15 Weeks!

How Far Along:  15 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: At my starting weight- gained zero pounds so far..

Maternity Clothes: Still just maternity bottoms and tank tops

Stretch Marks: Not yet

Sleep:  Awful and painful

Best Moment This Week: Getting the heart doppler and getting to hear the heartbeat whenever we want!

Miss Anything: Sleeping on my stomach!

Movement: Cant feel it yet! Hopefully soon

Food Cravings:  Nothing I can think of

Anything make you quesy or sick: CAR RIDES!

Gender Predicition- leaning towards boy now...

Labor Signs: Had a scare this week!

Symptoms: Cramping, Crying, Tiredness- I feel like I'm back in the first trimester again :(

Belly Button in or out: In

Wedding ring on or off:  On

Happy or Moody: Emotional and becoming moody at times :(

Looking Forward to: The gender ultrasounds

Nursery Progress: Just waiting to know what color to fill it up with :)

Our baby is now the size of a navel orange- weighing in at 2.5 oz and is 4 inches long. Even though I cant feel movement yet, I sure can feel the baby growing! My stomach and back are feeling all the effects of a growing uterus!  The baby can now move all the joints and limbs and is moving like crazy inside me.  It's heart is increasing in capacity- it can now pump 25 quarts of blood each day!  And the baby can make facial expressions now- I cant wait for our next ultrasound!  

We got our home Heart Doppler this week!  We were so excited!!! It has worked GREAT- we can find our baby's heart beat every time and so quickly- so far our baby has been holding steady at 154bpm.  It never gets old hearing your baby in there :)  We just love it!

I went in for my monthly check up on Friday- I took my mom this time so Brian could save up some PTO time.  Everything went great- she got to hear the heartbeat and I got all good news! I had been cleared to do minimal activity- I could walk on a treadmill and maybe try some prenatal yoga, and do light hand weights under 5lbs. I got scheduled for my next ultrasound (i love getting ultrasounds!)-  its in about a month and they will be looking at all the organs to make sure they are developing right- the heart, lungs, brain, etc.

About noon that day I started noticing something wasn't right-  I brushed it off initially thinking it was probably just normal, but then by 3pm it had gotten much worse and by this time I knew something was wrong.  I called by doctor, but they closed at 230 on Fridays so I had just missed them.  My options at this point were to call the on call emergency doctor, go to the ER, or wait until Monday.  I really didn't want to do any of those- I didn't know how serious the problem was.  I ended up calling the on call doctor and good thing I did- She told me I needed to get to the Labor & Delivery as fast as possible to be monitored and tested.  The second she said the words Labor & Delivery- I lost it.  I started crying- I normally cry when I get scared and when you add on all the pregnancy hormones I have- now I cry that much more.  I was just so scared.  My boss called my husband to let him know- I was crying so hard I couldn't even talk- thankfully his work told him to leave right away and to go be with me.  Once I calmed down I called my mom as I was driving to let her know- I tried to stay as calm as possible so she wouldn't freak out.

We got to the hospital, got checked in, and got my little arm bracelet.  They labeled me as in for testing and observation- at this point we had no idea how long I would be here.  They took a urine sample to test and took us back into a room where the nurse explained how they were going to test everything .  They found the baby's heart beat- whew! that was a huge relief to me!  And then they did the test- They thought I was leaking amniotic fluid- which at 15 weeks is not good at all.  We waited and waited for the results to come back- and finally they did- it tested negative for amniotic fluid! Thank the Lord! That was one of the scariest moments I've had- I'm just so glad Brian was right beside me the whole time to calm me down.  This baby has just overcome so many odds- its a miracle- God is truly protecting it and caring for it.  So with that, they sent us home to rest and monitor the situation.  If it persisted or got worse we were supposed to call and come back in.

Sleeping is still so difficult and frustrating- I'm never comfortable, but I'm most comfortable on my back.  Which isn't how  I'm supposed to be sleeping.  Right now it takes 3 regular pillows and 2 body pillows for me to sleep- its like a fortress I have to build just to get somewhat comfortable.  I have a body size pillow on both sides of me- I try to use on to prop me up and make it more comfortable, but its not.  Being on my side at all gives me shooting pains to the point that I just cry out in pain.  I talked to my doctor about it, she recommended get a maternity pillow and said that its okay to sleep however is comfortable right now- even if that is on my back.  She said once I hit about 24 weeks we will have to figure something else out.... but for now it is just awful.

I felt like the last few weeks I was getting more energy and feeling better- but this week I feel like I'm right back in the first trimester.  I'm exhausted as soon as I wake up, I never feel good, I'm moody and miserable most of the day. I have absolutely no energy.  Don't get me wrong- I am so happy and excited and thankful to be pregnant and I love going on this journey with my husband...but I had no idea how hard it would be on me.  Work is the hardest, there are days I just don't know how I am going to make it through- whenever it seems impossible to make it to 5 o'clock I always just look at my screensaver-  our little one at 13 weeks just relaxing away-  it always make me feel better when I look at our baby- makes all of it absolutely worth it.  And I have such a good support system-  my mom has started driving to work more often that way I can just ride in the mornings when I'm not feeling good and she is always checking in on us to see if we need help with anything.  And my sweet sweet husband is just amazing. He is so patient with me and understanding. He can make me smile and make my heart smile even on the worst days.  I love getting to come home to him and just getting to lay on the couch cuddled up with him.

I'm so excited for whats coming up in the next month- I should start to feel flutters or movement, we have 2 more ultrasounds, and we will find out what we are having- we are so excited to have all our family together and our friends to find out what we are having!!!  Every day is so exciting and new- I just cant wait!