This Really is the Last Time, I swear.

Well, I'm still pregnant... so that's a plus. But I'm starting to experience what I call "belly fatigue". My stomach muscles are getting tired earlier in the day. For example, it's 9:50am and my belly is starting to wear out. I don't remember this happening with my last pregnancy. It's not painful, but it is uncomfortable and I'm not sure what to do about it. I Googled it and I can't really find much on it. Oh, well.... par for the course, I suppose.

They say 20 weeks is halfway through pregnancy, but I call bullshit on that because technically the first two weeks of pregnancy are freebies. I will consider myself halfway done when I get past my 22nd week and have only 18 weeks left. I'm still in shock I've made it this far. I'm now wearing maternity clothes and I have gained about 11-ish pounds, which is apparently right on track despite the fact I feel like a whale most nights. I should probably invest in a couple more pairs of Gap Body maternity leggings because the Old Navy ones just don't fit me correctly. Also, my placenta is anterior, so I'm not feeling as many kicks as I would like... but oh, well. I'm sure in a couple more weeks this baby girl will get her sea legs and I will be wishing for a break. We are moving to our new house at the end of May and I am excited to have a bigger space, but moving is a friggin' hassle. I haaaaate moving. We have met two of our 4 cul-de-sac neighbors and so far...

I can't believe this pregnancy has actually made it to 17 weeks. I had to start seeing a chiropractor for my sciatic pain, but for the most part things are going well. I'm sleeping better than I did in the first trimester and I feel a lot better than I did the first trimester, too. I have been gaining weight a liiiitle faster than I'd like, but I really think that's just because I have been unable to exercise due to the sciatic pain. I'm feeling better now, but the weather doesn't really lend itself to comfortably exercising/walking outside... so I haven't done much. The reality of all this is sinking in and I'm really trying to figure out how in the hell I will manage a newborn and nursing school come September. WHAT WAS I THINKING??

For some reason I always thought the 2nd trimester began at the end of the 12th week, and not the 13th... but I was wrong. I was hoping to be in my 2nd trimester already, but no such luck! Anyway, here is a video of the fetal doppler being put to use.

Things are going much better. I stopped getting the hunger-nausea a few days ago and I'm pretty glad it's gone. Also, I've been doing my progesterone suppositories faithfully every night and I think I'm about done. It's been 9ish days since I stopped the injections and my OBGYN told me at my last visit that the placenta takes over at 8 weeks. I'm out of the 100mg suppositories, but I still have ten 50mg ones that the fertility clinic gave me at my last appt. Maybe I should just do them since I have them? I would hate to stop before my body is ready and just completely fuck everything up. I've told more people about this than I probably should have. It's not public knowledge, but I do have about 14 people on my "know" list, not including professors and school personel. They won't remember that I was pregnant, so I don't need to worry about telling them about a miscarriage if it happens. Additionally, I bought a fetal heartbeat doppler ...

So, it seems like I have reached a turning point in the pregnancy and it's making me a little nervous. For the past 4 weeks, I have gotten really pretty nauseous/hungry if I didn't eat every 2 hours. But, since yesterday, I've felt really pretty good. It seems like it's too early to be feeling this well. Makes me wonder if something is wrong in there. Yesterday was my last day of injectable meds so if something bad happens because of less progesterone supplementation, I would likely start showing symptoms (spotting, cramping, etc) in the next couple days. I have my first visit with my OBGYN on Monday morning, so it won't be too long before I will know for sure that everything is ok (or not okay) in there. Fingers crossed everything is ok. Oh! I found out yesterday I am not the only pregnant nursing student in my class!!! One of my clinical group buddies is 6 weeks along. I know it's awful to say, but it's nice knowing I won't be the only one people...

So, I will give myself my last progesterone-in-oil injection tomorrow at 12:30pm. I'm not gonna lie... I am a little nervous. I'm sure everything will be fine, but I've been told multiple times the last 6+ weeks that these meds are what is keeping this pregnancy going so one can imagine it will be hard to let go of them. I will continue with progesterone suppositories for about another 2 weeks. Also, I will see my regular OBGYN on Monday. I have "graduated" from the fertility clinic and so now this is about to turn into a normal pregnancy. It's all still weird to think about. Also! The state university came to talk to my class about doing a special pathway program they offer the community college students so they can easily get their BSN degree after graduating with their ADN. I still need to take microbiology and I am trying to figure out when I will be able to do that with a wee baby. I've easily met all the other requirements, so I suppose I'm l...