He always makes me smile

Every day that I get to see my Gerard makes my day much better. He's such a good kid. Well behaved and ever curious. We are getting him to learn how to be a big brother by teaching him how to help me around the house. He's only 15 months old but is learning how to pick up items on (polite) demand. I will need his help when new baby comes in December. He likes to rub my tummy whenever I ask him about the new baby. I'm doing my best to introduce only the good things right now since he'll have every opportunity later to learn about the bad things later. But I feel that establishing good habits and manners at home now will go a long way, and so far, he's just on the track I want him to be. I would like for him to establish trust and friendship with those around him -- I've already noticed it's in his nature to be warm to most people, especially other kids. We need him to know how to treat other kids because he's getting a sibling soon, and I want him to be the brother she looks up to. I certainly don't want him to be the kid that other parents try to avoid at the playground because he's throwing sand around or pushing others. At some point, he will have to learn how to distinguish what's bad and good among those around him (and I can definitely tell that he's already distinguishing this with some people), and then learn how to deal with it. He's such a good, good kid that the love I have for him just keeps getting deeper when I see him grow up. He's certainly the future I look forward to having -- to see what kind of person he becomes.

Gerard is going to have a....

.....sister!

Today we found out I'm carrying a baby girl. Just what we were hoping for! I can't believe it... although I had no instincts, for some reason I was ready to hear we were having a boy (it would have been PERFECTLY ok too, if that was the case). But now we'll have one of each!

Here comes the hard task of settling on a girl's name. Why is it so hard for us? We decided on a name for Gerard the afternoon we found out he was a boy. We are leaning on a name for a girl, but it's not settled just yet. Until then, we will not reveal what it is :)

As far as pregnancy, the myth that if morning sickness is presence throughout the pregnancy means you're having a girl applies to me. I've been having really bad gagging sensations since the beginning, this morning I vomited a little bit. But just about every morning, thoughts of certain foods or even no thoughts at all drive me to gag. Oh well I know it's worth it. :) 

We'll find out in a couple of days

This is the week (hopefully) we find out if we're having a boy or a girl. Being a very busied mom of a 1 year old toddler hasn't allowed me much time to think of this pregnancy the way I did in the first. I haven't had any baby dreams! In fact, I've had more dreams about snakes -- my worst phobia -- than this pregnancy. I don't even have that instinct of its gender. With my first pregnancy, I started having instincts just weeks before we learned of its gender, and I even had an accurate dream about it.

I had my most recent prenatal appointment last week, and things actually look good. It was a quick appointment, since I didn't really have any questions except if it's ok to get a massage and see my chiropractor. I got the massage that evening, and it felt really damn good. The massage therapist took the pain away, but they returned this weekend. I've been having the worst back pains, pain I never experienced in the first pregnancy. I also felt my first leg cramp of this pregnancy this weekend. It's the most heinous cramp in the world!! I do plan to get another massage next month, and continue to see my chiropractor. I was okayed to get my back cracked, although my OB seemed to discredit the importance of chiropractic care. I see one because my insurance covers it and it's much cheaper for me to get temporary fixes there than to see a masseuse every month.

With the back pain haunting me everyday, it's been really difficult to sleep. I've been waking up in the middle of the night from pain. It's hard for me to switch from my left to the right. Last night, I tried to roll over, but I got stuck. I yelled for papa Egan to help me roll over because it was impossible to try it again alone.

As for baby movements, I've rarely felt any at this time. I think I felt something a couple of weeks ago, since it certainly didn't feel like gas ;-) At my last appointment, doctor said it was moving a lot but of course I couldn't feel it.

I'll be sure to update again after this ultrasound. We have a name lined up for a boy, and we're still tossing up girls' names (which seems to be so hard!!) Whatever it is, we're very excited to expand our family. Big bro Gerard will love having a new baby around! 

Second appointment today

A couple of nights ago, I had my first pregnancy-related dream. Short and typical at this stage: I was spotting, or it was sort of a light flow period. For some reason, I didn't freak out at all, but if I saw that in real life, I would have freaked a little.

I had my check-up with Dr. Rittenhouse today. Everything looks great!! No gestational diabetes this time... the results of my 3-hour glucose testing also pointed to signs of good chromosomes: no Down's syndrome. Well, I still have a second testing to finalize this, but everything's looking just great. I am still of course dedicating myself to eating right, as hard as it is.... but I just kind of realized that everything I eat anyway has the nutrients I need. I know they're not enough, but I'm getting my protein, folate, etc etc... I'm just lacking calcium in my daily eating.

We heard a very soothing heartbeat, and baby salamander moved when I laughed from joy. The heartbeat detection went away but we heard the good stuff, so there was no more need for doctor to search for its location again.

Next appointment is in 5 weeks. We may know by then if we're having another boy or our first girl. My instincts? I REALLY COULDN'T TELL. I haven't had any dreams at all about its gender, as I did in my first pregnancy (and the dream was so right). It doesn't matter, this baby just needs to be healthy! 

4D ultrasound

Last week, we went to the perinatal lab for some 4D ultrasound. I'm on early for my integrated screening. We saw the little salamander, it's about 2 inches long. It was moving its limbs all around, we saw its head and full body and even the umbilical cord. It's always a wonderful sight to see it from this view, but of course, it's even more wonderful to see it and hold it in person. Hopefully I'll find out the results tomorrow with my OBGYN and I cross my fingers for positive news. More updates when I know! 

The dog wakes him up

Last Memorial Monday, we all slept in well into the morning hours. It was after 9am, when Gerard got woken up by a dog barking outside. One minute he was asleep, next second his head was up in the direction of the bark's sound. It just stayed up for a while, until I mentioned it was a dog.

Now we've never exactly noticed this dog's bark before, so it must be new to the neighborhood. We've been hearing it bark in the mornings, and every time then, Gerard waits for it when I ask "where's the dog?" He'll go up to the veranda door and look for a dog. He even knows how to say it: "dooh!"

Just thought I'd share. It's cute!

Last week, I took an ultrasound for the new baby. We took Gerard with us, and like any kid his age, he was all over his place. Couldn't stay put or amused with anything for more than a minute. This might be the last time we take him to any appointments because he's just too much to handle, and we need to also focus on the new baby's fetal developments.

Speaking of the new baby, Gerard has learned to rub my tummy whenever I ask him where the new baby is. The cute part is he smiles while he's at it! I love my little guy!

3 hr glucose test, back pain and more

Over the weekend, I went in for my 3 hour glucose test. I already have a negative feeling about this, knowing what kind of food I've eaten in the past months. So I gave 4 blood draws, but the 3rd draw needed two attempts. My blood stopped pumping in the middle of it all! I really hate needles. All the puncturing left me with a bruise on my arm. I had to fast 11 hours before this test, and drinking the nasty sugared drink made it really bad. In my first pregnancy, I pretty much wanted to vomit at the lab when I went through this test. This time around wasn't actually as bad, but I was alone (last time papa Egan was able to accompany me) and I kept myself occupied with my iphone. By the time I got back to my parents's house where I left Gerard for the morning, my body was weak and shaking from hunger. Thankfully, I was able to even drive from the lab to the house. I had two eat 1 and a half bananas, and as I ate my first meal of 3 burger patties and rice right after, my hands and body were shaking from the hunger. I laid down on the couch to nap and get my energy back, I was ready to pass out.

This pregnancy is killing me with the back aches. I have always had lower back pain since I was younger, but my upper back is getting a lot of pain recently. When I'm doing dishes, when I'm cooking and when I'm sleeping. I see my chiropractor quite regularly, but the pain always comes back.

On another note, my appetite has been monstrous the last few days. Just recently, I couldn't eat very well. The thought of food still makes me nauseous, though. But when I do eat, I can't seem to satisfy myself. I have been eating two meals at a time as needed, and I try to eat snacks in between. I had a large hot pot buffet dinner on Friday night, but it didn't leave me satisfied at all.

I'm almost through with the first trimester, but there seems to be no slowdown with the gagging. I've already been struggling to get up from bed and get in/out of the car. I think this is happening really early but then again, as they say, every pregnancy is different. I didn't feel this bloated in my first pregnancy until I was halfway through.

Instead of buying more maternity pants, I got talked into buying a belly band. It's working out so far. I can still wear my regular pants and not worry about my stretching belly. I would like to get more shirts though, since my wardrobe is mostly from my pre-pregnancy days and I haven't been able to really fit into them in 2 years now.