Trimester: Second.
Baby: Size of a mango, [6.5 inches, 10 oz.] about the length of a banana. At our doctor's visit, they said he is weight is 14 ounces. Amazing how they're able to get that information! Baby is gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid each day. The placenta has reached it's maximum thickness and is busy supplying him with all the nutrients and oxygen and disposing of the wastes.
Movement: Yes! Jay was able to feel him kick my belly at 17 weeks, and from there baby's kicks have only gotten stronger.
Symptoms: Gassy, emotional, raging appetite, mild round ligament pain, sensitive breasts, shortness of breath, and heartburn which started around 18 weeks.
Cravings: Meat, soda, junk food., anything really.
Sleep: Great! Evelyn is sleeping SO much better at night, I'm finally feeling well rested in the mornings.
Exercise: Walking a little more frequently now that the weather is cooling down just slightly (it's still in 80's and 90's, but that's about 20 degrees cooler than it was a month ago!) I don't do as much regular structured exercise anymore, but I feel living in a two story house keeping up with daily chores and chasing after a toddler all day counts as pretty good exercise.
Stretch marks: None.
Total weight gain: 10 pounds.
Swelling: None.
Maternity Clothes: Not necessarily, although my pants are pretty tight and I'm not longer able to button them.
Belly Button: Out.
Doctor's Visit:
I missed my 16 week appointment due to vacationing in Hawaii. The soonest I could get in was August 22nd, which put me at 18 weeks. This was an exciting appointment because we were finally going to meet the doctor who will be delivering our baby! Jay has been an incredible support during this pregnancy and these prenatal visits, and he was incredible last time around too- he missed maybe one prenatal appointment when I was pregnant with Evelyn. Just before this recent appointment Jay had to bow out which left me pretty disappointed, though I fully understood that things were crazy at work and it was out of his control.
The doctor's office was very busy and I felt somewhat frazzled as the nurses rushed me through the checking in process, taking my blood pressure, getting my weight, and instructing me to leave a urine sample. It was all routine stuff I've done every time I've gone in, but it was stressful not having Jay's extra hands to help with Evelyn. Evelyn and I waited about two minutes in the exam room then the doctor came in. He came off very cold... No introduction, he came into the room and quickly shook my hand as he said, "Hello Rachel." He instructed me to lay on the table and then immediately lifted up my shirt and prepared for an ultrasound. First of all, an ultrasound?? I thought our next ultrasound would be the anatomy scan in two weeks! I was thrilled to be getting an ultrasound right then and there don't get me wrong, I was just really caught off guard and in my head tried to hurry and come up with an appropriate way to ask him to look for baby's gender. We were pretty sure it was a boy but anxious for some confirmation now that I was further along in the pregnancy. Baby's heartbeat was steady and strong but the doctor never made a comment on it. He didn't even verbally address my request to look at the gender, he just went for it and under his breath referred to my very active and uncooperative baby as a "little turkey". A few moments later the doctor got a good view of the gender and pointed it out to me. There was definitely something showing up between baby's legs. The doctor did a quick scan to detect body heat just to make sure we weren't looking at the umbilical cord, which we were not. I asked if it was certain enough for us to go ahead and announce to our friends and family. He replied, "I've been wrong before, but that looks like a boy to me. I say 90% sure." No congratulations, he just moved on with our meeting by shutting off the sonogram machine and roughly wiping the cold gel off my belly as he helped me sit up.
The nurse walked in with that bright orange glucose test drink. Ummmm am I doing that today? Everything was moving fast, I was slightly distracted by Evelyn and growing more tense by the minute. There was no small talk or get-to-know-you questions, the doctor was speaking quickly and began to discuss my previous c-section. Apparently the scar I was left with is pretty gnarly, indicating my previous doctor did a poor job when sewing me up. But if I were to need another c-section this new doctor would remove that scar tissue and basically make it look pretty. He told me of what would make me a good candidate for a VBAC delivery and supported my desire to try for one this time around. The fact that I've never gone into labor and dilated before could be a problem, but for all he knew I could be a "birthing machine" and it would be just fine. Then of course he had to inform me of the risks: "Complications which can result in the death of mom or baby. I've seen both. It's horrific." The doctor gave me a recommendation for a hospital, then instructions for drinking the orange glucose drink at home before the glucose test in one month (thank goodness), and that was that.
I fought back tears as I made my way out to the car, loaded Evelyn in, and then I kind of lost it. I gave Jay a brief report of my experience over the phone. I did not like this doctor. He was not warm, the whole visit was a blur, getting an ultrasound should have been so much more exciting but it was so rushed and Jay missed the whole thing! Does this mean we need to look into finding a new doctor? Ahh the stress of that! Jay, my sweet and patient husband... He assured me: "First of all. You have to remember that everyone is human and everyone has bad days. He may have been having a bad day." Jay continued to comfort me by listening and then promised we would talk about it more that evening when he got home from work. I sobbed the whole way home. By the time I cooled off and reevaluated the visit, and of course talked with Jess, I was feeling completely different about the whole thing. I realized I took a lot of things the wrong way. For example, I was overwhelmed and slightly offended that he was talking about my scar and jumping into ideas of having another c-section with a very specific plan of how we would get my scar to heal properly. In reality he was saying that another c-section was possible and if it were to be the case, he's the kind of doctor who cares enough about the little things like a scar that isn't even visible to anyone besides myself. How great is that? How silly I was to take that the wrong way. And when he was informing me of possible risks of a VBAC, that wasn't intended to scare me or be unsupportive. For liability reasons and as a caring doctor it was important that he keep me informed.
Basically I realized a lot of the bad juju in that doctor's office was coming from me. I didn't know what to expect of this doctor and maybe he didn't give me the warm fuzzies I was hoping for, but he was a good doctor. He's a highly recommended and well sought after doctor, he's a busy guy and maybe was just really tired that morning. Maybe he was coming from a rough delivery, or dealing with something in his personal life. Or maybe his bedside manner really isn't great, but as I think back on everything he said during our visit he seemed confident and experienced. During Evelyn's pregnancy I stressed about which doctor would end up delivering our baby. Then we ended up hardly even interacting with the doctor that preformed my c-section, and that was totally OK. Evelyn got to us safely and once she was in our arms, the doctor didn't matter. Obviously the doctor does matter and it's important to use good judgement when picking a doctor. What I realized after my experience at this recent prenatal visit is that all I need is someone to help me get my baby here safely, and as of right now I'm feeling confident that this doctor will indeed do that, assuming all goes well throughout the rest of my pregnancy and baby is healthy.
What I'm Looking Forward to: Each new week. Even though I've done this before, I love being able to check my app every Monday and read about all the new things happening inside my body. This pregnancy is for sure going by so much quicker than my first and I love it.
Best Moment of the Month: 20 weeks anatomy scan. It's always such a relief and a blessing to hear that as far as we know, baby boy is healthy and growing at a steady rate.
I'm also getting a lot more accomplished around the house and spending more quality time with Evelyn doing fun activities, thanks to feeling more energized and less nauseous.
Worst Moment of the Month: None.
Other:
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