As the Tum.s digest...

Tum.s and I are still very good friends and I really appreciate my blog friends offering up some more solutions for relief.

I just wanted to get a few updates out...last week I had my 24 week appointment! It is amazing that I am now more than halfway through and I look back at my posts from July and it feels like a dream.

The appointment went great. I have gained 16(!) pounds since I started and asked the doctor if that was too much or ok, and she said since I was measuring exactly 24 weeks, she was fine with the weight gain.

Our sweet little boy is doing great, strong heartbeat and only sometimes uses my bladder as a squeeze toy...like right now.

Next appointment is coming up December 22nd and it will be a little busier. I have to get the rhog.am shot, but the better news is that we will get another ultrasound. At the appointment before last they found that my placenta was a little low (marginal), and they are expecting it to move up with my uterus on its own, so this upcoming visit will double check.

I had my glucos.e tolerance test this morning. It was pretty painless. I heard conflicting things about eating vs. not eating before the appointment, so decided to go on an empty stomach and keep my fingers crossed. I went with fruit punch flavor and it was nice and cold and went down fine...although I heard stories about how nasty it was, it was over quick enough.

I felt fine after I drank it and waited the hour, but by the time I got home I had a small headache and a big stomachache. A good friend of mine calls that particular brand of stomachache "bubble guts". After lunch and some rest, I was back to normal pretty quick.

So...as I fall asleep on my keyboard I'll say goodnight to you and to the little boy kicking me and reminding me just how blessed our lives are.

Night, night.

All is quiet

And by that I mean the dog next door has finally stopped barking. Seriously, he has been barking for what feels like hours. We live in the sticks and so any kind of leaf rustling sets this dog off. Anyway...

Heartburn.

All day it has felt like lava doing laps around my esophagus, stopping at the back of my throat for a rest and then back down again. I've been doing the Tu.ms thing, but I don't think they are getting the job done anymore. I feel like I am ready to move on to the harder stuff. The doctor gave me a short list (mylan.ta, pepc.id, zan.tac), so basically it is just trial and error until I figure out what works. I would prefer not to take anything, but at times it is brutal.

Last night we took a tour of the hospital. Some IRL friends have questioned us going so early (I am only 22 weeks), but honestly I didn't think it was that early and with Thanksgiv.ing and Chr.istmas coming up fast, I was feeling like I wanted to get these things (tours, classes) checked off the list now, to clear the fog in my mind a bit.

The tour went really well. The maternity wing is only 5 years old, so everything is sparkling. We saw two brand new baby boys through the window and that was the BEST. So little and sweet. I immediately reached a hand down to my belly to cheer on our little boy.

I did have to smirk (to myself) at one point. C wasn't there yet and neither was one other husband's wife (turns out they were stuck in the same traffic). So the husband - M - and I started talking. His wife is due in January and I told him we are due in March. It is the first for each of us and I mentioned that it took us a long time (my standard opener to lead into our IVF story) and then he said that it took them a long time too. I perked right up expecting a number of years...but it turns out it took them 9 months (and it happened naturally). I spend so much time reading about long struggles with IF, that I forget that what is long to some people, would feel like nothing to so many of us. I would never want to sell them or anybody short. A wait is a wait no matter how long it is when you are trying to get to your goal. Each of us has a story. C reminded me of that when I told him what M and I were talking about.

I did tell him we did IVF and although he didn't know anyone personally, he asked questions about embryos that made me feel like he knew a bit about it.

So, I'm not sure there is a real point to this post, just wanted to vent about barking dogs, relentless heartburn, and people who get pregnant naturally. ;)