Mommy Mondays: 19 weeks

I have taken to calling this baby "Oppo-baby" because this pregnancy is the exact opposite of my first.

I had somewhat of a unicorn first pregnancy.  No aches and pains, no nausea, no fatigue, really my only "symptoms" were the fact that my breasts grew a bunch in the first 7 weeks, I had extreme bloating, a super sense of smell, and I stopped having a period for months.  I felt movement early, despite having an anterior placenta.  I started showing around 16 weeks, and my weight gain was slow and low.

 

For anyone who is already rolling their eyes at me, know that this time around I am getting my just desserts.  This time there has been no breast change, bloating, or extreme sense of smell.  Instead, my first trimester was filled with nausea and fatigue, shortness of breath, a racing heart, and uncontrollable anxiety.  Good times.

I've got a posterior placenta this time around (see EVERYTHING'S different!) and felt movement so much later than last time.  While most second time moms look farther along than they are, I look weeks behind based on where I was last pregnancy.  And although I had only gained 2lbs by this time in my last pregnancy, this time I'm already up 10lbs.  It's humbling.

We had our big ultrasound this week and it went swimmingly.  Everything checked out perfectly.  Oppo-baby has all 10 fingers and toes, and we got to see them.  S/he has the same habit Thatbaby and I do of rubbing our feet together while we sleep.  And those hands were in constant motion, waving, fist pumping, and finger-sucking.  Oppo-baby was much more cooperative than Thatkid was.  He refused to turn over so we could get a good spine shot.  Oppo-baby woke up towards the end of our session and rolled so we could get all the information we needed.  

 

The tech was a little concerned about the placement of my placenta, so I got a lovely secondary ultrasound with the trans-vaginal wand.  The good news is, my placenta is far enough away from my cervix that it's not a concern.  

 

The other main concern for this ultrasound was checking out the fibroids found during the ultrasound with Thatbaby.  Especially the large one at 5.7cm. The tech found the small one, which was the same size as last time.  But she couldn't find any trace of that large one.  She did find that my ovaries were unusually prominent.  Typically the ovaries can't be viewed very well during ultrasounds, mine were large and bright.  And the right one was 5.8cm.  Very similar in size to the "fibroid" found last time.  So similar in size and location that the tech is pretty sure that the fibroid wasn't a fibroid after all.

And we got some lovely souvenirs from our visit. 

I think Oppo-baby looks a little like a Who, what do you think?

 

 

Total weight gain/loss: +10

Next Appointment: February 2
Maternity clothes? Not yet.  But I've been shopping!  So I'll be breaking out my new pieces soon.
Stretch marks: nada.
Sleep: Pretty good this week, although disrupted because Thatkid hasn't been sleeping well.
Best moment this week: Successful ultrasound!
Movement: Yup.  I might have been unsure before, but now I'm getting definite kicks.  Although after seeing the baby during the ultrasound I'm thinking it might be punches, not kicks.
Food cravings: Nothing

Food aversions: I don't know if it's necessarily an aversion, but I was really into ginger beer for the longest time - it helped with the nausea.  But now I'm really not enjoying it.
Gender: Not finding out

Belly Button in or out: In.  But it never popped last time, so I'm not expecting it to this time.
What I miss: This week it's rum.  I made crystallized mint leaves and Thatboy turned them into a mojito.  Oh mojitos.

What I am looking forward to: Being halfway done!

Contractions: Nope.  Last time around I didn't get them until they were induced through medication.  Part of me is kind of hoping to actually have those moments this time.

 Milestones:
- The BIG ultrasound!

- all the toothbuds are there