Keeping The Faith...

Had another appt w/ Dr. H today. Babies look good :-) He said we should find out the sexes on our next visit in 2 weeks. I can't wait! I had the 1 hour glucose and that wasn't fun. They told me not to eat anything after midnight and I don't do well even when I'm not pregnant w/ having an empty stomach. So- I drank the nasty syrup and went to wait an hour. After about 5 mins my whole body was shaking like it was below zero out... they ended up wrapping me in blankets b/c it wouldn't stop. Finally after a long hour they drew a lot of blood for my AFP "triple" blood test, several different thyroid tests, the glucose test and I also had four more vials drawn so that I could ship those to Chicago for my Natural Killer Assay. Dr. H made that happen and I'm grateful b/c I don't have to drive many hours up North or have my neighbor attempt it. So after they took all of that blood I went to stand up and down I went. Yup- I fainted. I'm not a fainting type of girl especially since I'm a pro at having my blood drawn so it must have been the addition of pure glucose on my empty stomach.

Dr. H told me to knock off any kind of real exercise. I just started walking a few weeks ago. I was going about 45 mins and trying to keep a brisk pace. He told me no. That I can go but for short periods of time and only at a slow stroll. He evens wants me to knock that off if I have any cramping start up at all. The only other exercise he would approve was swimming. Basically only very low or no impact exercises. So I need to sneak into my neighbors pool while they are at work. I was excited to finally have some energy to get a little exercise and Dr. H said I shouldn't risk it. He said sex was okay at this point but he'd let me know if that should change. (Isn't sex high impact?) I have to say I was wasn't completely shocked at limiting the exercise but was a little surprised that he would basically prefer me on my tush 24/7 if possible.

J surprised me for Mothers Day. He bought me three cards. One from the "twins", one from my two "dogs" and one from him. They were wonderful and brought tears to my eyes. He also went and bought me the "snoogle" which is an awesome pregnancy pillow that wraps all around your body and supports you. This will be a lifesaver as the pregnancy goes on and I already sleep better b/c of it. It aligns the hips and takes the pressure off your back.

Now to the part you all really care about... I'm finally posting belly pictures. The first one is from 11 weeks. I actually already felt huge at this point. HA HA When I saw the picture I couldn't believe I wasn't bigger b/c I felt much so much bigger. The 2nd two are from 16 weeks 1 day.