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Michelle's Pregnancy Journal - Page 9
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May 30, 2002 14w3d
We Finally Heard the Heartbeat!!

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    Wow...I can't believe how long it's been since I wrote in my journal! But I have a good excuse...I finished that paper I was procrastinating on at the last minute and then spent the whole next day preparing for our trip, with only about 10 minutes to spare in the end. And then, of course, we were gone! Anyway, our vacation was wonderful. Jason and Amy's daughter Avery is just too cute for words! The pictures they've been sending just can't do her justice - she has such a sweet little personality and such a beautiful smile. And the 4 of us adults had so much fun, too. We realized it's been 2 1/2 years since all 4 of us have been together, so it was a nice reunion.
     Right after we got back, Erin came to visit for a couple of days. We had a great time - this is the first time I've seen her since she got back from Spain. She bought us the cutest little outfit for the baby from Spain, as well as some really nice souvenirs for the two of us - some beautiful pottery for me and a very ornate beer stein for Nate.
     She also timed her visit so she could come with me to my doctor's appointment yesterday. Nate was there, too, and it was so wonderful because WE FINALLY HEARD THE HEARTBEAT! It was such a beautiful sound, I got all teary eyed. It took the doctor about 15 seconds to find it, and I was starting to get nervous, but then he found it, right in the center of my abdomen and thumping away beautifully. (I'm so disappointed I forgot to ask how fast the heartbeat was this time!) Mom is very jealous that Erin was there! Other than hearing the heartbeat, though, the visit was entirely uneventful. From what I understand, my 2nd trimester visits will all be pretty boring. They just weigh you (I think I stayed exactly even, but I don't remember for sure what I was last time - I might have dropped a pound), take your blood pressure, listen to the baby's heartbeat, answer any of your questions, and send you on your way. We were in an out in less than 10 minutes.
     Other than that, not much to report pregnancy-wise. I've been feeling so much better since starting my 2nd trimester, although I still have some mild nausea here and there. And while I'm still quite tired, I can definitely tell the fatigue is getting a bit better. Even my congestion has cleared up some!! However, I'm worried about one thing. I was already having some very mild, intermittent constipation, but I got new prenatals from the doc yesterday (I'd been taking generics that seemed to be woefully inadequate when compared with prescription vitamins), and they have almost 3 times as much iron as the old ones, which makes me afraid that I'm going to find myself seriously constipated soon. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my body likes a lot of iron!
     Well, that's all for now. I'll try not to go so long between updates this time!

May 31, 2002 14w4d
I'm Starting to Really Feel Pregnant

I have been feeling so strange today. For the last few weeks, I've had occasional stabbing pains in my lower abdomen and there were times when I thought I could actually feel my uterus in the same place. But today, for the first time, I've reallyfelt pregnant. All day long, I've had this strange pressure in my lower abdomen, as well as the very definite sensation of something hard there. It has literally been constant since early this afternoon. In fact, as the day goes on, the feeling of pressure has gotten more intense, to the point of being fairly uncomfortable. But I won't complain too much (at least not yet <g>) because this is the first time I've ever reallyfelt pregnant. The fatigue, the nausea, all that other stuff are things I've felt before in my life. But this is entirely new. So even though I wouldn't call it "enjoyable" by any stretch of the imagination, I'm kinda glad it's happening. :)
OK, I'm off tofinally watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone...I never got to see it when it was in the theaters thanks to that whole little "pneumonia" thing!

June 1, 2002 14w5d
We Got Our Webpage Up and Running

    Well, after weeks of talking about it, I finally got a webpage up and running for us. Boy, do I wish I had tackled this task sooner! It took forever to transfer all my journal entries from BabyZone to here. But it's done (well, mostly) and I'm pretty pleased with it. I must say, now that I've seen them all laid out on the webpage, rather than as separate entries at BabyZone, I realize just how long-winded I am! :) I want to print this all off one day for our baby to have when he/she gets older, but he/she could read War and Peace or Les Mis about as quickly as this thing! Remind me again why it is that I always worry that I won't be able to write enough for my school papers?? :)
     Anyway, in the spirit of keeping things shorter, I'll not say much else. I'm still feeling lots of pressure today, but not quite as bad as yesterday. I think the 15 minutes of yoga I did yesterday must have made it worse. Still, I find it definitely gets worse as the day goes on, and by this evening, it was really getting somewhat painful to even walk. But I'm not complaining, really I'm not!!
     OK, off to finish up some of the detail work on the site, mainly adding links to my journal pages. Until later...
     (PS - Harry Potter was really great. There were a couple of things I was upset they left out, but generally very well done.)

June 2, 2002 14w6d
The Doppler: Coolest Baby Gadget EVER !

I forgot to mention yesterday our new "toy." Several places online now rent dopplers, the device doctors use to listen to the fetal heartbeat, for about $30/month. Although they are kind of expensive, Nate and I decided to rent one for just a couple of months, until the baby starts kicking a lot. In the meantime, it will be a nice reassurance that all is well in our baby's little world. I ordered it on Thursday and really wasn't expecting to see it until Monday or Tuesday, but lo and behold! it showed up yesterday. So we tried it out right away, and sure enough - there the heartbeat was! It took awhile to find it, because I've got some major blood vessels running in the same area and the doppler picks those up more easily, but it's quite obvious when you do find the right one - the baby's heart beats about twice as fast as mine. We tried it out again this morning, and it was still pumping away between approximately 150 and 160 beats per minute. Such an amazing sound! I'm thinking of trying to record it and set it up as the background sound to my journal pages.
One other interesting note...I think I may have felt the baby move yesterday, but I'm not getting too excited since it may have been something else. But I swear, I felt it swishing around right after we used the doppler (which would make sense - the noise from the ultrasound waves often makes fetuses active), and I might even have felt a tiny kick when I was lying in bed. I know from some other women I've talked to online who were feeling as much abdominal pressure as early on as I have, that they all said they also felt the baby move earlier. But until I can be sure, I won't say I've definitely felt the baby move. Still, I like to think that I did. :)

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