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It was a brief appointment. Midway through, Dr. Mac was paged to L&D for a delivery. But he still had a few moments to answer a couple of my questions. None of them are seriously pressing and I understand his need to run over to the hospital so I kept it brief.

Basic breakdown:
Weight: I’ve gained 5 lbs. this month. That puts me at a total of 10 lbs. during the whole pregnancy… a little more than I’m comfortable with but nothing serious, yet. The doc and nurses certainly don’t think it’s unhealthy.

Blood pressure: Still absolutely perfect. 126/72 No problems there.

Ultrasound results: Everything looks great! There were no anomalies and everything is measuring right on schedule. We’re sticking with a due date of Nov. 25th. The radiologist actually measured me at Dec. 2nd but Dr. Mac says with the range of error, it’s close enough to the original due date that we’re not going to change it. That means, as of today, I’m 23 weeks 2 days. Next Wednesday, the baby will be considered “viable”.

Birth Plan: This was one thing we didn’t get to spend a lot of time on due to Dr. Mac’s page. Basically, I’ve accepted that my doctor will work with me on whatever birth plan I come up with and I don’t have to be afraid of being bullied into something I don’t want, at all. This comforts me.

RLS: Unfortunately, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that I can take to lessen the RLS. I’m just stuck with it. I’ve tried all the home remedies and nothing works so I’ve just got to go without sleep until I give birth. Dear Pharmaceutical community: Please come up with a drug that treats RLS without risking the baby. <3 forever, Bam.

The rest of the conversations will have to wait till next month. Dr. Mac also informed me that we will be doing my gestational diabetes test next month and this is the last time I schedule an appointment a month out. Starting next month, appointments will be scheduled 3 weeks apart. We'll probably do that for a couple of visits then move to every two weeks. The last month will be weekly visits and then visits every couple days till Bella joins us!

In the mean time, We'll hopefully be getting a doppler from eBay next week. We found one for $45 and can hook it to the computer to record the heartbeats. Once we do that, I'll get it up here so you all can hear it!

I think that's it! Overall, a good day other than my lack of sleep. >.<

For those that may be tracking it, I’ve updated the registries page with what we have received and taken down said received items from the various registries. Thanks to the awesomeness that is Freecycle, craigslist and family, we have gotten all the “big” items that we need! I think all we’re lacking is a new mattress, which we hope to have soon. We found a decent one at Walmart for $40. Other than that, it’s all little stuff! There’s also a fetal monitor at Walmart that I think we’re going to get later this week or next so family and friends can hear the baby’s heartbeat. When we get it, I may try to record it on the laptop and upload to the site so STAY TUNED!

We’ve started buying diapers when we can so we’re stocked a bit when baby arrives. We’re trying to get a variety of sizes and styles since there’s no way to know for sure what size she’ll need till she’s here.

In other news, the magnesium seems to be helping my RLS a bit. I’m still having rough nights but it’s not AS bad as it was. We go to the Dr on Friday and will be chatting about my birth plan as well as when I need to sign us up for a hospital tour and childbirthing classes. FUN!

Mom and Will have both gotten to feel the baby move. They were much excited about that. Will now feels for her all the time. She’s kicked him in the head a few times during his nightly “baby time”.

I can’t believe that we’re a month away from the 3rd trimester!

Final thought: What is with the RAIN!?!

I seriously can not handle this anymore. My restless legs have kept me up for 4 nights in a row, now. I’ve tried everything possible. From a bar of soap under the sheet to massage to soaking in a tub, exercise, stretching, punching my legs until they’re bruised… I thought I had found the answer today when we bought some magnesium supplements. I took 2 (for 500mg) and almost immediately felt my legs calm down (since my legs are twitchy literally all day). I thought “Great! I’ll be able to sleep tonight!” But no. Fecking legs are STILL kicking. I’ve been trying to go to sleep for over 2 hours now and JUST when I doze off, there goes a kick. It’s so bad I’m up crying now because I JUST WANT TO SLEEP! And I KNOW this lack of sleep can’t be good for the baby. I have to be up in 6 hours to help teach a Reiki class. I can’t function like this!

I seriously, really, really can’t handle it anymore. Someone cut off my legs. Paralyze me. SOMETHING!

So we went in for “The Big Ultrasound” and it was quite interesting… baby’s heart rate was 143bpm. Everything looked normal to my eyes. No sign of cleft lip or spinal problems (the most common birth defects in relation to Lamictal during pregnancy).

The child was SUPER squirrely. It would not sit still! Kept waving and moving and practicing facial movements. Quite the sight to see. It took a few tries to get good profile shots and bone shots (though, we did eventually get them and all looks well formed and solid).

I guess what you’re all wondering now is “What is it?”

Like I said, there was a lot of movement and it turns out the little one is modest but we did get ONE shot that makes us about 75% sure of what we’re having.

It's a girl!

Say “Hello!” to Bella. Annabelle Mae will be her name but she has already informed us that she will go by Bella. Stubborn as her mommy already. :p

I will soon be adding the rest of the ultrasound pictures to the picture page. They include a few profile shots (mostly with her hand in her face). They should be up within a Few minutes after I finish this posting.

OK, who’s idea is it to not make “MY” style of clothing in “MY” sizes? People wonder why I’ve opted to look like a slob since I’ve gotten pregnant… it’s because I can’t find any clothes in my size that I WANT to wear! And not only that… IF I DO happen to find something I like, it’s WAY overpriced.

For instance… take MamaSan Maternity. Super cute clothes that I would totally buy.. except for 2 things… $50 for a TOP?! $55 for a SKIRT?! You clothing companies do realise that we are attempting to save money for OUR BABIES, correct?
Then there’s the other reason. Fat people like cute clothes, too.

I think I’m just going to have to learn how to sew and make my own cute clothes. I’m REALLY tired of wearing the same pair of sweatpants every day because nothing else fits and nothing I like sells for the right price or the right size.

Maybe I’ll start my own clothing line for plus-sized maternity in the style that *I* want to buy.

Apparently there was miscommunication last month regarding the “Big Ultrasound”, as it’s referred to. I was under the impression that this month’s check-up would include the gender check but I was wrong. This appointment was to set the appointment for the ultrasound. o.O

The check-up went well, though. The quad test results came back and everything looks fantastic. So far it’s a healthy pregnancy. I’ve gained 2 lbs. this month but with as unhealthy as I’ve been eating, it’s no surprise. LOTS of eating out or ordering in. I’ve also laxed a bit on my exercise. But still, 2 lbs isn’t that bad considering the baby just went through a growth spurt. My blood pressure is holding fine and everything is looking good.

Our “Big Ultrasound” is scheduled for next Thursday at 3pm CST. I’m supposed to drink a pint of water an hour before the ultrasound and then not pee at all! >.< That’s going to be painful. Wish me luck!