Uh-Oh... x+24.2 is 7.1 heavier than 2009's 24wk

I feared going in for my appointment today; in fact, I've DREADED IT for weeks! At my last appointment, Doc said that I had gained 7.4 pounds since the previous month. (I thought that was a mistake, but she held the numbers in my file and I'm not good at remembering numbers.) When I questioned her about my weight (last time), she instructed me "Well, don't gain 7 pounds between every appointment."

Hmmm, interestingly enough, I gained ANOTHER 7.2 pounds, which she laughed was less than last month's gain of 7.4. Doc didn't seem concerned AT ALL. We compared it to my first pregnancy... when we first met her at our 24 week appointment. My current weight was still considerably LESS than my 2009 weight. 

I, however, was CRUSHED. 

Venting: Damn all those baked goods and delicious hors d'oeuvres over the holiday celebrations. Damn all those cravings to eat... sometimes just an hour after my last meal. Damn these varicose veins bulging from my left leg, as well as the fluid retention in that ankle. Damn this discomfort in my low back/hip region where I sometimes have to CRAWL to the bathroom in the middle of the night. And don't get me started on having to wear these stupid, but obviously helpful, support hose!

I thought my weight gain week-by-pregnant-week was comparable to last time. Mike assured me that it was fine; "afterall, look how good Sydney turned out!" BUT looking back on my blog, in early 2009, I felt concerned at 24 weeks when I had already gained 17.1 pounds – knowing that 25-35 is the recommended weight gain allowance.

During my appointment, I joked that I need to start wearing the same outfit to the doctor's appointments so that my clothes are at least consistent. Sassily, Mike said "Or wear LESS clothes." I laughed, but deep down - this weight gain makes me want to cry.

24.2 POUNDS! Horrified, I keep repeating the number to myself throughout the rest of the day. (I already know that Number 2 is scheduled to gain 6 ounces PER WEEK from here on out.)

Mike assures me "not to worry because it will all come off during breast feeding." (Yes, I "hope" that my body/MS will cooperate and that I will be able to do just that.)

Still, it makes me want to cry. (Hey, at least it doesn't make me want to over-eat. Right?)

:(

As we walked to our car, Mike announced "Despite knowing he's in there and normally moving around quite a bit, that's got to make you feel a little un-nerving when the nurse can't find the heartbeat." (Today, she struggled A LOT to find it - searching repeatedly on both of my sides, but eventually finding it right smack in the middle of my belly; while you lay there, however, it FEELS like an eternity.)

"I know." I replied. "Especially after she asked if I've been feeling a lot of fetal movements, that made me stop and think that he hasn't been super, super active today. Granted, I know he has periods of quiet, too. He just found a comfy place to sleep."

On a more positive note:

• Number 2's heart rate was good (144)

• my blood pressure was good

• my soccer ball-sized uterus measures right where it should 

• there were no traces of sugar or protein in my urine 

• Doc gave me a brochure on some exercises I can try - in hopes that it can ease some of my hip/back pain by strengthening my low back/hip/butt muscles. (The chiropractor has offered no such advice so, THIS is at least worth a try!) 

• my silly cough has been basically gone for about a week (YAY... finally!)

My next appointment (28 wk) tests for Gestational Diabetes and starts us going in every 3 weeks for regular appointments.

Deep breath. Sigh. It IS what it is. Regardless of my new weight complex, I grow anxious to meet Number 2 - who likes to remind me that he's living inside of my cozy uterus. AND just today, I informed Mike "I really LOVE being a mom!"

Felt the slightest bit of movement and LOTS of hunger

On Friday, I went to bed for about a minute before I decided to get up for a bedtime snack.

When I came back to bed, as I lay partially on my side/partially on my belly, I felt the slightest bit of movement in my belly that did NOT feel like gas. Ahhhh, the wonderful memories of how fun that was to lay in bed at night, feeling Sydney bang around in there!

Back to reality... Sydney woke me an hour later and proceeded to be a stinker for the next 4 hours!!! About two hours into his shenanigans, I managed to get him to settle down for a little while in his crib. As I lay on the mattress in his room, all I could think about was how incredibly hungry I was, despite having a bedtime snack. As soon as I could, I snuck downstairs to eat again. (Earlier in the week, I had made some creamed eggs on toast so that Mike would have something quick and easy to reheat for his 4am breakfasts, but I had to have some because I was STARVING and it sounded really good to me.) We battled with Sydney until 3:45am when I finally crawled back into bed; thankfully, the ibuprofen had kicked in and he went right to sleep.

Saturday morning, Mike cooked breakfast. He made me an omelette (to share a little with Sydney, but Sydney was NOT interested) so, I ate the whole thing. He was perplexed that I could eat that much. Sadly, two hours later, I was STARVING AGAIN and felt as if I hadn't eaten anything all day. Despite eating and drinking all day, I was SO INCREDIBLY HUNGRY! I went to bed and craved PIZZA, but didn't get up to satisfy my craving.

Thankfully, today (Sunday) I managed to keep my hunger under control again. I'm guessing that baby was having a little growth spurt. Latest email updates indicate that it will double it's weight and grow a few inches in length within the next week or two.

Looking back on the blog, I saw that at 17 weeks, I wrote that I was awakened from a sound sleep - wondering WHAT WAS THAT? as I felt Sydney move inside my belly. Other than that, the slight movements I had been feeling, I was unsure if it was baby or just gas. I mentioned at 18 weeks that I was starting to feel a little bit of movement when I laid down at night.

I recall at 19.5 weeks, at the ultrasound, I didn't think I had felt very much movement yet - only at night when I laid down. I also remember how freaked out I was that during the ultrasound, Sydney had done a somersault and flipped completely the other direction and I only felt a minimal little flutter.

Had a bedtime snack of some string cheese; now, time to go back to bed. (...Craving McDonald's Filet-o-Fish...)

Looking back on the blog

Earlier today, while Sydney was just settling down for his morning nap, I was quietly sitting in the office and skimming through some past blog entries.

We have SO MANY GOOD MEMORIES documented on the blog! 

I am SO GLAD that I have done this (blog) because there was A LOT of stuff that I have already (sadly) forgotten. There was A LOT of stuff that made me smile.

Since becoming a mother, I have NOT had a lot of time to pursue scrapbooking. (Heck, I feel lucky to get pictures downloaded off of my camera and have been WANTING to take the time to organize all of the photos into ONE PLACE on the computer so that I could easily back them all up onto a disk. The recent lightening strike - taking out Sydney's sound machine, the modem, the stove and the dryer - seems to have SPARKED a little more desire into me to want to do just that; however, I have been being responsible and taking naps, as well as going to bed early - since becoming pregnant again.)

I am glad that I have this ONE PLACE (my blog) to document all of our memories. 

Someday, I hope to order my blog postings as a giant printed book.... or break it up into multiple books by years. I've looked at them before on the internet, but MONEY is something that we do not have a lot of these days so, it has been added to my BUCKET LIST so-to-speak.

I'm thinking I need to look back to the beginning of my blogging days - and the beginning of my last pregnancy - to see if I felt morning sickness a lot back then. I certainly recall only a few instances off the top of my head. This time around, I feel as if I have had near-constant sickness FOR DAYS NOW! Today is the first day in a long time that I have felt actually GOOD. 

I keep telling Mike "I sure hope this kid is cute!" to which he replies "Of course it is!" 

Deep down, we're still banking on HEALTHY as our first choice, but our track record so far DID produce charmingly cute once already. So, the odds are in our favor! Tomorrow, we go in for another ultrasound to make sure that Baby 2 is doing well inside that abnormally large sac.