16 weeks today!
I had a wonderful treat last night, thanks to our cat Beren. He climbed up in my lap to be petted, and started purring away. I’ve often heard that babies in the womb really respond to cats, but I’d never experienced it myself, as this is the first pregnancy I’ve been through while having a cat.
It’s true! Our little one must have felt that purring and gotten excited. I got to feel the baby move for the first time. And the second, third, etc. It was so special!
Things seem to have calmed down with the cramping I was having, praise the Lord. Yesterday I had almost no cramping, and today I haven’t had any so far. I’m going to continue being careful with my activity levels (and use my timer whenever I’m doing anything standing up/moving around!) today, but I’m optimistic that I’m over the trouble spot.
I’m putting more details here of this whole thing, just to be sure I’m tracking stuff well.
Mental/Emotional Notes:
The hardest part for me of this experience was feeling like it was my fault. See… I ran out of my progesterone cream about a week before I started cramping. I’m supposed to be using it until I’m at least 15 weeks, which is when the placenta is really supposed to kick in with extra progesterone production. So I kept telling myself I’d run to the herb store (we have a Terrific herb store here in our tiny town – it’s called Root Diggin’ Nation – isn’t that a hoot?!). But I kept not getting it done.
To my guilty sobs Friday night of “How will either of us every forgive me if we lose this baby because I was too lazy to get more Prog. cream?,” my wonderful husband assured me that if the Lord took this baby home, it would not be my fault. All life is in His hands, and if He chooses to take this little one home to praise His name for eternity, we can trust Him with that.
I found myself repeating Ps. 131 over and over to myself:
Oh LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever.
What a wonderful thing to know that we have a loving and sovereign God.
“Treatment” notes:
~~I’ve been drinking Tons of water (dehydratiion can cause cramping, and Thursday was not a well-hydrated day) and focusing on taking it easy and trusting the Lord (read: accept His peace and Stay Calm).
~~Mom Smith picked up some Cramp Bark extract for me Friday afternoon, and that seems to help a lot. I haven’t needed to use it since Saturday late afternoon, though, praise Him!
~~She also picked up some Prog. Cream, but it had Evening Primrose Oil in it, which is a phyto-estrogen – Not Good! So Jonathan picked up some simple Prog. Cream on his way home that evening, and I’ve been doubling up on that since Friday.
~~I remembered to take Vit E on Friday, but have forgotten it since unitl just now. I need to take some today, probably.
That’s the scoop!
Monday, we had our first prenatal – probably the latest we’ve ever had a first prenatal, but all is well.
Random notations from the prenatal-
Need to drink more water. I haven’t been feeling as “green” lately, so it’s easier to slack on the drinking. It’s cool all the stuff your urine call tell you, eh?
My iron is great – 12.something. I was a bit concerned because I haven’t done the best job of taking my vitamins lately.
Fundal height – not measured, but in the right spot.
Diet’s okay, but could use improvement. Got sheets to keep track of what I eat. Guess I’ll start tomorrow…. that Snickers I got at the hardware store today probably blew it, lol. 😉
Need to find a way to exercise again. I was doing so well with this for a while, but…
Due to a communication glitch between Jonathan and I, we ended up hearing our little one’s heartbeat. We usually have our care providers use a fetascope unless there is an indicated need for a doppler check, so except for once when we were leaving on vacation and I hadn’t felt movement yet, we generally just hear the doppler occasionally during L&D. I have to admit. It was Such a Thrill to hear that little hearbeat. Wowsers. 164, by the way.
My cheapo wheel was off by a couple days (something I would have realized if I’d bothered to look at the calendar). Our new official ETA is June 19. The big deal with the wheel being off is that I actually hit 12 weeks yesterday (instead of tomorrow). No cramping, no spotting. So I think I’m ready to do the next post in My Balancing Journey – what I’ve learned about hormone imbalance. Praise the Lord!
I’m so excited right now that I’m on the verge of tears. I just got off the phone with the midwife in Kansas, and things are all good for us to come home to have this baby. I also finally made my first pre-natal appointment for next Monday (here, not in KS).
I realized mid-week last week that subconscious fear about losing the baby because of the hormonal imbalance had me frozen in my plan making. I made it my goal to get past that fear and make those calls this week. And here it is, not even 1pm on Monday, and I’ve done it! Praise the Lord!
Besides that…
My precious parents are on their way toward me RIGHT NOW! I haven’t seen them since the end of May, and then for not nearly long enough. They should be here tonight in time for our homeschool group’s Open House to hear the Blessings sing in the choir.
And…
My hubby is done with work early and is on his way home. Yay! We’re hoping to get our table finished up while the weather is so nice. Highs in the upper 60’s today, tomorrow, and Wed. High on Thursday – 34′!
A friend of mine suggested a few weeks ago that I try to drink more water to help dilute whatever causes the nausea. I’ve really seen it be effective most of the time, so I thought I’d throw that out there…. 🙂
I was planning to work on My Balancing Journey this afternoon while Jonathan is finishing up some work stuff, but I think I need to go sit down with my big jug o’ water and dilute. Hopefully I’ll be feeling better in time to get my next entry or two done.
A couple of background notes…
*I have found myself really struggling this pregnancy with giving in to feeling badly, and therefore being super lethargic, tired, and physically miserable a good deal of the time. Especially in the morning. In the last few weeks, I’ve gotten almost no group school work done with the Blessings, something we count on for getting our work for the year accomplished.
*Several years ago, Beka led me to Flylady.net (thanks Honey!). It has been a lifesaver in so many ways, and has changed my thinking about a lot of things. I have this tendency to go in spurts with Flylady, and sometime in late winter/spring, I tend to start letting go of habits that I’ve been working on establishing. I always have a wake-up call when the holidays start to approach, though, because I’ve found the only way I can get through the holiday months with any sense of clarity and calm is to FLY!
So…
A few nights ago, I had my yearly epiphany and realized I had better start Flying, and fast! So I got out my Holiday Control Journal and have been working on that. I also re-started Flylady emails.
I tell you what! I am just thanking the Lord for helping me back on the FlyWagon (yes, I made that term up myself). Here’s some of what I’ve been doing this week –
Getting ready for Thanksgiving
Starting to bake Christmas gifts (it’s going to be a Very Frugal year, so I need to start now and freeze stuff as I go)
Having Dinner planned and/or started before noon yesterday and today
Sitting down with the Blessings for breakfast and our Firm Foundations lesson
Exercising (just got back to that today)
Shining my sink
Working on getting back to my morning and evening routines (I’m not rushing into this one; it’s such a process for me)
It’s interesting to me how much better I feel physically now that I’m getting stuff accomplished. I’m not finding myself on the couch or back in bed most of the morning. And mentally/emotionally, it’s of course much better to be being productive instead of lethargic.
I’m contemplating proposing to my hubby that we turn the Resurrection season into a major family holiday… in part, to keep me from falling off the FlyWagon!
I’ve had friends talk while pregnant about how “this baby just doesn’t like ______ ” and I have to admit, I inwardly laughed. It seemed so silly.
But that’s because I’d never experienced it!
And now… I’m growing a baby who doesn’t like coffee. I limit myself during pregnancy to 1 cup of caffeine a day, so it’s not like I’m missing out on *that* much. But, ya know? I really like my coffee. And baby makes it clear that we have a difference of opinion. Nausea like …. ugghh.
I’m curious to see this aversion to coffee wears off when we pass the 12 week mark. If not, I know one of the first things I’m going to be asking for after baby arrives!
By the way… Today = 8 weeks + 2 days.
I think I’ve had a breakthrough! I realized today that I really want to blog more about this pregnancy, to have a written record of the process, etc. #7 babies just don’t normally have a very good shot at knowing what things were like when they were on the way, etc, and I want a record for this little one.
That led me to realize that, while it didn’t begin that way, blogging has unfortunately become more about if I’m read and commented on than about writing. I want to re-focus there.
And I need to go give lunch to those of my Blessings who can eat it. Doozey of a flu this week. 2 down, 3 in process, 1 looking green (that ‘s the kid count… Laurel looks green much of the time, lol).
