Friday, November 30, 2012

23 Weeks

I have been eating us out of house and home lately. I am not sure if the kid is going through a growth spurt or what, but I can't seem to get enough to eat. I definitely am feeling bigger, which is great in some ways, but is really strange/uncomfortable in other ways. The little one seems to have developed a bit of a schedule- she is very quiet in the morning, but gets more active as the day goes on. She really kicks in the evening. Mike has felt her kick a few times now, and it's really incredible to me that she can be in my tummy and yet he can feel her too.

After an afternoon at the hospital 
I am still feeling good- not sleeping very well lately, and I wake up really hungry. I got up at 3am the other morning and had to have a snack. And I have gone back to waking up nauseous again, but we are getting that under control. Also when Mike and I went to look at houses last weekend, we had to stop at Dunkin Donuts so I could get a bagel. There's nothing special for me about Dunkin, it was just the closest thing. I have tried to keep snacks with me, but ran out somehow this past week. I am trying to get more iron, but the pills really make me feel terrible. But I want the kiddo to get some iron. 

blurry. blurry blueberry. blurrrberrry.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Giving Thanks

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. Man, I needed some time with my brother and dad. Seriously. They got here late Wednesday evening, so Mike and I took Wednesday to get ready for their arrival. We prepped everything for Thanksgiving, so Thursday would be very easy and low key. I think this is the key to Thanksgiving success. We also made sugar cookie dough, which we then used with our new NINJA SHAPED COOKIE CUTTERS. And, yes. They did taste better than Christmas tree or God forbid, circle shaped sugar cookies. 

Non-refrigerated Thanksgiving food- Before

Refrigerated Thanksgiving food- Before
On Thursday, this is what the majority of our day looked like: 



The turkey went into the oven at 2pm. We started with stuffed mushrooms and mulled wine around 3pm. There was a rotation of food in and out of the oven and on and off the stove and we ate around 5pm. We had a turkey crown, which I ordered from a farmer at the farmers market, mashed potatoes, steamed carrots and broccoli, Karen's corn pudding, Mike's sausage, apple, and cranberry stuffing, cream rolls, Jen's garden green beans with bacon, whiskey mushroom cream gravy....

Thanksgiving after cooking

Thanksgiving After cooking

And who can forget?!???! It's not Thanksgiving at the Henrickson household without cranberries with the lines. Will the class never stop? 


On Friday, Mike had to work, so Dad, Matt and I went to see Skyfall. One of my favorite moments of the weekend was when we were walking to the metro and Dad was talking about how he got the Blueberry a tiny pink baseball glove (it is obscenely cute). Matt and I started joking about how when we were kids, and we would play wiffleball in the backyard, Dad had all these names for his pitches... Neither of us could EVER hit the "sucker pitch". Then we started talking about watching football the day before and going to see James Bond. Then Matt said, "man, we have a lot to teach the baby." 

Our girl is so blessed already. 


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

22 weeks

Here we are at 22 weeks!

I went to the doctor yesterday- I already feel like I see the doctor more than my husband, but now I have to start going 2x/month... ah well! The baby is in all measurements average- average tummy measures for me, anatomy growth scan was all average, and I am gaining average weight. All good! I can feel her kicking a bit more, and I keep trying to help Mike feel it, but the Dr said that it's still pretty early for that. Though it doesn't prevent me from waking him up at 6am to see if he can feel her kicking like I can!


My temperature is actually normal now, which is unusual for me- usually my basal temp is a bit low. But the wee girl is warming me up! My blood pressure is still low, but closer to my normal level. So the doctor said I don't have to go back to the cardiologist and get a 24 hour monitor. Phew.

I kinda like that you can see the bump pretty well now. 

Dad and Matt are coming for Thanksgiving- they arrive later tonight. I am very excited for food and football and hanging out with my favorite men. It sounds a bit silly, but I am glad the Blueberry will get to hear their voices too.

Mike and I have spent today getting ready, it's been a pretty low stress day- just cooking and tasting and cooking and eating lunch and tasting and also tasting. I started making pumpkin pie before I realized that I threw out my pie pan a few weeks ago because it was cruddy, so I had to improvise. I must say, I am very proud of the results.

Pumpkin Pie Tarts
We won't be short on food. I'll post before and after shots later. I absolutely love Thanksgiving. I am thankful for so many things, but for now, I'll just leave it that having my family visit, and knowing that the baby girl already has so many people who love her is filling my heart to overflowing.



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

21 weeks

Here we are at 21 weeks. I feel like I popped overnight. I swear, yesterday I didn't look as pregnant as I do today. I couldn't sleep last night, so maybe the baby was growing a lot (???).

Dress my mom got me- very cute. Also, getting better at looking normal in self photos. 

 I am not sure if it's real, but I do feel that I have baby brain. I completely forgot where I parked the car at the hospital this morning. So, that was a fun 25 minutes of directionless wandering.

Tummy sticking out! 
This is one of the cute sweaters that our friend Emily sent along for  maternity wear. I get so many compliments on her clothes when I wear them... I think when I go back to non maternity, I might need to get her to help me shop. 

I swear, I could see my toes much more easily yesterday. 
I have been doing a lot of thinking about the baby's room. I think we have a few good ideas, but no dedicated color scheme yet. We'll get there. I want to be deliberate about this, and not let it get away with me like most of my decorating does. I think the main thing we have agreed on is that there will be one wall entirely dedicated to books. Because we'll still be renting, we can't paint, so we will get some plate rails normally used to display plates, but will put books on them. So they are simultaneously providing color and variation, but also very functional. Mike and I are so excited about reading to our little girl, this is the perfect combination of decorative and functional. We are already starting a wonderful collection of books thanks to our friends Chad and Jen, my mom, and Mike's aunt Margaret (she's a children's librarian, so she's our hook up- book hook up? book up?). 

Friday, November 9, 2012

The Big Announcement!

Mike and I are absolutely over the moon to let everyone know, the apple of our eyes is an amazing little

  GIRL!!!!!!

The Blueberry was cooperative today. All it took was a little orange juice and a calm mommy. We both absolutely loved this picture.





You can see her little ribs through her thin skin and her ear looks so sweet.  In the one below, you can see the her umbilical cord. It was great to see her heart with all four chambers and little valves opening and closing. Her nose is so wee! 


I went to the cardiologist, and all is good. I think I was dehydrated and my own diagnosis is that perhaps I wasn't eating right. I was eating a lot of fruit and had been eating a lot of junk food, because is what I've wanted to eat. So, I've reupped my veggie intake, and am drinking at least 2x the water I was drinking. Fear not, I am still eating my m&ms, but I am just complimenting it with more veggies.


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Week 19-20

No pictures yet this week.

We were hoping to have a massive announcement last week- the gender of the Blueberry. Unfortunately, the child already has a mind of its own and decided that it would rather nap than give mom and dad the satisfaction of starting to "nest" in earnest.  A dear friend told me, that kid is already giving you a taste of what the rest of your life will be like, you no longer have control. This is true, I am trying to not freak out whenever it happens.

We went for our anatomy scan last Thursday. It wasn't the greatest experience- the tech was very focused and had a rough (at best) bedside manner. The picture that she printed out for us was... creepy. I actually made a joke that she was giving it to us as a halloween present. Maybe it's because the last ultrasound tech was so good and so efficient, and printed out four beautiful photos, or maybe it's because I am completely emotionally vulnerable right now, but the picture she gave us looked like a skeleton, not our precious child, and I can't look at it. It's buried in my bag.

And this is why we have no pictures this week.

Mike has been a hero through everything. He is going to be an amazing dad. Our child is so incredibly lucky.

I have gained 11 pounds so far- 10 in the first trimester and 1 since. I am working on it, and it's not for lack of eating, that's for sure.

I had to go to the cardiologist today because I have been continuing to have bouts of tachycardia, or elevated heart rate. My blood pressure this morning was 84/46. I generally have low blood pressure, but this is low, even for me. The cardiologist seemed more concerned about my current BP than about the elevated heart rate. He told me to drink more water, that I was probably getting dehydrated and that I could wear a 24 hour monitor if it's still bothering me in a couple of weeks. I have to get back to him to schedule the monitor pick up, so we'll see what happens.

We have our repeat anatomy scan on Friday morning. There were multiple pictures that they weren't able to get because the baby was so intent on sleeping. We did see the heart beat and the brain has 2 lobes, and I think everything else looked healthy. We just didn't see all four heart chambers and a few other key anatomical structures, beyond the gender.

As of tomorrow, we're halfway there. I absolutely can't believe it. I feel like we are still navigating realizing we're pregnant.

I am starting to have little cramps and pains here and there in my abdomen, and feel little flutters, which I can now identify as the baby moving. Pregnancy clothes are great, though given the option, I would prefer to be in my pj pants all day. I think they might frown on that at the hospital.

Hopefully we'll have some amazing pictures to share on Friday!!!!!