19 Week Update

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19 Weeks....Where to begin?

     For the most part I feel like a normal person again.  I will say that I have to pee ALL THE TIME! The smallest amount feels like a gallon is sitting there.  I'm assuming this is mainly because the baby is growing inside of me rather than towards the outside.  I'm hardly showing at all.  I posted a picture last week of what I considered a baby bump and my friend said it looked more as if I had missed a week's worth of crunches.  After looking again, I agreed. lol  Hopefully this baby actually pops soon and then maybe it will take some pressure off of my insides. 
     I have no cravings, which I'm assuming is a good thing.  My weight has pretty much stayed the same as I was pre-pregnancy.  This surprises me because my boobs have really gotten larger, my waist has expanded, I have a slight bump, and of course the baby is growing.  I had to break down this past weekend and order in new bras because I can no longer comfortably fit any of my sports bras or regular bras anymore.  And due to the growth and looming potential growth I've been really good at lotioning up really well every day.  

Sleeping.  That's a Joke!

     Sleeping has been hard.  I can't tell whether my insomnia is back or if it's truly the hormones that have caused the change in my sleeping pattern.  Either way I don't really sleep much day or night. I'm awake just about every hour on the hour and it's no fun.  Getting in a comfortable position is also harder now because my hips hurt when I lay on my side.  I have all kinds of pillows lined up on the bed in attempts at comfort.  There's practically no room left on the bed for my fiance.  The back pain that I was having from a larger chest has started to subside since I'm beginning to get used to the extra weight and am doing my best to practice proper posture as well. 

Toxoplasmosis?

     I've worked with animals just about my entire life including having worked in a shelter with lots of cats for about a year.  Once pregnant I made sure that I requested a test pulled to check my antibody level.  I also own a cat, but I've had him his whole life, he's indoor only, and does not catch gross creatures, and again never steps foot outside.  Even with me not being concerned about my cat my fiance has been on litter box duty since day one.  My doctor called yesterday morning and surprisingly my results were negative!  Negative? Yes, negative meaning I have ZERO exposure to it at all.  I was shocked.  I guess that just means I've been a very good girl in this field and am very vigilant about washing my hands and not putting things in my mouth.  This just means that I will continue to practice with the same precautions and not handle the cat litter at work if at all possible, and if unavoidable, continue doing it with gloves and washing my hands afterward.

Genetic Screening

     Typically genetic screening should be done on both mom and dad during the planning phases of pregnancy to screen for any potential unknowns that your child may be effected by.  My screening was done in 2 phases a month apart and another part of my doctor call yesterday was the good news that I'm clear of any genetic defects!  That makes us a happy camper when it comes to the baby.  He didn't really need to be tested.  Let's say he did have something we would have to carry the same gene in order for it to have the potential of effecting our child. 

What happens next?

    Next week I'm scheduled for an ultrasound to check the development of the baby.  Luckily I can look in on it because I have access to an ultrasound and work.  It's amazing how quickly the baby is growing, moving, and shaping in to looking like a person week by week.  At this point I can feel some motion.  I was really stressed a few days ago and could really feel the motion.  My stress placed a lot of stress on the baby and I have now learned my lesson.  I thought we knew what the sex of the baby was at our 12 week ultrasound, but after looking a few other times I could no longer say 100% whether it was a boy or a girl, so hopefully next week that debate will be put to rest by the doctor.

I'm almost at 16 weeks 4 months 5 to go

I have finally felt much more normal recently. It feels as though the fog has lifted and I'm seeing clearly again. For a while there I thought I was going to slip in to a depression.  It really took a toll on my mental stability and had me wondering if I was ever going to be normal again. And normal at this point is relative.  Mentally I'm back to normal but of course my body is ever changing. There are foods and other things that I still don't tolerate and I have on and off days of nausea and headaches.  I'm finally to the point where I'm ready to get back to working out! Baby steps.

Oh, still no baby bump! 

What's next? 
I have a baby shower in 3 months. I will actually have 2 of them. One up north and one down south. I'm guessing I have to put together a registry? ? I found a list of needs online and quickly closed the tab. It's a bit much to take in. I guess I should start at some point? Or maybe not? I'll wait another month for the ultrasound that should confirm the sex of the baby and go from there. I don't have a clue about nursery decor or color themes. Lord help me. We are moving in April so I guess I can put that part off until then.

So really not too much has changed other than I'm not horribly ill anymore. Oh, I did get round ligament pain and thought my uterus was trying to kill me. When that happens you can feel it move around. So super gross!