18 weeks - almost half way there

How far along are you – 18 weeks
Total weight gain – Depends on the day. As of today, I lost 2lbs, but a few days ago I was up 3lbs.
Maternity Clothes – jeans and my yoga pants all the time. I tried my old jeans on and boy are they uncomfortable.
Stretch Marks – Still nothing.
Sleep – It’s alright. I toss and turn more often then not this week. The doctor said I was okay to sleep on my back and it was just an old wives tale that you shouldn’t sleep on your back! Thank goodness because it’s one of the few positions I am comfortable in.
Best moment this week – Seeing my doctor for our 18 week and feeling more fluttering. Still waiting for that first big “ka-pow”.
Miss anything – Tuna and wine.
Movement – Flutters
Food Cravings – I’m still big on fruit. In my first trimester I craved peaches, but now it’s the little Satsuma oranges. Good thing they are on sale at Costco!
Anything make you queasy or sick – I’ve been feeling more queasy in the morning and randomly through the day. I don’t think bagels and cream cheese sit good with me anymore and whatever I had for lunch today didn’t agree either.
Gender – I am still holding firm to a girl . . .
Labor signs – Nothing.
Symptoms – General awesome pregnancy stuff. I have a super dry nose and my skin is incredibly dry. On the plus side, my hair is nice and full and my nails are growing like nuts.
Belly Button in or out – Still in but stretched.
Wedding ring on or off – On.
Happy or moody – I think I’ve been a little of both this week.
Looking forward to – Christmas! Our next appointment is January 3rd for our 22 week appointment with my general OB. We have our anatomy ultrasound on the 10th of January, which will be done by the high risk ultrasound technicians. My mom will also be out visiting us for that one. Lots to look forward to.

We had a lot happen this past week. Probably the biggest was Brad getting promoted to Sergeant at this past drill. It was a long hard road to get there but he followed through and got there. I was quite the happy wife on Saturday when it all happened. I wanted to be sure to capture it just to make sure it was real. I snapped a few pictures on my phone (I didn’t want to draw attention to myself in front of all of those soldiers) and watched Sgt. Church take off his old rank tags and put on his new ones! Quite the moment. ☺

I went to my high risk appointment this week as well and I was less than pleased with this doctor. Quite a few people told me that he was THE doctor to go to for high risk pregnancies and that he was awesome and amazing. I have different choice words for him. He didn’t seem interested in my defect or my concerns. As he walked in the room, he shook my hand and then asked me to tell him all about my defect and how it was fixed. I shared with him, thinking “Why are you asking me when all of this information is on the computer in my file?”. After I was done, he didn’t sound amazed that I was alive or anything, just sort of brushed it off as another abnormality that got fixed. My biggest question for him was what is the possibility of me “passing down” my abnormality to my children? Yes, mine was just a birth defect and as far as we know not hereditary, but it was quite the birth defect and it wasn’t discovered till I was 12 years old. I want to make sure and triple check that my children don’t have the same defect as me. As I was expressing my concern, he continued to brush it off and say that he doesn’t think I need to be seen by him anymore and to make my 22-week appointment with my regular OB.
This entire conversation happened in about 5 minutes and then I was on my way. I was frustrated that he just brushed it off like it was nothing. I didn’t get a peace of mind that everything was okay. I was expecting him to listen to my heart, maybe find the baby’s heart and listen to it. Nope. Nothing.
I was so frustrated, so at my doctor’s appointment today Brad and I made sure to express our concern and tell both my nurse and doctor how we were feeling. Both of them made us feel better but I think my doctor had the best words. “Megan, sounds to me like you don’t much like him. However, he is the guy to go to and I don’t want anything to go wrong with this pregnancy for you. I am still going to have him do the 22 week ultrasound and make sure that your baby’s heart is just fine. I am going to give you that piece of mind and then you never have to deal with him again!” So on January 10th, when we find out if we are having a boy or a girl, we will also find out if our child’s heart is a normal heart of if I’ve passed down a heart defect. I know that everything will come out fine, but it’s the unknown that scares me, that big WHAT IF!