay there for about 2 hours before I fall back asleep.  After waking up and eating breakfast, little guy plays and I watch a little TV, and then BAM!  It hits me.  Exhaustion.  As if I had no sleep at all.  I fall asleep on the couch.  This dozing off can be as little as 10 minutes or as much as an entire Disney movie (Which may or may not have just happened the other day.  Hey, at least little guy was entertained while I snored away).

I'm so hoping that this will improve once we get back to our work/school schedules.  Or else I'm gonna need a new battery, like now.

In more positive news, I'm starting 17 weeks, and I will see my Dr. in a couple of days.  And maybe, just maybe, I've felt some movement (If you're pregnant and haven't felt anything at this time DO NOT worry.  I'm a 2nd timer which means it's more common to feel things earlier.  You will feel movement anywhere from 18 to 22 weeks, just FYI).

I have a ton of things I want to write about (Remember all that thinking?  Blogging was in there too).  My laptop's in the shop so once I get that back I hope to get cracking on some new blog posts.  Until then I'll be snoozing on my couch.  ;)

image via yahoo image search

checklists

I'm a pretty organized person.  I'm known for making my vacation checklist weeks, even months, before travelling each summer.  I make to-do lists all the time, for work and for home.  So, when expecting a baby, checklists are defintely needed.
With all my recent stress with spotting/bleeding, I've debated about even starting a checklist.  That fear of something bad happening is always lingering in the back of my mind.  But hubby insists that we need to keep on planning, afterall we are expecting a baby in February.  So, I've decided that I'd rather be prepared even if something does go wrong, than be unprepared because everything could go right.  I did read one comforting statistic today.  Half of all pregnancies that have spotting will go on.  And if baby's heartbeat is good and healthy by 11 weeks, the chances of that pregnancy being successful are greater than 90%.  Oh, and I scheduled my next appt, which will be with my favorite OB/GYN, the one that delivered little guy.  It'll be in just 2 1/2 weeks. 

Back to my checklist talk.  I decided to go to one of my favorite websites for baby things, BabyCenter.

I found two helpful checklists; one for preparing for baby, and one for the hospital stay when baby arrives. 

Little guy was born 7 weeks early.  Luckily I had a lot of the things ready at home, but there were still some last minute things that we needed.  And, I did not have things ready for the hospital.  I remember stopping by the pharmacy and stocking up on all those things we didn't have time to get before.  I'm positive that they reached their sales goal that night...lol.  But my point is that once you pass that first trimester mark, it's never too early to prepare for baby.  Believe me, the time will fly by.



back from vacay but this pregnancy is stressing me out

Warning:  Long post to follow...

After a month of being away on vacation, we're back home.  And while I loved the family time, site seeing, and food, I must admit that I was a bit under stress.  Like, pretty much the entire time.  Remember that spotting I was talking about in an earlier post?  Well, it decided to come back and stay with me almost everyday of our trip.  Not fun.  Scary, really.  And on one day in particular the spotting was quite heavier than the other days and that sent me into an emotional crying spell in front of my family (which I hate doing).

Once we returned last week, I scheduled a Doctor's appointment only to find out that my Dr. is no longer working there.  WHAT?  So, I had no other choice than to schedule with the next available OB/GYN.  In the mean time my spotting stopped (don't get excited just yet, there'll be more on that soon).
I convinced the new Dr. to order me another ultrasound.  With all that spotting and travelling I needed some reassurance.  She agreed and also checked the heartbeat right there in her office, which was good, thank God.  Now, onto the ultrasound.  This is the 3rd one I've had for this pregnancy and the tech, in my opinion, did not know what she was doing.  I'm not kidding when I say that that was the longest ultrasound I've ever had (remember that I already have one baby, which means I know how these ultrasounds are supposed to go).  Of course hubby and I were worried that something was terribly wrong.  I mean, we saw the heartbeat and we heard the heartbeat.  We even saw the baby moving.  But why on earth was the tech asking me to turn from one side to the next all the while looking like she was having problems of some kind.  We asked once, "Everything's fine", she said.  We asked twice, "Everything's fine", she said again.  And finally I just came out and asked, "What is it that you're looking for?".  To which she replied that she needed to get a measurement on the back of the neck and because of baby's movements and positions she couldn't get it.  Ok, crazy tech lady, could you not have told us that before?!?  Finally, she asks another tech to come and help and within two seconds, she got it (further leading me to believe that thic chic was not so experienced).

Because my spotting had subsided (or so I thought) the Dr. told me that I didn't need to take any more meds, just my prenatal vitamins.  She also told me that I didn't need to come back until my next appt, four weeks away.  I felt some relief finally.  Until...

That evening, I had spotting again.  Bummer.  I didn't get so worried.  Heck, I've been dealing with it for a month already.  But the next evening, I went to the bathroom, and I found actual blood, like my "friend" came to visit blood.  It was scary.  I made sure that it was in fact coming from the place I believed, which it was.  I also had hubby take a look, which is gross, but I needed someone else to see what I was seeing, justifying my concen.  We decided not to play around.  We went straight to the ER.

I go the ER and am told I have to wait as the OB/GYN on duty was in surgery and would be down as soon as she finished.  Wait?  Ok, what choice did I have?  So, I went to the bathroom to check things out and found only slight spotting when I wiped.  Good.  Finally, I'm called into a room and the Dr. eventually comes.  She tells me after reviewing my ultrasound that was just performed two days before that she's not suspecting any problems.  She thinks the bleeding could be cause by something local and wants to do a "down there check".  After checking things out she informs me that everything looks fine, that there is no blood on my cervix.  I feel great that things are okay, but feel bad that it appears I made things up.  Especially, when she tells me that if it happens again I should "focus" and make sure it's coming from where I think it is.  Uh, hello Dr., I think I know the difference between holes, thank you very much.  Thank God I had my hubby see.  I had a witness, and thus reassuring me that I am not a looney.

So, I come home to have more spotting, even with a tiny (very small, mind you) dark clot.  But, I didn't worry, after an exam things can happen.  I decided to wait it out and see.  By the next morning, things stopped and I haven't seen anything more since.  But I am now afraid to go to the bathroom. 

Some good news is that I found out that my old Dr., who delievered my son, is back at the hospital I used to go to.  So guess who is transferring hospitals?  That would be me.  I'm hoping to get an appt. with her in the near future.  I need someone who knows what they're talking about.  And I trust her.

But in the mean time, this pregnancy is stressing me the heck out.  This could very well be our last child.  Two is enough, right? 

P.S.  I've made it to the 2nd trimester.  That's another piece of good news.

taking a break

I'll be taking a blog vacation as we're getting ready for our upcoming summer trip.  I'll be sure to write down all the things that I think to blog about for future posts.  :)

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy summer! :)

image via

spotting during pregnancy

Oh boy.  We had a slight case of stress this week.  Two days ago I found some blood in my normal discharge (an increase in discharge during pregnancy is normal btw).  Seeing blood in any amount, at any time, during pregnancy can be quite scary.  I got pretty worried.  Not only was I worried about my pregnancy, but I was also worried about our upcoming trip that my family is very much counting on, and that we all very much need.  What made it worse is that my hubby was away on business and I didn't want to worry him while he was away.  And NO ONE knows about this pregnancy so I had NO ONE to talk to (one of the downfalls of keeping it a secret).  So I had to wait.

First thing I did was pray.  Because everything is in God's hands.  What's meant to happen will.  So, I prayed that everything would be okay.  I prayed that I could stay as calm as possible and not dramatize the situation.  And I prayed that I could be more faithful.

Next, I went to the internet.  Now, this can be a bad thing, but for some reason I was drawn to do this.  I typed in what I saw in the search box and was actually relieved to find some many women who have gone or are going through the same thing.  Some women wrote that blood was the first sign of their miscarriage but there were also many women who wrote that they experienced spotting or even bleeding but went on to have healthy full term babies.  I felt hopeful.

And all the while I kept an eye on my situation.  I didn't find any more blood, which was a good thing.  I did not have cramping, or any other symptoms.  But, of course, I was still a bit worried.

Finally, my hubby came home that night and I was able to tell him.  One of the things I love about him is his calming way.  He assured me that even if the worst case scenerio happened, that everything would be okay.  We would work through it all.  Which are things that I know, but hearing it from him was comforting.

The next day, I still hadn't seen anything more, but I called my Dr.  She was busy with a delivery and asked for me to call her back.  I called back but she didn't answer.  So I called the hospital and was able to get an appt. the same day.  I went to my appt. and told my Dr. what I saw.  She told me that this can be normal but to be sure we need to do an ultrasound.  So I had the ultrasound done and THANK GOD, everything is okay.  Here is the advice from my Dr. on my situation:

• Spotting is different than actual bleeding.  And many pregnancies will have some sort of spotting during the nine month course.
• Spotting can be caused by a number of things.  It can happen after sexual intercourse.  It can be a side effect of taking baby aspirin (which I'm taking because of our upcoming flight).  And in the early days of pregnancy it can be caused by the egg being implanted.
• She advised me that if I have spotting it's a sign that I need to rest.  (Don't overdo it mommies!)
• She told me to continue the baby aspirin as I need it's advantages for travel.  But if I have actual bleeding (not spotting), then I should stop it.
• She prescribed Duphaston, which is a hormone supplement known to support pregnancy.  I will take 10mg twice a day for one month.
• And based on my ultrasound, my Dr. concluded that I'm experiencing a normal thing and there's no need to worry (a plus side to all of this is that we heard the baby's heartbeat, always a great sound!).

I asked my Dr. what would constitute an emergency while I'm away on vacation.  She told me this:

• Severe lower abdominal pain.
• Actual bleeding, like that of a menstrual period.

I started this blog as a way to document our journey.  But, I'm also hoping that it can help others too.  With all the stresses that can happen along the way, it can be comforting to hear real stories from real people.  That's the beauty of starting this blog at the beginning of our pregnancy journey.  I can share all of those normal ups and downs that happen along the way.  And maybe it can be comforting to other expectant mothers.

image via freeclipartof.com

airplane travel during pregnancy

If you read any information about travelling while pregnant, it will say that travel during the 2nd trimester is the best and safest time to go.  But the reality is that many women have to travel at different times throughout and planning during only the three months of the 2nd trimester is not always practical.  They say travelling during the first three months is not advisable as it's the most critical part of the pregnancy.  And travel during the last three months is not advisable as it's nearing the ending point and who wants to deliver on a plane, right (although I've heard that in such cases your baby will receive free tickets for life...lol)?  :)  My best advice is to talk to your Dr. about any travel plans you may have or want to make and s/he will advise you accordingly.  In many cases your travel plans may be permitted by your Dr.  There are a lot of women who must travel for business, and just think about flight attendents.  I know that many attendents will continue to work and fly through a good two-thirds of their pregnancies.  But because each case is different, you must discuss it with your Dr. first.

I travelled during my 2nd trimester with little guy.  And everything was okay.  I had one spot of blood a few days after landing and that was it.  Nothing more.  I'm still not sure if that was from the flying, or just the increased activity from the trip itself.  If it would've continued, I would've seen a Dr. for sure.

This year I'll be travelling in my 1st trimester.  I'll be in my 3rd month on the way to my destination and I'll be starting my 4th month on the way back.  I admit that I was nervous that my Dr. would not okay this trip.  My flight will be 13-14 hours. 

However, my Dr. did okay it, but with some rules.  I think these are important tips for any woman who is planning to fly during pregnancy.  Here they are...

~ My Dr. has prescribed baby aspirin for me to start taking two weeks before I travel.  Baby aspirin is a low dose aspirin that is considered safe during pregnany.  It helps to thin the blood and prevent clotting during long haul flights. 

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~ My Dr. has also recommended that I wear surgical stockings during the flight.  These will help with blood circulation.

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~ My Dr. has advised me to drink lots of water throughout the flight. 

~ My Dr. has advised me to get up and walk around frequently.  From my first experience I can tell you that this is done without even thinking.  When you're pregnant bathroom trips are frequent and with all that water drinking, they'll be even more so.  :)

Here are a few of my own helpful tips:

~From my first experience I can share that taking extra snacks is important.  On our return trip during my first pregnancy we were stuck on board for 6 long hours.  Because our airline offers snacks, all I brought were some Reese's pieces.  Because our flight was a connecting one, they were only able to offer our one snack (which was a sandwich and drinks).  It lasted for an hour or so, but soon this pregnant mama was hungry again.  That day Reese's pieces and I became bff's....lol.  So, no matter what the situation, be sure to pack some snacks.  Your baby and your hunger with thank you for it.  And try to include some healthy options too, like crackers, pretzels, etc.

~As hard as it is, try to rest as much as possible.  Travelling can be tiring, add pregnancy to that and it's double tiring.  Unless you're flying first class, sleeping is challenging on a plane.  But do try to find some sort of comfortable position so that you can sleep.  Our flight is 13-14 hours.  My goal each flight is a good 8 hours of sleep.  It's not the same as 8 hours in my bed at home, but it helps a little. 

~Don't push yourself.  We have a three hour drive after our 14 hour flight.  And even though hubby does the driving, I still feel the strain of that drive.  I'm the navigator, staying alert, and paying attention to the road signs.  This year, we have decided to stay overnight near the airport in the hotel, get a good night's rest, and then wake up refreshed for the drive to my parent's house.

~ Do not lift heavy things.  We all know how heavy suitcases can get.  Don't be afraid to ask for help in lifting them.  Instead of a shoulder duffel bag, opt for a small carry-on suitcase with wheels.  Your shoulders and your back will thank you too.

~ And finally, remember that you should always discuss your personal situation with your Dr.  While some women can travel without complications, some may not.  Your Dr. will help you decide what's safe for you.  And also keep in mind, that when you're further along in your pregnancy, airlines may require a Dr's note of permission in order for you to fly.

Happy Travels!  :)

pre-maternity clothes

I am not one to shy away from maternity clothes.  In fact, I often wonder why women are so prone to delaying the inevitable.  A pregnant woman will in fact have a growing belly.  And therefore her clothing will need to be adjusted accordingly.  What's the big deal if you're wearing maternity clothing anyway?  You can't blame fashion anymore.  Sure, back in the 80's the fashion world was dressing up mamas-to-be in those frocks with the huge puffy sleeves making them look more like a giant doll babies than women, but now you can wear the lastest fashions with maternity wear.  So embrace those growing bellies ladies.

As for my current situation, I'm in a small dilema.  We still haven't told anyone our news but my pants are just too uncomfortable to wear.  Around the house I can get away with my comfy pants, but I dread the days I need to go out because I have to find something to wear.  I could wear maternity pants and no one would even notice.  But as I've mentioned I have a housekeeper and I'm trying to keep the secret from her too (Long story, but she will most definitely mention it to the other housekeepers in the family.  I do not want them all to know before family, and also the chance of them mentioning it to family is great.  We want to tell them when we're ready, not have them find out through word of mouth).  So, even though I have some maternity pants stored away, I can't yet wear them (they will be seen in the laundry if I do).

I decided to go out shopping and try to find some things to wear for now.  I had success at H&M.  Jeans with an elastic waist, and flowy tops.  But unfortunately, I couldn't find any of my purchases on their website.  :(  So, I headed over to Old Navy's website and found some examples for you.  Whether you decide to share your news early or later, these styles will work for that growing belly.  And the cool thing is that these can be worn after pregnancy too.  Trust me, a lot of women cannot fit right back into ther pre-pregnancy clothes after giving birth.  So you'll appreciate having clothing with loose waist areas.  Here we go...

Some pretty flowy tops, with room through the belly area...

A feminine dress with the same feature...

Cargos with an elastic waist is comfy on that growing belly...

Leggings are a great choice for the waist area, nice and stretchy...

All of the above items are from Old Navy.

I only found one thing on the H&M website that resembles any of my purchases.  I found a similar style of jeans like the ones below.  Except I'm personally not a fan of the color of these.  Mine are solid (no stripes) and a dark denim color.  The bunching at the ankles had me unsure, but let me tell you that when paired with the right top and some flats, this style is fashion friendly (not to mention very comfy too). 

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I will be happy once we announce our news.  I have a storage bin of maternity clothes that I can begin to use.  I'm planning to secretly dig through them soon.  I have an upcoming vacation and need some comfy options, especially for our L O N G flight.  :)