Ack! 199 days to go!!! 😀
11w4d. My in-laws just left from a visit here. It sure is nice not to be the ones traveling this time. But Bren and I are going to take the train up there mid-February. While here, FIL went to Sam’s and bought us giant bags of apples, oranges and bananas, a large container of the best strawberries, plus an entire watermelon and a huge block of cheese. Cool. We always eat at these great buffets while they are here so I was scared to weigh myself. But I did and I think I lost another pound or so. ??? Can’t figure that one out at all.
Nothing much going on with me. The past few days I have had only minimal m/s so I will probably be sickish for a couple days. It tends to run that way. I turn 12 weeks on Thursday! The first of many days considered to be the beginning of the 2nd trimester. YAY!
Bren is great. He loves his grandparents and especially his uncle Anthony. We watched a movie last night and when it was over he said, “That was a great story!” and he turned away from the tv and towards us on the couch and bowed! Hahahaha.
The big gender ultrasound is in about 6 1/2 weeks!! Can’t wait but am also sort of dreading it. 😉 It’s one of those moments where your life will be altered and there is nothing you can do but watch it happen. Then Bren’s 3rd birthday is just a couple days after it.

Bren says many positive words now including:
okay
all right
uh huh
yes
yup
yay
wahoo
heard once: yeah
heard once: of course
and his latest fave- great
*****
10w6d. Still having on and off again days. Today seems pretty good so far. Home scale says I lost 1/2 a pound this week. Don’t worry, the Ben & Jerry’s (absolutely divine) Caramel Sutra ice cream will nip that in the bud. Down 2 for the pregnancy.
I am trying to add more whole grains, protein, calcium & vegetables to my diet while getting ready to lower my sugar intake as well as soon as my m/s disappears. Hard to do when I can’t stand to look at poultry, nuts, sausage or beans. Vegetables have no appeal either. I am going to have to find a whole grain bread I like. I love Jason’s Deli’s Branola bread so I know there has to be another out there. Eggs have started to appeal to me again so I bought some of the Omega 3 eggs. Going to have poached eggs on toast for lunch. I also bought Kashi Go Lean Crunch cereal on the advice of one of my August boards. Healthy and is supposed to taste good as well. One definite winner meal this week was spaghetti. I used whole grain angel hair pasta and a can of Hunt’s traditional sauce. It was divine! I slurped it up and claimed the leftovers. Oddly enough- it had to be plain. No meat, no cheese, no diced tomato or peppers.
In the next couple of weeks I am going to try and give up my juice and dessert consumption. I need to keep this baby in the 7 pound range. I really believe Bren disengaged himself from my pelvis as he hit the 8 pound mark. If I can keep this one slightly smaller, just maybe I can have that natural birth.
Also on the agenda- walking. I have to exercise!

Who would’ve known I’d be watching Mia this afternoon?! Apparently she is going to have a new cousin any minute now and her daddy really wanted to be there. We had plans to meet at Chuck E. Cheese’s tonight anyway so the kiddos could get together. It has been several months since their first post living together meeting at McDonalds.
So far so good. Bren doesn’t quite know what to do with her. They converse pretty well and that is very cool to see. I can totally understand why toddlers with siblings learn to talk faster. They talk to each other CONSTANTLY. Their vocabulary seems similar (she didn’t know what a dinosaur is but Brendan wouldn’t know what a doll is) but her completeness and sentence structure is better. Anyway, Mia will get out a toy and and soon as she stops playing with it for the tiniest microsecond, Bren will take it and put it away. Haha. He has no idea how to share.
Now they are chasing each other around the living room. Each has a sippy cup. Bren keeps saying “cheers!” but Mia has no clue what he wants. Heh.
Brendan wants to watch Diego on tv and Mia wants to play with the dozens of new toys she sees. But Mia wants Bren to play with her. I am trying not to interfere much with their interactions. It is hard to do. Both want what they want only.

Well my OB just called. One thing about my OB’s office, if the doctor herself calls, it’s not news you want to hear.
She says she consulted a very high perinatologist in the city about the Metformin. Both agree that it’s just not supported at this time. She went on to talk about another similar drug, Glipizide. A few years back everyone thought it was safe to give to pregnant diabetic women and now long term studies have come out showing a 50% rise in babies going to the NICU after birth. So I guess I end it after 14 weeks.

Darrell and I chatted about the future today. If this baby is a boy we might try for another as early as when it’s 6 months old. My eggs and my fertility are not getting any younger and the odds of Down’s Syndrome and stuff jump higher every year. We both agree that 3 is our limit. But if it’s a girl- we are probably done because of money issues. That this may be my last pregnancy makes me sad. Once being sick is past, I love being pregnant. How many people can stop and think of their current situation and grin- every day?? And then after pregnancy you get a BABY!

I was asked why I want a VBAC so I think I’ll copy that answer here as well.
1. It is something I really want to experience. I know it isn’t for everyone but it would be a challenge and very rewarding to me to be able to give birth naturally. This isn’t a passing fancy- deep down I really want it. It’s a dream for me.
2. Even though my c-section and recovery were a piece of cake- the epidural made me itch all over my body horribly for the next day and a half. I had to have shots of Nubain every 6 hours or so to control it. Those shots made both me and Brendan very dopey. A day that should be a great memory is a blur to me. Both of us slept constantly (or I was awake but not all there) and Brendan wouldn’t wake up to feed properly. By the time he woke up on day 3, we had serious breastfeeding issues and he was peeing red blood crystals instead of urine. I wish to avoid the whole mess.

Brendan came up to us last night and had his hands folded like he was in prayer. He had us put our hands the same way and then he proceeded to tell us how we could open then up side by side and make a butterfly! His directions were really pretty clear- I sure wish I could remember exactly what he said. And know where on earth he learned this. Could he have possibly made it up?

I realized yesterday that this pregnancy is 25% done! ACK! Not too far off from the 200 day milestone!
This baby length and weight chart has been exactly right. Some of my books are saying the baby is the size of a plum already- I just don’t think many plums are 3.1 cm. It’s fun to see how much the baby is going to grow in the next week.
I have officially lost 1.5 pounds to date. That’s excellent for me. Last pregnancy it was -7 pounds at 11 weeks.
I had to decline a genetic test for Cystic Fibrosis. The reason is they have to take blood from both genetic parents. Ummm… totally not possible. LOL.
I am totally flipping out that the gender ultrasound is in just 2 appts! 8 weeks! I will probably have the tech write the gender on a piece of paper and stick it in an envelope for us. If it is a boy I want to deal with it privately (please don’t criticize me on this- we probably won’t be able to afford any more children and I can’t see myself being a mother to only boys) and if it is a girl I don’t want to make the poor tech deaf. I’m sure Bren’s vote would be for a brother though!
It was very reassuring to see such a small baby moving around and being so active. Every mother wonders if their baby is healthy and whole and this image did a lot to reassure me. And it was absolutely hilarious to see it bopping itself on the head!!!
I am *much improved* in the morning sickness department. Today and yesterday have been great- almost normal. The few days prior to that I had some nausea but it seems to let up by dinnertime. I am still a bit tired- but improved- and I get dizzy when I stand up from either lying down or bending over. Oh, I get headaches often too. I physically feel pregnant already. I know I am bigger but with me being overweight it’ll be awhile (a long while) before the general public notices. I need to get some obviously maternity clothes- you know, like the shirts with the ties at the waist. LOL. Favorite current maternity outfit- my JCPenney’s “snap to fit” pants. These don’t look maternity at all with a shirt hanging over the waist band. It rides too high in front still and fits me slightly too big still on the tightest snaps but very comfy. It’s the only maternity clothes I have worn so far. I still fit in my elastic waist pants but jeans have been out the door since Christmas. I think I’ll break out my low rise maternity shorts today though. It’s mid-January and 78 outside!!!
I can’t stand to drink cola type drinks so my diet cokes have been gone from my diet for several weeks. I guess that means I am totally caffeine free since I don’t crave chocolate either. I’d drink those bottles of Starbucks Frappacinos if they weren’t so darn expensive. Suppose that’s a good thing. It’s hard to be tired though.
Brendan is going through a “nope” stage. The answer to every yes/no question is nope. Sigh. And he is back to being rebellious. Does NOT want to get his diaper changed. Does NOT want to get his teeth brushed.
OMG! He just now pulled on his first item of clothing! He came over and asked me to take his shirt off- so I did. The he took his diaper off- he does that if I don’t notice he has wet it right away. But he just put it back on! LOL. Now to get him to put on a new one…
My hubby is coming home early just for fun! Brightens my whole day when he does something unexpected like that! 😀 We have a new frozen custard/burger place called Culver’s and we are going to go check it out. Mmmm.

10w0d. The first half went great! Even though the nurse had me undress completely and the doctor never touched me… [rolls eyes]. I think me being unnecessarily unclothed got me an ultrasound, lol.
Baby was wiggling and moving and waving its hand and hitting itself on the forehead and everything! 😀 It was so cool to see- far better than any early u/s with Bren! Baby measured spot on 10 weeks and is 3.1 cm.

The second half of the appointment was difficult. She wants me to have a repeat c-section and I DO NOT! She’s willing to let me try a VBAC as long as signs are favorable and I go into labor on my own. And after I sign a bazillion waivers. UGH.
And even though she agreed to discuss it with a peri, she does not want me to continue the Metformin past 14 weeks. UGH!
Gave 4 vials of blood and a pee cup. Next appointment is February 16th at 2:20 pm. The appointment after that (18 weeks) is the big ultrasound! Wahoo!

9w6d. Tomorrow is my first OB appt. It’ll be a happy occassion no doubt- I’ll get a lot of congratulations. I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t look forward to telling her about the bleeding or the fact that I took a hard fall yesterday. Might get me another ultrasound though. It feels like ages since I last got to see my baby and it has only been 2 weeks!
But the thing I am least looking forward to is trying to convince her that I want to remain on the Metformin medication throughout pregnancy and nursing. I see 2 possible positive outcomes for this:
1. As a blood sugar regulator, Metformin might help me to grow a somewhat smaller baby. Brendan was 8 lbs 6 oz at birth and some time between my 39th and 40th week, he disengaged himself from my pelvis and free floated again. This fact had a lot to do with me having a c-section. The other half was that he was wrongly estimated to be 10 1/2 lbs.
2. I’ve been researching low milk supply issues and it turns out that 1/3 of those with PCOS have problems of this nature. Women with PCOS produce too many male hormones which interferes with prolactin (the milk making hormone) receptors. Metformin reduces the amount of males hormones (which is why is helps me with my monthly cycle and ovulating).
Wish me luck- I absolutely abhor confrontations. She was pretty adamant that I stop the Metformin after 14 weeks last pregnancy. My hope is to just hand her the folder with my research and ask her to read it in her free time and discuss it next month. I am sure she has much better access to appropriate research anyway.
*****
Bren says and does some of the cutest things! He loves to rub my cheek softly when we are laying down for a nap. He tells me both “You’re so beautiful!” and “You’re so smart!” 😉
This morning when he woke up, he grabbed his ears, let out a laugh and stated, “I love my ears!” LOL.
Also, if you ask him if he wants something to eat he’ll 90% of the time say he wants “a sandwich with cheese and pickles”. Occassionally he wants a taco, burger or cookie though. I have him convinced that Cocoa Puffs cereal bars are cookies, haha.