Belly Growth

Inquiring Minds have wanted to know...so here they are! A few pics of baby G growing in my ever-expanding belly...Just 2 more weeks until we can find out if we are having a girl or a boy (if Baby G cooperates, of course!)

Survivor...

I'll make this short and sweet, to show respect to all of my close friends who lost their jobs today. I survived, the 3rd round of layoffs, which I didn't think was possible. Out of almost 200 global field staffing partners, there are now 12. I am one of 12.

This economy is rough. I lost my very best friend, Tyler, at work last week. He didn't deserve to go, in fact, if someone had told me months ago it would be me or him- I would have doubled down that it would be me. It makes it that much harder to still be around. Today, I lost my close friend Tiffany. She didn't deserve this either.

The stress has been heavy, and I can't say that I am happy, or sad about the outcome. I am indifferent. I've taken the rest of the week off, to reflect and collect my thoughts. It's been a wild ride, I must say...

today's visit with Dr. Marcus

Today was another doctor visit with Dr. Marcus, which I always look forward to. My appointment was for 9:30am, however as I was getting into the car at about 9:20 (his office is really close which is so convenient!) I get a call from the nurse saying Dr. Marcus had a delivery this morning, and they needed to push me back to 10:30am. When I heard this, 1) I let the delivery have the right of way- that's what I would want when I'm ready to pop! and 2) I'm glad they caught me before I left the house, so I wasn't sitting in the doctor's office for an extra hour!

Anyhoo, I went to see him at 10:30, and there were just a few things to highlight about my visit. First, the office manager sits me down to go over costs, my insurance, etc. And I realize, even though I have good insurance, babies cost MONEY! Regular delivery is this, C-section is that, payment plans over 4 months, all must be paid by the end of 7 months...wow. What a way to start the appointment. But little baby g will be worth every penny. And we've been saving so we'll be ok.

Then, Karen (the sweetest nurse in the world!) takes me back, weighs me (1 lb up, I can handle that) takes my blood pressure (all normal) and we get to hear baby g's heartbeat with the doppler. If you recall, baby has been stubborn about letting us hear it with the doppler, and for a moment today was no exception, but then we hear it loud and clear. 150 which is right where we should be, Karen says. Phew!

So, Dr. Marcus comes in, talks about hcg levels, mine are a little bit high and we've done 2 sets of blood work to monitor, and they're going down, but there still a little bit high. They're still in range, but he is going to have me continue to do blood work just to monitor, so next week we'll do it again. No problem, Dr. Marcus- please be as cautious as you'd like! I'll keep giving the blood without hesitation!

That's about it. I find out today that there are no more copays for office visits, which is nice to know since I've been going in every 2 weeks or so (b/c of the bloodwork). Dr. Marcus tells me that within a month or so, we'll be able to find out the gender of the baby, which we can't wait for!! We're just so excited about all of this, these days...

Maternity Shopping!

So, I finally decided it was time to begin picking up a few maternity items. I have really been looking forward to this, shopping is probably my FAVORITE hobby, and even though it might be a bit premature, I am tired of feeling sad when I put on my skinny jeans, only to look not-so-skinny! So, I've made my rounds to a few different places, and thought it might help other moms-to-be if they knew about my experiences thus far. Here we go:

1) Motherhood- I actually went to Motherhood when I was only 10 weeks pregnant (I thought I was almost 12 weeks, read my earlier post on that). Anyhow, I wanted to pick up a few sundresses, for my brothers wedding weekend, and for the summer in general. Motherhood has a great selection of options, although I don't know if these dresses will last the entire 9 months of my maternity. Even so, with prices like $19.99 I didn't feel it too much, so I picked up a few and they have served me well. Here's the downfall- I didn't realize until it was too late- Motherhood has a 10 day return/exchange policy. At the time, I picked up more than a few dresses, so on the wedding weekend I could have my choice of what looked good at the moment. Big mistake- and that's probably their strategy. By the end of the weekend, I was exhausted, and then the workweek began, and suddenly there was no time to return the ones I didn't wear. So, I now have 5 dresses. But hey, we still have the rest of the summer to go, and I've already gotten compliments on them, so I'll keep wearing them. And I'll probably put 1 or 2 on ebay.

2) Old Navy- who doesn't love Old Navy? The store near my house has a maternity section, and my friend Jaime who is also pregnant (yes everyone I know is pregnant!) reminded me that they have cute stuff at great prices (thanks J!) Anyhow, I walked out of there last weekend with 3 tank tops, 3 tees, and 1 pair of capri's for $30! They have a 50% off rack even in maternity, so the tanks were only $3.99. I couldn't believe it. I'll be back!

3) Target- Liz Lange is definitely getting popular these days. I picked up just a few things there so far, mostly for work, but I am always at Target so it's fun to stop by the maternity section every now and then.

4) Gap- DEFINITELY my FAVORITE by FAR!!! I am not a normal Gap shopper, in fact other than their product(RED) line, I never really go there. But my good friend Marnie, who just had a baby, told me that you can order online and return for free in store. That way, you can order a few sizes, see what fits, then return what doesn't. Gap is a bit pricey for maternity wear, but it is worth every penny. I got a few pairs of jeans that are SO cute, they fit SO well and give that slim look we are all looking for! I have tried on pants at other places, and they've just looked bulky or the cut was wrong, and I wasn't happy. Definitely do some online shopping at Gap maternity- you'll thank me!

5) What's Kickin- This is a small boutique at Dos Lagos in Corona (an upscale outdoor shopping mall). It is wildly expensive, so I haven't actually bought anything here yet, but I LOVE going in and seeing all of the amazing things they have there. I think once I'm really showing more, I'll have to pick up something because all of their stuff is SO stylish!

You would think that I'm full blown showing at this point, with all of the shopping I've done, but I have to share that I am my mother's daughter- I'm pretty thrifty and always look for a deal. So that keeps things reasonable. Jaime tells me that I must spread out my shopping, cause the stuff that might fit me today, probably won't down the line. So for now, no more purchasing, I think I'm good to go :)

Our first taste of worry...

Paul and I have been ob/gyn shopping recently, and yesterday we met with the doctor who's the "keeper". The first ob/gyn that we saw at our 6 week mark was impersonal, couldn't even give us a 50/50 shot that he'd be the one delivering, and ran through his "speech" without even wanting to seem to build any sort of relationship with us. We want the Cliff Huxtable of ob/gyn's, and we finally met him yesterday.

Dr. Marcus came to me via referral, and he's a well kept secret here in Riverside, though multiple people have told me "he's the best of the best". He had numerous 5 star ratings on several different user sites, and from the moment we walked into his office, it just felt right.

Dr. Marcus runs a private practice, which allows him to have a much closer bond with his patients. It's difficult even to get in with him, in fact when we knew we were pregnant mid-May, I called to make the appointment and was told he couldn't accept a new patient until July. That's why we ended up seeing my original doc for the 6 week appointment.

Anyhow, his office and staff are great. Paul and I were in the examining room and Dr. Marcus came in, plopped himself down (he's a big man), and spent almost 35 minutes just hanging out with us. He wanted to know us. He joked with us. He provided good information. He's definitely quirky and I love it.

So here's where the worry part comes in. He examines me (even though my chart had been sent over from my 6 week appt) because he wants to start from ground zero himself. Everything is fine, until he pulls out the doppler to check the heartbeat. My friend Jovita told me earlier that day that hearing the heartbeat is the best feeling in the world, it gives you confidence that everything is going smoothly. That was the moment I was most looking forward to. He asked how far along I was, I told him 13 weeks, based on what my other doc told me and when I thought we'd conceived.

He couldn't find a heartbeat. This man has been practicing for 28 years, and I was worried, because while he didn't tell me there was anything to worry about, he also didn't overly reassure me that everything was "just fine". He ordered an ultrasound for the next day (today) and the past 24 hours have been nailbiters, to say the least.

I don't know what I would have done without my good friend Kymberli. She is the best pregnant friend in the world! She gave me great advice (stop reading too many blogs and boards!) and to realize that every woman's body is different. She's the best. We're twins in another life, for anyone who didn't know :)

Anyhow, we went to the ultrasound today, Paul by my side (what a champ) and we learn that 1)the baby is just fine 2)we hear the heartbeat LOUD and clear, at 156/minute and 3) we were way off in our calculation (and this was based on what the 1st doc had said!) We are actually about 11 weeks 4 days today, not 13 weeks like we thought.

So, this makes a little more sense about why we couldn't hear the heartbeat with the doppler. Sometimes you can't identify the heartbeat until after 12-13 weeks (and sometimes even longer!) so knowing our little one is younger than we anticipated is just fine by us. That means we'll have a full-blown January baby (new due date estimated January 17th) so if we go full term, we won't have Christmas and New Years to worry about!

Worry isn't so fun these days, but hearing that heartbeat IS the greatest moment in the world. Paul squeezed my hand a little more tightly when we heard it, and life is back to being just peachy...