The growing babe update

I'm well over 22 weeks pregnant now. I like to think of this as the halfway mark, since usually a woman finds out she's pregnant about 18 weeks earlier (sometimes later, of course, which I can personally testify to, but usually between 4 and 5 weeks) and usually she delivers her baby about 18 weeks from now.

So far, things are going well. I can't complain about a whole lot. Sure, I'm exhausted beyond anything I've ever felt (honestly, I'm beginning to wonder just how low my iron levels were/are, because I have never felt as badly-- not even postpartum-- as I have this past month or so), I've started getting up at least once a night to use the bathroom again (so, basically, I got to sleep through the night for about 6 weeks out of the past, oh... 2 years), I still get heartburn from certain foods (like orange juice), and I'm not quite out of the Awkward Clothing Stage, but these are all "normal" things, really. Every time I want to cry about how wretched the iron pills make me feel or the fact that I don't like dealing with only owning 1 pair of maternity shorts and no maternity capris, I remind myself that I'm not on bedrest and that this baby is looking really healthy, and it all gets put into perspective.

I've gained about 6-9lbs so far (our unreliable scale here at home fluctuates a bit, depending on things like where exactly it's placed on the bathroom floor, and I haven't seen the doctor in 3 weeks). This is probably a lot to some of you, but it's only half-- at least-- of what I've usually gained at this point. It's also particularly low for me since most of my pregnancy weight gain typically takes place during my second trimester (for example, I gained 29lbs when pregnant with Aubrey and only 7 of those lbs were gained during my third trimester). While I honestly don't really care because I don't think the lower weight gain itself will make much of a difference in fetal weight, I can tell that the healthier eating is making a difference in how well my body is functioning-- even in spite of my iron deficiency-- and it's a good feeling to know that the baby isn't getting the junk from refined flours and sugars.

The only problem with the lower weight gain is that it's definitely played a huge part in extending the Awkward Clothing Stage I mentioned earlier.

Oh, and I really, really, really miss chocolate.

I think I already mentioned that I'm scheduled for a fetal echocardiogram with the pediatric cardiologists (the same group of doctors that Aubrey sees) on July 20th. Because I've given birth to a baby with congenital heart disease, I'm now considered at twice the risk for having another baby with congenital heart disease (up to 5-6% from 2-3%), so this sort of ultrasound with these specialists is now considered standard protocol for me. Assuming the fetal echocardiogram looks good, I will get bumped down from High Risk to Normal (for the duration of this pregnancy). How cool is that?!

Another thing that I'm really happy about is how well Aubrey's continued to nurse right through this pregnancy. She hasn't seemed a bit deterred by any changes that have taken place-- not even by the dramatically reduced supply. Several weeks ago, as I realized there were absolutely no indications of self-weaning, I started to panic at the idea of tandem nursing since she was so demanding when it came to nursing (as in, if she wanted to nurse but I wasn't available right. that. minute, she would follow me around the house, crying and hitting my legs until I finally catered to her) and I was starting to picture myself breastfeeding a newborn while she threw a fit at my feet. After discussing it with Daniel, however, I realized the problem wasn't nursing, but her attitude (what a revelation, huh?!). I've never before had to teach a child to expect anything less than On-Demand Nursing, but it seems to me that if she's old enough to throw a temper-tantrum about breastfeeding, she's old enough to understand and comply with, "You need to wait, Aubrey." We're still working on her response to such instruction (one can't expect an overnight change), but she's really improved a lot in that area and I now feel like continuing to breastfeed her even after the new baby arrives-- should that be what she needs/desires-- will work. And, quite honestly, the idea of her still getting the natural antibodies and immune builders that breastmilk offers through this coming winter really comforts me as a mom.

So, all in all, the halfway point finds me feeling very blessed.

And surprised that we're already here. Wow!