Hearing the heartbeat for the second time

This was origianlly written on Monday, December 3, 2007:

Fortunately, I haven't had cramps aside from the week of Thanksgiving so that is good. I talked to my doctor about it last Thurs. and she said that if I have them now in the second trimester then I must go to the hospital if they haven't gone away after two hours. (I'm supposed to try lying on my side, drinking lots of water, and going to the bathroom to see if that helps. But if not, it's considered an emergency situation. . .yikes!)

My back pain is better but not entirely gone. My doctor prescribed a muscle relaxant for if it gets worse, but there are other things I'll try first, such as stretches and massages. I think the aches are related to my weight gain (in combination with the pelvis separating and the ligaments supporting the uterus stretching) and maybe my body is adjusting now. At first I think it threw off my posture and was weighing me down in front (which put strain on my back). Because since I haven't had a chance to buy a new bra, I can only wear mine for a few hours before I have to take them off! Since I started doing that, my upper back has improved. But I still feel 100 years old when I get up from a sitting or laying position!

Fortunately, my sickness is really over! I'm eating vegetables again and sleeping well. . .except for this morning I woke up at 4:30, so every now & then I'm still getting up early, but at least I don't feel fatigued. I haven't thrown up since the day after we returned from Thanksgiving (making my total while pregnant around 13) but best of all I haven't felt nauseated since November 23rd!

I had my hair cut on Wednesday (for the first time since the day I got pregnant!) and then Joe met me at my doctor's office on Thursday. He hadn't gone with me in October when I'd heard the heartbeat for the first time, so I was excited for him to hear it this time.

At first we had a scare! She put the monitor on my abdomen, only unlike last time when I'd heard the heartbeat immediately, this time there was nothing! It took what seemed like forever as she moved it left, right, up, down, and all over. I was thinking, ohmygosh, it died! I'm glad Joe's here because this is going to be a sad day. But my doctor was still smiling and talking and said, "I'm not concerned because I can hear it moving all around. It's being active today!" Sure enough, she finally found it (positioned really low)--and then it moved again! It was so cute, she had to chase it all over my belly! It's crazy to think it's already doing its own thing and already has its own personality!

Needless to say, the heartbeat was 10 beats higher this time (150 opposed to 140) so either it's more likely to be a girl, or the boy's heartbeat was higher because it was being so active! However, my doctor said it's just an old wive's tale, that in her experience there doesn't seem to be a way to tell if it's a boy or girl based on the heartbeat. But I still think it's a boy. We'll finally find out on December 18th! :-) Lately I've been having dreams that it's a girl (I dream nearly every night that I'm either giving birth, breastfeeding, or just holding my baby). But in my waking life I feel very strongly that it's a boy.
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This was written on Wednesday, December 5, 2007:

I forgot to mention that on Thanskgiving I just threw my leather coat (that I've been wearing the past two years) in our car when we drove to Iowa. Later that day I put it on. . .and realized it wouldn't close! I have now switched to my big heavy winter coat since my leather jacket is obviously way too small :p I'm up 10 pounds now at almost 18 weeks, so I bought my first pair of maternity jeans yesterday, along with maternity black dress pants, a black sweatsuit that says "Baby" on the top in silver letters, and a bra--yeay--finally one that fits again! My hope is that I'll be able to rotate these clothes (with the three shirts I have) and get by without any others, once I start wearing all maternity clothes, probably around Christmas. We'll see! I'm off to the mall for some Christmas shopping now.