Halfway There & Unexpected Bed Rest

I am halfway through my pregnancy (20 weeks!!!) - wow, it's going quickly!  So excited to be counting down now instead of up!

Today was crazy.  For the past two nights, my legs have been really swollen, to the point of pain.  It had me panicked when it woke me up at 1:00 last night/this morning.  Plus, I had put on 3-4 pounds in one week which seemed excessive.  I decided to call my OB as soon as they opened.  But, first I went to the health center at work to have my blood pressure checked - 132/80.  Not too bad, but a little high.

When I called the OB, they wanted me to come in this afternoon.  My baseline BP there was 122/70 so they didn't like the increase.

My BP this afternoon was 138/80.  Thankfully, no protein in my urine, so don't have toxemia at this point, although it would be a little early for that.  I saw a new doctor today and really liked her.  The doctors seem to be wonderful, just not the nurse practitioner.  After laying down for about 10 minutes, my BP dropped to 118/70.  So, I'm on a very low sodium diet and bed rest for a week and then I'll go in again for a re-evaluation.  Bed rest for me is reclining with my feet elevated, not lying down completely.  So, I'll be working from home for the next week.  From there she'll decide if I should work my way back into going to the office, stay on bed rest, or a last resort of blood pressure medication.

Sigh, I guess I'm just not meant to have an "easy" pregnancy.

Good thing we already bought our glider and Dennis put it together on Tuesday.  My "home office:"

I also went for a pedicure this past weekend when we were up at Seven Springs while everyone else was skiing.  At least my elevated feet look cute!  The color is Wine and Roses - the only wine I can have at this point.

4 months pregnant!

It's crazy to me that my pregnancy is going to be halfway over in just a few weeks!!!  I felt Little Man move this week.  It's not every day, but a few times this week, mostly in the afternoon.  I can't wait to hear him more often.

We registered now that we know the gender, and that made it all seem so real.  Now that I know what we've chosen, I can start to picture the nursery coming together.  I just need to find the energy to clean out the room so we can get started on it!

3 and 4 months for comparison:

3 months

4 months

Marginal Placenta Previa

My first bit of bad news about the pregnancy...   I have marginal placenta previa.  The placenta's really close to the cervix right now which could cause complications during labor and delivery if it stays this way.  Luckily, they think it will correct itself.  My Dr. Google research says that 90% of the time it corrects itself.

The way they described it correcting itself is to picture a balloon that's only partially blown up.  Draw a circle at the bottom near the opening.  Now, blow it up the rest of the way.  While the circle doesn't really move from it's location, since the balloon is expanding, it moves further from the opening as everything stretches.  Same thing as my uterus starts stretching more.

I have another ultrasound at 20 weeks, but they doubt it will correct itself that quickly, so I'll probably have another one at 28 weeks.  I guess it will be nice to see the Little Man again, even if I don't like the reason.  Until then, I'm on "pelvic rest."  No jumping, running, sex, vigorous exercise, or lifting over 20 pounds.  I feel like a lump!

All I can do is wait and see, but I'll be honest, I had a hard time sleeping over the weekend since Thursday when we got the news.  I spoke to my acupuncturist about it all on Monday and she focused on some points for relaxation and sleeping and I've been sleeping fine since - love her!

Next appointment for me isn't until the ultrasound on February 1, but I promise I'll post my 4 month (crazy that it's almost here!) belly photo after I take it on January 20!!!!

It's a...

We had a 16 week ultrasound yesterday, primarily for cervical length check.  When we got there, we told the tech that we would love to find out gender and she said that she would try.  At first the little one wasn't helping things, twisting and turning so the cord was always between the legs.  All of the sudden, she turned the probe and said, "definitely a boy!"  To top it off, when she measured his head she measured it three times, not believing the measurements.  He's measuring 17 weeks, 3 days, which is a week and one day ahead.  After that she measured his torso and legs, all measuring over 17 weeks as well, so he's just a big boy!  No wonder I'm constantly hungry!!!

Here's some pictures from yesterday of our little man!

All boy!

Torso to left, legs straight out with ankles crossed on the right

Best profile picture we could get since he was constantly on the move

Also, I've taken to calling him "Little Man" when referring to him because "Peanut" sounded a bit too feminine when you know it's a boy that is on the bigger side.  Kind of like naming a small dog Beast (although my brother's friend did just that to his chihuahua).