Snuggling & Snoogling

This is the kickoff to my last three months of pregnancy! I figure now is the time to really get to blogging so all my fam and friends know what's going on. Up until now, I've been keeping a personal journal, but I'm ready to go worldwide with it!




Right now, I'm 23 weeks pregnant!

SNOOGLING:

Back pain, hip pain, legs that fall asleep and overall discomfort when I'm asleep--and the remnants when I'm awake! All this pain went away when I purchased the SNOOGLE pillow this week!

I've always been one of those DIY people! I figure there's always a better way than buying some new-fangled product--and a pillow? I have plenty of pillows! So for the past 2 months I've been using about six pillows under various parts of my body to ease the pain: one between my legs, one wedged in front of my stomach, another directly under me at the waist and a couple behind my back. Not to forget the one I used to put my head on! Well I'm sure you can imagine that though in theory this works, it led to some ridiculously uncomfortable nights! Aside from the fact that my husband had only one pillow if any (he finally just gracefully decided to sleep on the couch--but who wants that for two more months?) What about when I had to take the inevitable trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night? Yeah--complete mayhem. It's hard enough trying to lift myself out of my dreams and out of bed, but being tangled up in all those pillows, that then get tangled in the blankets? Talk about annoying. Time is of the essence here! I must use the bathroom. By the time I unwrangle, swing my legs over the side of our very tall bed and stagger to the bathroom, I am beyond irritated. Especially at the the thought that somehow i will have to rearrange all those pillows again and try to fall asleep (without disturbing said husband.)

To make matters worse--it didn't even help my back pain! One night I decided I'd be the one to sleep on the couch--more controlled pillow action right? Wrong. It was horrendous and i finally moved back into the bedroom around 5 am.

So finally I decided to try a body pillow. I mean you have no idea! It's so soothing, you can twist it into different positions as needed through the night and--no more hip and back pain!!! Yippeee!!!!




SNUGGLING:

Yesterday I went to genetic counseling and got my second ultrasound. Ok--so my appointment was at 2 pm and no one saw me until 3:30--not cool. So around 3:30--just at the time when I decided to leave the room, stretch, get fresh air and go the bathroom, I was finally called in. First for Genetic Counseling. This is when a medical counselor basically assesses your family and medical history and advises you on various tests you can or should take to determine if your baby may have certain ailments such as Down's Syndrome, Cystic Fibrosis or any of the anemias. Prior to this I had taken an AFP blood test which screened for some of these possibilities. The results all came back negative at the lowest possible probability! what a relief! So I was advised that if I wanted, I could get the amniocenticis test. This is the one where they stick a needle in your belly near the baby but into the placenta to get a 100% result from the baby's chromosomes as to whether it has those diseases. Umm, not me!

First of all, there is a great danger to hurting or losing the baby when you get this test. Second, since none of my tests indicated any red flags, I didn't feel the need to take the risk. Third, I'm 5 1/2 months--whatever the baby has (which will be nothing, cuz baby will be healthy!) there is nothing I can do about it. Why stress myself for 3 months?

Still, the counseling was very informative. Specifically for me (and other Af-Am couples) is the risk of sickle cell. I know for a fact that I carry the sickle cell trait. But thankfully Bensford doesn't--so we should be fine. But in general the lesson that I've learned and keep learning as I get older, is how important it is to know not only your medical history, but your family's (on both your mother and father's side.) Normally you would have the genetic counseling before or in early stages of pregnancy and then you will have more options.

So after this it was time for my ultrasound! This is the one where they normally tell you the sex of the baby. But Bensford and I have decided to be surprised. My only fear was that the doctors would slip up and tell me--so i made sure to let them know several times--we don't wanna know the sex!!

There were two women doctors and they were very nice! I had a few concerns because I'd been having severe cramping and pain on my right side about a month ago. At my last ultrasound, a different doctor told me I had a fibroid in my uterus (which I've never known or had any problems with!) One night I had to go to the hospital cuz I was cramping so bad--it turned out--they GUESSED, to be the fibroid. So at this ultrasound i asked them to take a look at it, tell me if it was the same size and where it was exactly located on my body. Well, it's there, it's the same size and located in the lower right of my abdomen--exactly where I'd been experiencing the pain. Funny thing was--I hadn't had any for quite sometime. But on this particular day, I was feeling a slight bit of pain there. Curious--but the mystery would soon be solved.

So finally they started showing me the baby. All kinds of angles and 3D shots. To be honest, I had no idea what i was looking at--even though they were raving about this and that. I DID see the umbilical cord connect into the baby. And I saw the baby's spine. I was concerned I would accidentally see a PEA-NUS and spoil the surprise--but like i said--i had no idea what was going on.

Finally it was time to check out the baby's face! They kept trying to take pictures of it for me--and I finally got one. Guess what the problem was--little baby was SNUGGLED up against my fibroid all comfortable, so they couldn't get his/her ** full face! I'm sure this is why I was feeling that vague pain!

I'm gonna try to upload the picture! **By the way, during the damn ultrasound, the doctor kept referring to the baby as "He". She later apologized saying she just didn't like to call a baby "it". My eyebrow is up. couldn't she just say "the baby" ?? Was she telling the truth or just trying to cover her slip up? We shall see. I keep accidentally referring to the baby as He myself. I've been doing that the whole time. Is that a sign?

Well, my friends here in LA call the baby "Bean." As in, "How's Bean doing?". This nickname is courtesy of Monique. When I was in the first trimester and dealing with all of that first trimester crap at work (fatigue, nausea, stress, and fatigue) that was her codename for the baby and me so no one would know that I was pregnant. Well it stuck, and now even my mom asks, "How's Bean today?" !!!

That's all for today!