Week 15: "Apple"

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.") (http://www.babycenter.com/)

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Time is flying by so fast -- I can't believe I'm 15 weeks already! I'm back from my travels for awhile, so now I'm just trying to get people to come visit me. My sister, Jackie, and possibly my other sister, Amy, might be coming down on Thursday for the day. I'm really looking forward to that. Before I forget, here is my 15 week picture -- not too much of a difference from last week.

I think my nausea and vomiting is starting to slowly go away day-by-day. I did get sick yesterday morning, but then felt quite a bit better after lunch. Yesterday turned out to be a very busy day. I got up with Teirney and took him to work in the morning so I could have the car, planned meals for the week (for those of you who know me well, shocking, isn't it?), made a grocery list, straightened up the apartment, went grocery shopping (probably shouldn't have carried all the heavy groceries up the two flights of stairs to our apartment, but oh well), came home and ate lunch, went to my endocrinologist appointment, came home and made dinner. I could tell I was feeling a little more like myself based on everything I accomplished yesterday, and was only a little tired by the end of the day. Today I haven't gotten sick and was able to do all the laundry (again, probably shouldn't be carrying the heavy baskets of clothes up and down two flights of stairs, but oh well). I'm hoping to go for a walk with Teirney tonight...it's so beautiful outside.

GOOD NEWS!!! As I mentioned above, I had my appointment with the endocrinologist yesterday. In previous posts, I mentioned that I have a history of hypothyroidism in my family, so at my first prenatal appointment they did a TSH test and it came back at 7.2 (normal range is between .4 and 4). The entire appointment was awkward because the doctor kept misunderstanding things that I would say and didn't seem to be listening all that well. They did another TSH blood test yesterday and I was told to call this morning to get the results and they would determine if I needed to go on meds or not. When I spoke to the nurse today, she said that the test came back normal, which is great, but I'm confused as to why the first test on August 4 came back so high and this one came back at 2.16. The nurse didn't really have an explanation for me except that she said "it can change." She then proceeded to tell me they still needed my medical records from when I had this problem in the past. I told her I never had this problem in the past and the only way I found out about it was because of the prenatal labs. She said, "well, yesterday, didn't the doctor talk to you about getting us your medical records from when this happened to you before?" I said no -- I had no idea what she was talking about. Again, such a weird awkward conversation and appointment -- seemed like they kept twisting what I was saying or misunderstanding me (which brought me to tears in the car on the way home yesterday) -- I just can't figure it out. Anyway, my level is normal but I need to go back in 4 weeks to get it tested again so they can keep an eye on it.

While we were visiting our friends, Jason and Amy, this weekend. I was talking to Amy about my next appointment on October 30 (20 week ultrasound) and voicing my concern that maybe I should be having an appointment prior to that time because that is 2 months from the date of my last appointment. At my last appointment I had scheduled two appointments -- the UltraScreen (Down Syndrome testing) and the follow-up appointment for the results. I cancelled both those appointments because we decided not to do the UltraScreen. But while Amy and I were talking, she mentioned the possibility that maybe the midwife was planning on combining the "follow-up" with my regular 4 week appointment, which got me thinking. So I called yesterday and the midwife said she definitely wants to see me before October 30, so I was glad I called (thank you, Amy). So my next appointment is October 2 (next week Thursday).

Now for some venting...I'm still very distraught over our apartment (DISCLAIMER: please keep in mind I'm pregnant and my emotions are very up and down these days). Don't get me wrong, I feel very blessed that we found a very nice, large enough apartment to fit our needs, but, as some of you know, there are issues. Ah, yes, the issues...(1) the hopper spiders and spider webs that multiply daily, (2) the white walls (which we could paint, but too much of a hassle because we'd have to paint them back to white when we left), (3) the frustration of trying to make it "homey" with all the white going on, (4) no storage in Teirney's office so everything just lays around making it feel messy, (5) the boxes that I still haven't unpacked because I'm so apathetic about decorating with all the ugliness going on and not knowing what to do, and last but by far certainly not least, (6) the HORRIBLE SMELLS that come from this 92 year old apartment!!! Yes, the smells...and I know my nose is sensitive these days, but even the air fresheners don't seem to be working. I thought they were working yesterday, but today it's terrible! Today they are mixing with the other smells and I kid you not, it smells like a nursing home in here. The rooms that are especially bad are the kitchen and bathroom...go figure...the two rooms you have to use. Jason and Amy, gave us an idea for the kitchen that I'm going to try. They said to try pouring bleach down the kitchen sink...apparently that had worked for Amy when she had the same problem. I do notice a smell from the sink, but can't pinpoint if that is the exact location it is coming from -- it's just everywhere and so frustrating. My poor cute husband who has to deal with my complaining thinks I hate the apartment, which I don't generally, but there are just issues. I'm just abnormally sensitive to these things right now and wish they would go away so that I could focus on making our apartment look cute -- I have no motivation to do so right now. Okay, I'm done venting...I just needed to get that out there.

Dear, sweet, Bebito, please know these frustrations are not directed at you...you are loved dearly and I would endure smells ten times worse than this for your sake...in fact, I'm sure I will. :-) Hugs and kisses.

Now I'm off to make dinner...in the smelly kitchen...anyone have a nose plug?