Update on the growth of the little one

Mother's Day - 23 weeks

I know the lighting is terrible in this picture, but check out how pointy my belly is!

I'll be 24 weeks in 2 days and according the the Mayo Clinic, baby should be measuring 15 inches long! What the heck? That seems gigantic!

Interesting events since last update:

1. Near fainting episode on the bus. I was sitting down comfortably on the bus on my way to work reading Husband-Coached Childbirth when suddenly everything started to go dark. I knew immediately that I was about to faint and I started sweating like crazy. To make things worse, my stop was coming up really quickly and I was afraid I would be passed out and miss my stop and it would be an hour before the bus came back around to it. Fortunately, I willed myself to remain conscious and was able to make it to my office without passing out.

What I learned: My doctor says I need to increase my salt intake. My blood pressure has been low lately (92/45, 100/60). Jared bought me a giant bag of sunflower seeds to suck on.

2. Ice pick headaches. Has anyone heard of these before? They're basically very short (1-2 seconds), very intense pains in my head. They're so intense I feel like I'll pass out if they last even a second longer, but they always go away very quickly. I've had them for years, but hadn't had any in 6 months until a couple of weeks ago, when I started having them multiple times a day. So my OB sent me to a neurologist.

What I learned: The headaches are nothing to be concerned about. Just an overactive or easily irritated occipital nerve. The neurologist calls these headaches "migraine volleys." Also while I was there, she so kindly informed me that 1) I have a very long neck, 2) I am a weakling (that was the exact word she used when telling me that I have "basically no musculature" around my neck and shoulders and that I need to do some strength training) and 3) I have a heart murmur. Thanks, doc. Actually, she was very nice and informative, but I walked away thinking 'really? She just called me a weakling?'

3. Mother bear showed her face. I was rear-ended on my way home from work last week. There was no damage to the car, but I was incredibly angry that this woman hit me (and didn't even get out of her car!). I yelled at her to watch where she was going, then got back in my car and drove away. I was too angry to think straight and didn't get her insurance info. We were both heading down the same street and she ended up in the lane beside me with her windows rolled down. At this point, I started to really worry about the baby and I decided she had not learned her lesson, so I yelled at her again. I was shocked that I did this since I never yell, but I can only attribute it to fiery maternal instincts. Turns out, after consulting with my doctor, I needed to go to the hospital to get checked out and make sure I wasn't having contractions. So I ended up in labor and delivery for an hour or so, hooked up to a monitor.

What I learned: I was told my uterus was "irritable" (having small contractions) but it was nothing to worry about and the baby was fine. Also, the labor and delivery rooms are huge and look like hotel rooms. Sweet!

4. We started a childbirth class. We're taking a Bradley class and it has been really great so far. My main reason I wanted to take a class was so that I could be as informed as possible and make educated decisions regarding my pregnancy and birth. This class is 2.5 hours every Monday night for 12 weeks, which seems like an incredibly long time to some people, but I think it's great. There's so much to learn about pregnancy and childbirth and I am keenly interested in knowing what is going on with my body. I'm not okay with sitting back and being poked and prodded and cut open without having any idea what's happening. It's also really exciting to have 2.5 hours dedicated each week to talking about and getting excited about this baby. Last week, a massage therapist came to the class to teach the menfolk how to give massages during pregnancy and labor. That's a class any woman can appreciate.