Well, we did the ultrasound without a hitch (natch). She remembered me from last time. She’s also super fast with the measurements! After we were done we saw the Perinatologist. Dr. Rust said that my AFP (alpha-fetoprotein – indicator for neural tube defects) was a bit high, but not alarmingly so and that looking at the ultrasounds the baby’s spine looks absolutely fine. Ultrasounds detect 85-90% of major malformations of the spine, and the AFP test can show up false-negatives, so I’m not going to worry about it in the least. The rest of the quad-screen tests turned up normal, so we’re good! *commence clapping*

Kinda bad news (though not really since it’s not like it’s the last chance I’ll have) is that she couldn’t tell the sex of the baby. Bit too early, I’m afraid. We were both kinda bummed about that, but we’re going to pick out names tonight anyways (one for each sex) so that we’re prepared. Dr. Rust also suggested that I call to make an appointment for the echo-cardiogram of the baby’s heart soon (it takes up to 6 wks to schedule appointments and he wants it done between 22-24 wks – which’s about 6 wks from now). That’s the test where we’ll have to hike our little selves down to Allentown for. I’m pretty confident that it’ll go well too, though. The baby’s heart looks beautiful (today’s bpm rate was 143). Throughout the ultrasound the baby squirmed and wriggled around; waving hands and feet at us (it has two of each – we have confirmation!). It’s starting to look like the baby’s running out of room though. It was looking a bit squished in there at times. The baby’s head measured 5cm across the top of the crown (looking down from above). That’s about this big:

Yeesh! I don’t know where it’s all fitting! Sometimes I still wonder if this isn’t all just some elaborate scheme to convince me I’m pregnant when I’m not. Ken thinks I’m crazy.

Here’s what things kinda look like from the inside. I’m not sticking out nearly that much, but you get the idea. They say the baby is about 6″ long and can both feel and hear, though only things in utero right now (another 3 wks until it hears outside stuff). I’ve officially started the 5th month (a better method of counting, as opposed to 18 wks x days/19th wk in my mind), and am one week away from the half-way point. It doesn’t seem like nearly that much time has gone by, or nearly that much progress has happened. Quite a waiting game, this baby-making!

…posting, that is. I told myself and Ken that I’d wait until this afternoon, but the connection’s working ok (we’re dl’ing some anime) so here I am.

I came to the conclusion this morning that I’m considering picking up/wearing a bikini this summer. Normally this would never ever happen. I don’t know if it’s the new boobs or the comfort-level with a big hunk o’ me hangin’ out in front for all to see (the belly). I’ve been wearing my sarong a lot lately, as it covers yet it’s super thin and cool. If I need to cover up part of me with the bikini on, it’ll do the job (since that’s it’s original purpose) well. We’ll see though…

My level 2 ultrasound is today. Noon, to be precise. I’m excited (to see the baby again, to know the sex) and scared pantsless (that there’s something wrong with the baby). Paranoid? Damned straight. I didn’t feel the jello jiggles at all last week, which makes me wonder if it was even the baby at all or something else (bad juju – lets not think about that). All this “weird” stuff happening to my bod is very disconcerting. Makes me worry when I don’t know what’s going on or what’s causing whatever to happen. I’ve promised (myself and Ken) to try really hard not to worry anymore after today. It should be easier, since today they should have a pretty solid guide of whether the baby has down’s syndrome or a neural tube defect (I’m thinking that things look promising though, since my blood work would have gotten back to them last wednesday and they didn’t call me – which I’d expect they would if it indicated I might benefit from an amnio). To be bluntly honest, I’m mostly wanting to be sure the baby’s still alive. Since I can’t feel it move yet (apparently), I have no idea if it’s ok in there. How would I know if things weren’t ok? It can take a while for a miscarriage to start.

I know how this all sounds. I sound so negative, and that’s just to myself. I can’t imagine how horrible this sounds to anybody else reading it. I wish I didn’t think these things. It’s a defense mechanism for me, though. Expect the worst and you’ll never be disapointed. That’s not to say I’d be happy if the worst happened, but I’d at least be prepared for it, somewhat.

On a more mundane note, the dieffenbachia picked up spider mites from the umbrella tree. Bastards. We left it outside last night (it was supposed to thunderstorm). I’m hoping we can get rid of them. I’d wanted to give a bit of the dieff. to Lea, but I’ll not give her infected plants. It’ll have to be limited to the spider plants, bird’s nests, and kalanchoe. Damn. We finally got the clematis outside and onto the trellis. Here’s hoping it gets enough light and can prosper. The forsythia, though they had a rough start, are flourishing (except one, who we think isn’t getting enough direct sunlight). That makes two successful plantings in our evil-soil (the maples are doing well too). I’m still waiting to see how the daffy’s do.

I picked up some cheesecloth this weekend and am planning on making yogurt cheese in the next few days (as soon as I make enough yogurt – since my yogurt cheese cheesecake recipe wants 2 quarts). I hope it works out! I’m kinda excited to see the results.

I’ll be back this afternoon (assuming all goes well) to let you know the results of the ultrasound (not the sex of the baby – yet, but health wise). Wish us luck!

Well, the aura of rain is there. The drops aren’t likely to fall until tonight but the sky has that rainy “look” to it.

I checked my exercise ball. It’s good up to 250 lbs. If I get that heavy I’m going to have to amputate a limb just to feel better about stepping (or balancing) on the scale.

I didn’t sleep well last night. We went to bed astoundingly early but since I’d had a nap yesterday I wasn’t tired until an hour and a half later. I was high, too, so I was getting up every hour to pee until I figured out the high and dealt with it. Shouldn’t'a had that second burritaco.

Ken finished the baby name book, and is now organizing the names he liked and will be matching up those that fit together. I’m excited, and want desperately to look at the names, but they aren’t ready yet so I’ll control myself.

Not much to do today. I’m going to work on my current project. I might whip off a pair of those fuzzy mitts, just for a change of pace and to get them out of the way. We’ll see…

I just found out that depression during pregnancy is more common than post-partum depression. Makes sense. Sucks big time though. :/

Yep, outside. Sun.shine. Apparently for the whole day too. Considering that I was expecting rain, it’s a pleasant surprise.

Yesterday’s banana bread turned out well. It almost didn’t, as the timer didn’t go off and I’ve my sensitive nose to thank for it not burning (we won’t count the dark’n'crispy around the edges).

I’m going to try to motivate myself today, given the sunshine (I can’t use the “it’s cloudy and I don’t feel like doing anything” excuse). I’ve got mending to do (damned buttons keep falling off!), I’ve got some transplanting to do (radishes, peppers, tomatoes, clematis – though the last two will have to wait til Ken gets home), I’ve got some baby plants to pot for Lea, and I thought I’d blow up my exercise ball (assuming the weight restrictions aren’t going to be too high at the end of my pregnancy) and play around with it. Not much to do, granted, but better than nothing.

Perhaps I’ll make a small web-page devoted to baby things I want to get and where to get them at the best internet price. More organized, at least, than my current method of slips of paper and un-specified links in my favourites list. The internet both rocks and sucks because I’ve found some really fantastic products that I can *only* get online. Most of our family doesn’t do much, if any, online shopping. That’s alright though. Anything I want badly enough to get a specific thing online is something I’m willing to shell out for myself (there’s not that much, anyways).

I realized, this morning, that my ultrasound is on Monday of next week. I think I’m automatically associating all of my ob appointments for Wednesdays because the regular appointments generally are on Wednesdays. Good news though, since that makes it two days closer to now than I’d previously thought! I haven’t felt the jello-jiggles in the past few days. Kinda concerned about that…

But, according to the weather channel, it won’t be until sometime next week. Yeuck.

Had a bit of a set back, emotionally last night. I kinda became really depressed… like I haven’t been since I was a teenager. It was very bizarre. Makes me worry about post-partum depression. I know women who’ve had depression before tend to get it worse. Well, we’ll deal if/when it happens.

Good news learned yesterday is that as long as my HbA1C is below 7.5 I’ve the same chances of having a healthy baby (down’s syndrom/birth defects) as any non-diabetic woman. Yay! We’ll know much more certainly in a week.

As far as that goes, I’ve decided not to post the sex of the baby until after we’ve told all our family. Understandable, I’m sure, but that means you online peeps are going to have to wait until post-Independance Day. That’s when we’ll be up in VT next, and we’ll hopefully have the chance to see both sides of the family (I’m pretty much going to insist on that). I’ll be telling the Ontario family next weekend when we go up. (Yes, I know, unfair – but the Ontario family found out about the pregnancy 2nd, so this evens things up.)

Lets see…

Friday was a great day. Beautiful weather, got off to NY without a hitch, arrived as expected, relaxed and watched some tele. Saturday morning we were up bright and early and on our way up to Plattsburgh (2hrs each way). Arrived, saw the family, sat on horrendously hot bleachers watching a projection screen of people yapping and yapping and yapping. It was an hour before they even started giving away diplomas (or empty folder thingies). The people weren’t organized in a specific order, so we had no idea when Kate would be up there. As it turned out, Ken and I had gone outside for some fresh air when we heard them announce Mumble Helberg! We’ll have to wait for photos to be developed to see the prime moment. We went back to the hotel and Kate opened her gifts (she liked our card), then on to Linner (lunch/dinner) at The Naked Turtle. We had a buffet that had yummy roast beef, jambalaya, rice pilaf, and various other things that I didn’t have room for. Ken was left a bit hungry because the only things he could eat were the rice, the beef, and rolls (everything else had something in it he doesn’t like to eat). We made our way to Kate’s apartment, helped her pack of the final things (good thing the back of the jeep was empty!), and were on our way. There was an immigration check point on the interstate on the way back (who knows why) so we left the group and detoured around it. We had a lovely drive though and made it to McDonalds for a light dinner just in time to wave as the group drove through the intersection outside. Too funny! We relaxed the rest of the evening. Sunday morning was breakfast and giving Sharon her Mother’s Day present (she cried – and liked it quite a bit). We took off to drive Jeff/Sarah’s jackets up to them (2hrs round trip). The weather was beautiful and it was a nice drive. Back to NY for lunch (yummy burgers!) then on our way home. We got in around 6:30 and went out grocery shopping. Dinner was a yummy stove-top mac&cheese recipe (thanks Alton Brown!) that we decided was very rich and needed a side dish and less cheese (or not-so-sharp cheddar). It was a very busy, very driving-centric weekend.

Today the weather is beautiful this morning. I went for my appointment with Dr. Chen. Good things and not so good. She said, before I could mention it, that she didn’t want to change my insulin around until after the pregnancy was completed (w00t!). She said she’s not crazy about my sugar’s going so low or so high (I tried to explain that those are the extreme numbers, not the averages, but I think she was focusing on the extremes anyways). She didn’t ask me to test any more than I already am (w00t!). She did, however, say that she wants to see me every 3 months as long as I keep my control within 70-140. Every 2 months if it’s going higher than that. Oy! We’ll see.

On the drive home I was thinking to myself what I’ll have to do for my next family physician. I’m likely going to have to go in and interview him/her and explain my medical and personal history with dr’s, explain what I’ve been used to and what I like in a dr/patient relationship, explain what’s acceptable “care” (aka only seeing the dr once a year unless there’s a problem), and explain that I need to be treated like an intelligent person, an equal, and like I’m in charge of my health; not them. Then simply ask if that will work for them. If I’m going to have a dr for the rest of my life, I want to be comfortable with them. I don’t want to end up keeping things from them to avoid their nagging me about isolated incidents. I don’t want to be stressed before and after my visits. I don’t want to feel like I’m being ordered around. I want to be able to trust their advice. Other than a yearly physical, I’m not used to seeing a dr unless there’s a problem. These scheduled visits I’ve been going on are grating on my nerves. It’s also a damned good thing I don’t have a job, because I’d be using up all my vacation time on dr’s visits!

Here’s hoping!

Which is nice, considering they were predicting 89 deg today! Yikes!

I’m already hungry, too. We normally have a homemade version of an egg-mcmuffin for breakfast and tea on weekdays. Today we had toasted engl. muffins with jam (neither of us felt like eggs) and tea. My stomach was growling on the way back from taking Ken to work. Yeesh. Thank goodness for cheese!

I felt confident, this morning, stating that I think I am indeed feeling the baby move. That jello-jiggly feeling keeps coming back, and there’s no digestive or other reason for it to happen. Process of elimination decrees that it’s the baby. I wish Ken could feel it too. I hate that it’ll be quite a while before he can feel it through me.

I talked to Pop last night, and apparently Mom went through a similar pattern with her bleeding that I did. The first time/pregnancy it was for about 3 wks, 2nd time (me) it was for 3 months. He said she went back to work too early that time, and that’s his understanding of the difference. He ordered me to do exactly as the dr prescribes, which we are. I think I can understand my Mom going back to work early with the 2nd time. This time I’m super paranoid, but I have a feeling next time I’ll be more confident and might be more inclined to push things. Hopefully I’ll remember this and not do that.

I was pretty depressed/sad yesterday and last night. I felt overwhelmingly alone, despite Ken being right there with me. It wasn’t a fear of something happening when I’m alone that would put the baby in jeopardy, I just felt very alone. *shrug* It’s gone today. Silly hormones!

We’ll be leaving directly from Ken’s work today, to go up to NY. We’re spending the night at Sharon’s, then driving up to Plattsburgh for Kate’s graduation. Kate’s said she’s got a folding chair I can use, which is good since they expect us to stand for 4 hours watching tv monitors (!). I’m still amazed at the lack of consideration that her school, and from what I’ve learned many others, for the graduate’s family. I guess I was spoiled by the schools in Ontario. They provide ample seating for everyone, and you get to watch the ceremony in person (either in a large, air-conditioned auditorium or outside in chairs in a large field or under tents). Meh.

So today I’m finishing up the packing, wrapping Sharon’s Mother’s Day present, feeding the bird and the plants, grabbing Ken from work and riding up to Whitehall.

Sorry for the late update. Thunderstorms last night knocked out the cable sometime in the middle of the night, and I’ve just gotten it back recently. Not a big loss for me though, since it gave me time to organize my baby-stuff-making for the next 4-5 months. I’ve got a lot to do, but hopefully I can get it all done in time. We’ll see. I’ve prioritized things, so if I have to not do some then *shrug* can’t help that.

Otherwise… ain’t nuthin’ goin’ on taday. It’s beautiful outside, so I’ll likely sit on the patio for a bit this afternoon and try to turn my remarkably stark white legs into something resembling human flesh tones.

We need to leave the windows open at night from now on, I think. The house radiates entirely too much heat. I was wide awake, though, at 6 wondering if I should pee then (and save it for the dr’s), try to wait, or go and see if I can’t squeeze out a few more drops later when it was time to get up. I tried waiting (ha!) and eventually gave up and decided to go ahead and save it. When they say “first sample of the morning” it makes it sound like I’m only going before sleep, then when I wake up. Yeah… right. I’m up 2-3 times a night. When my pregnancy books mentioned that I’d be doing that, I figured I’d manage to slip through that particular floorboard crack. They were right, though. I *can* make the trip without opening my eyes and hardly waking up.

We meet Dr. Ho today. 2:45PM. It’s the first of my “get to know the entire group of dr’s so that I’m not surprised by a new face between my knees when the baby’s born” appointments. I’m feeling pretty darned good. I figured out yesterday that the mild cramping/pressure I’ve been feeling is likely the tendons that hold my uterus in place stretching as it expands. Cool. I figured out this morning that it’s awefully nice to have my waistline back, in some semblance. Now that I’m sticking *out*, my waist goes *in* where it used to, instead of just down. Ken says because of that I definately look pregnant, as opposed to just fat. I’m tempted, though, if someone who doesn’t know I’m pregnant should ask me when I’m due, to tell them that it’s just a beer-belly.

At my appointment I’ll be curious to know what my blood pressure is (don’t want it getting too high), if I’ve gained any weight (I don’t think I have – or if so then it’s minimal), whether I can go back to normal activity (oh please oh please oh please!), what my chances are of another clot forming, what blood work they’re going to do (hopefully we can do it today – I’m a tad anxious about the triple screen results) and when we can schedule the “intensive ultrasound” (where they check the baby’s heart to see that it’s fully formed, they look for any obvious birth-defects, and we can hopefully find out the sex of the baby). We should be able to schedule the ultrasound anytime from May 24 to June 21 (our anniversary).

I finished the shawl yesterday. It looks really nice, and turned out better than I’d expected. I’m not going to put tassles on it (it’d make it look too frilly). I also don’t want to because in finishing it yesterday I seriously strained the ligaments on the back of my left hand. I couldn’t pick anything up (from the side) yesterday without serious pain (I had to lift things from underneth). It’s much better today, but there’s still some soreness when I move my fingers just so. The shawl is nice enough to look good as a shawl, and casual enough that I can wrap it around my waist (if I get tired of carrying it) and it still looks good. The only concern now is that my boobs don’t grow anymore this week. The dress gaps a little in that region as it is.

So now to figure out what to do with myself this morning. There’ll be the usual computer stuff, which should take another hour or two, then…?

I’ll likely update again after the appointment, though we’re going to plant the clematis today (Ken picked up a nice, wrought-iron trellis for it yesterday) and I need to swing by Wal-mart for a few things on the way home.

Blood pressure: normal
Weight: same but I shouldn’t worry as long as I’m eating well – the weight will come
Status of Being: Great. The baby’s heart sounded nice and strong. He said that since I’m not bleeding anymore (realistically) that I can go back to normal activity. He also said the first time we have sex we should take it easy and if I start to bleed or cramp we should stop. Hehe.
Blood work: A *Quad screening and HbA1C (average blood sugars); both done after the appointment.

*Quad Screening
The Quad Screen identifies women at elevated risk for giving birth to child with open neural tube defects, Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) or Trisomy 18 (severe and generally lethal mental and physical birth defects). This test does not diagnose these conditions but rather calculates risk factors. In addition to blood test results, a mother’s age and certain medical conditions are also considered when assessing birth defect risk. The Quad Screen is an advancement over the standard Triple Screen. Improvements have led to better detection rates and a reduction in the false-positive rate. Women who test positive may choose to have further testing. On average, the quad screen can identify about 85% of babies with open spina bifida, 70% of babies with trisomy 18, and 70% of babies with Down syndrome, with a 5% false positive rate.

Intensive (Level II) Ultrasound: Scheduled for May 24th at noon at our dr’s office. We don’t have to go to Allentown, w00t! Dr. Ho said that if there are any major open neural tube defects that they would be visible on the ultrasound. Any minor ones are ones that can be lived with. Challenging, yes, but lived with. We’ll also hopefully know the sex of the baby then. I’m glad of this because we’ll be going up to Canada the following weekend for Lea’s shower, so I can tell my family then whether to expect a little boy or little girl bundle of joy.

Overall my impression of Dr. Ho was good. He was very late (waiting room wait was almost half an hour, exam room wait was 15 mins) but he was also very nice. He made sure we understood anything we talked about, which was a refreshing change (instead of assuming we did or didn’t understand). I approve.

The office had a new little info packet available, that has basic info on each of the dr’s and a photo. I grabbed one on the way out to help me remember names with faces. I’ll post pictures of Dr. Miller (again) and Dr. Ho tomorrow. My next appointment is June 9th with Dr. Laurence (Lawrence?). Hopefully it goes as well as this one. Hopefully everything continues to go well.

All in all, I’m feeling pretty darned good about things right now. It’s and awefully nice feeling, I must say.

Last night was unbearably hot. I think it was also a problem that I didn’t drink enough water in the evening, because I felt rather like I was burning up from the inside out at times. I hardly slept. There was also a wicked storm that sprung up just after we lay down, and though I’m an adult and storms don’t scare me, they do startle me enough to keep me from going to sleep. I’m just not too keen on loud, unexpected noises. Yeah, I know… wait til the baby comes.

Talked with Pop last night. He’s good, though the speed demon that he is finally got caught. That’s pretty unusual, in itself. He really doesn’t speed that much, and not usually over the “acceptable speeding limit”. They clocked him at 130 in an 80 km zone. Doh! He’s going to court for it, but they should just knock a bunch of demerits and give him a hefty fine. I’ve asked Pop to pick up the patio set we want to get for Lea/Brian. I’d order it online, but the Canadian Tire online store was out of stock. As it was, the Stratford store has the table and umbrella, but no chairs. The St. Mary’s store has the chairs but nothing else. Meh. I gave Dad all the info, and which stores had which pieces. They’re both close enough that it shouldn’t be a problem.

I tried calling Karen but only have her Ontario cell number, and it’s been disconnected. I got hold of Aunt Marg though, and we chatted for a bit. She’s received her invite for Lea’s Wedding Shower as of more than a week ago. I’ll give it til next week, then I’m calling “management” and complaining.

It’s due to be hot the rest of the week, and thunderstorms intermittently. I don’t mind so much, because the moisture is awefully nice to have in the air after a dry winter. The evenings should be cool enough that we can sleep… hopefully. It’s due to cool down Sunday, when we return from VT. I’ve checked the Plattsburgh weather, and Saturday should be a high of 78 with a low of 52. Perfect shawl weather.

Speaking of which, I’d have finished that last night but I got lazy (and hot) and didn’t. It’ll be done today, certainly. I’m still deciding on the tassles though. The dress is blue with small white flowers, so I could do the shawl in white with blue tassles, but that might look funny. I’ll likely just do them in white, but it was an idea…

I say “hmmm’s” because for the past 6 years Mother’s Day has been a pretty sad time for me. It’s second-nature, now, to feel negative emotions in relation to it. This year, though, is different. It’s habit for me to be sad concerning the day, but I’ve got a few reasons to be happy. I’ve got three wonderful, Mother-figure women in my life now who love me very much and who I love and respect. I’ve also got the pending motherhood that will be put upon me. It’s going to be challenging, though hopefully not too much, to make this a happy holiday for me again.

Friday was a good day. Weather was beautiful, got a Mother’s Day card from Sharon (along with a cheque for maternity clothes), picked Ken up from work and we drove to Middletown to meet up with Jeff/Sarah (later). We wandered through a few stores… Things I learned were: this Old Navy doesn’t have maternity wear (some do, some don’t), Target had a sad “collection” of maternity wear (it wasn’t maternity as much as plus sized clothes – and not the cutest either), Motherhood Maternity had good prices (I’ll be going back there at some point), JC Penny had a surprisingly large and nice maternity section. …Ken’s watch had died, so we tried Radio Shack for a new battery. No dice (he ended up going to a kiosk). So we were almost late for our meet-up time at The Olive Garden with our friends. We got there in time and it was so nice out that we waited outside for them. They were a tad late, but the wait was nice so it was ok. I was pretty hungry (someone wouldn’t let me get a snack at the mall ) and couldn’t wait to eat. I had the Steak Gorgonzola Fettucini somethingorother. It was super yummy, though the spinach in it turned my nose a bit (I’m not keen on cooked spinach). I ended up bringing most of it home and having it for dinner Saturday (we had lots of leftovers). Sarah brought me a bunch of books (Your Pregnancy Week by Week, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, So that’s what they’re for! Breastfeeding Basics, and Home Cooking For A Healthy Baby & Toddler), a super cute bassinet and some adorable baby clothes. She also brought me yarn which I plan to make into some things for the upcoming baby brigade late this summer/fall. We talked about patterns and she picked out some she likes of mine and I picked out some of hers that we’ll be making for each other.

Saturday was a good day too. We had pancakes for breakfast with some yummy bacon our friends had brought. We saved enough grease from the bacon to last us at least a month of breakfasts (we use it to fry eggs), which was great. We packed ourselves up, then, and made our way back to the mall. Sarah and I shopped for maternity clothes, while Jeff and Ken got a new battery for Ken’s watch and some clothes for Jeff. I haven’t enjoyed shopping for clothes that much in who knows how long. For once I didn’t have to worry about things being too small or not looking right. I believe I’ve officially “popped”, which kinda makes me all giggly inside. I picked up a bra from VS (I do *not* understand how I fit into it!! It’s 2 cup sizes larger than my normal bra! It’s a bit big, granted, but I’ve no doubt I’m going to grow into it. It’s very comfortable, at least), and two pair of shorts and two (in soft yellow) tank-tops (in tan) from Penny’s. They’re all maternity clothes except one tank which is a plus-sized that should fit me through the pregnancy. The shorts are amazingly comfortable! They’re “under belly” style (the waist goes under the belly) so they should fit me throughout the pregnancy. They’ve got a super-wide, very stretchy elastic on them that keeps me from feeling the least bit restricted. I really like them. I don’t know if it’s the clothes or the newly popped belly (making me look more pregnant and less fat) but I’m feeling really good about myself right now. We also swung by Toys ‘R’ Us to look at lego’s but ended spending a lot of time in their Babies ‘R’ Us section fiddling with strollers and infant carriers. It was a great thing, too, because we found the one we like and are most comfortable with (both safety wise and personal comfort). It’s the EvenFlo Portabout 5 Travel system. Amazon has it (TRU/BRU goes through them) but they want to charge $75 for shipping! We’re going to swing by the TRU in Glens Falls next weekend when we’re up and see if they have the one we want at a good price (or if they can order it for pick-up for us). It amazes me how much these things can change in price based entirely on the fabric colour! I found out this weekend that I’m way out of shape from the last month of couch-rest, but hopefully Dr. Miller will let me start going for walks now. My face has been breaking out more than it did in HS, but I can accept that. In a way, I’m feeling so good right now that I’m not feeling so paranoid and scared about the pregnancy and the baby’s health. I’m not sure that’s a good thing though. I’m certainly not feeling confident, but I’m not sure I feel good about feeling so good about things. I don’t know if that makes any sense though. Ultimately we’ll have a better idea after my bloodwork comes back from this appointment. They’ll be testing for the baby’s chance of having a neural tube defect or spina bifida, among other things for me, so we’ll see how that goes.

Sunday was another beautiful morning. It wasn’t as warm, but still nice and refreshing outside. We had waffles and some breakfast sausage Jeff and Sarah brought. We hung around for a while, talking, before we started getting ready to go. We took them to Child’s Park for a brief show of where we were married, then went our separate ways. Ken and I went grocery shopping (and I’m certain the grocery has raised it’s prices), though we stopped along the way to wander along a trail by the roadside, and picked up some soil and the parking lot garden center. When we got home we finally planted the daffy’s all around the Rock’of’Ages, and I transplanted some radish plants into a window box on the patio to test if it’s warm enough outside for the rest to survive. We were going to plant the clematis as well (because it’s growing like crazy!) but we’ll need to pick up some trellis first (Ken’s errand for lunch today). All in all we had a pretty much perfect day. So much for the rain they’ve been predicting!

We’ve reached week 16 now, which is funny because I could have sworn this morning that today was the start of week 15. Good thing I wrote down the date each week starts in my book! They say I might start feel the baby moving around from anytime now. I’m not worried if it takes a while though. It’ll happen eventually (all things assumedly going well). Yesterday I wondered though, because as we were walking through the grocery parking lot I could feel a weird jiggly feeling in my uterus. Not crampy at all, but rather like jello, or when someone shakes a fatty part of your body. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s not happened since though, so who knows? Baby is now about 4.5″ from head to butt, though still all curled up in a ball so he/she seems smaller. My book had some interesting little tidbits of info in it for this week. Apparently I’m carrying around a quarter more blood than usual. I’m sure that’s where part of my weight gain is coming from, not that I’ve gained much. We’ll confirm it on wednesday, but our bathroom scale (which is off some, but we know how much) says I haven’t gained any weight in the past month. Still at pre-pregnancy +5lbs, but that’s normal.

So that’s my busy but fun weekend! Today is going to be dedicated to working on my shawl. I’d like to get it done by thursday, ideally. We’ll see how things go. I’ll have more time because we’ve dedicated this week as freezer-meal week, so I’ll not have to spend a few hours in the kitchen each afternoon. Here’s hoping I get it done!!