Cha..Cha..Cha..Changes

June 30, 2010 at 5:03 PM (Our Journey, Surrogate Education)
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Enzo’s Blog:

First things first, there has been some confusion on Bebe’s name.  Yes, Enzo is the real name of this growing baby boy and the only one on this blog that IS real.  Why not just use our real names?  The internet can be a crazy place people, point blank….

Enzo is 24 weeks gestation and will be 25 on Friday.  We had a prenatal appointment on Monday and everything is still looking great.  At the birthing center I weighed in at 151.6 pounds.  I started the pregnancy at 135.  I ended my last pregnancy 4 years ago at 155 pounds and I will obviously pass my highest weight ever with this pregnancy.  I am thinking (and hoping) that I will end in the lower 160’s.  My belly measured exactly 24 which is spot on at 24 weeks.  It is in the last 4 weeks or so of pregnancy that the measurement won’t match the week of gestation.  Enzo’s heartbeat sounded good and he even punched or kicked the Doppler during our listen.  Lucy and the midwife talked about Lucy’s progress with preparing to breastfeed Enzo when he is born which is truly fascinating to me.  One minute the midwife is giving advice and tips to Lucy for obtaining the best milk production possible and then the next minute she is giving me tips on how I can end my milk production as fast as possible.  I know it sounds silly but I am truly excited about drinking a glass of celebration wine the day he is actually born!  It is fantastic to me that I can deliver a baby and NOT have to take care of it OR feed it.  I also don’t have to experience the brutal after contractions when the baby nurses!  That was always the worst feeling for me, the sensation of a baby sucking my uterus straight up and out of my breast, sometimes making me throw up in the process.  If you haven’t had more than one kid, you probably don’t know what I’m talking about as it gets worse and worse with each pregnancy and that is when you feel this not so awesome phenomenon; worse than experiencing the “ring of fire” in my opinion.

After our prenatal appointment we went for an elective 3D ultrasound.  Oh my goodness, Enzo looks totally different! He is a little chunky monkey now compared to before.

 

                

16 Weeks

24 Weeks

Enzo loves his placenta and stuck to it like a snuggly blanket.  At one point he was literally rubbing his face and nose on it like he was in total admiration.  He did not want to leave his companion to come out for many good shots but here are a few more.  Sometimes it is hard to tell Enzo from the placenta but I’ll try to give you hints.

Enzo’s face is on the far right as you look at the picture, you see his chest extend down from his face, with his thigh and knee directly below the mass of the placenta .  You can see the embilical cord run up the length of his thigh from his belly and how it is attached to the placenta and how the cord is wrapping itself around the placenta.

Enzo’s face was visable right before this picture was taken.  He quickly drew his arm up and covered his eye with his hand.  He is pressing his face into the placenta.

Enzo’s brain is growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing “branches” of the respiratory “tree” as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.  This week marked the “age of viability” which means that should something happen prematurely and Enzo vacated my belly, he would have a fighting chance at survival.

My Time:

So, what is on the horizon?  Well, as of Friday, only 15 more weeks will remain to a full term pregnancy.  We will have the next prenatal appointment at the end of July in four weeks.  After that I will start to be seen biweekly, then weekly.  I will do the sugar glucose testing after the next appointment to test for gestational diabetes.  I will attend the “how to deliver a baby at a birthing center” class with The Husband.  Lucy will have her baby shower in August.  Professional pregnancy photos will be taken in September and baby Enzo will be born in the middle of October, October 10th if Lucy gets her wish.

Here is my newest, most favorite t-shirt from Lucy.  Don’t you just love it!

During the ultrasound as mentioned above we got some very good looks at the placenta and the tech made the comment that the area where the placenta was attached would be good to buffer any back labor pain should that happen during labor.  Back labor generally happens when a baby is in the posterior position during labor.  Posterior babies are head down like they are supposed to be but they are looking at the abdomen with the back of their heads facing the mother’s back and tailbone, thus generally causing extreme back pain.  Most times babies who are posterior facing will turn before the delivery and if they don’t they arrive “sunny-side up” looking directly at the sky.  Sunny-side up babies occur more often than not in a mother’s first delivery. 

Such was the case with my first daughter.  How unfair is it that the first time you experience the pain of labor you’re more likely to get dealt the blow of back labor on top of it?  Pretty sucky.  Needless to say, at that time I had no intentions of not having an epidural and had I not, I’m not sure if I’d have had any more children or even wanted to be a surrogate.  For everything there is a reason…

Still to this day, I can remember the pain of back labor.  The pain felt during labor is a referred pain, meaning the originating site is the uterus but the actual pain is felt in the abdomen, back, and/or upper thighs.  I remember the labor and delivery nurses wanting me to walk the halls and me wanting to rip their heads off at the suggestion because every time I had a contraction with my sunny-side up baby it felt like she was trying to be delivered through the path of my right thigh and out through my foot.  So each contraction it felt like my belly was being squeezed in a vice, my back was breaking, and fire was shooting down my leg.

My next two labors produced babies that were facing in the normal direction (face down) and thank God because for birth number two, I had the nurse who thought she knew all there was to know about everything and even though I wanted an epidural I was forced to go natural after she didn’t notify the on call anesthesiologist in enough time (that is also a small town hospital for you). Birth number three I hardly made it to the much bigger and better hospital and knew in the parking lot that it was too late for pain medication because I was already in transition. Because of those two labors I got over the fear of the pain and the more educated I became on the labor process the more bearable the pain became.

So to wrap up this very long story, it was pleasing to me to hear that my placenta would provide a good buffer if Enzo decides to go most of the labor facing up because it is a little scary to think of going through back labor in a birthing center setting without the option of drugs.  Either way, I will cope and deal as I have much more faith in myself now than I did back then but every little bit helps.

I end this blog post today on a Twi-high as I just saw Eclipse this morning and thought it was the best one yet.  I loved how they presented deviation from the books in this one but not much if you had read The Second Short Life of Bree Tanner prior to seeing Eclipse.  I read that Twilight fans will now have to wait until November 2011 to see the first of the two installments of Breaking Dawn to hit the big screen.  That is way too long friends, way too long. 

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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Belly Enticement

June 16, 2010 at 1:49 PM (Our Journey, Surrogate Education)
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Enzo’s Blog:

Enzo is currently 22 weeks gestation and will be 23 weeks on Friday.  He should be measuring around 11 inches long and weigh almost 1 pound.  He should look like a miniature newborn in appearance with his lips, eyelids, and eyebrows becoming more distinct. His eyes have formed, but his irises lack pigment still and his tooth buds are forming. Lanugo hair that covers his body is developing and the deep wrinkles on his skin will start to lessen as he puts on fat to fill them in.  His pancreas, which is essential for the production of some important hormones, is developing steadily inside his little baby tummy.  If we were able to gain a peak at Enzo this week he’d look something like this.

 Enzo is mostly active in the early morning and seems to do quite a bit of rolling, punching, and kicking during that time.  I think he sleeps most of the day as I am moving around nonstop.  In the evenings I will feel him here and there, a lot of times while I am eating dinner.  The other night I was sitting on the end of the couch where our dog, Maya, generally likes to sleep so I think in effort to get me to move she was practically sitting on my lap and had her head rested on the side of my belly.  Enzo started his kicking and punching moves right by her head and every now and again she’d raise her head and look at me like, “What the heck is going on?”  I eventually moved because I got hot but it was the first time I noticed that Enzo’s kicks could be felt externally and that if strong enough they were actually visible too.  It will be neat for the Ricardo’s the next time I see them to feel their baby boy moving around.

My Time:

Well, I’ve been back to the real world since returning home from vacation and The Husband is back to work (meaning long stretches of time where I am solely responsible for all or at least two of our children for many, many, many hours on end) and I yet again remember what a “catch 22” summer really is.  It is so nice to be free of the school drive, homework and projects that always seem to loom ahead of us each week, and all the pressures and stress that come with those activities, BUT, that small taste of freedom comes at the cost of losing any and all alone time that during the past school year I managed to pull off for twelve hours a week while the youngest went to preschool.  Summer comes with trying to do work for the business with my kids underfoot, camp drop-offs and camp pick-ups, lots of “I’m thirsty”, “I’m hungry”, “She’s touching me”, “I need a band-aid”, or “She hit (also interchangeable with bit) me’s”, that send me over the edge.  I am an introvert (a person who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being continuously around other people) and my lovely amazing children that I love beyond words can suck that energy out of me faster than the Florida heat ever could.  I do get out with the ladies on Wednesday evenings and my mom helps by taking one or all of the kids so I can grocery shop or do bank runs alone but what I really miss during summer is the quiet time that I like to spend alone in my own head.  I know the introverts at heart out there are nodding their heads as they read this, it is how we recharge.  So, while I am enjoying the summer, at the same time I am also coping with the adjustment of a different schedule and falling behind in work in the process.

To go back to the new developments with Enzo’s gymnastics, I think we should discuss the “lure of the belly” and I don’t mean in the weird Aunt Bernie lifting your shirt up for a quick look-see or when arbitrary strangers sidle up for an unwelcome grope of the baby bulge kind of way.  I want to talk about the, “I can’t help but rub and touch my own belly, CONSTANTLY,” kind of way.  For me, even with my own pregnancies, it wasn’t so much a maternal protection/attachment instinct type of action more than it was other things.  Sometimes there are reasons, I will mention a few of them below in a second, but most of the times I just do it because it is there and I can.  Sort of like those “hair twirlers” out there, the ones who randomly grab a strand of their hair and twirl it for no apparent reason. It is like that, but without the knotted tangled mess when it is all said and done.  ***Real quick, I promise not to digress more than a second here, but speaking of hair…Did you know that your hair gets thicker and more full during pregnancy not because suddenly more hair follicles have developed on your head and you sprouted more hair but because as our body systems adjust their priorities to the growing baby it slows the shedding process down and we don’t lose our hair at its normal current rate?  Kind-of interesting, but still bizarre because NEW hair BEGINS to grow on other body parts during pregnancy and I swear growth accelerates in others.  At any rate, back to the subject at hand, a few reasons why I touch my own growing belly at such a high frequency.

  1. It is hot and maybe, just maybe if I touch it the skies will part and a miracle of God will cool it off.
  2. My skin is stretching and it itches like a __________________ (fill in the blank).
  3. I’m letting you off the hook by letting you know that I am pregnant so you can quit looking at me weird because you wonder if I am just getting fat.
  4. I’m opening an invitation to address your confusion because you think I’m pregnant but you remember when The Husband and I excitedly celebrated his vasectomy a few years back.  You can’t visibly see me sporting a vibrant letter “A” on my chest, so what gives?
  5. I know you know that I am doing a surrogacy and it is ok to talk to me about it.
  6. I just don’t know what else to do with my hands at the moment so why not rest them on this convenient little shelf.
  7. It feels like the baby has fashioned some sort of shiv in there and is trying to make a break for it. I’m just pressing her/him back into place until he/she has served the required time.
  8. Sometimes it hurts as the ligaments stretch and/or as baby practices its karate skills.
  9. At the end of the pregnancy the baby is heavy and feels like it could just fall right out the hatch at any moment.  It feels good to offer some support and it helps eliminate that gawd awful waddle we tend to do.
  10. Also at the end of a pregnancy, I touch my belly for depth perception.  It is hard to tell or remember just how big the thing is.  It is not cool or socially acceptable to ram your belly into someone out in public or burn it on a heated stove as you reach up into the microwave that sits above it.
  11. Pregnancy is an awesome experience and whether I carry a baby of my own or a baby for someone else, the belly reminds me of the magnitude of the miracle that we call LIFE.

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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To The Left, To The Left

June 5, 2010 at 9:26 PM (Our Journey)
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I’m back from a much needed vacation and ready to write!  I would of written to you from the depths of the North Woods via the BlackBerry had I had the decency to actually remember my login and password to WordPress but, I didn’t.  I rely entirely too much on my computer to remember my passwords for me.  At any rate, while Lucy, Ricky, and Little Ricky explore Europe with their family, Enzo came with me and met up with our family in Northern Wisconsin.  We spent a week swimming, fishing, boating, and just relaxing in the sun or by the campfire.  My girls loved playing with their cousins nonstop and I enjoyed being referred to as Auntie.  We even grew accustomed to using an outhouse, though at night we could use the restrooms in the cabins and like an RV, only if it was of the liquid variety.  Even at 20+ weeks pregnant I still have a semi steel bladder and refused to come out from under the warm covers except in a dire emergency.  Is it any coincidence that Mr. Enzo is the most active in the early morning hours when he is lounging on top of a full house??

Photo from SIL, Sarah, of Lysol circa 1970 in Pooh Corner.   Sorry, I can’t help myself.  It is truly a sickness.  :)

Enzo is now 21 weeks gestation, OVER HALF BAKED!! Even considering the weeks of IVF meds that went into preparing to carry a baby this has been the fastest moving pregnancy I have ever had.  I don’t know if that has to do with the fact that I don’t have to think about the responsibility of a child post delivery or what, but it is going so super fast.  How ironic that for Lucy and Ricky this is probably a very LONG pregnancy and 40 weeks can’t arrive soon enough!

In July I have to take a class on how to have a baby at a birthing center verses delivering a baby at a hospital and it got me thinking about a few things.  First, I’m sure the class will be interesting and I will learn some cool MacGyver like tricks even though this will be my fourth time around the block. On the other hand, this is my FOURTH time around the block AND is there anything HARDER than having a natural (i.e. non-medicated birth) in a hospital setting?  The majority of hospital births heap more pain and suffering on the laboring mother than necessary, so it seems kinda funny to attend a class that will talk about how a more natural approach to childbirth doesn’t require you to be flat on your back, legs jacked up to your ears as you endure the most painful part of labor.  I like that if I wanted ramp myself up on my left side on a birthing ball, arms gripped to a set of purple monkey bars, while sipping coconut milk out of a straw, I could.  Now, all that might not be exactly feasible but you get my drift.  I have options… In the hospital, you don’t have options, other than what type of drugs you want to try.  Please continue to pray that the pregnancy keeps going well and that nothing pops up that would boot me out of birthing center care into OB/hospital setting care.  I’m going for the gold and a water birth people!

I’ve also pondered (beyond how fat my ass is getting) in the last week just how much pregnancy over the years has played a part in some of my habits.  Starting with my first pregnancy with my oldest daughter when I was twenty (12 years ago) a few things changed and have remained the same, especially in regards to how I sleep.

1)      It is only possible to sleep on my left side.

2)      Even the softest most comfortable pj’s seem restrictive.

3)      A pillow must always be placed between the knees to keep them from touching.

Well, I know I owe you a bit more than that for being MIA for so long but tis’ all I can do for now.  I must shift from an upright position in which my booty is half asleep to a reclined left side with a “crotch pillow” as my husband calls it between my knees to catch up on my TV shows I missed.   Tosh.O has a new season starting and tomorrow Kate Plus Eight starts; I’ve sure missed her sassy ways. It will be nice to see her back on the air again and not in that painfully trying to watch her smile and dance at the same time kind of way.

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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Ultrasound Pictures

May 24, 2010 at 8:04 AM (Our Journey)
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Here are the ultrasound pictures from our visit on May 17.

I have not been feeling well.  My youngest had a sinus infections a little over a week ago and I think I have been trying to fight one since then also.  I have been stuffed up with sore eyes and a jaw that hurts like no other and then on Friday during a field trip with the middle child I got the worst sore throat. I have been trying to rest as much as possible but as any mom knows we don’t really get the luxury of being sick.  Our work is never done and it must continue despite all odds.  I’m calling the birthing center in the next few minutes when it opens to see if I can get some relief.  Here is to feeling better soon, I hope.

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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18 Weeks & Change

May 19, 2010 at 8:41 AM (Our Journey)
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April showers brought May flowers and the jasmine blooms in our yard smell wonderful; I can’t help but think of the beauty of life each time I pull in our driveway and see them.  Our strawberries and Cherry tomatoes are growing and producing too, they are so yummy; the raspberry bush is not producing anything yet but continues to grow wickedly fast and furious as it tries to tangle itself into the blueberry bush.  It is the end of the school year and so many things are underway; we have been busy, busy, busy.  Enzo is 18 weeks and some change as of today and will be 19 weeks on Friday.  He weighed about 8 ounces during the ultrasound on Monday and this week is about the length of a bell pepper.

On Monday, my friend K rode with me down to meet Lucy and Ricky for our appointments.  Our first stop was for the second trimester screen for fetal abnormalities.  The ultrasound taken on Monday combined with the first trimester screen and blood taken at 12 weeks continued to show that little Enzo is indeed a rock star and is developing into a perfect little boy.  His spine looked beautiful, the measurements of the back of his neck were spot on, he had bone in his nose area where it was supposed to be that indicates the lack of Down’s Syndrome, he had four functioning chambers in his heart, all his internal organs, a total of ten fingers, and a total of 10 toes.

After reading how Bump Fairy’s friend got secret footage of one of their ultrasounds we decided to take it a step further and Lucy ordered a spy pen off the internet for $20.00. It looks just like a fancy office pen and while we were getting the ultrasound she was able to record the entire 18 minute scan with it. I have it on my computer but I’m not tech savvy enough to edit it down to make it possible to post on here.    Lucy and Ricky have still pictures that once I get copies of I will post right away for you to see.  Enzo doesn’t look much different from the last ultrasound, just a tad bit bigger and a ton more handsome.

Lucy had purchased some surrogacy shirts for us and here we are after the appointment modeling them.

After a delicious lunch at the Olive Garden we headed to the birthing center for our prenatal appointment.  The birthing center appointments seem pretty anticlimactic after seeing such high quality ultrasounds but we still heard the heartbeat on the Doppler and I measured at 16 ½ which is good. I jumped from having gained no weight at 12 weeks to gaining 10 pounds in the 6 weeks that followed which kind-of threw me for a loop but what did I expect when most my day focuses on when and what I’m going to eat and it has been harder than ever to make those food choices consistently healthy choices.  I’ve noticed that there are getting to be more and more options of flavors in the Greek yogurt section which I love because of the amount of protein it contains; I’ve been eating up the Oikos brand with caramel as of late.  I’m still addicted to anything in the Limeade family, V8 juice, and the quart of caffeine free tea I make each day; I’m probably going to need to have my teeth whitened after this pregnancy.

Here are some belly shots taken of the past few weeks, I’m due to take our 18 week picture today when the kids get home from school and can operate the camera for me.

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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This Bebe Has A First Name…..

May 5, 2010 at 9:22 AM (Our Journey)
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Bebe was 16 weeks last Friday and plans are still on course for visits to the doctor on May 17th.  However…..

This past weekend my family decided we needed a break from a bunch of different work related stresses and some irritating social drama so we headed to Orlando to do some camping and use our passes to Sea World.  We also took the dog because our friends who usually watch her for short trips were camping too, on their boat, in the bay.  Jealous much?  At any rate, the whole family is down in Orlando and we are lounging by the pool listening to some live music and soaking up the sun and Lucy sends me a text asking what we are up to.  So, I fill her in.  She texts back saying that if I’m in Orlando I should go get an ultrasound.  I’m ha ha ha, laughing out loud, like yeah right you seriously aren’t going to send me to get an ultrasound to find out the sex without either of you being there to witness it.  Lucy texts that she is serious and they are dying to know.  Whaa??  Lucy and I are a lot alike and I never would have guessed that she was serious.  So, I text her the address where I am at and tell her to find a place and get a late afternoon appointment if she can.  It was around 1:30/2:00 at this point and I’m thinking there is no way she is going to be able to find a place on a Saturday and get us in.  A little while later I get a text saying she found a place but I’d have to leave now.  I freak out for a minute because the entire family is in the pool, I’m just now going to mention to them that this could happen and we have a dog that we can’t just leave behind on the property.  I quickly regroup and call the ultrasound lady for information and directions and she tells me she has just left the facility and wanted to know if I could come tomorrow afternoon.  There was no way on God’s green earth that my family would have allowed me to leave Sea World in the middle of the day to get an ultrasound nor did I really want to.  I thanked her for all the effort and willingness she was offering but said it wasn’t going to work but that at least we gave it the old college try.  I was getting ready to disappoint Lucy with the news when the lady called back and said they needed to do some things but would return to the facility by 4:30 if I wanted, could I make it?  Yes, THAT we could make.  We hustled from the pool and got cleaned up as best as we could, loaded the dog, and were off!

The imaging facility was located within a crisis pregnancy center and it was an amazing facility.  Lucy and Ricky were on speaker phone in their car during the appointment and the lady got straight down to business finding out the sex.  It turns out that Vegas might of lost quite a bit of cash had you placed your bets on my daughter’s guess.  Lucy and Ricky are having another baby BOY!!

Lucy was squealing in the car and Ricky started calling their family right away, alternating between Spanish and English depending on who he was talking to.  It was so exciting, I can’t even explain it.  My family was lined up on a couch watching the big screen and listening to their excitement which was kind-of special for me because usually it is only me who gets to witness the joy and happiness that comes from each milestone that the journey achieves.  It was the first time The Husband and our kids got to see and feel the impact that drives my passion to carry their baby for them.

 Now, Bebe has a first name, it’s E-N-Z-O. Enzo Johvanni is his name and he will be a beautiful and wonderful addition to the Ricardo family.  CONGRATS MOM AND DAD!

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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15 Weeks and Counting

April 28, 2010 at 7:54 AM (Our Journey)
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It is almost the end of week fifteen; sixteen will be here on Friday.  170 days until the due date of Oct. 15.

Bebe’s Blog:

Bebe measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces.  The fruit of the week is…..drum roll please….an apple.

      

Bebe is busy moving amniotic fluid through his/her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in the lungs begin to develop.  Legs are growing longer than the arms now, and Bebe can move all of his/her joints and limbs. Eyelids are still fused shut but Bebe can sense light and Bebe is forming taste buds.

If we had an ultrasound this week, which we don’t (two more weeks and counting), Lucy and Ricky would be able to tell if they were going to have another little boy or a little girl to add to their family.

On Sunday Bebe stayed in the same spot for about 50 seconds and I was able to record a heartbeat and send it to Lucy and Ricky.  The Doppler showed the heartbeat around the range of 157.  I’m going to try to get another recording to post for you all this weekend. 

My Time:

I don’t have a lot to report since telling you about the insane cravings this past weekend.  I attended a baby shower for a friend yesterday and I always find it so fun to get to be a part of such a special upcoming event in someone’s life.  Take that and multiply it times a million and it may come close to what it feels like to be a surrogate.  Not only do I get to be excited for Lucy and Ricky, I get to be a full a participant in the whole adventure.  It is such a blessing.  After the shower yesterday Michelle asked if Lucy would get presents for her baby and I said yes.  She said, “I want to go to the store and pick out gifts for him to give HIM on his birthday.”  There we have it, a prediction from my very wise four-year-old.  Call Vegas and place your bets.

P.S. Bebe gave me a free pass with the crab rangoon. Whew…

© Pocketbebe, 2010

2 Comments

Kaleidoscope

April 25, 2010 at 7:32 PM (Our Journey, Uncategorized)
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I’ve been messing around with the belly shots we have taken weekly and have come up with a kaleidoscope of colors for the past weeks.  The baby bump is very deceiving sometimes as you will notice between the weeks.  Generally, if the bump looks big the picture was taken in the evening and if it looks small,  it was taken before I’d eaten three square meals a day plus snacks.

This weekend the cravings went beyond the Hostess cupcake…  I thought the world may come to an end if I didn’t get a tall iced glass of Sweet & Sour mix along with some crab rangoon.  It isn’t every day you tell your waitress you just want margarita mix, hold the tequila and triple sec then repeat several times before she walks away not to forget to hold the alcohol because you’re pregnant –with a baby that doesn’t belong to you and if she screws it up she is going to have an angry Salvadorian family to answer to.  She got the picture, AND I’m kidding, that last part only happened in my head.  I just got a hold of the crab rangoon this evening and so I’ll have to let you know how that one plays itself out. Have I mentioned that Bebe does not tend to like anything greasy or fried?  I’ll pay for it at around 3 a.m. and on that note my friends, good night and sweet dreams.

© Pocketbebe, 2010

3 Comments

Just Waiting…

April 21, 2010 at 10:05 AM (Our Journey)
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Just waiting for our next appointment which is a little over 3 weeks away and it seems like it is a very long time from now. 

Bebe’s Blog:

Bebe is 14 weeks and will be 15 on Friday.  Bebe can now squint, frown, grimace, possibly suck his thumb, and pee! Yes, you heard me correctly.   Bebe’s kidneys are producing urine, which he/she releases into the amniotic fluid — a process Bebe will keep up until birth.  From head to bottom, Bebe measures 3 1/2 inches and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces, which is about the size of a lemon.  One blog I follow brilliantly pointed out that growing babies are constantly being referenced to fruits, LOL, Bebe fruit salad.  I’m fantastically jealous that I didn’t pick up on that sooner; you don’t know the things I could have done with that material.   Bebe is starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his/her body.  Though the experts say I can’t feel Bebe’s movement yet, I at certain times can and have for several weeks now.  Most noticeably is when I flip from one side to the other side at night and Bebe doesn’t shift smoothly with me.  I can feel Bebe sliding away as if I pinched him/her into too tight of quarters.

My Time:

Breakfast today consisted of whole wheat toast with butter, a large banana, V8 juice, and a chocolate Hostess cupcake with a large glass of skim milk.  That is not a normal breakfast but Michelle talked me into buying the box of cupcakes yesterday when we hit the store to buy a wading pool for her and the dog and the dang things stayed on my mind through the entire night.  The minute the garage door shut and hubby pulled out of the drive with them all I felt like Peggy Bundy eating her bonbons.  I have also been on a kick of eating cinnamon raisin bagels with strawberry cream cheese. YUM! 

I unpacked my maternity clothing the other day and was thrilled to find a bunch of cute Gap pieces that I forgot having, my favorite being a jean skirt.  I have everything hung up in the closet now and it is getting de-wrinkled as best as possible.  There are only a few pieces of my normal clothing that still fits and the granny panties are now out in full force for the duration of this journey.

I have some belly photo shots I’ve been working on for you, so be looking for those in the next few days.  For now, I have to fold some laundry, dust the living room, take a shower, and stop at the store before doing preschool pickup.  I have 70 minutes, can I do it? 

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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Growin’, Growin’, Growin’ (Sing it to The Black Eyed Peas beat)

April 12, 2010 at 9:50 AM (Our Journey, Surrogate Education)
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That is exactly what Bebe has been doing!  Last week Lucy, Bebe, and I met in Tampa to hear and see just how Bebe was growing.

First stop was our birthing center where we did the initial visit and went over all the medical records, legalities, finances, and all that jazz.  Once all that was done Lucy and I (mostly me) was taught how to check my own urine for protein and sugars and how to record the results and my current weight in my chart; it is called patient participation.  After the full exam and culture we were able to hear Bebe’s heartbeat on the Doppler and it was nice and strong.  I asked at least twice what the heartbeat was but now I can’t remember (and Lucy is sleeping since it is her work week so I can’t verify).   It was a very good visit and kicked our prenatal care off to a good start.

After leaving the birthing center we headed straight to the perinatologist because Lucy wanted an ultrasound done and we were able to do the first trimester screen at the same time.  The screen was a combined ultrasound screen and blood test.  The blood testing measured the levels of plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Combined with the Nuchal Translucency test (ultrasound) that assesses the risk of having a baby with a chromosomal defect by measuring the clear space in Bebe’s neck, the perinatologist is able to identify if there is an increased risk of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, or congenital heart defects.  Bebe’s measurements were perfect!  Here is Bebe saying, “Hello Friends!”

Lucy, Ricky, and their family were really hoping they would be able to find out the sex of Bebe since we were having the ultrasound done at the perinatologist but Bebe wouldn’t even give them the chance because he/she was sitting indian style and was bouncing around like crazy.  It was probably still too early to see anything but a clear shot of the general area would have been the icing on the cake.  Last picture:

Our next appointment with the midwife and the perinatologist will be on May 17th and we will be 18 weeks pregnant.  The midwife visit will be a routine visit and the visit to the perinatologist will be for the second trimester screen.  Instead of doing the Multiple Marker Screening or the triple screen (blood test) that is most common in an OB/GYN setting, we will be doing the Stepwise Sequential Screening which will be another ultrasound that when combined with the first trimester screen and the quad marker test it will produce a highly accurate (90-95%) prediction of chromosomal abnormalities.  We will also be able to see if Bebe is a boy or a girl at that visit!!

So, this week we are working in the 13th week of pregnancy and that means we are now in the second trimester!  This weekend I was able to start back on my allergy medicine.  The pollen count is horrible right now and I was really feeling miserable.  Ever since the first dose of Claritin I have not felt queasy!  It feels wonderful to feel so good!

I’ve only tried four times to use the Doppler that Lucy sent because it is hard and it makes me really frustrated.  I’m getting better at it but I once I find Bebe’s heartbeat I can’t keep it long enough to record it.  I can find my own heartbeat clear as day which sits in the 70’s but finding Bebe’s whose rate is in 150’s is illusive.  I tried to do exactly what the midwife did, but I don’t get the same results. Big sigh….

Five long weeks until our next appointment, I’m going to have to start sharing my getting fat pictures with you since I won’t have anything new to show from Bebe unless I can keep the heartbeat long enough to record it.  This has been the first pregnancy that I haven’t really felt good consistently in the beginning and the first pregnancy that I made it to the second trimester without any weight gain.  Things have shifted, that is for sure but now will probably be the time I start growing my second booty butt, the added layer of back fat, third and fourth thighs, and my second chin.  Sweet!!

Growin’, Growin’, Growin’.  Let’s get it started in here!

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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