23 Week Pictures

Here are my belly pictures from 23 weeks:

You can see my little outie belly button if you look closely:

And my outie here:

Front shot:

I know a couple of people who keep saying that they don't think I'm growing. It's starting to piss me off, because it's absolutely absurd. The last time I posted belly pictures on my blog was at 14 weeks. I posted the same pictures on my facebook. Then I posted 18 week pictures on FB, and I was told that I looked like I hadn't grown at all. I totally had, it just had to do with the time of day the pictures were taken at. The 14 week pictures were taken in the evening, and the 18 week ones were taken earlier in the day.

Anyway, there are a couple of people who, since 14 weeks, have been trying to tell me that I don't look any bigger. Even now, at 23 weeks! It's complete crap, and it drives me nuts. My belly has grown 4 inches in diameter since I was 17 weeks (and it's not extra love handles)! Who knows how much it's grown since 14 weeks (I wasn't measuring at that point).

I just want to slap them and say "Are you BLIND?"

Clearly they are.

Pregnancy at 23 Weeks

How far along: 23 weeks

Total weight gain: about 18 lbs, I think... again, it's hard to say because I was never weighed at the doctor's office before I was 8 weeks pregnant and had already put on some weight.

Stretch marks?: No new ones

Sleep: Still horrible. A few weeks ago I started getting really bad leg cramps every night that make me jump out of bed to walk it off. I am still peeing up to 6 times a night, and waking up multiple times besides that. My OB said I can't sleep on my back (I was really hoping he'd disagree was that particular piece of "wisdom"), so I'm still sleeping on my side and it loads of pain.

Best moments this week: Seeing Bambino kicking on the outside! I realized I could have seen it on the outside a long time ago if I had only looked. It's so amazing to see. Also buying new crib bedding and a car seat. I'm feeling more and more prepared all the time.

Food cravings: Still sweets, particularly chocolate. Also, this past week I have been DYING to drink pop. But I haven't.

Sex: Boy!

Labor signs?: About 20 Braxton-Hicks per day. So glorious.

Belly Button: 80% of the way popped.

What I miss the most: I still gotta say, sleeping on my back.

What I am looking forward to the most: I can't wait until this little munchkin is here in our arms. I cannot wait to meet him. It makes me tear up:)

Milestones: Seeing movement on the outside. And DH now consistently feels Bambino kick and sees it too.

Weekend Events

23 weeks

On Friday night I bought a carseat!! It was on sale for like $100 off. It was an infant carrier that goes up to 30lb instead of 22lb, which I really wanted, because our baby would probably grow out of a 22lb carseat in 6 months. The seat is brown and green. I like it!

I also chose and registered for our high chair... after a lot of research I finally landed on which one I wanted... more about that later.

It was a friend's shower on Saturday, then I cleaned the majority of the house, had a fight with David's Bridal (that is ongoing) and went to our provincial secondary school volleyball finals.

Then on Sunday DH and I did a bunch of errands after church. We bought everything we need to paint the baby's room (except the paint... I still haven't decided on the exact shade of blue I want). We also returned the bedding we bought a couple of months ago because it just wasn't practical enough. Here was my reasoning:

-It was $225 (and that was $50 off!), which is a lot of money to spend on bedding, considering we need SO much stuff for the baby and there's no way people are going to buy us everything.

-It was especially a lot of money to pay considering I wasn't going to use the comforter and maybe not the bumper pads

-I really want blue walls, and I wasn't convinced that this bedding was perfect for blue walls

-It's a really wonderfully soft jersey knit fabric. But we have 2 cats who love spending time our crib, and their claws would destroy that soft fabric. Not to mention the fact that their hair would stick to it like mad.

Finally, I had found a dust ruffle and crib sheet (as seperates, since those are all I'm planning on using) that I thought was perfect, so we spent $50 and bought those. So now we have $175 more in our baby envelope that we can use to buy actual necessities.

ALSO on Sunday I registered for a few more things that I wasn't sure about before. I chose the bottles and breast pump I want. I plan on exclusively breast feeding, but you never know when you might HAVE to pump and give the baby a bottle because you are away for longer than you anticipated or something like that.

Later on that day I had tea with my pregnant friend, and then my brother, his fiance, and my mom came over for dinner (my dad was working). I had about an hour's notice, but it was fun!

Some people might think that's it's early to have registered. I don't, considering I'm due in less than 4 months. I don't have any showers coming up, but I just have because I need to feel prepared.

Registering is hard though! Some people can just go pick things no problem. But I have a harder time with that. It takes me awhile to pick big things like high chairs and play pens and car seats and strollers (not to mention the fact that my husband is 6'5" and doesn't fit behind any strollers without kicking them... that really limits my selection to strollers that cost about $700, which I refuse to pay).

I always want what I register for to be in a price range that people might ACTUALLY buy it for us (so no $300 high chairs). But it also has to be something I like, and something that's functional.

For example, it took me awhile to realize what I was even looking for in a high chair. We wanted this cherry wood one where the padding matched the play pen we registered for. But I wasn't sure if we should register for that one because it didn't fold up or recline or anything. But I also wasn't sure if those things were so important.

Then Babies R Us had a high chair on sale, regular $169.99 for $99.99. I liked how it looked online, so I was going to buy it. When I read the reviews a person was complaining about how you had to struggle to get the baby's legs into the leg holes, which were there even when the tray was off. That wasn't even something I had considered when looking for a high chair, but I realized that would be an issue for me.

So that ruled out the high chair on sale, and it ruled out the wooden high chair (after I went to go look at it again I realized it had the same problem). So then I had to pick one that I liked, that went with our house, was reasonably priced, and that I could just sit the baby in like a chair and then slide the tray and leg divider on.

After realizing those were my criteria, I only had one high chair to choose from.

Choosing baby stuff can be difficult!!

Father-Son Bonding

22 weeks 4 days

Last night Justin was talking to my belly, and everytime Bambino heard his voice he smoked me with a big kick. It was so cute. Over and over again we watched him make my belly bulge everytime Justin started talking.

It really is a very strange feeling.

Bambino Showed Off For Daddy

Last night Justin and I were spending the evening together watching TV, and he saw my tummy move as the baby was kicking! It was so fun to share that with him. It’s just the coolest sight. It’s really amazing for me because I feel it and see it. But Justin was pretty excited that he was seeing my belly move. He also felt Bambino kick a few times, too (which he had already done, but it’s still cool… it never gets old for me, anyway). And we felt his leg lying across the front of my uterus. For a few minutes there was this skinny, long, hard section that came out from where his foot had been kicking me. We’ve felt his head, bum, and back on many occasions, so it was cool to feel his little leg. Although Justin hates when we poke on my belly and feel the baby. He’s afraid we’re going to hurt him.

The baby is getting much stronger. Yesterday was the first day that he was kicking me while I was standing up walking around. Or at least it was the first time I felt him doing it. I could feel it on the inside and the outside, which I found to be pretty impressive, considering all my stomach muscles were engaged as I was walking around.

Today he’s continued on with the kicking me while I’m up moving around. This little guy just loves life. I honestly don’t know when he sleeps.

He was kicking me really hard at one point this morning as I was sitting down and my class was doing art. So I called one of my students over (one I’ve taught for 2 years) and put her hand on my belly. She felt him kick, and seemed pretty awed by it. I’m sure that was the first time she ever felt a baby kick before.

Surgical Consult

I had a surgical consult yesterday afternoon. I don’t think I’ve blogged about this (mostly because it’s just TMI), but I’ve been having gastrointestinal issues since April. It started just as I was finishing my first round of injectables; in fact, it started on the exact day of my first IUI. It hasn’t really let up since then. Basically, the problem is loose stools that contain blood and mucous. I wasn’t too concerned about it for quite some time. I thought it would go away, but it hasn’t. Apparently it’s not going to! I first went to my GP about it. He couldn’t figure out what it was, so after a couple of visits he sent me to a surgeon.

The doctors all think I have some form of colitis. Either Crohn’s colitis or ulcerative colitis. Colitis is basically Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which is what I thought I had anyway, so this information didn't shock me.

He wants to do a colonoscopy. I'm not thrilled about that idea just in general (who would be?), but much less while I'm pregnant. It just doesn't seem right to me to have something shoved up there invading space while you're growing a human life. My first instinct was that that’s too dangerous. Besides that, I'm not willing to take the sedatives you need to take for the procedure while I'm pregnant. I told him that.

So the surgeon said "We can do it without the sedatives." WHAT?! Are you friggin insane? Get a colonoscopy with no sedatives?!? Yeah that's definitely not happening.

I said I'm not getting it done until after I give birth. He wasn't terribly impressed with my decision, and I wasn't terribly impressed with him that he thought I should risk my child just over some blood and mucous, and that he suggested they shove something up my bum (an EXIT area only) without drugs.

I asked him what we do if I DO have colitis, and he mentioned the drugs I would go on. I wasn't happy with that either. I don't want to be on those types of medications for the rest of my life. I know people who are on them and they don't seem to help that much, and they have really crappy side effects. Besides that, I won't take them while I'm nursing, pregnant or trying to get pregnant, so it'll be quite awhile before I'd even be able to take them.

After my appointment it suddenly hit me - why have I not gone to my naturopath over this? The thought had honestly not even occurred to me, despite the fact that I've been dealing with this since April. So I headed over to the store. They were all shocked that the surgeon wanted to do a colonoscopy while I was pregnant. First of all, it can puncture the bowel, which would put me into emergency surgery. It can also induce miscarriage. And the very fact that he suggested doing one without sedatives is insane. They made me feel much better about my decision to wait.

They also gave me a bunch of supplements that are apparently fine during pregnancy. Heavy duty (super expensive) probiotics (to super dose me for a couple of months, and then I can go on normal probiotics), L-Glutamine (which repairs tissues and mucous membranes), and Marshmallow root (which soothes mucous membranes). I'm going to take this stuff for a month, then go back and talk to them about how things are going. Hopefully the situation will have improved somewhat and I can continue with this regime.

I would rather deal with this whole colitis thing naturally. Colitis can’t be cured medically, but it can be cured naturally. I would much rather solve the problem, rather than mask the symptoms. I really don’t want to deal with this for the rest of my life. Apparently it can cause such bad problems that you need to get parts of your digestive tract removed… that’s horrible.
I really don’t know why this happened. It’s such an annoyance. I’m really trying to not let it bother me and stress me out, because stress only makes colitis worse. Plus, it’s not good for Bambino.

My Tummy Moved

Last night I saw my tummy move for the first time! I was just sitting in bed watching TV and my belly was exposed because the baby had been kicking, so I was feeling him. Suddenly he started kicking me to the left of my belly button over and over and his little foot kept bulging out.

It was soooooo cool. I almost started crying. Unfortunately, Justin was in the garage training a client, so he didn't get to see it:( If th baby had just done it 10 minutes earlier, he would have been there. He and Bambino have horrible timing with each other.

I realized that I could have seen my tummy move a long time ago if I had only looked (instead of just felt). He wasn't even kicking me that hard compared to how he sometimes does, but I saw every little kick. Sometimes he kicks me so hard it actually startles me, so I'm sure if I would have been looking at my tummy during those kicks I definitely would have seen them!

After the kicking I saw some movements going across my belly on a couple of occasions. I didn't think I would see this until way later.

Take THAT, anterior placenta!

Wonderful Name News

I got some amazing news this weekend from my husband! It made my entire weekend (despite the intense discomfort I was experiencing).

We no longer have to use "Salvatore" in our son's name. That's his dad's name, and Italian tradition is that Salvatore should be our son's first name, but there's no way that was happening, so it was going to have to be a middle name.

I really don't like that name, and it was embarassing me in advance that that was going to be part of my baby's name. It's just so flippin Italian. However, my husband was insisting that we use it as a middle name, no matter how much I protested. (I'm serious, it was really upsetting me.)

Well, this weekend he was hanging out with his mom and dad and they mentioned that maybe we'd use the name Samuel instead of Salvatore (not that my dear husband told them how much I disliked the name... or at least I hope he didn't). Apparently Samuel is the English version of Salvatore (who knew?) and if we use that as a middle name, they will still see it as us honoring his dad.

I was so excited! Samuel is a normal name!!!! I felt like a weight was lifted off my chest!!

So we have Bambino's middle names picked out (Samuel James). We just haven't landed on his first name yet.

Scare

Okay, so I had a freak out this weekend.

First of all, starting on Friday at about 6 pm, my entire abdomen really hurt, but it was concentrated mostly in my uterine area. Everytime I moved or shifted positions I was in major pain. Walking was horrid. I thought it would go away overnight, but it didn't, and at 10pm on Saturday I still had the same pain.

The pain was worrying me a bit, because it was something I'd felt in the past, but only for a couple of hours at a time, never for over 24 hours! But the baby was kicking like crazy, so I wasn't terribly concerned.

However, at about 5 pm on Saturday the baby stopped moving. I waited all evening for him to start again, but nothing. I figured he was just tired or in a weird position. I went to sleep (still in pain).

I woke up many times during the night, as usual, and never felt him. Usually I feel little (or big) kicks throughout the night as I wake up. When I woke up at 3am it really started to worry me, and I couldn't fall back asleep. I laid there awake until 5:30am, and never felt him move the entire time. So I went and ate an apple and some toast and peanut butter. I was starving, but I was also hoping the food would make him move.

It didn't. I stayed awake until 7am, he still didn't move. I fell asleep until 8am. I got up, drank some tea and ate some cookies... nothing. At around 10:30 DH and I had breakfast... still nothing.

At this point it's been 18 hours since I've felt the baby move. I'd eaten multiple meals, I was sitting quietly the whole time, and I was only asleep for a few of those hours. My kid usually moves every hour!

I was totally freaked out, obviously. And then he started kicking again at around noon. Much more softly than normal, but still, he was kicking. I almost cried.

He must be in a weird position, because I'm feeling him move regularly now, but the kicks aren't nearly as strong as they were. Sometimes his kicks startle me, they're so strong. I've actually jumped in my seat before. But now, it's almost like they're punches instead of kicks.

The worries don't really ever end, do they?

Bambino Kicked Daddy

21 weeks 2 days

I've been feeling the baby kicking on the outside of my stomach for weeks. He's a strong little guy apparently. However, for awhile the only reason I would feel him was because I would sit there with a hand on my belly and I was lucky that he would just happen to kick in that spot. He rarely continued to kick there more than two or three times, which wasn't enough time to get my husband to put his hand there to feel something.

Recently, however, Bambino started kicking about 20 times in the same spot, over and over and over again. But never when Justin was around. Only when I was by myself. It was starting to frustrate me, because feeling him kick on the outside is so cool, and I wanted Justin to experience it. Instead, he seemed to be discouraged by his fruitless attempts, and didn't really seem to care to try anymore. Men.

Last night we got to spend a rare evening together watching TV. Justin had no clients to train, and Bambino was awake for a long time last night, moving around, kicking, etc. I felt him on the outside a bunch of times, but once again, he was refusing to kick in the same spot more than twice. I'm pretty positive Justin had his hand there during a couple of kicks that he should have felt, but he said he didn't feel anything. It was driving me nuts.

Finally, WE HAD SUCCESS!! He felt a nice kick right to his hand, and then a bunch of feet squirming around after that. He finally felt the baby's unmistakable movement.

I was so happy.

OB Appointment - 21 Weeks

Yesterday I had an OB appointment at 21 weeks 1 day. Out of the 15+ times I've been there, it was the first time I had to wait to get in, and boy was it a long wait. I was in the waiting room for over an hour. It seemed a bit ridiculous to me considering Bambino was jumping around inside me and kicking for that whole hour, so I already knew he was doing well.

Amazingly, he already had my ultrasound results. The radiologist said everything looked good, no significant abnormalities. Of course, I had to ask about the word "significant." It makes it sounds like "Well, the baby doesn't have anything major wrong with it, it's just missing a baby toe" or something like that. Apparently that's the word that is always used.

I gained 3 lbs in the 5 weeks between my appointments. That puts me at about a 17-18 lb weight gain... I think. I wasn't weighed there until I was 8 weeks pregnant, and at that point I had already gained a bunch of weight. So I'm estimating my pre-pregnancy weight according to my bathroom scale, which is not very accurate.

I was happy it was only 3 lbs, because my weight gain in the previous 4 weeks was 5 lbs. I know pregnancy isn't the time to have body image issues, but I really just don't want to gain unecessary excess weight. I'll deal with the 25-35 lbs I'll probably gain (25 lbs is being far too optimistic... it really will probably be 35 lbs), but I'm not one of those people who thinks that because they're pregnant they have free reign to eat like crazy and pack on extra pounds all over their body. It's not good for me or the baby. I eat really well and exercise about 3 times a week. As far as I can tell, the weight is all in my belly, since my maternity pants fit my hips and thighs exactly the way they fit 10 weeks ago, and my arms haven't turned into hams :) My face is fuller though... unfortunately it's always one of the first places that I put on weight.

He didn't measure my uterus, he just palpated it. So I can't tell you how big I'm measuring at this point, although I am definitely ahead.

He never tells me the baby's heartrate. But this time with the doppler was particularly funny because Bambino kept moving away everytime the OB would find the heartbeat. The OB eventually started laughing.

I asked him about my braxton hicks contractions, which I sometimes get 20+ of per day. He said I just have an irritable uterus and not to worry about it.

I also asked him if it would be the worst thing in the world if I slept on my back at this point, since I'm not uncomfortable on my back but I'm very uncomfortable on my side. He didn't go for that. Sometimes he disagrees with the general consensus out there, but this time he told me what all the books say - that the left side is best, the right side is okay, and try not to sleep on my back.

He did, however, say that if I need to lie on my back because of discomfort, I can just put a pillow underneath one side and if I'm just propped up a couple of inches that'll be okay. I was already doing that sometimes, but I hadn't heard it from my doctor so I was nervous about doing it too often. I was worried that maybe I wasn't propped up enough and my uterus would still be cutting off my blood supply. But apparently those couple of inches are enough to avoid that.

I Wish I Had Skills

I wish I had skills so that I could make things for my baby. I have no idea how to knit. I have no idea how to sew. I don't even know how to operate a sewing machine.

Nobody around me knows how to do these things either. So there's no one to teach me. I have one friend who lives about 4 hours away right now who knows how to knit, but how can someone 4 hours away teach me how to do that?

I'm not someone who enjoys trying to figure out how to do things from instructions that are written down. I'd prefer to have someone right there beside me teaching me. So teaching myself how to knit or sew isn't going to work.

I think I'm just experiencing the nesting urge, and that's why I want to be able to knit blankets, booties, and hats and sew quilts.

I wish someone had taught me these things when I was growing up.

Detailed Ultrasound

I had my detailed ultrasound yesterday. As far as the tech knows, everything looks good. We'll have to wait for the radiologist to send the report to my OB to know for sure though. Bambino measured 21 weeks 1 day (4 days ahead) and was about 3/4 of a pound. His heartrate was 151 bpm. So much for high heartrate meaning girl - the 5 ultrasounds we've had went 146bpm, 146bpm, 168bpm, 160bpm, and 151bpm.

We found out that I have an anterior placenta, which means that my placenta is in the front (and is 2.9cm away from my cervix). I was disappointed to find this out, because it means that I'll probably feel (and see) less movement than a woman with a posterior placenta. I definitely feel what I consider to be plenty of movement throughout the day, but it makes me sad to know that I'd probably be feeling way more if my placenta was in a better location.

The majority of the ultrasound was kind of boring. There was at least 45-60 minutes of measuring where I was just lying there and couldn't see the screen. I was lucky to have gotten in 20 minutes before my appointment time, and my husband hadn't made it there yet. So the whole time I'm lying there getting the ultrasound done I'm staring at the ceiling, wondering if he figured I was already in the room and is just waiting in the waiting room for his turn to come in (where I live, other people aren't allowed in the room until the last 5 minutes, after all the measuring has been done). Luckily he was out there.

Bambino was pretty cooperative for most of the ultrasound. Then at the end he decided to lie on his right arm and not budge - and that was the second last thing the tech had to measure! She was wiggling my stomach around, poking Bambino, having me roll onto my side, back onto my back, onto my side again... it took about 10 minutes before the little guy would reveal his arm. We already knew it was there, but hadn't gotten a picture of it yet.

Then he decided that he didn't want to show us his profile. By the end he had his face turned in toward my back and refused to move that too. After trying with that for 10 minutes, the tech finally had me drink the juice I mentioned 20 minutes earlier. I sat up, drank my juice, kicked myself for having juice with 25% less sugar (we needed the sugar!) and laid back down to try again. Bambino hadn't really moved, so the tech was digging into my stomach so hard to try and get a proper angle. It KILLED!

Finally we got a shot that I thought was pretty darn cute:

This shot doesn't show it as well as we saw it, but the little guy was folded completely in half, with both feet up by his head! That's what's on top of his forehead - a foot. I don't know why he thought this was comfortable, but he was like that for quite a while.

I love his skinny little bum on the left there :) The black spot is his bladder. And I love his cute little profile with his button nose. I think he is just adorable!

Pregnancy at 20 Weeks 1 Day

How far along: 20 weeks 1 day

Total weight gain: about 15 lbs... it's hard to say because I was never weighed at the doctor's office before I was 8 weeks pregnant and had already put on some weight.

Stretch marks?: No new ones

Sleep: Horrible. I am peeing up to 6 times a night, and waking up multiple times besides that. I'm awake at least once every hour because sleeping on my side is so uncomfortable. The side I'm sleeping on hurts, but the hip I'm not sleeping on hurts even more! I think it's because my joints are loosening, and gravity pulls my knee down, which in turn pulls on my hip. I use a full body pillow to wrap my arms and legs around but it doesn't help that much. All I want is to sleep on my back! I'm going to bring this up with my OB next week.

Best moments this week: Finding out that Bambino is a little boy, and seeing him move around in 4D :) Also, I'm starting to feel him moving around at nighttime, which just started a couple of nights ago. Before that I only felt him during the day.

Food cravings: Sweets for sure. Candy and chocolate. But that's not that different from my everyday non-pregnant life.

Sex: Boy!

Labor signs?: I've been getting Braxton-Hicks since the first trimester. Probably 10-15 contractions a day. Some days are worse than others.

Belly Button: It was about halfway out starting at 14 weeks. Now it's probably 75% of the way to being fully popped. You can see it through my shirt if I'm just wearing one or two layers.

What I miss the most: Sleeping on my back, for sure.

What I am looking forward to the most: Harder kicks that I can consistently feel on the outside. I feel them on the outside by accident some days, but DH has never felt a real kick on the outside. However, we can feel Bambino's body from the outside. Not him moving around, but just harder lumps where we know it's a head or a bum, because everything else around that spot is softer. And as we push, he slowly moves further into my uterus so that we can't feel that little lump anymore.

Milestones: Over 20 weeks... I'm more than halfway there!!

Bambino is a...

BOY!!!

On Saturday we couldn't wait any longer. We drove out of town and paid a couple of hundred dollars for a 4D ultrasound to find out the gender of our little bambino (and get pictures and a video of the ultrasound). It was going to be another couple of weeks before we could find out. I figured at 20 weeks, you should know what your baby is going to be (if you want to, that is).

It was a good thing we went to this ultrasound to specifically find out gender, because the accidental first shot of our little guy was right between the legs, and there was no mistaking that he was a boy!

The ultrasonographer went "Whoa!" And I said "It's a boy!!!" I knew he was a boy, so I wasn't at all surprised.

Here are some of the 3D pictures. He was pretty darn cute. There were sections of the ultrasound where he was boxing, and then sections where he looked like he kept throwing his head back and laughing. It was so much fun to see. Here's a picture of him laughing:

And a couple of him smiling:

Here's our little thinker:

This was at the very beginning of the ultrasound... he was all curled up like he was sleeping, before the juice I had drank woke him up:

Here's him covering his face near the end of the ultrasound... like he was tired of us looking at him:)

I'm so glad we went and we now know our little bambino is a little boy!!

New Bras for New Boobs

About a week ago I decided that it was finally time to bite the bullet and go buy new bras. I hadn't been fitting into my regular bras for quite some time. They were digging in all over the place, giving me four boobs instead of two. It wasn't attractive... or comfortable.

I had a gift certificate to Thyme, a maternity store about an hour away from me. If I spent $100 I got $50 off. The day before my gift certificate expired I was finally able to make it there.

I had a really nice girl helping me out... thank goodness. I had no idea where to start. I was pretty sure I wanted to get maternity/nursing bras, since my boobs will only ever be this size while I'm nursing. Therefore, regular bras would be a waste of money, since I'd only wear them for a few months and then move into nursing bras, where I would stay for at least a year. However, I was aware that my boobs probably aren't done growing, nor is my ribcage, so I didn't know what made sense for me to do.

I decided that the cup size I am now is probably the smallest my boobs will ever be while I'm nursing, so the nursing bras would work for me at least some point after I give birth. However, I found out that my ribcage isn't getting fat, the bones are actually expanding outward (who knew?) and that's why my band size was growing. This could have posed another problem, because while my cup size might work later on, my band size will inevitably shrink back down after my innards are no longer being pushed up into my ribcage area.

I ended up buying nursing bras in 36 D. I didn't expect to be a 36 D in real sizes. I'm normally a 34 C... and not a 34 C from Sears, where C's are huge. Therefore, I originally thought I would be a C at a store where cup sizes are more accurate.

The C didn't fit at all. The 36 D cup size was perfect (I actually let the sales girl in the dressing room with me to tell me if the bra fit properly... I've never allowed anyone to do that before). However, the particular bra I wanted had band sizes that fit snugger than normal. So the band was a little too tight. I tried a 38 D, but while the band fit, suddenly the cup size was ENORMOUS on me.

This problem was solved with a bra extender. I don't know why I wasn't using those already. They are fantastic.

So now I have these super comfortable maternity/nursing bras. When my husband saw them his reaction was "Wow... now those are BRASIERRES!" I couldn't stop laughing. They definitely cover a lot more area than my normal bras! With my other bras I had mega cleavage. With these I have very little (they seperate well). They could actually be the top of a dress or tank top, they cover so well.

Sexy? Not really. But hey, they're functional. And soon my boobs will be, too.

H1N1

I got the H1N1 vaccine yesterday.

I wasn't going to, but this weekend my pregnant neighbour told me that her aunt called her crying and asking her to get it. Her aunt is an OB and last week she delivered 3 stillborn babies to mothers who all had H1N1. The mothers only had mild flu symptoms, but when the babies were born they couldn't breathe and died right away. The autopsies showed that their lungs were full of the H1N1 virus, and that made them unable to breathe even though they were full term.

That totally freaked me out. With the seasonal flu the baby is protected inside of you. Apparently not with H1N1. I didn't want to get the vaccine because I'm not a fan of vaccines and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get it and then die. But since the babies can die, even if the mother only has mild symptoms... that pushed me off the fence and onto the side of getting it.

So I got it last night. In the bum instead of the arm, so I could still sleep on both sides. My bum hurts like heck, and I still can't really sleep comfortably on my right side. But oh well. It was worth a shot.

It was a 3 hour wait. It was really bothering me how many people who weren't in the target group were getting the vaccine, even though they're supposed to be turned away right now. The nice thing is that where I live, you can get a number, leave, and come back. I didn't do that, because I was too nervous that they'd suddenly start sprinting through numbers (they obviously didn't). But a lot of people were doing that.

I'm still terrified that this vaccine will do harm to the baby, but what's done is done and I just hope I made the right decision and nothing goes wrong. Hopefully the little munchkin will start kicking me really hard today to reassure me.