Some of my friends and family members have been asking for updates recently. If you were one of those people, here you go.
Our trip to Pennsylvania for Christmas was fantastic. I did great on the plane rides, though I grossed out the people sitting around me a little bit. For the first leg of our trip, I was sitting next to my baby brother. (By the way, it has been such a blessing having him around during this pregnancy. Aside from Keith, no one takes care of me better. LOVE YOU!) Anyway, we're sitting on the plane before take-off, and I check the seat pocket in front of me for one of those little white barf bags... just in case. There aren't any, and there aren't any in my brother's seat pocket either, so he stops one of the flight attendants as she's walking by and realizes he has to ask for one. Obviously there's no graceful way to request a barf bag, so he awkwardly spits out the question, and as soon as he finishes talking, I swear everyone within three rows of ours turns around with the most disgusted looks on their faces! Like, it was hilarious haha. I knew I wasn't actually sick or contagious or anything, but I decided to just let them all wonder. :)
Being home for Christmas provided some desperately needed family time and healing for me. I met up with some old friends who I love dearly. I met my new niece, born in October, and it was love at first sight. These cousins are gonna be the best of friends, I know it. And I got the mom, dad, and sibling hugs I had been craving for so long. As well as the food I had been hankering after! Montezumas, cronuts, gibbles kettle cooked chips, and whoopie pies. Nothing better haha. I'm already obsessing over when I can come visit next.
I had an OB appt on January 9th at 27 weeks. I had a follow up ultrasound. They didn't get all the pictures they wanted at our last ultrasound because Holland NEVER stops moving. In case you don't know, our little girl moves a lot. Like, she's CONSTANTLY moving. And the only time she decides to take a break is when Keith tries to feel her. Without fail, he will put his hand on my visibly vibrating stomach, and she will freeze. It's hilarious and sad haha. So we got some new ultrasound pictures, and then I had to have my glucose test. I was convinced I was going to fail it just because I've started to expect the worst with this pregnancy. Honestly. That might seem like a sad way to view it all, but at least when things do suck, I'm never disappointed! And if things go well, it's always just a pleasant surprise! Like when I DIDN'T fail my glucose test! Pleasant surprise haha.
I had my next appointment on February 6 at 31 weeks, and I wasn't looking forward to it. The office I go to has a rotating set of doctors, so you see someone different almost every time you go in. Well, this month it was finally my turn to meet with the only doctor who had any bad reviews on the office's website. And yeah... unfortunately I would have to add to the bad reviews list. I won't go into all the details of why.
Anyway, I have a bit of white coat syndrome. For some reason, I have just always hated doctors. Like, I am so anxious every time I go in for an appointment. So when they take my blood pressure, it's always a little bit high, but if they take it again at the end of the appointment, it is considerably lower. Like 10 points each. Well, at this particular appointment, my blood pressure was even higher than normal. (I'll admit, like it was really high.) But it was because I had a dentist appointment right before my OB appt, and they told me I had my first cavity!!!!! I was distraught, okay?! So this doctor orders all these labs and blood work to be done, but honestly, I know I'm fine, just nervous. But I guess that's one of the downfalls of having a different doctor at every visit. No one really gets to know you very well. So after I meet with this doctor and he does all sorts of other things that just rub me the wrong way, I go get poked, and he orders me to come back the next week. Unnecessary, but whatever. Maybe he knows something I don't. I go back to the office on the 13th, and it turns out the lab lost all my bloodwork... I'm not bothered. As I said earlier, I've started expecting the worst. So I need to redo all those labs when I go back in this Wednesday, the 27th. If we're looking at the bright side of things, I guess I can say that this pregnancy is helping me get over my fear of needles!
All in all, I have been feeling decent the past two months. I had a friend text me the other day hoping that my "pregnancy woes have eased." I definitely wouldn't say that haha. I'm still vomiting 2-4 times every day, mostly through the night into the morning. I still have anxiety nightmares every night, and I don't sleep, and the GERD isn't helping in either of those departments. That has gotten REALLY intense this trimester... I'm still itchy all the time and probably scratch off a new layer of skin every week, so I'm covered in scars from hives I've scratched open which is annoying. But I told said friend that I think my ability to cope with my woes has gotten much better. I've only had one breakdown since Christmas? Which is AWESOME haha. We're getting so close to baby girl's due date that it's hard for me to be upset. I can't believe that in 6ish weeks, I'll finally have someone to snuggle and kiss and love to show for this hellish hard work!
I'm sure there are tons more details I could share, but the pregnancy brain game is strong right now... Anyway, as always, thank you all for your love and support. I couldn't have made it this far without you. :)
