Team D&G: The Bulge I

When school started again in January I got hit with the ever common cold. And I just.couldn't. kick.it. After a few days of having a sore sore throat and having it swell to the point that I felt like I was gagging, I knew I needed to go to the doc and get an antibiotic prescription. You know what's really annoying? Knowing what's wrong and the prescription you need, but you still have to pay for the doctor visit AND the prescription. Plus my student health insurance hadn't been set up yet, so paying all out of pocket makes it really really annoying. Anyway, I got my antibiotic prescription, picked it up, and headed home. All while feeling extremely nauseous and tired and just not good. I started taking the prescription. My cold symptoms started to clear up, but I was still nauseous and feverish all the time time. ugggh.

Then things got really fun. One day in class I noticed I was super itchy from head to toe. I did my best to ignore it and got through class and work for the day. When I got home that evening and finally took a good look at myself I saw small red bumps coming through my skin. Ughhhh. I've never taken the antibiotic amoxicillin before. Turns out I'm allergic to it and I broke out in a rash that covered my scalp, cheeks, neck, chest,....my whole body. So for the next fourish days I sludged through classes and work trying not to go crazy from being itchy on top of the constant nausea. It was easier to get up and moving and out of the house instead of staying home being focused on how miserable I was. When I got home David would hand me some benedryl and then rub me down with coconut oil and lavender essential oil to calm the itching. uggggh. So that's how January went down. Awesome!

February came and after my cycle being two weeks late I started getting suspicious. I'm typically pretty regular, but since our miscarriage in September things haven't been as predictable. I know I haven't written about that before. A surprise pregnancy, found out in July, followed by a miscarriage- happened just a few days before fall semester started- just isn't something you want to announce to the world, you know? But I'll put some details up about that so that I don't forget. When we went in for our first appointment in beg/mid-August we were told that for whatever reason the baby stopped developing around 6 weeks, the once forming placenta was collapsing in instead of filling out, and that my body would abort everything in the coming weeks. So the rest of August and September I lugged through working on the house still feeling nauseous and tired and hungry all the time while waiting for my body to miscarry. I don't know what's worse- knowing that something is wrong and having to wait for it to happen, or not knowing and not being prepared for when it suddenly does. I didn't want to take any drugs to induce myself and I didn't want a procedure in the doctor's office, so I waited and waited at home- thankful to have a place to call home. And then one morning I woke up feeling like I do when my cycle is getting underway- clammy, hot, light-headed, and not knowing if I need to kneel at or sit on the toilet. I got out of bed and started making breakfast for David and my Dad (who was up working on the house- we were finishing everything in the basement at this time). I didn't quite finish making breakfast before I got too light-headed and the cramps too intense to stand on my feet any longer and had to have David finish so I could go lay down. And what I experienced the next few hours is what I imagine some stage of labor will feel like. I started having contractions, I guess, that would rise in intensity and then slide back long enough for me to get a quick rest before they came back. I just laid on the couch and tried to relax through them, but I must have sounded like I was in pain because Dad and David frequently checked in on me to see if I was okay. Every hour or so I would haul myself over to the bathroom and gush out more blood than I have ever seen in my life. Around noon the contraction sessions slowed down and I was able to be up and moving around helping clean up construction messes in between frequent trips to the bathroom to clean up the latest gush of blood. That got a little t.m.i. Oh well. If nothing else I'm grateful that I got a mini taste of what labor is like from this experience.

Back to February. Two weeks in I decided to go to the dollar store and get a pregnancy test. (By the way, the dollar store tests have never been wrong, and I've used quite a few the last 4 years. No need to pay $20 for a stick to pee on) For the second time in my life I was beyond shocked to see those two pink lines. Again, not trying to get pregnant (we've always just had the attitude that when it's suppose to happen it will). A few days later while walking home from school with David I just blurted out to him that I was pregnant. He was shocked but happy. I think he ran/skidded on the icy road the rest of the way home. We set up an appointment in March. In the meantime I was preparing myself for the same news we got in the doctor's office last time. Not the most pleasant state of mind to be in. Regardless, David made me strip down after the gym one night to take pictures.

Normal:

Pushing it out:

And just for my own records/motivation post October- what I looked like in December before break. I was doing the LiveFit program on bodybuilding.com :

I don't know if I should leave this up or not? A little too much skin for the www. But at the same time I want to see these and be like- hot dang, let's do some work! Humunuh. Delete or stay...?

March we had our first appointment and I was surprised/relieved to find that everything was ok and that baby was developing right on schedule.

Waiting for appointment to start:

A week after our first appointment I woke up with blood in my unders. I was freaking out thinking that another miscarriage was underway and crying as I called the doctor and set up a time to come in that morning and have things checked out. I was relieved again to be told that everything appeared to be fine and that it's possible that a blood vessel just got nicked as the placenta was forming.

The rest of March I continued to feel nauseous, hungry, and tired. I never did have to throw up, but I felt like I could have all day long. I also could eat all day- I never could get enough food. And I felt like I hadn't slept a day in my life- hibernation sounded perfect. My favorite part of the day was coming home from classes and work and crawling in bed. David was a rock star and would make breakfast when he got home from work (this started in January when I wasn't feeling well) and would wake me up with food. He would also pack my lunch and snacks for the day. It was fabulous! However, I still had doubts in the back of my mind that something was wrong and every appointment I would go in anticipating bad news. Having had the miscarriage in September, the unexpected bleeding scare, and what with me being a worry-wort, we didn't tell family (just parents, siblings, and grandparents) until Easter, when I was wellinto the second trimester. (Although we did tell my mom- I needed her to pick up some baby gear that I got sweet deals on in Henderson and have her load it in Dad's truck when he came up in March- Dad didn't know. haha. He thought he was hauling baby stuff for "a friend of mine" up here. We also told my internship employers, the Bradys, as mentioned previously.) And then we didn't do the big facebook announcement until I was about 20 weeks and we knew it was a boy.

April I started my internship, and in the back of my mind I always worried that I was working too hard or doing too much and that something would go wrong. And every appointment when we heard that heartbeat I was reassured that everything was ok. It hasn't been until the last month or so that those thoughts have stopped as I can feel baby moving all the time.

I used to think that I would be that pregnant mama that took weekly pictures, etc. Turns out I'm not. At all. David practically has to force me in front of the camera when he wants to take a pic. I did, however, take pics for him when I was gone during the week for my internship. So those really are the only bump growth pics we have plus whatever pics taken during any of our adventures this summer. Sorry baby, your womb life has not been documented very well.

Without further ado- whatever bump pics we happened to take, mostly with my phone:
April 27

(notice my lack of clothing variety. I packed light. Work clothes- 2 sets. Running clothes- 1 set. Pajamas- 1 set. "Normal" clothes to occasionally go into town- 1 set. And since these are what I would send to David and maybe a few other family members and friends, I wasn't shy about lifting the shirt and showing some belly skin!)

May 1- first starting to show after a run

May 14

May 16- David came to visit and thought the difference between my tan arms and white belly to be hysterical)

May 22- starting to become more noticeable

Put something other than work clothes or pajamas on to go out with Klain and Elaine and was shocked to find that my clothes were more than just a little tight!

May 24