Friday, July 30, 2010

Everybody's fine

Oops. I kind of went a whole bunch of days without posting for no reason, huh? I mean, not really no reason because, well, I was in North Carolina and there were things going on like meals at all my favorite restaurants from ten years ago (I even got SUSHI! But don't worry, only the cooked kind) and swimming and sleeping and visiting with my parents and oh yeah, working. Ick.

Now I'm in DC. I drove back up from NC with my sister and her family on Wednesday, and yesterday I worked and then had dinner with a friend, and now here I am back at work today, and then I'll be spending the weekend at my sister's and then three more days next week at work and then I get to go home. I'm in that mid-trip slump right now--I've been here for so long and yet there's so long still left in this trip, and I feel like I haven't seen Torsten for several years and also did I mention that I'm pregnant and fragile and weepy? And I don't like being far away from my husband.

And yes, I know, this is the last time I have to be away from him for a very long time, indefinitely really because we have no immediate plans to travel again until well after Piglet is born. But I am not rational, I am grumpy because I am here and Torsten is there and it's been that way for far too long and it will continue to be that way for far too long. So there.

But despite the lack of posting, I'm fine, Torsten is fine, Montana is fine, and, well, as far as I know Piglet is fine too. I'm discovering that while the second trimester is significantly more relaxing, it's not exactly worry-free. My 16-week appointment is in exactly a week and I am just really keeping my fingers crossed that we will hear the heartbeat this time, and that if, like last time, we don't, they will, like last time, pull out the bedside ultrasound machine and we will, like last time, see a happy kicking baby in there.

Or! Even better! If we don't hear the heartbeat at the appointment, since this one isn't the last appointment of the day on a Friday afternoon, maybe instead of using the bedside machine that is terrible quality, they will refer us down the hall for a proper ultrasound, and maybe we would get a shot that would tell us the sex! That would be fun! Other than the nerve-racking minutes between the attempt to find the heartbeat and the ultrasound, obviously.

Of course, really what we're hoping for here is a nice clear heartbeat so that no ultrasound is required. Meanwhile, I went ahead and scheduled the 18-22 week ultrasound, when we really should get to find out the sex. It will be on September 2. So, assuming Piglet cooperates, we should have some fun info to share on that day.

Other than the whole hormonal weepy mess thing, and the linea nigra (which I think is getting darker), I'm in kind of a symptom lull right now. Of course, compared to the morning sickness all the other symptoms feel mild, but it is still weird that not much is going on. If I didn't know I was pregnant right now I would pretty much just think I was feeling a little weird and under the weather, and that is strange to me. So much for mother's intuition and what have you. I am just dying to feel the baby move.

Oh, but there is this symptom: I swear my nose is getting bigger. Like, not the inner membranes, which supposedly swell up and cause your nose to run, but the actual nose itself. It just looks bigger compared to the rest of my face. Googling this tells me that lots of other people have experienced it as well, but there seems to be no information on it from any kind of reliable, science-based source.

Still, it seems to be happening, and from what I can tell from the anecdotes I read online, it will most likely shrink back to its normal size after I give birth, so that's fine, but in the meantime, a big nose? Really? This is definitely another one of those symptoms that I could do without. However, if I did without all my symptoms then I would be annoyed and paranoid about not having any symptoms. So basically, with me you can't win. Sorry about that.

11 comments:

  1. I assumed you weren't posting due to the vacation, but I'm glad to hear everything is still good.

    One of my former direct reports, who already had a wide nose to begin with, seemed to have her nose spread out across her whole face when she was pregnant. By the time she came back from maternity leave, she looked like her regular old self. So don't worry.

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  2. My sister's nose got HUGE with her first son and spread just a little with her second. Her face is normal now. It'll be OK. Some women just show their pregnancy in their face.

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  3. I am the SAME about symptoms. With my twin pregnancy, the OB warned me that most twin pregnancies "fail" the AFP screen because of the higher levels of mumble-mumble-mumble from having two babies, so I shouldn't panic if I got a bad result. But then I got a GOOD result. So then I panicked that this meant something was wrong with the twins, or that something had happened to one of them.

    The nice thing about a twin pregnancy is that I got an ultrasound every 6 weeks throughout. By 5 weeks 6 days I was always SURE something was HORRIBLY WRONG.

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  4. Glad to hear you and Torsten are doing okay. Sorry about your nose! While I didn't have that particular unusual pregnancy symptom or pregnany-related issue, I had a few that I didn't know anything about. I got the PUPPS rash for the last two weeks of my pregnancy, which I'd never heard of before and was annoyingly agonizing and I had a pyrogenic granuloma on my hand caused by pregnancy hormones that had to be surgically removed afterwards. Ouch. And my feet went from a size 10 to a size 11 and stayed that way, which TOTALLY sucks! It really is amazing the havoc pregnancy hormones wreak on our bodies!

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  5. Just think, soon you WILL feel the baby moving! That is my favorite part of pregnancy!

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  6. I'm glad everything is well for you - sorry you're missing Torsten, but you'll be home soon and good as new. :)

    Pregnancy symptoms are so strange, aren't they? I feel like I learn something new from each blogger & friend who's experiencing it!

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  7. My linea thingymajic totally went away after I had the baby, just FYI.

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  8. I'm glad you're ok. It's ok to be a weepy mess. Enjoy it while everyone understands and is sympathetic! :) When I am a weepy mess they know I'm just being an emotional baby. HA!

    Enjoy the rest of the trip ... I know it will be hard, but enjoy the different stuff right now while you can.

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  9. i find pregnancy stuff SO! FASCINATING! to read about. so while i don't envy you your growing nose or weepiness, i'm glad you're telling us about it :) can't wait to see you!

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  10. A bigger nose? Weird. (not in a bad way....don't want to make you cry or anything ;-)....but more in a what an odd symptom of pregnancy!)

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  11. I did not like being away from my husband when I was pregnant either. It made me weepy too! It'll be great to have this trip over with, and then you can just settle in for the rest of the pregnancy/NEW MOTHERHOOD!

    Also, when I was catching up on Twitter today I saw that you're probably feeling the babe move. HURRAY!

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