I had to double-check my pregnancy Excel sheet to see how many weeks along I was. I hardly can believe that I am pregnant, except I definitely am showing now and I've been feeling movement for the past several weeks. Here's what my belly looks like right now. I don't know how people manage to take nice self-portraits because I was contorting myself and took about 30 shots in a mirror and still only came up with this:
Here I am at 27 and 32 weeks along with Zari. I even weigh less this third pregnancy than I did with the first two...and still, it's crazy how little I showed the first time.
With each of my pregnancies, it has taken longer to sink in--in large part, I am sure, because I have less quiet time to myself! When I was expecting Zari, I could just sit and
be pregnant...meditate about the life inside me, envision the labor and birth, and reflect on the changes I was going through. I also had many, many birth dreams during her pregnancy. When I was pregnant with Dio, I had maybe one or two total. None so far with this new baby.
I've been a bit anxious--probably unwarranted--because I still haven't been able to find heart tones with my fetoscope. With my first two, I found heart tones easily and consistently at 15-16 weeks. But with this pregnancy, I'm hearing tons of placental sounds and maternal heart beats...and nothing else. A few times I swear I heard something for a second or two, and then it disappeared. Almost as if the baby were playing hide-and-seek.
All (measurable) vitals look good, according to my nerdy Excel sheet. I do my own "prenatal checkups" about once a week. I chart weight, blood pressure, fundal height, heart tones, & exercise. I also keep tabs on things like swelling, quality of sleep, varicose veins, nutrition, how I'm feeling in general, etc...I love being able to see how things are changing and developing. So for me, the clinical part of midwife visits is a formality--I already know most or all of what's going on!
Just for kicks, a random picture of Zari.
Could it be an anterior placenta making the heart tones hard to find?
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of your nerdy Excel spreadsheet...it reminds me of the charts we use at Centering Pregnancy for the women to keep track of their own BP, weight, fetal movement, etc.
I've wondered about that. It's not totally anterior (i.e., centered in the front) because I'm hearing it really strongly on the left side. I have just a small area from the top middle to the top right that is fairly quiet; everything else has either loud or faint maternal pulses of some sort (placenta, cord, my own vessels, etc).
ReplyDeleteYou are showing a lot quicker because your body is already stretched out. That's what my doctor told me during my second pregnancy. I loved my belly bump! Embrace your beautiful body and the amazing feat it is going through to make your miracle baby! :-)
ReplyDeleteSomehow I missed out on the fact that you were expecting! Many, many congratulations!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm 23 weeks and it's still tough to find the heartbeat. I have an anterior placenta so the babe is pretty far back and it likes to take off whenever we want to hear the heartbeat. Glad things are going well for you though!
ReplyDeleteWow... you really were tiny in Zari's pregnancy!
ReplyDeleteYou look great. And now I'm totally jealous of your nerdy spreadsheet. I want one of those... hmmm... :-)
Why don't you get a doppler? That should help you hear the heart tones.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to be able to compare pictures when I get pregnant again- with my daughter I never got "big" and some people that I knew never picked up that I was pregnant until my daughter was born, lol.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure next time will be different! I'm currently 18 pounds lighter than I was when she was conceived, so I imagine that will help also. Got to LOVE breastfeeding!
I like the idea of a spreadsheet- I've never thought of being that detailed!
Nearly every woman shows much sooner with each subsequent pregnancy. With my first, at 24 weeks I was still not in maternity clothes (just wearing elastic waists), but by the third I was in the maternity clothes by...oh...14 weeks, LOL.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that Garrett jr. is getting bigger every day!
ReplyDeleteZari is just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI am 10 weeks and I am starting to show. Of course about 90% of that is bloating but I am showing a little :)
ReplyDeleteI have always had very weak ab muscles so I got a huge bump with #1. I started doing pilates for core strength before I got pregnant this time around but I didn't get to do it for very long so I don't think it will help.
I am trying to figure out where Zari is hiding in those pictures. You are so small you don't even look pregnant.
Congrats! This is awesome. Can't wait to follow along on your journey again. :)
ReplyDeleteIt has been too long since I've dropped in OBVIOUSLY!!! Congratulations on your 3rd pregnancy!!! You must be so beside yourself!
ReplyDeleteeeeeeeeeeeeee! :)