Pregnancy FAQ's

Are you feeling the baby move? Yes, all the time. And a week or so ago I felt her move when my hand was on my tummy. I love this part!

Does your baby have a name? Yes she does. But we're not telling anyone until she's born.

Are you ready? No. I remember when I hit the half way mark with Garrett thinking, I can't believe I'm only halfway there! I'm just over 24 weeks now and I haven't felt that once. I'm in no hurry this time around.

Were you excited to hear it's a girl? Yes. Probably shocked more than excited at first. The ultrasound tech asked if we wanted to know and we said yes. When she got to 'that part' she paused the screen. I knew what I was supposed to see on a boy money shot, and when she paused it she didn't say anything at first except, "Are you ready for this??" I looked at the screen and the thought that immediately came to my mind was, "Oh my gosh, he doesn't have a penis!" Then she said, "That's a baby girl!" I think I was so confident that I was having another boy that I'd let myself get really excited about having 2 little boys so close in age. But when she said girl, I saw the look on Paul's face, (he really, really wanted a girl) and I was so happy. I even got a bit emotional. But I have to admit, I still sometimes think its a boy that was hiding really well.

How are you feeling? Not great. I think I'm remembering too much about my first pregnancy and how I felt SO AMAZING in my second trimester. I'm just a couple weeks away from my 3rd trimester and still don't feel like I've fully recovered from morning sickness. I threw up at LAX a couple weeks ago and in the car a couple days ago. It just hits me and there's no stopping it. I have to remind myself to eat because not much ever sounds good, but I still get feeling nauseous if I don't have a little something in my tummy every couple of hours. I feel like I eat a lot, but I had an appointment yesterday and I'm only up one pound from my pre-pregnancy weight. (We don't need to mention that I started about 20 lbs up from my pre-garrett weight.)

What are you going to do differently this time around? There were a few things that came to mind for sure when asked this. I won't be as worried about every little thing. At least I don't feel like I will be. She will nap in her crib, (I hope). I made the mistake of letting Garrett nap in his swing a little too often, and for the first 5 months that's the only place he'd sleep during the day. I won't second guess the 'cry-it-out' method. Garrett mastered falling asleep on his own in less than a week, but I spent the whole week wondering if it was too soon, if he'd feel abandoned, if I was mean/lazy, if it would work. And it broke my heart listening to him when he did cry. I believe it works and when I feel its time, I'll do it. Probably around 6 months...I think that's when I started with Garrett. I won't push solid foods! Garrett was only 4 and a half months old when he started. He did great for a week or so and then totally lost interest for about a month or two. It was so messy, so discouraging, and so time consuming. I hope to wait til she's 6 months before introducing solids.

How are you liking the OB doctor rotation? So far, I've liked them all. I think I've met 4 and talked to another one on the phone. Whenever I meet a pregnant person or someone with a baby I try to have it come up in conversation where they delivered and who their doctor is. I've never heard anyone say a single thing they didn't like about any of the doctors at this clinic or our hospital of choice. There was one doctor however, when he walked in the exam room, my first thought was, "Hi little boy, I think you're in the wrong room, do you need help finding your mommy??" ...And then he measured my stomach and answered all my questions. But he was really nice and knew what he was doing! A young, attractive, male doctor delivering my baby... I'm pretty sure that's Paul's worst nightmare. :)

Has 'pregnancy brain' been worse, better, the same? Worse, but I don't blame anything on it like I did with G. Now I blame it on old age. It didn't go away after Garrett was born, and its slowly gotten worse. I'm getting old. In one week I messed up 3 appointments, THAT I HAD WRITTEN DOWN. 3:15 and I thought 3:30, 9:00 and I thought 9:45, and 1:45 and I thought 2:30. I have no idea where I pull the new times from. It could be in part that we have about 3 a week, and tomorrow my little rock star has 3 in one day. But still, I'm getting confused a lot. And no matter how hard I try and remember, I always go to the wrong floors at the Women's Center and at Cranial Tech. I still blame my bladder control issues on pregnancy though, I'm not ready to give that one up to age yet.