Reese is a Wild One

This morning, I'm getting ready for my day (running late as usual) and I'm getting ready to give myself my shot in the bathroom. I'm standing there in my bra and undies, I wipe my stomach with the alcohol pad, grab a hunk of belly fat, take the cover off of the needle and stab it in.

My cat Reese sometimes joins me in the bathroom when I'm getting ready in the morning and this morning was one of those mornings. She jumps on the counter and while I'm slowly injecting the meds, Reese decides she wants to start LICKING THE ALCOHOL PAD. This cat is crazy. CRAZY!

I balance on one foot, while the needle is still in my stomach, and try to shoo her away with my other foot. This works for a second. She starts licking the sink and then finds her way back to the alcohol pad. I'm yelling at her to stop and finally I yell for Steve (who is snoozing away). He thankfully hears me though and comes busting in to see what's wrong and I say "Reese is licking the alcohol pad. Please. Help. Me." He grabs her and throws her out of the bathroom and asks if I need anything else. I say no and continue with my injection.

That cat is always into something. Always! No more Reese and Mommy time in the AM while I'm doing these injections!

Last Night...I Cried

The injection instructions say to lay down when giving the injections. I've been giving them while standing and wonder if it really matters. But last night I decided to do it laying down and I was right back to last Thursday night, struggling to jab the needle in my stomach and Steve was offering to do it for me. I didn't lay there for an hour this time, but I did start to cry while anticipating the slight pain that I feel when the needle goes in.

I became overwhelmed, thinking about how this is going to be a long road ahead of us. Every night and every morning, giving myself a shot. I know this is minimal compared to what some women have to go through to even conceive a child. I found out over the weekend that one of my friends from college is also pregnant (she is the 3rd friend to inform us that she is expecting this year) and is taking Lovenox shots too! She actually had a DVT a few years ago while traveling. Our dosage is a bit different - she only has to give herself a shot once a day and her doc hasn't mentioned anything about not going past 39 weeks, so that is definitely a question I want to raise next time I visit the doctor - why the concern not to pass 39 weeks?

But I am blessed. I'm blessed to be going to a practice that is looking out for what is best for my health and the baby. And I am thankful.

This Is Going To Be Worth It!

Ouch! This bruise is from the 1st blood thinner injection that I administered myself (the morning after Steve gave me the 1st injection ever). I think I injected the fluid too quickly, which caused the bruising. I made it a point Friday night to inject more slowly and so far so good! I think I can safely say I'm doing a pretty darn good job. 

Breathe a Sigh of R-E-L-I-E-F!

Look at those cute little legs!

This morning Steve and I went to my first OB appointment (which I've mentioned was happening, oh I don't know, 1,000 times in previous posts). I am happy to report that baby baum looks GOOD! Baby is measuring right on track - 8 weeks, 5 days, due on December 10th.

This was my 1st visit with my new practice and it was a long, but thorough visit. In explaining my health history and family history, this practice feels that with my Factor V Leiden genetic disorder, I should be on blood thinners and will need to give myself daily injections (or have Steve do it)...so there will probably be some bruising on my belly - but if it helps this pregnancy go smoothly, then I'm all for it! My previous practice felt I only needed to take a baby aspirin daily (as did the high-risk doctor I met with) but this just goes to show that all practices are different in the way they want to handle my Factor V. They do not want me to pass 39 weeks either - so if baby baum doesn't come early on his/her own, they will have to induce. Here's to praying for an early delivery (within safe reason, of course). I want my body to do this on it's own and not have the help of medication to push it along.

I start my shots tonight - eek!

I felt such a sense of relief after going to the doctor and confirming baby baum is thriving and growing. The heartbeat was beating at 171 bpm - a strong heartbeat.

yay!!!

Pregnancy Brain Already?

Is it possible to already have pregnancy brain at 8 weeks along? This week alone I have mailed a card w/o postage (expect to receive that returned to me in the coming weeks) and mixed up my mom's address with my dad's address for mother's day gifts and thankfully realized in time to call & correct it before the gift was shipped! I also misspelled a word in my gift card message so instead of reading buy some art supplies on us, it read busy some art supplies on us. haha! we may be in trouble here!

8 Weeks, 2 Days

I really hope I'm calculating these bumpdates correctly. :-) Going to the doc on Thursday morning to confirm and although the soreness in my boobs have minimized, I'm trying to remain positive. I'm still battling some nausea, but no sickness (and hopefully I won't have any).

Baby Baum is about the size of a kidney bean. doesn't that seem smaller than a blueberry? either way - baby is looking more like a baby and less like a tadpole. very exciting!

To assist in baby baum's growth, I ate an apple pie from mcdonalds for breakfast and a co-worker gave me a chick-fil-a biscuit that he didn't eat. How could I turn that down? Fruit for the rest of the day though!