Pregnancy Part 8

First day of fall! Unfortunately, here in Southern California, we will have triple-digit temperatures tomorrow. But there are cooler temperatures on the way. Last week I tried wearing a regular 100% cotton T-shirt without a bra and it was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever done. Here is a list of the symptoms over the past 3 weeks.

Week 13 - Sept 2-8 backache, nipple soreness, frequent urination, increased thirst, appetite increase
Week 14 - Sept 9-15 tender breasts, nipple soreness, heartburn, increased thirst, appetite increase, flatulence
Week 15 - Sept 16-22 acne, abdominal cramping, leg cramping, tender breasts, nipple soreness, heartburn, bloating, appetite increase

Now that I'm in week 16, I kind of feel like the heartburn is easing up. I also switched moisturizer and sunscreen and I think the acne is clearing up. I have had some dry skin on my arms, legs and hands. I was out in the garden yesterday and got HELLA mosquito bites.

I wrote 2.5 weeks ago that I was worried about my First Trimester Screening. I had no idea what tests they would be running and what I should do to prepare for those tests. Maybe they do that on purpose, so that you don't bias the results.

• Ultrasound
• NT scan
• Swab
• Vaginitis
• Pap Smear
• Blood (8 vials)
• NIPT - Down Syndrome
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Syphilis (RPR)
• Hepatitis B
• Rubella
• Blood Antigen
• RBC, WBC, Platelets
• Hemoglobin
• Neutrophils, Lymphocytes
• Eosinophils (Eos), Basophils (Basos)
• Granulocytes
• Urine Sample
• color, pH, density
• protein, glucose, ketones
• WBC, RBC, cells, mucus, bacteria

Everything came back normal. I have the Second Trimester Screening coming up. As far as I know they will take more blood and urine. There may be an ultrasound and fetal heartbeat. It will be two weeks until my next appointment with my OB.

In 4 weeks, I will have my anatomy scan with the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM). In 5 weeks, I will have a fetal echocardiogram to look for any abnormalities in the heart. Today was a little bit stressful to make that appointment but it all worked out in the end.

I finally tried to put in some data into the pregnancy app that is recommended by my health care provider (Providence Holy Cross). I feel like my belly really popped out this weekend after much gas and bloating last week. The pulling I felt on my ligaments kind of gave way on Sunday after lots of running around the house and doing errands. Anyhow, it was really comforting to see that despite the shock of seeing a number on the scale, I am still doing OK for my goal/target.

Saturday we met up with family and went to see a movie. I cried through the previews and cried a few times during the movie. Last week, on "TIC Tuesday" I full-on sobbed at my desk just thinking about what to make for dinner. I attributed it to hormones, stress and exhaustion. It gave me the clue to take it a bit easier throughout the week. So I guess you could add to last week's symptoms: extremely emotional and easily crying. We ended the day at Macy's, which had a good selection of baby clothes for 80% off. We got 4 onesies for $13.

Yesterday we did a BUNCH of stuff around the house. We cleaned a set of shelves that I found at the curb and put them upstairs in the baby's room. We broke down a computer and a desk that were in the baby's room to take them to the trash and e-waste. We took syringes from our IVF cycle and the computer to the Nicole Bernson (Balboa) S.A.F.E. Center. We went to Vitamin Shoppe to get some protein bars and B Vitamin. We went to Lowe's to get a ladder, sawhorses, lumber, some plants, a new showerhead and some hooks.

We went to Kohl's to get $100 worth of maternity clothes. It was great because dear husband dropped me off and went home to take the plants out of the car while I tried on clothes. I found a pair of leggings, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts and two shirts. We went to Target to get a new scale, frozen pre-cooked chicken, milk, trash bags, toilet paper and paper towels. Then we went home and planted the plants, hung the hooks and sawed some shelves for the garage. We are trying to get the garage ready to accommodate some new items for the baby. We're going by the Goodwill after work today to drop off some old stuff that we no longer want.

I'm so unlike my former self (hoarding) that my first instinct when I see a box of stuff in the garage is to "get rid of it." Dear husband has turned into me by saying, "what if you need it later?" I am so grateful to have a partner that is willing to talk through what we want to get done and then strategize how we can both contribute to those projects. We finally spent all the money that we had got from the summer unemployment, so all of that shopping came out of our hard-earned paychecks. It was cool to see dear husband creating space in the garage by taking some of the bicycles that I wanted to get rid of and hanging them from the ceiling.

Last week, I met with Human Resources to see exactly what were my options for Spring 2019 and Fall 2020. I got the greatest news: I can continue with full pay and no gap in pay. I will not teach in Spring due to using up my sick leave and personal holidays (and disability if I need it). Then I will be able to use my Family Leave in Spring to have a 40% reduction in workload without any lack of pay. This was such a relief to dear husband, as he was starting to get pretty worried about how we would survive on a single income.

I also read online that if I call my student loan lender and tell them that I am pregnant, they will add a dependent to my financial information and possibly reduce my monthly payment by $100. In other symptom-related news... spellcheck is everything right now. It's not my hands but my brain that can't seem to spell these days. I misspell at least one word per sentence. And it's pretty difficult to do mental math on the board when I'm teaching. The joys of pregnancy.

Pregnancy Part 7

Today is 15 weeks. I am feeling happy and hungry. Despite eating lots over the weekend, I did not gain a significant amount of weight. It is so easy to get stressed about eating too much, not eating enough, and whether I'm eating the "right stuff."

I am pretty much hungry all the time now. I am a bit concerned because I looked at my lab results from my first trimester screenings and although everything looks good with the baby, it seems like some of my levels are elevated, which points to a UTI. Of course, when I called my doctor's office this morning I found out that she hasn't looked at the results yet because she was on vacation last week. I'm not so upset about her taking vacation, but I hope I will get a call back today with some advice about whether this is something to be alarmed about or just nothing.

I made the appointment to speak with Human Resources at my school to get all the information and paperwork for my leave of absence in the spring. I informed my boss that I will not be teaching. It is all starting to get pretty real.

We ended up taking a spontaneous trip to Santa Ana over the weekend. We left school at 3pm and sat in traffic for 3 hours on the I-5 freeway. We listened to the Practical Entrepreneur podcast and This American Life podcast. We snacked on fruit and energy bars. We drank lots of water. It was actually pretty relaxing for me at least. We arrived at our hotel around 6pm, dropped off our little doggie, picked up McDonald's drive-through, and went straight to the football game at Newport Harbor High School. The game was a blow-out. Corona del Mar scored 55 points against Lakewood who scored 7. It was still fun to sit with family and greet my nephew out on the field after the game.

We got back to the hotel around 10pm, ate a bit of snacks and went to sleep. We both slept so well, we decided to book another night! It was so relaxing. I had the continental breakfast at 7am, then went back to sleep for a bit. We woke up at 9am and went to meet family for brunch at Coco's in Anaheim. We went back to the hotel, watched a couple of episodes of Keeping Up with the Kardashians and then the movie Devil Wears Prada on the E! network.

My sister called and it was great to have a long chat with her. We had dinner at the Stonefire Grill and then went for a long walk on the beach. We got back to the hotel in time for dear husband to have a dip in the jacuzzi while I watched a couple episodes of Midsomer Murders on PBS.

Corona del Mar Main Beach

The next morning, we had continental breakfast together around 8am. Then we took Edna Jo for a long dog walk around Santa Ana. There were lots of other dogs and people to say hello to. When we got back to the hotel, we packed up and got on the road home by 10am. Traffic was nice and we were home within 1 hour. We did some grocery shopping and then took naps. A couple loads of laundry and some garlic-butter chicken later, we went to bed around 9pm.

It was great to get away, but we have some plans for next weekend. We plan to do some house-cleaning (bathrooms, vacuuming, etc.). A good thing about getting away is that you come home to see how your house looks compared with a professionally-maintained hotel room. Let's just say that our whites could be brighter. I'm glad fall is coming, I am getting done with this heat. I did sleep with the windows open last night and it was glorious.

The things I was missing on the trip were: flip-flops, shorts, headphones/earplugs, swimsuit and sunscreen. We've perfected our packing routine to the bare minimum from our bicycle travels, but now that we're driving, there's no reason not to bring a few more comfort items. Also, it would have been good to have two sets of utensils. I ended up eating leftover mac & cheese with my hands and then the next morning Mike cut his mouth on the crappy plastic spoons in the breakfast area. There's no reason why we can't bring our own silverware.

Pregnancy Part 6

Got a phone call from my OB's office today. Results from NIPT are in. Everything is normal. We're having a boy. That is all.

I am looking forward to next month, where we will travel down to the beach (in 4 weeks) to see my nephew's football game. We will stay in a hotel with my mother-in-law and her husband, which we have stayed in before. I love their continental breakfast. Then we're going back to the same hotel (in 6 weeks) to see my father-in-law for a formal dinner. I guess I am just looking forward to some fun trips to break up the monotony of the semester.

I think we have decided to skip the babymoon over thanksgiving. It seems silly to travel 200 miles away for no reason and spend a few hundred dollars on hotel, gas and food. I imagine I will be exhausted by that time and I will want to do nothing but rest. I wish we could take our dog on Amtrak. I wish I could still ride a bicycle. As dear husband keeps reminding me, I will have the rest of my life to do those things. This pregnancy will only happen once.

I'm trying harder than ever to keep up with grading and to stay on top of my students so that they are turning in their work on time. I'm hoping to lower my stress by not falling behind.

Pregnancy Part 5

Yesterday morning was my "First Official" OB appointment. The other one was like an interview or initial consultation. I had some blood drawn for hemoglobin and HIV testing. I left a urine sample. My doctor did a pap smear and a cervical measurement. We looked at the fetus on the ultrasound and I got to hear the heartbeat, something like 145-150 bpm.

I am feeling pretty tired with my normal teaching schedule. I am also starting to get a bit hungrier than I was before. Today is the first day I thought to myself "I don't get paid enough for this." I feel like I have never had that thought before. Instead, I used to ask myself what more I could be doing to do a better job. This semester I get so tired after teaching, it takes so much out of me, I feel like I deserve twice the pay for the same work.

The heartburn is getting so real. Like, goodbye nausea... Hello, heartburn. There's no way to win. It's bad after lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. I am drinking water like crazy, which is not a bad thing I guess, just trying to wash the heartburn away.

Here is a graph of my weight since starting the Zita West Diet (March, April, May, June) and becoming pregnant (July, August). I feel good that I did not gain a significant amount of weight in the first trimester.

I got a new addition to my regimen of vitamins: 81 mg aspirin to prevent preeclampsia. Apparently, I am presenting with a "constellation of risk factors."

• First pregnancy
• Obesity (BMI > 30)
• Over 35 years of age
• In-vitro fertilization

It doesn't sound good when the doctor informs me of this, but there is nothing I can do but take the aspirin and hope I don't get it. There were 8 risk factors on the website I looked at, and I only have half of those. It's not exactly comforting to know that the causes of preeclampsia are unknown. Even more disturbing is that it may have a gradual or rapid onset.

Following the babycentre recommended diet for 10 days, I hit about 50% of the recommended meals. Sometimes the dinners are too complicated and I have had trouble eating my morning "snack," just due to timing issues. I bring the food to school but I don't actually eat it. On weekends, we do other things just out and about, so sitting at home and eating specific things at specific times is not on the agenda.

Yesterday, my phone said it was 103 degrees. We are in a Heat Advisory. "Across the valleys and mountains, temperatures will warm to between 95 and 105 degrees"

I am just looking forward to the nights when I can open the windows. Maybe Saturday night? There was one night where I slept on the floor in my bedroom. One night I went downstairs, where it is several many degrees cooler.

My hopes of getting the NT and NIPT results at my OB's appointment were not realized. I am not sure when I will get those results. My doctor told me to download a hospital app and then pair it up with MyChart but I couldn't get it to work. I guess it is good for me to feel what my students feel like to be on the "flip-side" of the coin. I sometimes tell them to do something that is supposed to be easy and then they can't seem to do it. I feel like my doctor told me to do it like it would be simple, but I just can't figure it out.

On a positive note, I believe I can take the spring semester off without any penalty. Now that I have been promoted to Y3, I can take a leave of absence with no worries about losing my entitlements. I had to have 6 years of continuous service to reach this point. Phew!