Sixteen Weeks w/Baby #2

I have made it another three weeks of being pregnant! 

I am probably going to be more and more excited as each week passes and I am almost promising you all that it will get rather annoying. But this time around, every day that passes that I remain pregnant is a milestone. My goal is to stay pregnant long enough for Brian to return home from deployment and kiss my preggo belly! 

I had my most recent cervix check and I was a little bummed that the doctors would not let me see baby. But my cervix is still nice and long and is showing no signs of opening prematurely. So that made me feel a little less bitter about not getting to see baby. Baby's heart beat was good, but I forgot to ask what the range was. I may try to find the heart beat sometime later on my own with our fetal doppler. Doctor showed no signs of concern, but is still keeping me as a high risk pregnancy. So that means I'm still going in every two weeks to have my cervix checked. 

On top of the every two weeks, I am now going to have to start going in every week for a hormone shot called Makena. I started this shot today and it was not as bad as I thought it would be, but holy moly does my arm hurt now! Today I got it in my arm, next week who knows where it will go...hoping not the same arm! But from what I have learned, Makena is a prescription hormone (progesterone) shot that helps lower the risk of premature birth in women who are currently pregnant with only one baby and have a history of premature labor/birth. So since I fall under that category, I get this shot in hopes that it will help keep me pregnant up to at least 37 weeks. I believe I will get the shot every week until roughly 36 weeks. 

I also had to have blood drawn for the second half of my down syndrome test. But other than all of that, all is well! I have been feeling baby a little more each week and it feels so surreal. If I wouldn't look in the mirror daily, I would forget I was even pregnant until I felt the baby move. 

Me at 17 weeks pregnant with Avalyn.

Me at 16 weeks pregnant with Baby #2

How far along? 16 weeks, 2 day.

Total weight gain: still only 11 pounds.

Maternity clothes?  Yes.

Stretch marks? Yes. 

Sleep: Still tossing and turning.

Best moment of this week? Finally getting to Skype Brian after a week without seeing/talking to him.

Miss anything? Missing Brian (every day!)

Movement: The occasional little kick. 

Food cravings? Dr. Pepper and juice. 

Anything making you queasy or sick? Any weird/strange smell in general...deep fryer, burnt popcorn, etc. 

Labor signs: None.

Symptoms: Occasional itchy stomach, food cravings are starting to calm down, but I am beginning to experience the aches in my hips. 

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? Still wearing them.

Happy or moody most of the time? Very content. 

Looking forward to: Skype with Brian, girl's night out tomorrow night, Ghost Adventures (thank goodness for my DVR!), and finishing up the next care package. 

Pregnancy aside, things have been going pretty well here in the Felda household. Avalyn and I are still adjusting to life without our Marine, but I feel that we have been handling the transition very well. I have noticed some behavioral changes in Ava, so I am working together with Brian on how to make this deployment process a little easier on her. I have been keeping busy with being a full-time student, volunteering/helping with the battalion, and keeping up our social group. I have something to do almost every day of the week and that, my friends, is how I have been surviving this deployment so far. 

Staying busy and planning the next care package/s has been what keeps me from falling into a deep depression. Of course, I still attend therapy every two weeks and I am still on anti-anxiety/anti-depressants, but I feel that soon I will be able to wean myself off of those medications. My goal this pregnancy is not to turn to medication if I don't absolutely need to. So, aside from my anti-meds, I am only taking my thyroid medication and a prenatal. No Tylenol, no Benedryl, etc. I am learning to deal with things like headaches and allergies (and soon to be anxiety/depression) by using natural or homeopathic remedies. I have also been doing it with Avalyn and have so far been able to eliminate her prescribed allergy medication! 

Avalyn has turned nineteen months old in the passed few weeks and is doing extremely well. She had her developmental delay screening done and we were told that she will not be needing any physical therapy! The two women doing the screening were extremely impressed with her and told me to keep socializing her and keep working with her. Hearing that was such a compliment because it makes me feel like I'm doing a great job as her mother.

She also had her eyes examined again and we learned that her vision has improved significantly that she won't be needing any glasses at this point in time and does not have to go back until she is three years old! 

So this week was full of great milestones for us! 

Not to mention that she is saying a new weird almost every day! Today it was cold. Yesterday it was cookie. 

She is no doubt, a very smart and beautiful little girl.