I am 19 weeks 1 day pregnant. I’m in my 20th week of pregnancy.

Yesterday morning, at around 3 a.m., I woke up having some pressure and cramping in my low pelvis and my low back. I used the bathroom and thought maybe it would go away. Well, it didn’t. I took Tylenol. No improvement. Pain was actually increasing. So, I called the doctor. The nurse on-call said to go to the assessment center to get checked out. My husband and I drove on down to the hospital and were admitted for assessment.

The baby had a strong heartbeat of 156 beats per minute (same heartrate as the last appointment). They catheterized me. Monitored me for a while. Turns out I have a UTI. UTIs can mimic early labor pains. So… I was given some antibiotics and sent on my way. I was relieved that the baby is OK.

We have another appointment tomorrow with the doctor. We’ll be getting our “big” ultrasound. Hopefully, if baby cooperates, we’ll find out if it’s a boy or a girl.

146 days to go!

So it turns out that I have a pregnancy complication called complete placenta previa. My doc doesn’t seem to be too worried about it, and says that I need to “take it easy and stay off my feet” as much as possible while we’re waiting for the previa to “correct itself”. If I overdo it (like I did last week), I could have a lot more bleeding, which could lead to bed rest for me. Eek. If it doesn’t correct itself by my due date, I would definitely have a scheduled c-section.

The silver lining to the whole placenta previa mess is that I get to have more frequent ultrasounds. In four weeks, we should find out if this is a pink bean or a blue one.

172 days to go.

Yesterday afternoon, I came home from school and went about my usual activities. I’ve been trying to stay off my feet at school, but that’s much easier said than done. At 4:40, I went to the bathroom and discovered pink-brown spotting. Naturally, my first response is to panic.

I called the doctor’s office, who ordered me to bed with my feet up until I could go 24 hours with no spotting at all. They told me that since the blood is not bright red and since the cramps are not that bad all should be fine. Of course, after I got off the phone with them, all I was able to do for a few hours was sob and cry. My mother, best friend, and husband all tell me that everything is going to be fine. But it’s scary when it’s your first baby and it didn’t come that easily to you in the first place.

As of this morning, the spotting has eased up. I was up and down half the night with diarrhea. Not surprising. My body reacts that way to stress sometimes. I’ve been nervous that the diarrhea spasms will make me bleed more. Watching it closely and remaining faithful to bed rest.

I have an OB appointment Wednesday. I have to wait until then to know if all is well with the baby.

175 days to go.

199 days to go.

I haven’t been writing much lately. I think it’s because it still doesn’t feel real to me yet. I haven’t seen or heard the baby’s heartbeat. No ultrasounds. Nada. Symptoms are still present, though. My fatigue is still in full swing. I go down for a nap at about the same time each afternoon. And nausea has even picked up in the past couple weeks. Seems to be worst in the evenings. That may go away as quickly as it showed up though. And I’m bloated and gassy like nothing else. I could give some of the world’s most disgusting frat boys a run for their money at a belching/farting contest.

Just 10 days left until my next appointment, at which I will get an ultrasound scan. I can’t help but be a bit apprehensive about what’s going on with the baby. What if there is no baby in there? What if this is one of those weird fluke miscarriages, where symptoms continue for a while before you know anything is wrong? My husband and mother tell me not to worry, everything is fine; of course, that just makes me more irritated.

My ultrasound also happens to be on my birthday. Husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year. Really and truly, all I want is a good report at the doctor’s office.

Stick, baby.

209 days left until 2/20/2010.

I had my first OB appointment today. Everything went well, but I didn’t get an ultrasound as I’d hoped. From the exam, my doc was able to tell me that my uterus is measuring right at 8 weeks, and that he’s pretty sure there is only one baby in there. He estimates the due date to be February 20, same as I had been thinking.

At my next appointment on August 5, I will get an NT (nuchal translucency) scan – a type of ultrasound to screen for certain defects. At that point, I will be 12 weeks in, just about finished with the first trimester. Hopefully that day we’ll see and hear a healthy heartbeat. Now another long wait begins!

My husband and I bought a new car last week. It’s a beauty – a 2010 Lexus RX350. Lots of room to pack and carry future gear and such. Not to mention the kids.

Only 227 days left to go…

On Saturday, I cried while reading “What to Expect…” when I had a flash of my husband playing with and holding our baby.

On Sunday, I cried when I saw the memorial to a sweet door greeter man at the front of our local Wal-Mart. I didn’t really know him, but I got emotional nonetheless.

Today I cried at an episode of Little House on the Prairie.

I wonder what I’ll cry at tomorrow.

236 days left to go… and 9 days until my first OB appointment.

The big reveal to the parents went great. My parents are giddy to know that their first grandchild is on the way. My mother told me not to worry about the slight symptoms – she had very mild symptoms during her pregnancies.

My husband’s mother flipped out when she put our clues together. She grabbed my face so hard that an onlooker might have said, “Wow, she just slapped that girl!” but she didn’t slap me. She is excited to have a new grandbaby to love on.

Now I’m in a two-week wait until my first OB appointment on July 8. I *should* get an ultrasound that day to see how the baby (or possibly, but not likely, babies) is doing. This is going to be a long two weeks. :/

241 days left…

Last night I dreamed that I gave birth to a small baby. She (I think it was a girl) was still wrapped in her gestational sac, and I had to pull it off her and rub her to make her breathe and cry. Once she did, I put her to my breast, and she latched on. I just gazed down at her as she fed. Then I woke up.

Other than some bloating (I look more pregnant than I should at this point), fatigue (napping most every afternoon and an overall feeling of lethargy), and frequent urination (as Juno said, “Being pregnant makes me pee like Seabiscuit”), I haven’t been having many pregnancy symptoms. Occasionally, I’ll have mild nausea or heartburn, but nothing too bad. I’d feel better if I felt “more” pregnant. C’mon, Bean, gimme all you got.

My first doctor appointment is scheduled for July 8, which seems like an eternity from now. I don’t know whether I can expect an ultrasound or to see/hear a heartbeat or what. I’m so anxious. I want nothing more than to bring a healthy baby home in 8 months.

It’s difficult not to worry. Since we had to deal with our fertility issues, I’ve been cruising on message boards. When I got my positive HPT, I joined a group of ladies that are expecting in February 2010. Since joining that group, several of them have had miscarriages. I feel so bad for them, and I hope that they will find some peace in their situation. At the same time, I pray that I will not be made to look for that kind of peace myself.

Tomorrow we are driving to my parents’ house to tell them they are going to be grandparents. I’m excited about that.

247 days left…