27 Weeks 2 Days

I have skipped quite a few weeks in this blog. It's not like I've been that busy, more like lazy. I will try and go back as far as I can and review the major milestones in the last 12 weeks of my pregnancy. Although with my now fuzzy pregnant mommy-brain, I can only say the week the milestone occurred rather than to the specific day within the week.

Week 20

I went for my week 20 ultrasound. My mom was visiting me, so she came along with me and my husband to the appointment. It was really cool to have my mom see the baby on the monitor in person. Come to think of it, it was also the first time my husband was seeing the ultrasound in person too! The ultrasound showed a very clear image of the baby's head and body. As far as the gender is concerned, the technician never asked if we wanted to know the sex, nor did she ever mention seeing a certain appendage. At this appointment, the technician wasn't able to get me clear printouts of the ultrasound for my baby photo album, so they asked me to come back the next week to finish up the appointment and get some printed pictures.

Week 21

A few days after the 20-week ultrasound with my mom and husband, I went to see my OB for my regular appointment. It was at this appointment that he dropped a bomb on me that I did not expect. Apparently the technician detected some possible "abnormality" with the heart, and further investigations are recommended. He immediately booked me with a pediatric heart specialist at the hospital down the street to get a fetal echocardiogram. The appointment was scheduled 4 days later.

I went home from the OB's office. My husband was working from home that day. I told him immediately what the doctor said, all the while fighting back a flood of tears. I held it together until I got upstairs to change. At that point, I just sat down on my bed and collapsed into tears. I couldn't stop crying. I had never felt more like a mother until that point. My tears kept flowing as I thought about my little baby in my belly with a possible faulty heart. I didn't want to think about what that would mean for the birth or delivery, and what hardships the baby would face after it was born into the world. I spent the rest of the day up in my room, crying to myself. By around 2pm, I was so exhausted from crying that I fell asleep. My husband, unaware how upset it was, came to check on me after he finished up work at 5. Once he came to me, of course the tears started up again. I went to bed early that night, exhausted and cried out, feeling like I had failed my unborn baby, feeling like a bad mother already.

By the time the next morning came around, I was feeling more clear-headed. I was already cried out, so no more tears came from me. My husband calmed me down as well, saying we shouldn't jump to conclusion until the echocardiogram. We also knew that no matter what the echo showed, we would love the baby with every ounce of love we have, and we would deal with the hardships if they come. The echo was only 4 days away, although it felt like 4 weeks.

Week 22

The day of the echo finally came, and my husband took time off work to come with me. I was so thankful to have him there for support. I didn't know how I would react if the doctor showed us bad news. I also wasn't sure if the doctor himself would be doing the echo, or if we would even get results right away, or would I have to wait for my next OB appointment in 3 weeks.

When we got to the hospital to the Diagnostic Imaging department, we were called in by the doctor's assistant. We were escorted to the exam room, and once we walked in, the doctor was there to greet us. He was very friendly, and made me feel more at ease. He even took the time to draw us a picture of the heart and explain to us what normal anatomy should be, and what we should see on the screen. Then I laid down on the exam table and rolled up my shirt. He squirted the jelly on my belly and began the echocardiogram. Unlike the regular ultrasounds I've been getting, this one was colored. To make a long story short, the doctor found everything to be normal. 2 vessels going into the heart bringing in oxygen, 2 vessels taking oxygen out. He suspected the technician who caused my worry in the first place couldn't see the 4 vessels clearly because either of the baby's position, or the lack of color on that ultrasound machine. We left the hospital feeling a sense of relief that could not be described.

The cardiologist also asked us if we wanted to know the sex of the baby. We didn't. But that didn't stop him from guessing. He said he learned a method of detecting the sex of the baby from a fellow doctor, and the method has been 90% accurate. He took my wrist, asked me a question (I think he asked for my birthday), and after a few seconds of holding my wrist said "I think it's a boy". My own instinct has said I'm having a boy too, although it's not based on any mysterious method, proven scientific tests, or even strange dreams. For some reason, when I looked at my Week 13 ultrasound, I thought it was a boy. That feeling has not changed.

Week 25

I spent Week 25 and half of Week 26 on holidays with my husband in BC. I took the flight fine. I sat at the aisle seat so I could get up and walk around whenever I wanted without disturbing other people in my row. Luckily the flight was pretty short, and I actually only had to get up once to stretch my legs.

By this point, I am showing definitively. I am no longer in the "Is she pregnant or just fat?" stage. I've been lucky so far. The pregnancy has mostly been focused on the belly. I actually still don't look pregnant from behind, for which I am very thankful. At this point, I have gained just 7 pounds of pregnancy weight. Even my mom, who is usually so blunt to tell me to my face if I look fat, said I looked great and the baby weight has been focused only on the belly.

By this point in my pregnancy, I had developed some strange food aversions. I can't seem to eat any food that has a shredded texture. A prime example is chicken. I can no longer eat chicken without hesitation. I don't race to the bathroom with my hand over my mouth, but it's definitely hard to "choke" down the chicken. Another example of shredded food I can't eat is pulled pork. We went to a favorite BBQ sandwich joint in town for an encore of their famous pulled pork sandwich, which I had early on in my pregnancy. This time, I could not eat it. I had to switch with my husband who got a beef brisket sandwich. I guess the brisket wasn't so shredded, because I was able to eat that just time.

Week 27

The baby is getting pretty active. It has been kicking and stretching a lot for the last 3-4 weeks. But now it just seems to be renovating in my belly or something. It's been favoring my right side a lot. When I sleep on my right side, it seems to sink even lower. And it doesn't seem to want to sink that low, because it then claws really down low into my right side like a cat's claw. It startles me so much that I literally yell out "AHHH!" I then have to roll over to my left side to appease the baby.

The baby also likes to stretch, creating spotty hard surfaces in places across my belly, usually on the right side. I then stroke the hard spot, and it eventually unstretches and goes back in. When the baby stretches like that, it feels very strange. It feels like the baby is taking his hand and jamming it up my throat. I wonder if it feels the same for other women.

Only 3 more months to go in my pregnancy. It's starting to hit me that I will have a baby in the house in just 3 short months. My husband's not nervous at all, while I'm biting my nails. I don't feel prepared at all. What do I do with this baby once we bring it home? What am I going to do when it cries? How much sleep would I get? How much sleep would the baby LET me get? Would the baby cry non-stop like Rachel's baby on Friends? Does that swinging from side-to-side really stop a baby's crying? Do I have a friend like Monica who has the magic touch?