Per Lisa's Request

[annissamazing]

An update on my pregnancy!

I'm currently 19 weeks and 4 days pregnant. Pregnancies last an estimated 40 weeks, so that means that I am halfway done. I was out of the risk group for spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) about 2 months ago. My energy is up from my first trimester, but not up to where it was pre-pregnancy. I have no desire to go for a hike, but I crave being outdoors. I don't have any furniture out on my balcony, but that doesn't stop me from going outside and sitting on the concrete. I'm starting to have a difficult time getting back up, though! Usually Sabby comes out and joins me on the balcony. He's afraid of heights, so he won't let me pick him up while we're out there.

For several weeks I experienced cravings for baked potatoes and root beer (and only baked potatoes and root beer), but now I feel up to eating just about anything. I can't eat as much as I did pre-pregnancy and I think that's because there just isn't physically enough room in my stomach for it. I've gained about 2 pounds since I became pregnant, which is excellent because I was overweight to begin with and my doctor wants me to keep my weight gain under 20 pounds.

My headaches have mostly gone away. I think maybe it was a nutrition deficiency. The baby gets all of the nutrients he or she needs and I get what's left over. I started taking prenatal vitamins and the headaches stopped immediately. In not-so-happy health news, my heart beats far more rapidly than it did pre-pregnancy. I'll need to have it checked during my next appointment. On the plus side, my fingers are always warm now.

Tena rubbed my stomach a week ago. I really don't like the tummy rubbing thing people do to pregnant women. The funny part was, she rubbed the bulge just under my breasts. The bulge is there because the baby (who is still nestled just below my belly button), has pushed my intestines upward from the original spot. So she was rubbing my organs and not the baby. I explained it to her, but that didn't stop her from touching the same spot on Sunday when we saw her.

I have an ultrasound scheduled for the 9th of June. Justin wants to find out the sex of the baby, so we hope to be able to tell at that time. I'll scan and post the pictures. Also, the ultrasound should discover whether or not the baby has spina bifida. I'm actually in the high-risk category here since Afton's baby had such severe spina bifida. I was offered the triple screen, but it has a high number of false positives and if you get a positive, you need to have an amnio which carries a 2-3% risk of miscarriage. I declined the triple screen since we can tell the same info from the ultrasound.

This is an illustration from babyzone.com of what the baby should look like right now.

Comments

[candyleehuff.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful news! I'm soooo excited for you! Keep updating your progress. Not only so we can read it (which is nice) but also so one day you can look back and reflect. Especially if you plan on having more children. It's surprising how different each pregnancy and each baby can be. :D Good luck with the ultrasound!