I know my original thought was to keep a pregnancy vlog, but let's just roll with what we're given... :)
Baby's Age
Baby is now 21 weeks old, and is working on its 22nd week of life in the womb.Baby's Movements
The first time we felt baby move was at 16 weeks, and since then, baby is extremely active. In fact, I was watching my belly today, and BAM! A small part of my womb protrudes for an awe-striking moment. I couldn't believe I had just seen my baby actually move against me. I called baby's sweet daddy over, and we both watched my belly shift with baby's movements.
Our sweet one mostly moves when I am relaxed and resting, although he or she has definitely been more active during the day when I am working.
Baby's Heart
At our latest midwife appointment, baby's heartbeat was a strong 123 beats per minute. Listen to the audio below. The "thumps" you hear in the video are the baby's movements. The loud one was actually somewhat uncomfortable for me.
https://app.box.com/s/8rdu16lbtt01m6sq8yrb
Baby's Mama
At my last midwife appointment, my midwife said I am very consistent. My blood pressure and heart rate were almost exactly the same from the month prior. I also gained 4 pounds in the last month, which is on-target for my pound-a-week goal. The belly was also at the correct size for the age of the baby.
Mama's Experiences
The second trimester has been mostly a return to "normal." I usually feel like myself, especially in comparison to the first trimester when I was sick everyday, all day and couldn't enjoy food. BUT... being a first year teacher with a first time pregnancy has been stressful, rough, and sometimes completely overwhelming. The other day, I found myself crying because I have not had the time or mental energy to think of baby names with my husband or research necessities for when the baby comes. Sometimes it's the little things, sometimes it's the big things, and sometimes it's the little things that I make big that overwhelm me. Let's blame it on hormones... :-)
Part of being overwhelmed has been the result of nesting! My body is producing a new hormone that encourages nesting, or increased homemaking. Already, my desire has been to stay at home with my children and to keep our family's home in peace and order. I want to bless my husband and build our family in any way I can. Unfortunately, I am not physically and mentally able to do so while pregnant and working full time. As it is, I wake up at 5:30am for work. Then, until recently, I worked until 5pm. Then, I had a 30-45 minutes (sometimes longer) drive home. I'd help start or finish up dinner, eat, and then head to bed by 8pm.
Not being able to care for my husband, home, and self as I desire has been emotionally draining. The Lord has put homemaking on my heart, and the pregnancy hormones have not helped me in a time when I have to work full time and not in the home.
Other experiences in this second trimester have been MAJOR forgetfulness, lower back aches, headaches, and spider veins. (Pregnancy sounds fun, doesn't it? But it actually is very wonderful to feel the baby and talk to the baby.)
I'm not sure if I am forgetting so much because I have so much to remember, or if I have a severe form of baby brain. Probably the latter. But it's SERIOUSLY bad. I usually have a very sharp memory and can memorize just about anything for as long as I want to. (I think it's part of my OCD-ness.)
The lower back aches are likely due to the fact that I stand all day for work. Also, my body is producing a hormone that loosens the joints in my lower back/pelvic bone for baby to have a more flexible route through the birth canal.
I have been experiencing severe headaches, also. I probably experience these because I am under so much stress and pressure to perform at work, work with misbehaviors from scholars, and not getting an adequate amount of sleep. I get tired and go to bed at about 8pm, but I toss and turn a lot with my back ache, get up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom, sometimes wake up early in the morning because of a kid in the neighboring apartment who will scream and cry, and then wake up at 5:30am for work.
Finally, I noticed that my right leg now has spider veins. I have quite a "web" around the middle of my calf on my shin bone. I have read that these spider veins should disappear two to four months after giving birth and are the result of pressure on the right side of my body.
Other experiences in this second trimester have been MAJOR forgetfulness, lower back aches, headaches, and spider veins. (Pregnancy sounds fun, doesn't it? But it actually is very wonderful to feel the baby and talk to the baby.)
I'm not sure if I am forgetting so much because I have so much to remember, or if I have a severe form of baby brain. Probably the latter. But it's SERIOUSLY bad. I usually have a very sharp memory and can memorize just about anything for as long as I want to. (I think it's part of my OCD-ness.)
The lower back aches are likely due to the fact that I stand all day for work. Also, my body is producing a hormone that loosens the joints in my lower back/pelvic bone for baby to have a more flexible route through the birth canal.
I have been experiencing severe headaches, also. I probably experience these because I am under so much stress and pressure to perform at work, work with misbehaviors from scholars, and not getting an adequate amount of sleep. I get tired and go to bed at about 8pm, but I toss and turn a lot with my back ache, get up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom, sometimes wake up early in the morning because of a kid in the neighboring apartment who will scream and cry, and then wake up at 5:30am for work.
Finally, I noticed that my right leg now has spider veins. I have quite a "web" around the middle of my calf on my shin bone. I have read that these spider veins should disappear two to four months after giving birth and are the result of pressure on the right side of my body.
Mama's Blood Results/Ultrasound
At 20 weeks, I had blood taken and recently received the results back. Everything looks fine, although my red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit levels are all low. Apparently, that means I am anemic. I haven't talked with my midwife about the results yet. I am sure she will let me know if these lower levels are of any concern or what action steps I should take.
As for the ultrasound... remember that forgetfulness I mentioned... GUILTY. I keep forgetting to call the doctor's office to determine insurance and then to schedule an appointment. So... no ultrasound yet.
Mama's Actions Steps Moving Forward
As of my 20th week, I have started drinking one cup of red raspberry leaf tea each morning. Red raspberry leaf tea is said to tone the uterus so that the contractions are much more effective during labor and delivery. Drinking red raspberry leaf tea has also been linked to shorter active labor time.
I would also like to begin going to the chiropractor for adjustments and alignment. I have read research studies that suggest regularly going to a chiropractor helps place baby in an optimal position for delivery and helps my pelvis to be aligned for labor to be shortened. I think going to the chiropractor may also help with my significant back aches.
Once my husband and I have had our ultrasound, we would like to have a gender reveal party. I have been keeping up with the old wives' tales (just for fun), and have been comparing my baby to these tales. Right now, I am saying girl... BUT... some tales are showing boy.... We'll see. I'm just looking forward to a happy, healthy baby.
My husband and I would also like to go on a baby moon, or a vacation before the baby comes that will be our last as "just the two of us." I'm not sure when or where, yet... but it should be pretty fun!
Okay... so there's an update. Wow. Lots to share, and I am sure I am forgetting the majority of it. haha :-) I hope that I will be able to resume pregnancy videos in the future. For now,
God bless you and keep you,
~Raquel
