Bump Brief #19

Bump Brief #19: 26 weeks

How far along? 26 weeks, baby is the size of a cucumber. According to the ultrasound today, baby is weighing in at 2lbs!

Total weight gain/loss: 153 today, +6lbs!
Stretch marks? Nothing new. 
Sleep: Not horrible, not great. Found out Morgan is transverse(sideways) so that might explain why even sleeping on my sides aren't comfortable. Laying on my back gives me heartburn and I can't lay on my stomach. The struggle is real. 
Best moment this week: Prenatal massage! My mom got me a gift certificate for my birthday and it was SO relaxing!

Miss Anything? Eh, the usual. Painting toes, shaving, sleeping well. Nothing crazy. 
Movement: Yes. She has a dance party between 9:30-10 almost every night. Starting to move a lot during car rides...guess she doesn't like being squished while I sit or she hates my singing. It's a toss up.
Food cravings: Can't think of anything specific this week really. Tomorrow we are going to a breakfast place for my birthday and I'm pretty stoked to try their blueberry cream cheese stuffed french toast. Get in my belly!
Interesting facts about baby (according to pregnancy app): 

1. She's taking breaths of amniotic fluid. 

2. Baby is borrowing antibodies from mom to help fight infection and kick start its immune system.

3.Under 100 days until due date!!

Gender: Girl!! And her name is.....

Labor Signs: No. Braxton Hicks, yes. 

Belly Button in or out? In. It looks funky. Getting flatter. 
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Good. had an ultrasound this morning so we got to see Morgan wiggling around in my belly. They checked the cyst and I need an MRI in 2-3 weeks to get some more details about it. Doctor said it is still grapefruit size, hasn't gotten bigger or smaller. I will still need to get it removed, whether it be if I need a C-section or 6 weeks after Morgan is born. Doctor said cyst shouldn't affect labor or delivery. So...that's the news. 

Here are a few ultrasound pictures from this morning. Morgan apparently smuggled in a foam finger in my belly. 

Bump Brief #14

Bump Brief #14: 21 weeks

How far along? 21 weeks, baby is the size of a carrot! 

Total weight gain/loss: Up 1 more pound this week. -2 and I seem to be gaining a pound a week. 
Maternity clothes? I should just delete this question. There is no going back to regular clothes for a long time. I've said my good-byes.  
Stretch marks? Still just my under the boob ones. Are stretch marks genetic?
Sleep: Good, but not great. Been up more this week going pee. I've been trying to drink more water so I blame that. Damn, H2O. 
Best moment this week: Baby is still a girl and healthy! Had an ultrasound today that confirmed gender. Super exciting. Read more in my "mood" section for the other ultrasound findings... 

Miss Anything?  The ability to wear regular clothes? I feel like I have a lot of maternity clothes, but still not a ton of options. It's as if i wear the same outfit everyday, not much variety.
Movement: Yep. Mostly active at night around 9:30-10.
Food cravings: Still have a sweet tooth. Made some Valentine's day donuts for the hubster's work potluck and it is taking all of my being not to eat the entire platter. 
Anything making you queasy or sick: Ripe bananas. They need to be firm for me to eat them or else I gag. 
Have you started to show yet: Also another question I should delete. Yes and yes. I doubt I will shrink. 
Gender: Girl!! The little girl didn't grow a penis! Here are a couple ultrasound pictures we got today.

Labor Signs: No
Belly Button in or out? In
Wedding rings on or off? On
Mood: Excited and worried. The ultrasound today was sort of unexpected. We went in thinking we were just going to confirm gender. If it ended up being a boy, yes, I would have been a little disappointed, but it would have been fine. Healthy baby is all that matters. And baby is healthy. All body parts are there and accounted for, heart rate was good. This was the scary part...

 Within 30 seconds, the ultrasound tech says, "Um, have you ever had an abnormal ultrasound or pain during this pregnancy?"

Excuse me, what!? Abnormal!? No, no I have not. I have always had normal pap smears and ultrasounds. This is not how I expected the beginning of this appointment to go. She said I had a large mass on my ovary. 

Excuse me, what!? Large mass!? What does this mean?

So she is measuring baby and saying baby is perfect, terrific, cute nose. I have almost completely tuned her out and not even enjoying this moment because she has me thinking the worse possible scenario. She said the doctor would have to see me today to figure out the issue. 

Issue: I have a grapefruit-sized dermoid cyst on my left ovary. Right side is fine, but left needs to be monitored. When the doctor came in, he seemed very nonchalant about the situation. He said to come back in 6 weeks and then 6 weeks postpartum I should have it removed. Even though he says it isn't a huge deal, I was crying. How can a CYST not be a big deal. I asked a lot of questions. Would it hurt baby? Would it do anything with labor and delivery? Baby and delivery would/should be fine he said. I don't know what to think. Google is not your friend when you look up this kind of thing. 

Second issue: My placenta is "low-laying". Ultrasound tech made it seem like a C-section was going to happen or I was going to bleed to death giving birth. This lady did not have good bedside manners. Holy hell. I DO NOT want a C-section. Doctor said as I go further along, placenta should move up. We will monitor as well, but the chances of placenta staying low are about 1%.

 So basically, I hate that ultrasound tech. She completely freaked me out. I am still worried, no doubt. Doctor helped a little. 

My mood is all over the place. Happy baby is healthy and a girl. Trying to keep that in my head and all the positives. 

Since we found out girl for sure, I wanted to re-create a picture we took when we found out Nate was a boy. My friend, photographer for Sweet Peony, who is amazing, took Nate's boy pictures then I took the recreation. She is obviously a professional, but I tried to do the best i could in the little collage.