Exhaustion, stretchy waistbands, a new doctor, questioning looks and sunblock

A crazy pairing of words, but they sum up what I've been up too the past week and what I'm about to do next week.  Let's start with the first word;

Exhaustion.

OK, I remember being tired the first time I was pregnant. I remember eating pb&j for dinner, because the thought of cooking seemed like entirely too large of an undertaking. But this, this is ridiculous. I now count down the minutes to Toddler T's naptime, so I can drift off on the couch. While this is one way to get through the day, it is hardly helping keep my floors clean or laundry done. Even Mr. T seems surprised by my comatose like state by 9pm.  I blame exhaustion for my inability to keep up with the blog. I can read, I can comment on other's blogs.... but to type a whole entry at 8:30pm. It's just not happening. Hopefully, I will get that 2nd trimester surge of energy I read about. (Although, never experienced with Toddler T).

Stretchy Waistbands.

Something happened last week. My pants no longer zipped up. I am 9 weeks 5 days pregnant and I could not zip up my pants at 8 weeks 5 days. It was alarming. I was ashamed to need maternity pants at 12 weeks with Toddler T. But EIGHT AND A HALF WEEKS is downright embarrassing. I have been told that you will show earlier with each pregnancy, and this is my 4th pregnancy... but still. So, I tried the belly band. I hate it. I still feel like my pants are going to fall off. I tried my maternity jeans on and they are too big. After feeling like Goldilocks for a little while, I remembered the trick of putting the belly band around the maternity pants to help hold them up. AAAHHHH, Heaven. 

A New Doctor.

I graduated last week and transferred over to my new/old doctor. After a lot of thought, I realized that I did not feel comfortable going back to my previous group. I needed a fresh start after struggling through two ectopics with them. So, I asked my RE who he might recommend.  I was surprised when he recommended the group who treated my first ectopic from the ER. (The back story is, the morning I ruptured, I knew something was very. very. wrong. So, when I told Mr. T that I needed to go to the ER, I told him to go to the closest one, which was not the one my doctor was on staff at. When it was determined that I needed emergency surgery, I was treated by the in-house OB/GYN).  I was happy to see her again, under much, much better circumstances. Dr. Blonde was great in acknowledging where we had come from and was patient with my list of questions. We nailed a few things down right off the bat. I will be having a scheduled repeat c-section. I will go forward with the CVS testing. I will have increased monitoring in my last 4 weeks of pregnancy (which she explained was the norm for IVF pregnancies).  She made me feel comfortable and I'm happy I made the switch.

Questioning Looks.

See, Stretchy Waistbands. Well, if your stomach is expanding and it is difficult to button your pants, it is only normal, that people will look at your larger stomach. I've tried to conceal and I've just let it be what it is. I was taken a little by surprise when our Post Mistress said to me today. "I don't mean to be rude, but are you..." and then she pointed in a little circle gesture toward my stomach. I smiled and she gave me a big congratulations.  It is surreal to be having these conversations at 9.5 weeks pregnant. Remember, with Toddler T, our lips were sealed until 12 weeks. 

Sunblock.

We are headed to the beach. One full week of sun, surf, ice-cream cones, hot dogs,  flip flops and lunches under the umbrella at the beach. I can't wait. I love the smell of Coppertone and I do appreciate a nice summer glow. Toddler T cannot wait to get to the beach and dig holes. (His words, not mine). I've pretty much got everything organized and may have time for a pre-vacation manicure!!!

See you in a week!