Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Proven Wrong

So on Sunday I went to church and everyone asked me how I was doing, and I said, "Oh, I am doing better, less nausea, feeling good, yea I am doing good." Well, the baby likes to prove me wrong. First thing that happened this morning, I woke up brushed my teeth and proceeded to vomit. Yay, morning sickness not gone yet. All day I have felt ill, nauseous. I have been trying to snack and eat things to keep it down, but nothing is helping. Week 17, and still sick, really? People keep telling me that it is healthy. Ugh.

On the other hand I feel like I am getting bigger all the time, every morning in fact. It seems strange to wake up each morning, feel my belly and think, "Is it just me or is it bigger this morning than it was last night?" And I am still tired all the time. Having Kevin around is nice, because I don't get to see him often enough as it is, but when he is around I get to bed later than I usually do, so I am sooooo tired when morning comes. Pregnant morning person and night owl hubby just don't mix well when it comes to sleep.

Oh well, hopefully I don't puke again today, the way things are going though I am not counting on it.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Updates

This weekend I was able to have a voice chat with my sister, except I could not find my microphone so she talked and I typed. While we talked she informed me that it had been four days since I had last posted a baby post, and that she was yearning for her fix. So here we go.

This Saturday started week 17, the nausea is getting better but not going away, this morning I almost threw up again, and last night too, but my jedi mind tricks are keeping it all down so far. From what the different websites say I should start to feel movement soon, either this week or in the next three or four weeks. I think I may have been feeling something, but I am not completely sure.

We recently got BellyBuds which is a sound playing device that will allow us to play music and voice messages to the baby while it is in the womb. I sent out an invite to my parents, Kevin's parents, and my sister and brother. So far only my sister has made any messages for the baby. Five in fact and all of them awesome! In about three of them there is Sariah (my sister) and sometimes Sydney talking, and in two of them we have Sydney singing the baby a song (Twinkle Twinkle little star, and Frere Jacques), so cute!

In about two weeks my ultrasound happens and we (hopefully) find out what gender we are having. Exciting stuff!

Yesterday Kevin was talking to me and he says, "What day of the week did you have your Irish Dance lessons?"
Me: Saturday
Him: Ok, I was trying to figure out how this will work, because Milwaukee is quite a ways away.

It is a funny little conversation to have. Kevin and I have had discussions about what we would like our kids involved in as they grow up. Kevin would like to get all the kids involved in martial arts, no matter the gender. Recently he saw a video of a girl who gets into an elevator and is followed in by a guy (the video is from the elevator camera), the guy proceeds to try and attack her as if to rape her, the girl supplexes (a Greco Roman wrestling move) the guy and when the elevator doors open the guy runs out chased by the girl as if she is going to kick his butt. He likes the idea of one of our daughters being able to protect herself in that way if needed. He also likes the idea of any boy we have being able to protect himself as well. My only rule about it all is that all martial arts will be practiced only at the dojo, none at home. And we would also like to get the girls and maybe the boys into Irish Dance.

I was in Irish Dance when I was in my Senior year of high school and I loved it. I really wished I had gotten into it sooner in life. I think it would be a lot of fun for any girls we have and possibly for any boys we have. I say boys because I saw the reception the boys in our dance school got and everyone loved them, people cheered them more than the girls, and the air they got, dang. Anyway, it was a fun conversation to have with Kevin, considering that we have talked about it before. It is neat to see him planning things out in his head.

Kevin is funny, most of the time he acts like the whole pregancy, baby thing isn't really much of anything to him, and then every so often he will make a comment that makes me realize, "Wow, he really does think about the baby quite often."

Today I went online and looked at some cribs, I even put a few on my Amazon wishlist. They had some on sale and the prices for some were really good considering. Depending on how long the sale lasts we may end up getting one in the near future. We will see.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Diaper Bag of Holding

Last night Kevin and I started discussing diaper bags. I asked him if he would be willing to carry around a diaper bag. He said, "Only as long as it doesn't look stupid or pretty, if you make sure it looks ok with no flowers and stuff on it then I will probably be fine with carrying one around."

Thus started our grand design to have a "Diaper Bag of Holding" created. For those unfamiliar with this let me explain. In the game of Dungeons and Dragons you can have all sorts of gear for your characters. One of the most useful items is a bag of holding. These bags basically open into an alternate demension or a pocket in space. The premise of the bags is that you can pretty much hold anything and everything. Think of Mary Poppins' bag.

Anyway, the website Think Geek offers a bag of holding, but what we really need is a diaper bag of holding. So we are setting out to see what can be done. If it all works we will have a diaper bag that Kevin is comfortable carrying that screams out our geekyness the whole world over.

Depending on how much it might cost the bag will probably look like this:

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Appointments and the Doppler

So this morning I had my doctor's appointment. We listened to the baby through the doppler again, but this time Kevin was there too. He got to hear the heartbeat, and the sound of the baby moving. I guess my baby is quite active according to the doctor. I asked her about nausea, she didn't have any suggestions. I asked her about acne, she said I shouldn't really take anything, and that the best I can do is to keep my face clean and dry. She gave me the information to schedule my ultrasound and told me to schedule another appointment with her in 4 weeks.

I called up the place for the ultrasound and got it scheduled for September 13th, hopefully the baby will cooporate and we will be able to find out the gender. My next doctor appointment will be on September 16th. She mentioned that I should start looking into doctors that are covered by our insurance out in the Rochelle area and see what is covered. I have this feeling that they will all be up in Rockford. Joy. She said that I should check to see if they are accepting new patients before we move. Yay. We will see how this all goes.

After the appointment Kevin said that we should get a prenatal music system, well not exactly those words but that basis idea. A prenatal music system is a device that allows you to play music and voices to the baby. Very often this allows the baby to absorb things such as music as a calming thing and voices as something it will recognise when it is born. There is one being sold at Think Geek for $99, which is too pricey for me, but there are some others that I think we could afford. I think it is cute that Kevin wants to do this. One of his ideas is that we can play scriptures on tape to the baby. For his birthday he asked for the Bible on tape, which he has been listening to on his drive to and from work. He is cute.

It is odd to think that soon I will begin to feel the baby move and soon we will find out (hopefully) what gender it is. Yay!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Name Changes and Registries

This weekend I ended up driving out to my parent's to celebrate my birthday, which went well, but that is a topic for another post. What I want to focus on for this post is baby registries and a name change in our list of names.

On Saturday evening my mom and I went to Rockford to do some registry building for any baby shower I may have. We first hit up Babies R Us, which is a neat store to do a registry in. The sign up is nice and they give you a gift bag at the end of it all. Together my mom and I went around the store and scanned things that I figured I would probably need. Finally after awhile there we called it good and headed over to Walmart to start another registry. When we got there I discovered that their scanner was not working and that I would have to do my registry somewhere else, either at another store or online.

Sometime this week I think I may stop by Target and one of the Walmarts around here and do some further registry scanning. I think I am going with a baby safari theme for the nursery, it is gender neutral and it is cute. So we will have little giraffes, lions, tigers, and other baby African animals. Babies R Us had a whole bunch of safari themed items there. Maybe I am thinking too far ahead on the whole thing, but I like to be prepared ahead of time.

On to the name change. When it came down to girls names Kevin and I had quite the argument over the last few years. Finally we agreed recently on the name Evalisa, however it was a name that I sort of created and though I liked it I was a bit worried about possible nicknames. Not long after creating it I began to think about alternatives. Along with this was the fact that because we created the name we really didn't have a meaning associated with it. Which was something we have put great importance on.

This weekend we all watched the movie Nanny McPhee. Which is a way cute movie that has a Mary Poppins type feel to it. In the movie there is a character who is named Evangeline.

I really liked the name Evangeline when I heard it in the movie and it had what I wanted in it. Eva as part of the name, because I want to incorporate my great grandmother's name as part of our baby's name and it is a real name so it has a meaning attached to it. So I brought it up to Kevin, at that time I didn't know what it meant so I told him I would look it up. Otherwise he liked the name, but thought my reasons for wanting to change were kind of silly.

So when we got home I looked up Evangeline to find out the meaning. Turns out the name is Greek in its origin and it means "like an angel" which is truthfully perfect. When I told Kevin he loved it and said it was perfect. So I think our name choice for our first daughter has changed from Evalisa to Evangeline. I like the change, I like the meaning of this new name, perfect for our little baby if it is a girl like an angel come down from heaven.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Baby Showers

I have been thinking about baby showers for awhile now. And when I say that I mean since about week 9 or so. And I have good reason to. I know there are people in my life who are going to throw at least one baby shower for me. So last night after running some errands I went over to Babies R' Us and looked around. Kevin has kept me away from a lot of baby stuff so far so I haven't really gotten a good look at what is out there. I looked at bottles, and pacifiers, and breast pumps and breast milk bags, and blankies (I ended up spending a lot of time near those just touching them, soooo soft), and cribs (I think I want a crib that converts to a bed later), and strollers, and pack and plays (I had no idea what those were until I saw them. How cool, a play pen with a sleeping area, and on some a changing area. Neat!), and car seats, and then finally baby clothes.

I was meeting up with two of my friends from church and we were all planning to meet at a restaurant that was just across the parking lot from the Babies R Us, and what do you know, but I met up with both of them in the store. It worked out well because when we went to the restaurant we discovered that the air conditioning was not working there so we took the food to one of their houses and spent the night talking. And of course baby showers came up. Which was interesting because I have already had one lady ask if she could throw a baby shower for me, so I told them to hook up with her (she is also in our church) and start the planning. I am currently wanting to register at a bunch of places, that way people can shop wherever, and don't have to be tied down to just one place. So I have to figure out stores.

I am currently thinking:
Babies R Us
Target
Walmart

And I am not quite sure what else. I will have to look around online. See what I can find. I am already signed up with MyRegistry.com which allows you to put all your registries in one place so people can see the whole list. I am thinking that I will see about registering for stuff possibly this weekend if I get a chance.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Week 15

I am currently in the last days of week 15 of my pregnancy. On Saturday I enter week 16. According to some of the sites I have read I may start to feel movement this week. Have I? Not really. There is a good chance I won't feel anything until week 20. It does seem strange to realize that I am just a little over a month away from being halfway done with my pregnancy.

The baby should be able to hear soon, and that will be interesting. I need to start practicing and begin to talk to it. Yes it will probably increase my chances of people thinking I am some crazy woman who talks to herself. But it would be nice to begin talking to the little one. I don't know that I want to tell my co-workers about it, because I'm not really keen on the idea of people talking to my belly. I have had a few people reach out to touch my belly already, and it is awkward. I can see where some women get aggressive about people touching them while they are pregnant. Who knows, maybe there is a materinty shirt out there that says, "Hands off!" I might look into it.

For those who are wondering, yes I am still sick. I nearly threw up this morning. I have been able to use my jedi mind tricks enough to keep from throwing up as much as I have, but I am still nauseous most of the time and my list of food I can eat keeps getting smaller and smaller. This week the tamalies that I have been using for lunches finally betrayed me, so I have moved on to mac and cheese. I discovered that Velveeta makes a mini mac and cheese bowl which you can buy in a four pack for about 80 cents per bowl. I can deal with that. And it has a cook time similar to the tamalie so I feel pretty good about it so far.

I weighed myself this morning, I have currently gained about 3 lbs from what I was at the beginning of the pregnancy. So here is the record so far: Got pregnant, 1st trimester lost 5 lbs, got to 2nd trimester gained 1 lb, three more weeks into the 2nd trimester gained 2 more lbs. I am ok with this so far. I haven't done as much exercise this week as I usually do, tonight I may walk the mall (one mile each way and I walk from one end to the other end and back again). It has just been far too hot for me to go outside and walk. And I don't want to get heat exhaustion again.

Kevin is hoping that the pregnancy might fix my metabolism. And considering that I plan on improving my exercise routine once I have the baby I am hoping he is right. I would like to drop the baby fat afterward and the extra fat I have as well. And as a plus, if I lose weight it will inspire Kevin to lose weight, he likes competition.

I have been looking at baby stuff again. I think tonight I will stop by a Babies R' Us, and get some ideas for baby shower registry items. Would it be odd for me to put a breast pump on it? I might see if this weekend my parents would be willing to go to Rockford with me and do some baby registry shopping. I get the feeling they might be a little more excited about going with me than Kevin is. With my birthday coming up it has been difficult for me to get my head out of baby needs mode and into Rachel wants mode. I kept thinking of things that we could get for the baby until Kevin told me he refused to get something for the baby and that my birthday was about me and not about the baby. My parents sided with him as well. Ah well.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Heat Exhaustion

Today I am cold, I wore my maternity capris to work today, trying to use up the jean stickers that I have gotten. I like them, they stay up, unlike my maternity jeans, but they also leave the lower part of my legs cold in the office environment. The short sleaved shirt that I chose does little more for my exposed arms.

Such a change from yesterday. Saturday night we got home late because we drove from Rochelle, I had taken a nap before coming to pick up Kevin from work, so I was wide awake the entire ride home. Sunday morning though was difficult to wake up to. But I forced myself up and got Kevin's meds for him and started on his programs for church. He had taken a sleeping pill to get to sleep the night before and now was having trouble waking up. I fed the dogs, ate some cereal, did all the things that usually work for me. Then while printing off the programs our black cartridge ran out, with no way to finish the programs without another cartridge Kevin had to go to the store for a refill.

While he was gone I started my shower. The water felt warm, maybe a little hotter than usual, but I figured I would be ok. I had left the bathroom door open so that I had more cool air in the room, but the shower felt so warm, and then suddenly too warm. I was halfway through the shower, I had just finished shampooing my hair and was just about to put conditioner in, when I began to feel weird, wrong, light headed, wobbly, wrong. I turned off the water and opened the door, sucking in cool air, hoping it would clear my head. It didn't. So I stumbled from the shower, nearly passing out in the bathroom as I reached for my towel and stumbled to the bed.

Thank goodness for Kevin's sister who got us huge bath towels for Christmas, I spread out the towel on the bed and lay there, my wet hair thankfully seeping into the towel and not my bed. The fan above spun, cooling me but not fast enough. I felt like passing out, but instead I clung to conciousness and waited for Kevin to come home.

Finally he got home and I told him I wasn't doing so well. I told him what had happened and he said it sounded like heat exhaustion. He asked how much fluids I had so far that day. None. He let me lay there for a while, finally I felt good enought that I got up and put some conditioner on my hair and then covered it with a shower cap. Letting conditioner soak into your hair for awhile is good to do every so often and I did not have enough energy to finish the shower yet.

I went out and sat in one of our computer chairs. I felt tired, no exhausted, like all energy had been sucked out of me. I told Kevin and he said fatigue was one of the signs of heat exhaustion. He brought me a jug of Gatorade and a jug of water and told me I had to finish at least one of them. I finished off the Gatorade as I watched his programs print for him while he took his shower. I was feeling better by the time the programs were done and folded but I still was only halfway through the shower. And Kevin had to get to church. So he left me at home and left, saying that I should call him when or if I felt ready for him to come and pick me up and take me to church too.

I waited a little longer, and then when I felt good enough I went to finish my shower. I made the water cooler than before, and took less time, but by the time I got out I was panting again. I finished getting ready, putting up my hair, putting on my lotion, but I still felt about to pass out. So I called Kevin and told him I didn't think I would make it. He told me he was coming home to me, which sounded wonderful to me.

He came home and we slept for the next few hours. I still felt tired the rest of the day, but better than before. It was a scary reminder that I need to keep hydrated.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Belly Pictures

So I have had some people ask me about belly pictures. Not that I am showing much yet. My mom thinks I should take some, and my grandma want me to send her belly pictures and so it got me thinking.

Maybe I should take some belly pictures. Today Kevin called me to talk about house stuff and while talking to him I was wandering around online and happened to look at my e-mail and see from one of the pregnancy things I am signed up with, "Did you take a belly photo? Record this milestone." And so I said to him, "I am going to need you to help me take some belly pictures of me." And he said, "Why? It's not like you are showing much." And I said, "Because people want them." And he laughed and said, "Ok."

So what are your thoughts, belly pictures, no belly pictures, wait till I am showing more, or do an update every few weeks to show how I am getting fatter?

Pillows and Dates

I can't remember, but I am pretty I haven't told you all about my new pillow. Awhile ago, I can't remember how long, probably about a week and a half or so, Kevin and I were at Aldi, for those of you who don't have an Aldi near you or have no idea what one is.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Dodging the bullet

Or the $4738 hospital payment.

I have found that when going through any medical proceedure that requires you to go to the hospital it is so very nice to have insurance. I learned this first when we went through cancer with Kevin and a $17,000 bill came to us saying that it had all been paid by our insurance. Those are the kind of bills that stop your heart and then get it started again in a leap of joy.

So when I received my first bill for the egg extraction I had a similar reaction. 4738 dollars? Oh, wait, it is covered entirely by the insurance company, and I only have a $200 co-pay. Whew!

So imagine my surprise when I got a letter yesterday saying the following:
"The claim for this patient was reviewed based on additional information received. We have completed an adjustment, and have determined that an additional payment is not available.

*Your total responsibility to the provider of services is $4,738.18.* This total includes any amount you may have previously paid your provider for these services."

This is not the kind of letter you want to receive, especially when you have already jumped through all the necessary hoops. Done all the unpleasant tests that the insurance company required to cover you, and used the referal just like they required you to. When you have done every little thing the insurance company asked you to this is not what you want to see.

So I called the number they listed for questions. And got a lady who looked into it for me. I ended up sitting on hold for about 30 minutes while she looked at things and got things taken care of, but at the end of it all she said that it was covered, and that we didn't have to worry about it after all. Another big whew! My only worry now is that this bill was only for the egg extraction. The bill for the embryo implantation was another $3000. Hopefully I will not have to go through the same thing with that one.