BumpDate: Henrik's Birth Story

Two weeks ago I had a blog post titled "BumpDate: 36 Weeks" all ready to post. I wrote it on Sunday, July 14th and planned on posting it over my lunch hour after my doctor's appointment at 10:30 am on the 15th. Well, little did I know that I'd be going from my appointment to Labor and Delivery and told we'd be having a baby THAT DAY - four weeks early. As I started to write this post, I went back and re-read the post that was never posted and found the opening paragraph pretty funny:

When I first got pregnant, I was praying I would be one of those women who went into labor at 37 weeks - now that date is a week away and I am totally fine if I'm not one of those women. In fact, I am banking on not being one of those women. A month ago, all I could say was I over being pregnant. While it is still not my favorite thing, the reality and enormity of this huge change is getting all too real.

Final belly picture, two days  before Henrik was born {36 weeks}

They say the best way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans, so he must have been rolling on July 15th.

The weekend preceding the 15th was Heritage Days in Mount Vernon. Bryan and I went up Friday evening and I just wasn't feeling well. I was even more tired than usual and was extremely irritable, but I didn't think much of it. That night when we got home, I felt some weird menstrual-type cramping on my lower abdomen, but again, didn't think much of it. Saturday evening, we stopped by my parents for dinner and then went back uptown. I had been feeling the menstrual-type cramping on and off all day and had self-diagnosed it as actual contractions. I didn't time them or anything and I knew women could have them for weeks before giving birth, so again, didn't think much of it. I was again not feeling well while we were up there and it wasn't long until I just wanted to go home.

Sunday (the 14th), Bryan and I spent the day cleaning. I wouldn't say I felt this insane urge to have my house clean, but it had been a few weeks since we cleaned it well and there was dog hair piling up in the corners. While we were at it, I washed all of our bedding and made some banana bread. Looking back at it, I was totally nesting.

As the day wore on, it became more and more painful for me to bend over and the contractions continued. When I say painful to bend over, I mean, every time I tried to bend down, I braced myself for a gush of water. Around 4, I decided I was going to sit down and do a kick-count with the baby. The goal was 10 kicks within two hours, a feat he usually accomplished within 20-30 minutes. An hour and a half later, he finally reached ten, after I got up multiple times to drink something sugary and ate some cereal. This had me concerned. I called Bryan who was helping some friends bale hay and told him to come home because I wasn't feeling good and I was concerned about the baby's movement. We talked about it once he got home and decided that since I had a doctor's appointment the next day and the baby technically reached his goal of kicks, I'd hold off on calling the doctor and bring up my concerns the next day.

That night, I told Bryan that since I was 36 weeks, we needed to get our hospital bag packed. I had almost everything I wanted for it, but had nothing assembled. He totally gave me the brush off, but I made a note to make sure to get that done during the upcoming week.

I tried to go to bed early that night, but sleep was hard to do that night. I woke up probably every hour and just plain didn't feel good. The next morning, I was getting ready and noticed the contractions were much more intense. I decided to time them and was shocked to find they were seven minutes apart. They were strong enough that every seven minutes, I'd have to stop what I was doing and concentrate on breathing for 30-45 seconds. I remember thinking "Oh God, if this is going to go on for four more weeks, I will lose my mind." I mentioned to Bryan what was going on, but told him this could go on for weeks and to not get worked up about it. I certainly did NOT think I could be close to delivering.

I got to work that morning and told my co-worker what was going on. At one point we were having a conversation about something and a contraction started (again, exactly seven minutes apart) and I looked at her and said "This really hurts." We had a meeting at 10 and my doctor's appointment was at 10:30. While waiting for our meeting to start, I was telling another lady about the contractions I was having and how they either needed to stop or something needs to be going on down there because I wasn't going to be able to tolerate these for four weeks. In my mind, I assumed they would stop.

Once I got to my doctor's appointment, I continued to time them to make sure I wasn't making a big deal about nothing. I also paid more attention to his movement. The contractions were now six-ish minutes apart and while he was moving, it wasn't as much as normal. My regular doctor was on vacation, so I saw another doctor in the practice, whom I really liked. He measured me and did the fetal heart beat check and everything checked out. I told him what was going on with the contractions and the baby's movement and after some discussion, he decided to send me up to Labor and Delivery for a non-stress test, just to make sure the baby wasn't in distress. I said to him while I was describing the contractions that I had a really low pain tolerance and this was probably nothing. We both agreed this was probably not labor.

My OB's office is attached to the hospital I work for and would be delivering at, so after I checked-out, I headed up to L&D. On my way up there, I called Bryan and told him what was going on. I told him this was just to make sure the baby was OK and he didn't need to come and I'd call him after it was over. At the time, I was more annoyed that I was losing two hours of precious work time than I was worried about the baby. After I talked to him, I called my mom and told her the same thing. She asked me if I was excited and I said no because I'd be back at work in a couple of hours.

Got up to L&D, got checked in and into a room. This was probably around 11:45. Around noon, a nurse came in, I went through what was going on and she told me to change and got me hooked up to the machines. Before she turned it on, she checked me. She said that the less dilated I was, the more it would hurt. It wasn't pleasant, so I looked at her and said "I'm not dilated at all, am I?" She looked at me and said, "Actually, you're four centimeters and your water sack is right there and bulging."

I can not even describe to you the complete shock I felt at that exact moment.

I asked her what that meant. She went on to explain that she was going to call my doctor and he'd come up and break my water to get things going. I stopped her at that moment and said "Wait a minute, you mean I'm having the baby TODAY?" She looked at the clock and said "Yep, he should be here tonight sometime."

At that moment, I think I string of profanities came out of my mouth. There are very few times that I have been in shock in my life and I was definitely in shock.

The nurse then went on to say "You probably have some phone calls to make" and handed me my cell phone.

I called Bryan first. I am not exactly sure how the conversation went, but I think I told him how far along I was and that he needed to get there NOW. I then called my mom and told her I was wrong before and that I was in labor. My mom works in the town we live in, so then I asked her if she could go to our house and at least get our camera. Since we hadn't packed the bag yet, I told her I'd go over what I needed her to grab from our house when she got to the hospital.

I then called my co-worker and told her to bring me my laptop and some files from my desk. Since I was still four weeks away from my due date, I had nothing wrapped up at work, so I told her we'd have to go over a few things while I was laboring. Yes - you read that correctly, I was working on work while I was in labor. More than a few people thought I was off my rocker, which I slightly was at that point.

Wrapping up work from my hospital bed. 

A few minutes later, the doctor came into the room, checked me himself and not only confirmed I was dilated, but informed me I was now five centimeters. He then went on to tell me that my pain tolerance is a lot higher than I thought because getting to four was the hardest part. He then broke my water (at 12:20 pm) and asked what I wanted to do for pain management. I said I definitely wanted the epidural, but didn't need it quite then.

Bryan got there shortly after that and my parents arrived about an hour later. Right before they got there, I asked for the first round of drugs. I am not sure what the drug was called, but it instantly made me feel drunk - it was amazing, but did little for the pain. The nurse then suggested we order the epidural to make sure we got it in time. I agreed. About 45 minutes later I was BEYOND ready for the epidural and the anesthesiologist arrived about 15 minutes after that.

I think the thing I was most petrified of the most prior to labor was the epidural. The thought of a needle in my back made me want to pass out. However, I write this for all of those who are as squeamish as me - I felt nothing. My doctor called it a "perfect" epidural, meaning it was fully effective equally on both sides.

Shortly after the epidural, around 3:45/4 pm, they checked me again and I was at 10. I think if they had checked me before the epidural, they may not have given it to me. The nurse said they were going to let me "labor down" for awhile and when I felt the intense need to push, to tell her. I asked her if I would know when that was and she said "Yep, you'll know!"

Sure enough, at 4:20, I knew what she was talking about. I pushed for a little over an hour and finally started to make some headway. The nurse kept saying "You're almost there!" After the fourth time she said that to me, I told her I didn't believe her anymore. Finally, she spoke the truth and at that time, they started calling in the troops. I am honestly not even sure how many nurses were in the room, but I think there were three, plus the doctor and Bryan by the time everyone arrived.

Here is another myth I wish to dispel for anyone who has not been through this. The epidural makes it so you can't feel contractions, it does not make it so you can't feel the pressure of the baby coming out. And that was not pleasant.

The rest of the delivery is a blur. I kept pushing when the doctor told me to push. I said "OW, OW, OW!" a lot and kept saying "It hurts!" I think I only swore once. (For those of you who know me, that in itself is amazing.)

Then I remember the nurses and my doctor telling me to open my eyes and look down. I looked down and saw his tiny little head, but all I could think was "He's not out yet!" because it still HURT! I think I said to "Get him out!" about that time and then, he was out. It was 5:46 pm, just over five hours since they broke my water.

Our first picture together.

I looked down again, it took him a second and then he started screaming. Hearing his cry... I can't even describe it. They put him on my chest, he cried for a minute and then was completely calm. It was amazing.

Dad and Henrik

They let me hold him for a long time before they asked me if we wanted to know how much he weighed, which I was dying to know. Bryan and I were both big babies, but since he was four weeks early, I thought we'd be lucky if he was over six pounds. Everyone's jaw hit the floor when the scaled read 8 pounds, 5 ounces. He later measured at 21" long - which is the 90th percentile for a full-term baby! (Both myself and daddy are tall, so that wasn't a huge shocker.)

After everything had settled, my mom said that his birth was exactly what I needed. It was fast and I wasn't able to anticipate and get worked up about things. More than one person told me I was incredibly calm during the whole thing, which is not a word often associated with my personality.

Meeting JD for the first time. 

Being born at 36 weeks and one day classified him at a premie. However, he was more than ready to come. His weight was one big indicator. Another is his complete lack of complications. No jaundice, no breathing issues, no blood sugar issues and no temperature control issues. Additionally, the nurse pointed out to me that his finger nails were really long, apparently another indication.

Before you ask if my doctors had the dates wrong, we had a miscarriage the month before he was conceived. With that miscarriage, they followed my hormone levels down to zero, so there is no way that I didn't actually miscarry. Additionally, we had several dating scans in the first trimester due to the fact that I spotted from weeks four to ten. Finally, due to our fertility issues, I was diligent about knowing my cycle to a T and I know the exact day he was conceived. He's just an early bloomer. :)

BumpDate: 35 Weeks

So... My last BumpDate was about six weeks ago... Whoops! I can't even believe how busy June was for Bryan and I. Luckily, after yesterday, I think it's slowing down - just in time for the home stretch of this pregnancy! Since it's been so long since my last update, I'll just cover the highlights:

• Since 29 weeks, I have blown past being in the double digits for weeks remaining and am now down to just FIVE! I feel like time is flying and crawling at the same time. As each week has passed, I am definitely feeling the baby's growth more and more. {In terms of the weight of my belly, the pressure on my pelvis, etc.}
• My two "complaints" {although, I'm not really complaining, just stating the symptoms} I am dealing with  are very mild carpel-tunnel syndrome in my hands due to some mild swelling in my fingers and insomnia. The carpel-tunnel isn't bad enough for braces, just annoying. My insomnia I have been combating with one-quarter tablets of Unisom {totally safe for pregnant women, thank God!}
• Baby Ripke had two baby showers thrown in his honor over the weekend of the 15th. They were both beyond perfect and our friends were incredibly generous with gifts for him. In fact, I am pretty sure we need to build a bigger house already. You can read more about my showers over on the Iowa City Mom's Blog. 

The theme of Baby R's friends & family shower.

• The Wednesday before our showers, we had some maternity pictures taken. I was on the fence about taking them, but they turned out great and I am super glad we got them taken. {I will see if I can get some up on the blog for your viewing pleasure.}
• The Sunday after my shower, my mom came over to help this overwhelmed mama organize all of our baby gear. On top of putting everything together and finding a home for everything, we also washed a TON of baby clothes... Let's just say garage sales have been good to me and this kid is never going to be able to wear everything in his closet/dresser. And - I think we are finally getting close to being done with the nursery - that's the goal for next weekend. 
• My bi-weekly doctor's appointments have been going great - my blood pressure remains on the low end of the spectrum, the protein is staying out of my urine, Baby R's heart rate continues to hover in the 140's and he is measuring right on schedule. {I am not sure HOW is measuring right on schedule because I feel like I am carrying a three month old around in my belly right now.} My next appointment will be on July 15th when I am 36 weeks and will make the start of weekly appointments from here on out!

Josie claimed all of Baby R's presents for herself following his showers...

Our Fourth of July weekend has been busy so far. On the Fourth, Bryan and I embarked on a "Baby Shopping Spree" to get the rest of the stuff we will need for Baby R. Things like an extra car seat base, baby wash and a video monitor were on the shopping list. It was a successful shopping trip topped off by a trip to Carlos O'Kelly's for a late lunch/early dinner. I have to say, this no alcohol thing has gotten A LOT tougher with summer being in full swing. Bryan's raspberry margarita looked AMAZING. Having a beer is definitely at the top of my "to-do" list as soon as we are home and settled from the hospital. 

After our shopping trip, we were both beat. I spent the evening on the couch and experienced my first {known of} round of braxton hicks contractions while Bryan spent the evening prepping out yard for sod the following day. 

On the fifth at approximately 8:45 am a large semi pulled up in front of our house and delivered 9000 square feet of sod. It was a sight that brought a tear to my eye. For those of you who don't know, we sold our old house {complete with a huge fenced-in yard} in May of 2012 and moved into a rental condo, without a fence, until March 2013. This spring has been so rainy and cool that is has been impossible for us to get our yard graded and ready for seed and then ready for a fence. With two dogs, this has been a nightmare. Especially as I have gotten larger and handling our 110lb dog has been come more challenging. Fast forward to the end of June when we received six inches of rain in a very short amount of time and we watched as our yard eroded into the street, we decided to bite the bullet and lay sod. 

Seven short hours after the sod arrived, it was all in place. {Huge thank you to our friends that helped us out!} Being as pregnant as I am, I wasn't able to do much to help, but I ran errands, made sure the coolers were always full of cold beverages, assembled lunch and held the hose as much as I could. T minus 16 days and our fence will be installed and our poor dogs will be able to run free for the first time in over a year! Let's just say July 22nd will be the third most exciting day of 2013 for me. {Third to finding out the baby's sex and of course, the day he comes into this world.}

Our new front yard!

The remainder of the weekend has "laying low" written all over it. An all-day shopping spree and helping with the sod yesterday was far more activity than I've had in months and I'm paying for it today. I think this evening we are going to run into town and grab a nice dinner and get groceries for the week. {This is what our date nights have come to already...}

Here's my 35 week belly picture... Bryan made a comment to me over the weekend that he felt like I wasn't growing as much as before. After he took this belly picture, I showed him a picture of me six weeks ago and he was able to see how much I have grown. :)

BumpDate: 29 Weeks

Yea for the last week in the 20's! It's almost like turning 30, except, this time I'm happy. As of this upcoming Sunday, we will be 3/4 of the way done and then the following week, we will be out of the double digits for weeks left! How is that even possible!?

Over the long weekend, Bryan and I made the rounds at area furniture stores to find a rocker/glider. I wanted one that looks like a traditional living room chair, but glides, but apparently those are not a popular style 'round these parts. After hitting up every major furniture store in our area, I resorted to ordering one from JC Penny's website. I am a little worried about ordering it without sitting on it, but it got really good reviews and was only $500 for the chair and ottoman. So fingers crossed that we like it and I don't have to pay a $48 restocking fee and start our search over.

Saturday we also made a trip to Babies R Us/Toys R Us to look at gliders. Proved to be a big mistake to take my husband/six-foot-tall-kid into a toy store. After perusing the action figure aisle for almost an hour, I finally convinced him that we should go. But not before I found a stuffed chocolate lab and stuffed beagle for Baby Ripke's room - how cute are they!?

Sunday, we finally tackled painting the baby's room. Here is a picture of the possible colors, but I am going to wait to reveal the final look until the nursery is finished.

While I re-taped the room and taped plastic to the new carpet, Bryan finished a few projects around the house for me before taking over the actual painting so I could take a nap. {He seriously is an awesome husband.} Following my nap {I am pretty sure he snuck one in}, we headed out to a friend's house for a rainy Memorial Day BBQ.

Monday I went shopping with my mom and finally broke down and bought some maternity shorts. Ug. I am not a huge fan of shorts on my non-pregnant legs - they're always too tight. I am even less of a fan of them on my pregnant legs. They were buy one get one half off though, so I bought a couple of versatile pairs and between those and skirts, refuse to buy any more maternity bottoms.

All in all, we ended the weekend tired, but pleased with our progress. I feel less panic about getting baby-related tasks completed now that the all the furniture is on order and the room is painted.

Physically, I am still feeling good but tired. Now that all my regular TV shows are in re-runs for the summer, my goal is to be in bed by 8:30 every night. Baby Ripke has been active as ever this past week, I am pretty sure he has his own dance party every night around 9 pm. This does not work well with my new bedtime, so we're going to have to talk about that. I got myself on my scale earlier this week and I am up about 24 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. (Gulp!) Most of my friends say it's all belly. Hopefully they're not just being really nice friends. I am not too terribly concerned, 25-35 pounds is normal and if I end up at 40 pounds, I have the rest of my life to lose it. Aside from that, still no swelling (all the swelling I had has gone away!) and no signs of any pregnancy concerns such as preeclampsia thus far {knock on wood}.

BumpDate: 28 Weeks & THE LAST TRIMESTER!

Sunday marked the first day of the THIRD and FINAL trimester! Super-excited/terrified/anxious/freaking-out/happy about summarizes how I'm feeling about it all. So excited to meet our little guy in approximately 12-ish weeks, terrified of what we're supposed to do with him once he's here, anxious about how he's suppose to actually get out of my body and just happy to be where we are. Freaking out? Well, I am freaking out that there are less than 12 weeks to my due date and we've done about, oh, nothing to get ready for his arrival.

Yeah, yeah, all the kid needs is a roof over his head. While I appreciate everyone trying to calm me a little, well all know, that's not good enough. We've got furniture on order, at the latest it should be here early July. We finally bought some paint for the nursery this weekend and Bryan started taping off the room, working on that this next weekend is definitely a priority. I bought some materials for some decorative DIY projects for his room and his bedding is in the works thanks to a very talented seamstress in my area. I suppose that is all something, but we still need to get a closet put together for him (the closet is currently empty as in, no rod, no shelves, etc.), actually paint (as mentioned above) and find a permanent home for the items we've collected so far. (I may have gone a tiny bit crazy with the great deals at garage sales...)

Last week was my glucose test, which I was very happy to learn I passed the next day. While my sugar levels were awesome, my iron levels are low (per usual for my body), so I have to start some iron supplements, no biggie. Other than that, Baby Ripke has been moving around like crazy; mama is usually spent by about 3 pm (I totally understand the appeal of early-bird specials these days); and my swelling, to my surprise, has gotten better - not worse - as I had expected with the warmer, muggier weather. 

I had a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment today, which marks the start of bi-weekly appointments until we hit the 36 week mark. I still can't believe we are at this point already. In some aspects, it seems like it has taken forever to get to this point and that August will never be here. On the other hand, I won't even let Bryan say how many weeks/days we have left anymore because I will have a mini-anxiety attack. 

The doctor's appointment went well - BP still super low (per usual for this girl), pee tested fine (still don't know what they're testing for at every appointment), baby's heart rate in the upper 140's. He's still in the breech position, which my doctor is saying is still fine at this point. However, little man has been in said position for the past six weeks, and I think he's pretty comfortable that way. I had to have the Rhogam shot (because I am Rh negative blood type) again today. I had to have this shot around six weeks due to spotting and I knew I would need it again at 28 weeks and will probably need it once baby gets here. 

Wow - today's post is pretty long and only one picture! I need to get better about taking pics for you guys. Here's this week's belly pic!

BumpDate: 26 Weeks

The past week has actually been pretty eventful for Little Man and myself. Shortly after my last BumpDate, I started noticing this weird pain near my ribs, right under my bra line on the right side. I wasn't really worried about it but it HURT! Nothing I did seemed to help, except for laying flat on my back, which all pregnant women know, you're not supposed to lay flat on your back. Sitting seemed to make it worse, which was awesome because I sit for a majority of my day. I turned to Dr. Google and found an article that described the exact pain I was having - it was like a burning mixed with a dull ache mixed with a stabbing pain. Turns out (according to Parent's magazine), that as my uterus pushes up, my lungs have less room and the expanding of the diaphragm irritates the cartilage on my ribs. Well, I was happy it wasn't serious and didn't warrant a call to my doctor, but the article also said I could be dealing with it until the baby drops - which is a ways a way! Ug.

Let's be clear, I am not complaining. I am SO beyond happy to be pregnant and to feel his every kick and movement. But man, that hurt.

Luckily, I think the baby switched positions a few days later, because the pain has subsided. Whew.

Which brings me to Saturday. Long story short, I was walking quickly for about 3.5 blocks to get out of the rain. Got into my car, drove 30 minutes home, got out of my car and could not believe how badly my back hurt. Well, me, being the smart one that I am, didn't take it easy on Sunday. Sunday night/Monday morning around 3 am I woke up and oh, man. I had a hard time even getting out of bed to go to the bathroom. I moved myself out to the couch so I could lay on my side and press ice up against it at the same time, but I had a hard time even standing to get the ice pack out.

Needless to say, I didn't make it to work Monday. Let's just say, I would be the world's worst bed-rest patient. I spent the whole day staring at my sewing machine thinking to myself "I could sit with ice on it and work on my sewing project..." Knowing full well that sitting is the worst thing for my injury. (I've been through this a time or two before.) Luckily by the end of the day, I could at least get up to move around. I made it back to work today, but my back is still pretty far from 100%.

Finally, our last event came to a head today. I'll try to avoid TMI here, but I do need to be little descriptive. The past couple of days I have noticed some clear, very watery discharge. Well, I Dr. Googled it again and every site said to call your provider if you have clear, watery discharge. So, called my doctor, got in for an appointment at 1:45 today. Turned out, everything was fine, but they did want to check me just to be sure I wasn't leaking amniotic fluid - especially because what I was experiencing had a sweet smell to it (apparently a sign) - or have an infection. Thankfully, it was no to all of the above, but not going to lie, the possibility of leaking amniotic fluid had both Bryan and I more than a little freaked out.

They say things come in threes, so hopefully the next week will be a little quieter. In other news, I am pretty sure Baby Ripke is going to be a Kung-Fu fighter based on how much he kicks anymore. He definitely is a strong little boy!

Another exciting milestone - I scheduled our maternity pictures today! I was on the fence about doing them, I have very strong opinions about poses I will NOT be doing, including no kissing of belly, no ribbons tied around belly, no bare belly and no hands forming hearts over my belly. (No offense to anyone who likes such poses, they're just not my cup of tea.) I found a reasonably priced photographer in Vinton we are going to use and her maternity pictures she has posted on her website are very tasteful and not too cliche. I figure I'll be glad I took them some day.

Finally, here is this week's belly picture!

BumpDate 25-ish Weeks

How has it been three weeks since my last update? As of today, I am 25 weeks, four days. I’m still feeling great, but still get tired pretty easily. For instance, on Sunday, I got up around 7:30, showered, ate a couple of doughnuts (don’t judge) and then laid down for a nap around 9:30. Slept until about 11 am, unpacked some boxes, made lunch and laid back down at 3 for another two hour nap. And I was still asleep by 10:30 that night. It was kind of a disappointment after I had an incredibly productive Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, I hit up my first garage sales of the season. The first few I went to were meh, OK. The last one – I hit the jackpot! I got a Baby Einstein bouncy thing (think excer-saucer minus the saucer), a motion detector/alarm for the crib and a TON of name brand baby boy sleepers and rompers. Pretty much cleaned them out of 0-3 month and most of their 6 month clothing.

After the garage sales, I was so pumped, I went and got groceries, came home and cleaned/unpacked and we made it into town for a movie. (We saw “42” the movie about Jackie Robinson. We went with my parents because my dad is a HUGE baseball fanatic. Great movie that isn’t really about baseball even though it is a central theme.) While that doesn’t sound like a ton, it must have been since I was so wiped on Sunday.

Aside from my busy weekend, I have noticed a few unwelcome pregnancy related things.

First – spider veins. I think I am prone to these as I had some pre-pregnancy, but I’ve noticed more of them on my ankles and calves. Not cool.

Second – that god-awful line down the middle of the belly. I refuse to post any bare belly shots on social media, so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it’s there and darkening by the day. (Admittedly, it’s still pretty light. But I know it’s there.)

Third – swollen fingers and ankles. Again, admittedly, it’s not that bad yet. I can still wear my wedding ring and most of my shoes, but with the warmer weather we’ve had recently, I think my days of both are limited. Thankfully, it’s almost sandal season so that will help with the ankle/feet swelling situation. I am also ordering a new fake ring for my ring finger as it will drive me bonkers to not have anything on that finger for three more months.

My swollen, spidery-veiny ankles

Oh jeeze – how could I forget my ultrasound last Friday?! We went in for a follow up ultrasound and long story short, Baby Ripke is doing great! He’s measuring a week early and is in the 79^th percentile for his weight. I Googled “baby birth weight 79^thpercentile” and from what I found, that would put him at around 9-ish pounds if he’s full term. Bryan was around 9 and I was 8 lbs, 14 oz, so I figured he’d be about that size. I am mentally prepared for anything in the 9’s, anything above that I may reconsider things. (Like I have a choice at this point).

Man, I really shouldn’t wait three weeks to update this. There is more to tell – we had our Birthplace Tour, bought some baby furniture and put paint samples on the wall. I am sure there is more than that, but that will be another post.

I hope you are all tolerating this change in weather (at least in the midwest) better than I am, because I am really upset by it. 

BumpDate: 23 Weeks

This week has been a good week for Little Man and myself. I am still pretty tired in the evenings after work, but I've started allowing myself more caffeine than I had previously been consuming around 2:30 every afternoon, and it seems to be helping. (Don't worry, it's still far, far below the recommended daily amount.) Other than that, Little Man has been very, very active, letting me know he is growing healthy and strong.

Starting about a week and a half ago, I started having some weird pains on (in?) my cervix. It wasn't the normal round-ligament pain that I am very familiar with, it was more of a throbbing, aching type pain. I made the mistake of Googling it Tuesday night and started to get scared that perhaps my cervix was shortening or maybe I was even experiencing pre-term labor. (I know, I know, Google is the devil when it comes to medical problems!) So I called my OB Wednesday morning. The on-call doctor thought it was probably normal cervical growing pains, but had me come in for an ultrasound just to be sure. Sure enough, the ultrasound revealed no problems - everything looked perfect! On the plus side, we got a few more 4D pictures of Little Man and you can already tell he's going to be a heartbreaker! ;)

My belly is definitely growing at a rapid pace. I reached a new milestone this week: balancing food on it. Very exciting to have a portable table for the next four months.

My belly and some delicious peanut butter pretzels from Trader Joe's.

Another milestone this week was hot flashes. When I was on Clomid, I was very familiar with hot flashes, I thought maybe I got lucky and wouldn't experience them during pregnancy. Not so much. I'll take them though as my pregnancy has been pretty easy since the first trimester concluded. 

This week I also registered! Registering for baby was so much different than registering for our wedding two years ago. With the wedding, it took hours and I analyzed every item I put on the registry. This time, I took my experienced-mama friend Cassidy with me and scanned every item she pointed at. I think we were done with Target and Babies R Us within an hour and a half this morning. I will of course probably tweak it in the weeks leading up to my shower and due date, but I definitely got a good start. 

Here's your 23 week belly picture! Still on the crappy cell-phone pictures as I haven't located my nice camera yet. (I suppose it would help if I looked for it?)

BumpDate: 22 Weeks

Holy cow - it's been four weeks since I last updated the blog! It's been a crazy-busy four weeks as well - two weeks ago in particular was quite possibly the busiest and best week of my life. Not only did I reach the half way mark, but we found out the gender of Baby Ripke AND moved into our new house - within two days of each other. This mama was exhausted by the end of it all, but man, what awesome milestones.

First, an updated belly picture for you. I didn't do my fancy photoshopping to this picture like I had been doing - I had to take it on my cellphone as my nice dSLR is MIA since the move. (I also absolutely hate the look of my face in this picture, but by the third take, Bryan was tired of taking my picture.)

I took this picture on Saturday (and today is Monday) and I swear to God, my belly is bigger already - is that even possible?? The last four weeks have been good - Baby Ripke is moving around a ton and I love every minute of it. I still get tired pretty easily, but I can at least get through the work day now without feeling like I am going to pass out. 

On to the news you've been waiting for (if you don't follow me on Facebook) - our gender reveal! We found out the gender of Baby Ripke four days before Easter, so I went to Target and found a couple of cheap Easter baskets and filled them with that fake grass and plastic eggs. In each egg, I put a mini-snickers and after the ultrasound, I put one ultrasound picture in each egg - including the one that revealed the gender. 

We went over to each set of our parents house and told them they would have to open the eggs to figure out the gender. I was counting on two things:

1. I carefully thought out which color of egg to put it in and chose orange. I am fairly stereotypical when it comes to genders and both sets of our parents immediately went for the pink thinking if it was a girl, I'd put it in the pink. When that didn't work, they went straight for the blue. For both sets of parents, orange was one of the last eggs, drawing out the game. 
2. Even when they came across the gender picture, neither sets are experienced with genders and would not even know what they were looking at or for (even though the tech labeled the gender on the picture.) When this happened, our plan was to make them go back through the pictures until they figured it out. 

My plan worked on Bryan's parents, but Bryan blew the surprise on my parents. Well...

That's right - Baby Ripke is a HE! We are both so excited (as we would have been with a girl as well). I already have his nursery all planned out - all I need to do now is shop! 

Well, for nursery stuff anyway, I found some pretty cute hats at Von Maur this weekend I couldn't pass up...

Bryan loves super-heros, Star Wars and video games. He is so excited to pass these interests onto our son, so I got a jump-start for him with these - which is LOVES by the way. 

Hopefully now that I have located my computer cord, I can get back to posting regular updates for you all. Hope your week is off to a great start!

BumpDate: 18 Weeks

Well, here we are - week 18! Two more weeks and we're half way through. You may have noticed I skipped week 17, and I have good reasons. Week 17 was (hopefully) the worst week of my pregnancy as I came down with the stomach flu. I have not been sick with the flu since I was in grade school and it was HORRID! So horrible in fact, I ended up in the Emergency Room Wednesday night due to severe dehydration and needed an IV and some drugs to make it so I could eat again. Bleh.

As you can probably guess, taking a picture was probably the last thing to do on my list. Along with showering or getting off the couch.

Luckily, by Saturday I was feeling better! I was so hungry by that point that all I wanted to do was down a giant plate of spaghetti. So B and I made the trek into Cedar Rapids to a place called Zepplins where I gorged myself with parmesan french fries and a big plate of spaghetti. Later that night, I had my first experience with heartburn. At first I chalked it up to the fact that I hadn't really eaten anything aside from rice and toast since Tuesday and my stomach was just not used to actual food.

Then Sunday I had a sandwich from Subway and it was back with a vengeance. Dinner that night was pancakes and the heartburn was even worse. I am hoping the wives tale that says if you have a lot of heartburn, it means your child has a lot of hair is true. (I am not holding my breath though as my mom had a lot of heartburn and I was bald until I was 2).

Luckily today was a regularly scheduled appointment with my OB. After he heard that pancakes were causing my esophagus to burn, he told me to go get some Prevacid. Hoping this takes the edge off as I am not sure how I will be able to tolerate this for five more months.

Other than that, things are going great! Baby is squirming around in there and I know I can definitely feel it now. As you can see from the picture below, it's also growing at a respectable rate as well!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

BumpDate: 16 weeks

We're a couple of days into week 16 now and baby is definitely making his or her presence know. I broke out the maternity pants for the first time this week - definitely need to thank my friend C for talking me into buying them when I was just seven weeks. It was nice to have them there when I was ready to take the plunge.

I am also pretty sure I am feeling the baby move. I wish someone else could feel it and tell me for sure. But it happens so often and it's the exact same thing/feeling each time that I think it has to be. If it is, the baby is most active in the evenings and when I start eating. (He or she must love food like it's mommy.)

Other than those two tidbits, it's been a pretty quiet week. Our house is progressing faster now - which is good because I am noticing that I am wanting to clean and organize more, which I think means I am starting to "nest". It's pretty annoying to be a mama bird with no nest.

Here's your week 16 picture:

BumpDate: 15 Weeks

I know you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting for the latest BumpDate. If you can't tell, I skipped week 14. Why you ask? Because I woke up the day I turned 14 weeks and I swear my bump had disappeared! I was so bummed. I chalked it up to losing all my bloat and thought I probably wouldn't show for a few more weeks.

Turns out, it was the calm before the storm. It's like my uterus inhaled really deep Monday and by Friday, had completely pushed out. (Well, actually I think up. I know where the baby is and it's not where my bump is. It's just pushing my stomach and intestines out of it's way.)

Monday I could button my pants, by Friday, not so much. I think I am officially in leggings and other forms of spandex until I fit into my maternity pants. I am hoping it's relatively soon. In true Katie fashion, I have already built up a nice supply of maternity clothes, but am rather limited on what I can wear with leggings. I'll probably be wearing the same five outfits to work for the next 2-3 weeks.

Updates from this week - we had another doctor's appointment during week 14. They're so short and sweet now. Doctor just checked Baby R's heart beat, answered some irrational questions I had and told me when to come back! (March 11th is our next regular appointment.) He also had me schedule my anatomy scan!!! Not revealing the date, but it's soon and I can't wait to stop calling the baby "it".

Other notes from the week, I think I MIGHT have felt the baby moving or shifting around. I am 90% sure that I did, but it's still so early, it's pretty sporadic in between episodes. I can't wait until I feel it moving around 24/7. (Watch me eat my words shortly after that happens...) We also made the pregnancy "Facebook Official" this week - that was a lot of fun. Finally, I think I am starting to FINALLY get some energy back. The nausea seems to be 98% gone (still don't feel awesome if I don't eat) and I have not been dragging by 2 pm every day.

Without further delay, here is this week's bump picture:

BumpDate: 13 Weeks

Heeeellllooooo Second Trimester!!!

That's right, we (the baby and I) made it through the first 12 weeks. And - seeing how it's Wednesday already - almost half of the 13th week. 

Making it to the second trimester is such a huge relief. Don't get me wrong, I know something can go wrong at any second, but knowing that my risk is so miniscule now, is a huge weight off my shoulders. I have found myself obsessing less over every twinge and pain and I haven't been poking my boobs as much. (Probably should provide some context there - every time I get nervous that something is going wrong, I poke one of my boobs to remind myself that they're still extremely tender and thus, I'm still pregnant.)

I went in earlier this week for a fetal heart check and the baby's ticker is still strong as ever - in the upper 160's! We have another appointment next week on the 13th. Then we'll have one four weeks later and two weeks after that we find out the gender!!

Any guesses?

The second trimester has also proven to bring some much needed relief from morning sickness. Last week, I was still battling it from time to time, but this week is much better. Other than some round ligament twinges and the fact that I haven't recovered all of my energy yet, I'd barely know I was pregnant!

Here's an updated picture. I was kind of sad that my bump didn't look bigger, but then I compared it to my 11 week picture and you can definitely tell a difference. Can't wait to take another one next week!

BumpDate: 12 weeks

I mentioned on Monday that I am officially into my 12th week. Being how it is now Tuesday night, we'll say I officially have five days left in the first trimester. I think a lot of people are excited to be 12 weeks because that is when a lot of people go public. Since I have a big mouth and since we've been going through treatments for so long, it was never really a secret. I am excited to be out of the first trimester just because it's a milestone. 1/3 of the day done, 2/3 to go. Last week I was excited because on the app I have on my phone, it showed that I have less than 200 days to go - that was a milestone to me, to be out of the 200's. Only 95 more days until we are out of the 100's.

This week, mama is feeling less sick, sickness is pretty much confined to evenings after dinner, which is much more manageable, but still makes it difficult getting chores around the house done. In the daytime, the nausea has given way to wanting to eat Everything. In. Sight. I'm talking full meals every two to three hours. While this sounds fantastic to some people, it's kind of a pain to need to think of that much food each day. I'm still eating out a lot as a result. This is something I want to change soon - maybe I'll actually plan some meals and grocery shop this weekend?

Oh wait, no, I have to paint our new house. Maybe for my birthday.

Here's the latest belly picture. Now, keep in mind I take these at night, when the bloat is at it's worst. However, as I said last week, the bloat would not be there without the baby, so it counts! But it's definitely bigger than last week, right? (Pay not attention to the black bra under the white shirt and the greasy "I've worked al day, stopped to order paint, taken care of the dogs and managed to make a frozen pizza for dinner" look.) It's been a long week.

Wait - it's only Tuesday.

BumpDate: 11 Weeks

I promise this won't turn into a strictly pregnancy blog, but it is a blog about our life and right now, our life revolves around two things: the house and the baby, so I will probably be posting regular updates on the baby and baby-related things.

Last Friday (January 18th), we had another doctor appointment. I promised my mom after this appointment, if everything looked good, she could start telling people. The appointment went great, I have been having some issues with spotting, but that seems to have cleared up and my doctor is 95% sure it was coming from a skin-tag on the bottom of my cervix. He moved my due date up a couple of days to August 11th, which made me 11 week on the 21st! Whoo hoo! So excited to be almost out of the first trimester.

It took some work, but my doctor found the heart beat with the doppler. Quick side story, this is why I LOVE my doctor. He tried to find it with the doppler and after a couple of minutes couldn't find it and told me NOT to worry. Then he looked at me and saw that I in fact was definitely going to worry and said, "You know what, I'm waiting on twins to make their arrival and have no place to be. Do you want me to try again?" At 5 pm on a Friday evening, he tried again until he found it. It only took a couple more minutes, but I was so happy he took the extra time for me.

The other great thing 11 weeks has brought me is some relief from morning sickness and slightly more energy! Don't get me wrong, I am still exhausted just walking up a flight of stairs, but I have a little pep back and my nausea is ever so slight at certain times of the day. Nothing like what I was dealing with a few weeks ago. This is very welcomed as life in general was becoming a chore.

Here's a belly pic for you - most people say I am insane and that I am not showing at all yet - however, that slight bulge is not normally there. And while it most definitely is bloat, it would not be there if not for the baby, so I'm calling it a very small bump. :)