Familiar Territory

I was nervous and excited when I got pregnant for the second time. This was due to several reasons, but I was also very curious about how this pregnancy would go. I've heard from many women different accounts of their second pregnancies and there doesn't seem to be any consistencies. Some had a very different time with their second child while some experienced similar symptoms, timelines, etc.

I was not sure what I would get.

There were a couple things I wanted to be different. For one, I had a moment thinking maybe I wouldn't be diabetic. Ha! My diagnosis was confirmed so early that it was almost funny...almost.

I also hoped that I wouldn't feel as sick my first trimester. So much for that. However, how I felt sick was very different. I didn't realize that there were different kinds of nausea. Now I know. Ugh.

There were a couple things that I wanted to stay the same as the first pregnancy. I had a really nice 2nd trimester with few symptoms. I wanted that again. Luckily, I got it. Also, I had an intense, yet short labor. Yes, sir gimme another. While it was scary to dilate early and go on bed rest, I was super grateful that I didn't have to go past my due date like some poor, tortured women do. No thank you.

So as I wrap up this pregnancy, I am noticing some similarities. First, I began non-stress tests this week at 32 weeks. (Sidenote: the doctors think I'm 32 weeks even though my old doctor corrected her original due date, so I should be at 33 weeks. Unfortunately, she didn't tell anyone apparently. Doesn't really matter, but I was still bummed to lose that week.)

When I went to my NST last Thursday, I was curious to see if I was right about two things: baby boy dropping, and my contractions. Luckily, they did an ultrasound (so fun to see the little guy), and sure enough he is headed south. Emerson did that last time too around this time.

I also wanted to see if I was contracting. I'm pretty sure that I am, but it has been five years since my last pregnancy. I had what I thought was my first contraction at about 28 weeks (that was a nice difference; I started contracting with Em at 20, but that was due to elevation and dehydration.) Since my third trimester started, I have about 3 to 5 contractions per evening, especially later in the week. They don't hurt, but sometimes my back aches.

On Thursday, they hooked me up to the heart and contraction monitors, and sure enough I am contracting. Most of it is just irritability. However, I did have three while I was there that qualified as real contractions because they were longer than 40 seconds.

The NST went fine, and the nurse reminded me of things to watch out for. So far, I seem to be on track with what happened last time. If Em's pregnancy is any indication, I hopefully shouldn't have to worry about being put on bed rest for 3 weeks or so. Hopefully, I can take better care of myself this time and make it a bit longer. I think it helps that I don't feel as scared and nervous about contracting as I did the first time. I feel like I know what to expect.

I do feel annoyed that my nurse seems so quick to discount my first experience with pregnancy. Medical professionals seem open to using past experience as an indication of what will happen in the future in most situations, excepting pregnancies. I don't get it. Maybe it's just my nurse, but she is really insistent that I will have a different experience this time. She keeps insisting that I will have to be induced. It's not that I'm unwilling to consider that possibility; it's just that so far, I seem to be following a similar time line. Also, she doesn't seem to believe me when I say that I would LOVE to be closer to my due date. The closer I can get to it, the less time I have to work at the end of the year.

Really, most of this is much ado about nothing. Baby boy will come when he wants to. It's just my job to make sure that things are as ready as possible. Still working on that, but we are definitely making progress. We still need to get his room done, and he needs some clothes. I still have a ton of work to get done at school, which is no fun at all.

However, it astonishes me that we are almost done with this part of the journey. I had a baby shower yesterday, and it was so fun to open baby gifts and talk about meeting my boy. I really can't wait, even though I wish I could press the fast forward or video montage button at this point (look at Hillary completing her evaluations and setting up the crib.)

Is it March yet? :)