Hellobee Boards

@kristinleigh: so glad you are feeling better!

It's baby girl #3 for us! Everything came back perfectly so no more worrying!

Hi mommies and mommies-to-be, sorry I have been so quiet. This pregnancy is so different than with my daughter, so much harder on me physically. I am positive it's just growing ligament pains and it's never the same spot but it comes and goes. So I do get to catch a break every few days. I felt so sick over the weekend, super crampy but it went away yesterday. Today I feel a lot better. I will be 17 weeks tomorrow and was able to secure an appointment earlier than originally scheduled! Hopefully they can reveal to me the gender of baby #2 tomorrow.

@Kimberlybee: thanks so much! I wish you were feeling better. My second pregnancy was my hardest. Random excruciating pain was so difficult to deal with while chasing L. Good luck tomorrow! Do you have gender guesses? I say boy for you!

Ugh. So my inappropriate coworker who I was purposefully not telling about my pregnancy heard it from someone else in the office.

She's supposed to be on vacation, but is here this afternoon anyway. WTH?

Anyway, she came in my office and said "Mary! Do you have a baby bump?"

No. It's not at all awkward to have someone staring at your body while you're sitting at your desk working... Thanks for acknowledging that I'm looking fat instead of that there's a human being in me!

Thanks ladies! It makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one that can't feel the baby yet.

@kristinleigh: glad you are feeling better. It's amazing what just a teeny bit of dehydration can do to your body.

@Kimberlybee: This pregnancy has been so much harder than my first as well. To the point that I hope it's a boy so we can adopt the rest and I don't have to be pregnant again.

@oliviaoblivia: That's the perfect way I would describe my condition "random excrutiating pain". I had a dream the other night that there was a little baby boy wearing a white onesie looking back at me during a routine sonogram so I am thinking boy. But my husband thinks it's a girl and everyone who looks at belly says it's a girl because the belly is round and wide?! Boy or girl we'll be 2 and through for sure. Thinking of getting my tubes tied but scared of the extra pain during recovery after a C-section in conjunction with getting my tubes tied. I will update with my baby news tomorrow evening!

@Worrywart: me too! I'm the oldest. Love it!

@mrs.shinerbock: @travellingbee: thanks!

@travellingbee: Yeah these old wives tales are so laughable and I am hearing it all to the point where I just zone them out. I get comments on how tired I look lately, geez thanks! Congrats on your boy BTW.

@MaryM: Yesterday I had someone comment on my pregnancy purely based on my appearance (she works in my building, but not at my firm, so she would not have heard from someone else).

@MaryM: oh awesome! Quilting is so fun, but it is so much work!! I am so slow right now I need to check out those craftsy kits - I love the craftsy classes! I hope your appointment goes well tomorrow! It is so strange to be feeling a lot better, but not be able to feel baby move yet - if it wasn't for my rapidly expanding tummy I might actually forget that I was pregnant some days! Other days I definitely remember

@lauren0817: yes I was sure we saw some balls in the ultrasound but no penis, but this time there was nothing! So I think it is a girl but I need confirmation.

So almost all the HB commenters on my 13 week ultrasound were right..... BOY it is!

@marym: Aw, darn that particular coworker found out! But, you almost made it halfway, so that's pretty impressive

My first unprompted "Are you pregnant?" question from a stranger was at 14 weeks, and I get it 2-3 times a week now. I've also gotten a couple of random belly rubs. It's weird but it doesn't bother me. I'm just really happy to be pregnant, pretty much every aspect of it.

@DesertDreams88: I think I'm so self conscious about everything because of my history. I felt sick when I realized if something happened, I'd have to deal with everyone knowing. Only my bosses and one work friend knew about our previous loss.

Thank got my next appointment is in 12 hours not that I'm counting down...

@marym: I get that. It makes my stomach turn too when I think about that possibilty, but then I just have to tell myself rationally that at this point, there would be no way that I could hide my emotional reaction and missing multiple weeks of work, so... yeah. Also, being really open about my loss (back then and now) has also been part of my processing, so a lot of people are particularly happy for me bc of that.

@oliviaoblivia: Yay for another girl!
@DesertDreams88: Congrats on baby boy!

@DesertDreams88: Yay, congrats!! I find out in 20 days but I'm thinking boy for me too Skull theory, Ramzi and nub theory all say boy so I think that's making me think that way haha.

My appointment went good. They found the heartbeat super fast!

My biggest fear now is birthing a giant baby. DH is often mistaken for a pro football player (he's about 6'4 and just a large guy...not fat persay, just big!) and my fundal height is higher than they expect.

But I'm glad to be measuring large since my first scans measured behind.

And I get to go back in three weeks for the anatomy scan instead of four. WOO! (but I'm going to have to reschedule because of a work conflict)

So, I unexpectedly began the conversation with my boss today about maternity leave.

I had my annual review, and in talking about goals (and how I have no idea what goals should be since I'll be gone for the last quarter!) she asked that I think about what will need to be done in advance/during my leave (our team will pick up the slack)

I mentioned someone on a related team (my boss and her boss report to the same person) worked from home part time toward the end of her leave last time she had a baby in order to stretch her leave, help the office by getting some work done, and transition more easily. My boss asked me to find out exactly what she did so she can present it to her boss as a possibility. That gives me hope!

We usually aren't very telework friendly, but I would LOVE if I could do that part time (and get paid!) instead of having to come in for a full 8 hours my first day and spend days digging through mountains of email.

My midwife appt last night went great! Baby's heartbeat was perfect and strong and loud which made me smile so big and feel A LOT better. I told my midwife how nervous I get and she told me the risk of anything happening is EXTREMELY low at this point and I need to just relax. And I rationally KNOW this but applying it is the hard part!

19 days until gender