The birth of my 2nd Baby by C section

After much prayer and consultion with doctors, for reasons I wont get into, it was decided that Sable would be born by elective c section at 11am on January 31.

The scheduled c section was very hard on my nerves. I was so scared in the weeks leading up to the cs.  Lots of people prayed and I prayed a lot, and some of the fear subsided. The few days leading up to the section went by so slowly, like eternity.  I was very large and very uncomfortable, part of me really wanted the baby out, I guess that made the fear less, but the waiting harder.

The night before the surgery I actually slept pretty good.  It was such a weird morning, so different than my son's spontaneous labor.  I sat in bed listening to music trying to block out fear, waiting for 8:30, as I had to be at the hospital by 9am.  Me and Ben got the hospital bags ready and said goodbye to our son, and my mom and dad.

We got to the hospital and Ben dropped me off at the door and parked the car.  I was afraid and started crying in the hospital lobby, but I started praying and really turned my heart to God.  Its funny how the most difficult circumstances in our lives, are the times we draw closest to God.  I am thankful for the difficult times that draw us to Him.

We got to the maternity ward, and then went to admissions.  There was a man being arrested in the admission area that delayed us getting admitted.

I was prepped for surgery, a student nurse came in to put the IV in my arm supervised by a teacher, she did something wrong and blood started squirting out of my arm, all over the bed sheet.  Normally this would have freaked me out, but I felt calm for some reason, people must have been praying for me.  The student got really upset, and the teacher looked at the IV.  Apparently she had put the IV in perfectly, so the teacher was happy.  The teacher said 'well, she got the vein, that's why it was squirting blood".

It was about 10:55 exactly and someone said "5 minutes, they will come get you".  It was sort of eerie in the maternity ward because we were the only people in the unit.  One or 2 women came in with minor concerns.  Just then we heard a woman come in, and we overheard "water is broken....twins....you are next...there is a scheduled c section but you have priority".  Quite some time later, around noon, a nurse told me she was an emergency c section and I would be bumped back until 1pm.

Ben went for lunch, came back and I sat there in that waiting bed until 3pm.  So many thoughts went through my head. By 3pm, I had lost the anxiety of 'when? what time is it?".  I thought, I will get bumped until tomorrow.  In some ways that was reassuring to me, put it off another day.  I was listening to music and had found something interesting on my ipad and was getting lost in that when doctors and nurses started coming in and talking to me.

I thought "oh.....its going to happen...what....I'm not ready".  Because I had prepared myself to come back tomorrow.   A very nice, old nurse came in and walked me and Ben to the operating room.  Ben had to wear a funny white suit, mask and hat.  That was a weird moment.  Before we walked to the OR, she told me to go to the bathroom, so I did.  I prayed in there, "God, please let the anesthetic work, be with the doctors, protect me and the baby".

Walking down the hall to the operating room was a strange feeling.  Its one of those moments that stand out in life, that you always remember.  I looked at Ben and he was happy and texting his dad pictures of himself.  We went into the operating room and the resident and obgyn were waiting.  The anesthesiologist was late and made a joke about how he was late.  At that time I started to relax because the doctors were so calm and there was only 2 doctors, the anesthesiologist and the nurse. They were all relaxed and there was no fear in them.

I sat on the 'operating table' and the nice nurse held onto me and the anesthesiologist gave me the freezing needle in my spine.  I wasn't too nervous about the needle because I had the epidural with my son and I felt I had already been through this and I didn't have any bad reaction last time, so it should be OK.  The anesthesiologist was way better, more confident and skilled than the one I had with our son,, the freezing was perfect.  With our son, the freezing didn't work.  I was so happy God had answered my prayer.

The freezing sensation itself, wasn't that scary. My lower body felt numb, but I could still feel light taps and light pressure. Apparently the anesthesiologist was twisting my skin as hard as he could, showing Ben, and all I felt was a light, kind of finger touch even though he was pulling and twisting my skin.

After I was frozen, the anesthesiologist started joking around with Ben.  The curtain was up in seconds and I felt the doctors getting to work. My blood pressure took a sudden drop and my face went cold and I got dizzy and faint.  I told the doctor and he was explaining to Ben why blood pressure drops and told me he was fixing my blood pressure, I saw him put some kind of pressure device on the IV to pump the IV at high pressure.

I felt better from then on, I'm not exactly sure what order things happened.  There was chatting, people talking to me, asking questions.  I was holding Bens hand, we talked about triathlon, name of the baby.  At some point, I heard the dr's say "some pressure" and yes, I felt pressure, all kinds of pressure, but not painful....

"She's tubby!"  I felt her being pulled out of my body and it was a relief, but also a little shocking to my body.  She cried really loud.  I cried.  Ben was over there taking pictures and brought her over to me. I was surprised, she didn't look like our son, she was totally different.  It was comforting to see her, breathing, crying, eyes open.  The doctors didn't clean her up, they were waiting for the recovery room to clean here so she was covered in all kinds of goo and blood.

There was only 1 uncomfortable time, just after she was out, I'm not sure what the doctors were doing but it felt uncomfortable for 2 or 3 minutes, I think there were cleaning the uterus or pulling the placenta out. I said "Ben, say something" that was the only time I was anyway near to panicky and, I wasn't that panicky.  I was surprised how calm I was.

I was surprised how quickly I was stitched back together.  It went faster than the '40 minutes' I was told it would take, probably only 25 minutes?  I heard staples and the drs were finished.  The dr came over and congratulated us. We thanked her.  I wanted to thank her more, but all I could say was 'thank you'.  Ben said "is this your last one of the day?"  She said "yes".

I was wheeled to a recovery room and the nice nurse stayed with me and monitored me.  The freezing started wearing off slowly. I got these weird shakes.  Different nurses were taking care of the baby, washing her and weighing her.  I was really out of it by this time.  The shakes were really distracting me, the nurse told me they would stop in 10 to 30 minutes. Ben was taking pictures, the nurse was taking pictures, Ben was texting and calling family.  I thought, everyone must be worried because we told them 11am, and its almost 5pm.  Apparently Sable was born at 3:33pm.

My hospital stay was really good.  From what I could tell the maternity ward was empty, I didn't see any other babies or mothers, it was silent.  The nights were silent and peaceful.  Not like our son, when he was born it was packed, loud, and I barely got any attention.  This time the nurses looked after the baby and I had glorious sleep.  I was sleeping and sleeping all night.  The nurses brought the baby in every 3 hours or so, for me to feed her.

Today, its hard to believe its been 2 weeks since the surgery.  Today was the first day I had no bleeding.  Yesterday we went out with the baby, grocery shopping and to church in the evening. Afterwards I was exhasted.  Felt like I was run over by a truck.  I probably could have gone all day today without any tylenol, but I took 4 regular strength tylenol today.  I still get minor cramping pain and prickly shooting pains in my abdomen.  It feels like only 1 week has gone by.  I still have the big belly, hope it will go away soon.

Update - After 3 weeks, I don't need pain medication anymore.  However, now that I'm off the pain meds, meaning plain tylenol and advil, I feel shooting pains under the incision a lot.  The bleeding started again because I started going out grocery shopping and doing housework, laundry, cleaning, so I should probably stop that.  I finally understand why the doctors recommend vaginal birth, the c section recovery is harder.  I remember after the vaginal birth I didn't need ANY pain medication at all, I was grocery shopping 3 days after, doing all the housework and I remember we were going out 7 days later with the baby.  This time I have barely left the house.  I was on Tylenol 3 for 1 week, and regular tylenol for 1 week.

The Birth Story

It was Friday night.  Baby was 6 days overdue.  I was scheduled for induction Saturday, at 41 weeks. However, it turned out I didn't need the induction, I went into labour spontaneously the night before the induction.  Me and Ben had prayed, and our church had prayed for labour to start spontaneously, and sure enough, God answered our prayers.  Right on time.

That night I went to bed around 10 or 11pm, but I couldn't sleep.  Around midnight, I felt the baby stretching and hurting inside me again and again.  I woke Ben up "Awwww Ben the baby is stretching inside me, it really hurts".  The next time the baby 'stretched' inside me, I thought, hmmmm, could this be a contraction?

I said "Hey Ben, I think I had a contraction".  We didn't get exited about it because we had heard many stories of false labour and false starts and stops.  I tried sleeping but the pain was so bad.  I don't really remember what I did all night but Ben was sleeping most of the night.  I paced around the house and tried different positions, sitting in the lazy boy, laying on the couch.... Around 3 am, I layed in bed and I felt the most gripping pain I've ever felt in my life.  It felt like someone grabbed my butthole and twisted my insides like a wet towel.  I screamed and Ben finally woke up.

I started pacing and groaning for the rest of the night.  I was leaning on the staircase, rocking my hips.  Around 6am, the pain was getting bad and frequent.  Ben was timing the contractions and I was standing in the hot shower.  The shower helped the pain.  The contractions were coming harder and more frequent, they were 45 seconds long and 3 minutes apart, regularly.  From that time on, we tried figuring out when to go to the hospital.

We went to the hospital at 8am.  I couldn't sit in the truck, so I crawled on the floor of the truck on my hands and knees.  It was a 45 minute drive to the hospital on my hands and knees, contractions all the way to the hospital.  It was hard to walk from the parking lot to the Labour and Delivery ward with contractions.  When we got to Labour and Delivery, I was examined and found to be 6cm dialated.  I was admitted into a birthing room.

For the first few hours the nurse and I tried all kinds of different natural pain relief methods, the birthing ball, counter pressure, etc.  I wanted a natural childbirth, this was my "birth plan".  However, things didn't go the way I planned.  I got stuck at 8cm and I stopped progressing.

The doctor came in the birthing room with the resident. I guess the resident was learning what to do, so the doctor asked 'what should we do?"  The resident shrugged his shoulders and says "Oxytocin?".  The doctor nodded and they asked me if I wanted the oxytocin.  That was sort of weird, I thought, you're asking me?  Sure, why not.  The doctor and resident left the room.  The nurse started the oxytocin drip to increase my contractions to get to 10cm.  The oxytocin made my contractions harder and more frequent, and thankfully, I started progressing again in labour.  I was getting tired.  

I was exhasted and I couldnt take anymore.  My 'natural birth' plan was thrown out and I asked for the epidural, partially because of the pain, but mostly because I was so tired.  The anesthesiologist  was busy so I had to wait a painful 45 minutes.  Finally, the anesthesiologist administered the epidural.

The epidural didn't work.  The nurse was putting ice cubes on my belly and I felt everything.  Only a tiny 2 inch band was frozen around my waist.  I had to go on without any pain relief.  I kept pushing the epidural button and it gave me nothing.  I actually stood up and walked around.  I started asking for General Anesthetic.

By God's grace, I found enough strength and determination to carry on without pain relief, perhaps God strengthened me by the prayers of those who were praying for me.  Ben was there beside me and we discovered we could make it through each hellish contraction if I pulled his arm and he pulled, like tug of war. Ben was counting down each contraction for me "only 10 more seconds...." This went on for hours.  Finally, around 6pm everything changed.  I reached 10cm, and my body started automatically trying to push the baby out.  I couldn't control the pushing, my body took over.

I yelled to the nurse "I'm pushing!".  The nurse called the doctor but there were no doctors available.  The nurse was coaching me how to push and showing me different positions.  But the baby would not move down the birth canal, the baby was stuck.  At one point the resident showed up without the doctor.  I overheard "the doctor is doing a repair, the doctor is in surgery".  The nurse and resident checked the position of the babies head, I heard the resident say "I think the baby is posterior".  I knew that meant the baby's head was facing my belly instead of facing my spine.

The nurse tried turning the baby using natural methods.  I was pushing on my hands and knees and the nurse tried lifting one of my legs and turning me on my side.  But the baby would not turn.  Me and Ben started praying fervently.  Both of us were crying out to God "Jesus please turn this baby, Jesus please hear our prayers.  I think it was the most desperate prayer I have ever prayed in my life.  I was literally crying to God to hear me.  So was Ben.

And God did answer our prayers.  Suddenly, a team of doctors rushed into the room.  A woman doctor appeared like an angel.  She was so skilled and confident.  The resident said to her "I think the baby is posterior".  The doctor checked me and said "Yes, he is posterior".  The doctor reached in and turned the baby around .  I felt the babies body rotate inside me, forcefully, bones grinding against bones.  I just rolled my eyes back into my head and suffered.

Finally, the baby was in the right position.  I started pushing again and baby started moving easily down the birth canal.  I was so exhasted.  I couldn't push anymore.  I said to the doctor "can you vacuum him out or something???"  The doctor grabbed the vacuum and said "Yes, but you have to help me".  I heard the vacuum suction onto the babies head and he was out in 2 or 3 pushes.

The pain was so bad, I heard voices clearly, but I was closing my eyes.  I heard people cheering for me.  (There were 10 or 12 people in the room), doctors, nurses and a team to suction the babies lungs because my water had broken and I had mecomium in the water.

I felt the babies head crown, and I knew, its really happening, I did it, its over.  The babies head came out, and the babies body easily slid out.  I heard the doctor ask Ben if he wanted to cut the cord, I looked up and I saw my baby covered in blood being rushed to the warming station.  I said to the doctor "Is he OK"  She said "Oh yeah".  The pain was instantly over.  It was instant relief.

Then I heard my baby cry.  That was the happiest moment of my life.  He had these tiny cries.  I thought it would be like in the movies, like loud screaming 'waaahhhs" but he had these tiny cries, like 'ah ah ah'.  It was so cute.  Ben was with the baby, taking photos, watching everything the nurses were doing.

The doctor removed the placenta, I didn't feel anything.  Ben was with the baby, feeding him with a bottle of formula the nurse had given him.  The nurse wanted me to breastfeed but didn't want to, I didn't even want to hold the baby I was so tired, I just wanted to rest.  I held him for a few minutes, but he was too heavy for me, I was so tired.  In total, I was in labor for 20 hours and 38 minutes.

Finally I was wheeled into a recovery room with my baby.  That was the best night of my life.  Me and Ben spent the whole night staring at our baby in amazement.  We couldn't do anything but stare at him.  

In the end, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Baby was almost 9lbs.  My body stretched and I was able to birth the 9lb baby, even though I'm a small woman.  I lost a lot of blood, just like I feared, but I didn't even notice or feel different.  I didn't have any bad reactions to any drugs.  All my fears were unfounded, and eveyrthing worked out in the end.

Overdue

I am now officially "Overdue".  The last word a pregnant woman wants to hear.

I went to the doctor for my 40 week exam, found out that my body is not making any progress toward labor.  My doctor recommended an induction due to my non-progressive cervix and high blood pressure currently at 145 / 95.  I agreed to the induction. Mainly because I understood that my body is not gearing up for labour.  I already knew this.  The past few weeks, I haven't felt any kind of cramping or pain or anything resembling a contraction.  In fact, I wake up every morning feeling 'great" and pain free.

The doctor gave me an admittance form for the hospital.  I've never been admitted to a hospital before.  Its kind of scary to think of what is coming up for me...induction...c section?  Me and Ben have watched all the documentaries about how induction (oxytocin) leads to c section....My imagination starts going wild with all kinds of doomsday scenarios, what if...oh no this is going to happen....So weird how our thoughts plummet into negativity so easily.

When the doctor gave me the date....it finally hit me.  The baby is coming, in 4 days.  That really sent me into momentary shock and panic.  Wait, the day, is finally here.  Part of me is terrified, part of me is overjoyed.

All these events leave me puzzled and once again I'm pondering the mysteries of God.  Me and Ben have been praying for a natural childbirth.  I had assumed the whole time I would naturally go into labour around 39 weeks.  Since 37 weeks, we prayed every day that God would start labour. And here I am, overdue and scheduled for induction.

As of today, God didn't answer our prayers.  I'm not angry or immature about it.  It just reminds me that God is not a magic genie.  

Reminds me that my relationship with God is "step-by-step".  I have no clear road map of my life.  I don't know what will happen from one day to the next.  This pregnancy has thrown some curveballs at me.  So, I have to adapt. Because I'm not God. I don't love and obey God because He answers my prayers.  I love and obey God because He is God.  I've been thinking about the Bible and the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego:

Daniel 3:17-19 
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.  

I still love God, even if He does not answer my prayer for a natural childbirth.

I just imagine God, in heaven.  He is able to speak one word, and this baby will come forth and God will breath life into this baby.  It will all happen on His terms.  It doesn't matter how much I'm impatient and freaking out.  In some way, I do believe God is able to work through doctors.  When I was in that exam room and the doctor recommended induction, and I agreed, I felt inner peace with that.  I know my blood pressure is getting higher and I have none of the medical 'signs' that labor will start on its own.

So me and my doctor have made a decision, based on the best of our knowledge, based on the risks of my high blood pressure, overdue baby, and my lack of progress.  Now I have to live with that decision, and I go on to the next step.  Induction.

Last weeks of Pregnancy 38 weeks

This week will be 38 weeks.  If baby arrives on time, I only have 2 weeks left of pregnancy.  I have mixed feelings.  The past 9 months, most of the time, I hated being pregnant, all the hormones and symptoms and discomforts.  But part of me is sad about the baby being out.

Baby is kicking right now.  I just ate breakfast and had a cup of tea, so I'm sure he got a little rush of caffiene and he likes when I eat.  He is doing little jerky movements.  I am trying to remember what it feels like, because I won't feel it ever again.  I have to remember what it feels like when his little foot bone is sliding across the top of my belly.

Some days, when he is active I play with his feet.  I touch his little feet and talk to him.  He tries to move his feet away from my hand, and I follow his feet until he hides them.

Ben sometimes plays with him too.  Well, Ben usually jiggles him and talks to him.  A few times the baby was sleeping and Ben jiggled him awake.  I was like "that was your daddy, not me".

One thing I will miss about being pregnant is my husband pampering me.  Sometimes I pretend to be too tired to cook and Ben cooks for us.  Although he cooks such meals as : hot dogs, frozen pizza, and deep fried chicken wings.   Sometimes I pretend to have a sore back and he rubs my back :-)

My favorite part about being pregnant (and there is a favorite part) is: I never thought it was possible to be so close to another human being.  Both me and the baby, and me and Ben.  Sometimes, when its the 3 of us are together, I never thought it was possible to be so close to anyone.  I feel like we are bound to each other.  I never thought God would give me such a huge blessing.

38 weeks

Fear Part 2

All my life I have struggled with fear.  I wonder how some people can be so fearless and afraid of nothing.  Not me.  I find myself in fear quite often.

What kind of things am I afraid of? 

#1 I’m afraid of flying.  I don’t mind flying around North America, but I’m terrified to fly overseas.  As soon as the plane is over the ocean, I start fearing.  I start imagining the plane crashing into the ocean.  Every noise, every bump I start wondering what is wrong with the engine. 

I once flew from Calgary to London, England and I spent a good 25 minutes in the bathroom terrified and throwing up.  Last year, me and Ben went to Indonesia, 14 hours across the pacific!!!  Just before we left for Indonesia, we knelt beside the bed and we prayed for me, I was terrified!  I remember stepping onto the Boeing 737 leaving Los Angeles for Taiwan.  It felt like the scariest thing I had ever done.  And you know what?  When my foot crossed from the gate to the aircraft, I won the victory over fear. I was committed, no turning back and I had to face my fear.

  

And do you know what?  Everytime, God came through, and all of those planes landed, just as they were supposed to.

So now I’m pregnant and afraid.  I’m afraid of childbirth, I'm afriad of surgery.  I’m not good with blood and doctors and hospitals.  Like I said, I’m not a ‘fearless’ person like so many others around.

But I finally realized after 35 years, that I can’t let fear control my life.  I was terrified to fly to Indonesia, but I couldn’t let fear take away my blessing of our fun vacation.  And, we had fun in Indonesia, and looking back, I barely remember those scary 14 hours on the plane.

I have so many good stories about being in Indonesia.  I went to Africa twice and Europe about three times.  Everytime I was scared, but everytime it was worth it. 

Pregnancy and childbirth are terrifying to me.  I am so afraid of childbirth.  But I can’t let fear take away the blessing of a baby.  I know it will be scary, but I can't wait to see my little baby.  I've been with him all day every day for over 8 months now.  I can wait to finally see him. 

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. 

Psalm 42:5

Thoughts on being Pregnant in my Old Age

I don't understand  God 's wisdom.  Why He would decide that I would get married so late in life and then pregnant and having my first child at almost 35 years of age.  If its was me, I would have made it so, I would get married at 22 or 24 and pregnant at 26, and have this long lasting family with many kids.  That would be my plan.  Wasn't God's plan.

I wanted to have kids, but my 20's rolled by and I was single and my 30's were passing by and I was still single.  SO eventually those desires past by.  And then I accepted I wasn't going to have kids and my life, and my mind, molded around that.  And I was like, OK I'm different, I'm kind of a weirdo, but Jesus loves misfits.  Misfits can be the friends of Jesus.

I lived my life being the 'single woman with no kids', that was my box that everyone put me in.  Now I'm married and the baby is on the way.  So, my old friends, that I knew before, they can't deal with me.  Because I'm not 'the single woman with no kids'.  It seems like old friends can't wrap their head around the fact that I changed.

New friends are comforting to me, people that didn't know me before.  Because they accept who I am today.  A few of my old friends adapted.  I guess those friends really liked me for who I am.  I guess some friends, we can relate beyond a superficial level.

Life is always changing.  Even if its seems like things have been the same way forever, things will change. We need to accept people for who they are today and not hold their past against them.  God is able to forget our past and make us new.

Isaiah 43:19

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.

Agonizing Fear of Childbirth

At some point, early on in my pregnancy I figured it out.  OK, baby is the size of a watermelon and down there.....I can do math, its not going to fit.  I think my mom finally explained it to me.  OK things sometimes tear apart.  Nice.
So I have 2 choices a) get mutilated and tear b) major abdominal surgery, anesthesia, and morphine, stitches and staples.
I lie awake at night crippled with fear.  I've never been in a hospital and I've never had surgery.  I have a blood phobia and I faint when I see blood or needles.  I've never even done drugs so I don't know what will happen if I get anaesthetic or morphine.
So I am in a state of terror.  Its impossible. Then I hear a quiet voice, amid the loud voice of fear roaring in my head.

"...with God, all things are possible"

One night the Spirit of God comforted me.  It wasn't because of anything I did.  I didn't pray for 6 hours, I didn't fast, I barely acknowledged God.  He drew near to me.
All I needed, was to know that God knew how afraid I was.  That took all my fears away.  I found comfort in God that I couldn't find in anyone else.  God knew my fears.
The all powerful Creator of the Universe, who is in control of my life, and my soul, if He knows my fears and comforts me, then I have nothing to be afraid of.  If I bleed to death, or have a heart attack in childbirth, now I know Jesus will be there, and I have an eternal friend who watches over my soul.  He will accept me, according to the scriptures:

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. 

22 Weeks

22 Weeks Pregnant Today - I was to embarrassed to take a side shot, my belly is getting big!  Baby is kicking a lot, although, I would describe it as 'squirming' more than kicking.  He kind of feels like a little tapeworm sometimes.

22 Weeks Pregnant

22 Weeks Pregnant

18 Week Ultrasound Boy or Girl?

My doctor ordered another ultrasound at 18 weeks to make sure the baby was developing normally.  We would also be able to find out the sex of the baby if we wanted to know.  Of course we wanted to know.  I was tired of calling the baby "it".  I wanted to pick a name and buy some baby stuf.

So again, we saw the baby on the ultrasound screen.  The ultrasound tech measured the baby's head and feet and hands, and took pictures of the heart and kidney and all kinds of other things.  The baby was facing my back and she couldn't get the baby to turn, so apparently the pictures didn't turn out very well.

Then, finally the moment we had been waiting for!  It it a boy or gir?  The ultrasound technician tried looking between the baby's legs but the baby had its legs tight together and woundn't open its legs.  She kept trying to get the baby to open its legs.  She was pushing on my uterus and trying to jiggle the baby.  Finally the baby opened its legs and she took some shots.  Ben imediately knew....."Its a boy".  The ultrasound technician was like "Yes, its a boy".  And I am kind of.....slow.  I was trying to figure it all out.  I just couldn't understand how they knew it was a boy.  So I was studying the screen, and I saw legs, butt cheeks.....and I just coudn't understand.  So the ultrasound technician pointed the arrow between the legs for me and said "scrotum". 

I had another moment of nonsensical, I sometimes talk nonsensical when I get overwhelmed.  I was like "Oh, could it be a girl?".  And the ultrasound technician is like "no".

Baby's cute little feet at 18 weeks

Random Thoughts about Pregnancy

Most of the time I don't have anyone to talk to about being pregnant.  I don't have any girl friends, just 2 male dogs and my husband.
Sometimes, I ask Ben pregnancy questions.  It generally does not help to ask a man pregnancy questions.  You will just get frustrated because they just don't get it.  Today I asked Ben:
"Do I look pregnant" he actually said "well, to me you look pregnant, but to other people you just look chubby".
Ever since I started getting bigger, Ben started getting bigger too.  Apparently he has a phenomena called sympathy pregnancy.  Even my DOG is getting fat. If I ever complain about my weight gain, Ben normally lets his gut hang out to show me that he's fat too.  Then he shows me Ray's fat tummy and Ray starts wagging his tail and they both start showing off their fat guts.  Like, that's supposed to make me feel better.

18 Weeks

18 Weeks Pregnant

I'm 18 weeks pregnant and barely showing.  The baby is in there somewhere....

Food Cravings

One of the good things about pregnancy is the food cravings.  Its like a wild ride, I don't know where my food cravings will take me next.  Ben hasn't resisted any of my food craving, I think he likes the food adventure.  We never know what we are going to eat next.  So, Ben has been gaining some weight and getting thick around the midsection.  Even my dog Ray has been getting leftovers and getting fat.  Here are some of the foods I have had cravings for:

Lemon Pie
Buffalo chicken wings with ranch dressing
A&W Root Beer
Pink Lemonade
Mr. Noodle
Jello
Watermelon