Pregnancy 19 Weeks: Thanksgiving and Car Accident

I've had two ultrasounds since my last update. The first was the anatomy ultrasound. Everything the tech could see looked great, but baby girl was a wiggle worm. I go back in mid-December so the tech can try again for the heart. She could see the heart beating away, but she could not visually confirm everything she needed to.

We also went to visit my aunt in Colorado for Thanksgiving. It was an eight-hour drive, but I love being able to spend time with family members. I only get to see my family about three times a year, so I always look forward to it. I also have a cousin who lives about 90 minutes south of my aunt. We visited with her as well. She has a little dog that E was obsessed with.

We had a really good visit, but the drive home on Sunday was more eventful than I cared for. We decided to take the northern route home since the southern route has frozen over. We checked the weather reports and all was clear, but I guess this winter storm decided it wanted to make an entrance. Hubs could tell conditions were bad and the other drivers were being wreckless. He started to pull off onto the shoulder to avoid the person speeding and gaining ground behind us. I was knitting at the time when hubs said, "We are about to get hit."

I looked up into the passenger side mirror to see a purple-blue car lose control and collide with a semi-truck. It then spun and slammed into the back of our SUV. We thought only the bumper and exhaust pipe were affected, but we noticed some frame damage to the back passenger side door as well.

E was not hurt, but she was terrified. She screamed inconsolably for about 20 minutes. I called 911 and told the dispatcher where we were, that numerous cars were involved, and that I was 19 weeks pregnant. An officer arrived and informed us that with conditions this bad, I would be better off having hubs drive me to the nearest hospital than getting into the ambulance.

One car involved took off right away. Another one tried to, but its axle was snapped in half. The police officer took everyone's statement and insurance information and then gave us the incident report. The nearest town with a hospital was 40 miles away in Rawlins, WY.

Once we got to the town, I realized I was bleeding. When we got to the ER, they couldn't do much of anything. They had no ultrasound tech on the weekends. They did have a doppler, so I got to hear baby girl's heartbeat. The ER doctor did a physical exam and said his best guess was I had a small abruption. He told me to rest as much as possible and see my own doctor as soon as possible. I stopped bleeding that same night.

I saw my doctor yesterday. She agreed with the ER doctor's assessment. Since it was so late in the day, I could not have an ultrasound to confirm. They scheduled me for one this morning. There is no major tear, as they expected. Their best guess is a small corner tore away from my wall and caused the bleed. I am on modified bed rest for a week and then I can ease back into my regular activities.

I had a really bad headache Sunday and Monday, and my uterus is a lot sorer than I expected. We are so thankful that none of our babies were hurt. Our biggest hurdle and concern going forward is that I am not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds for a week from the bleeding. Hubs had shoulder surgery so he cannot lift much either. Thankfully, my mom is coming out tomorrow, which is such a stress relief.

Now that we are home and we know baby girl is well, I have some late comparison pictures. 19 weeks with E on the left, 19 and a few days into this pregnancy on the right. Unlike previous weeks, I am now looking bigger than my previous pregnancy. Poking out a tiny bit!

Here are some ultrasound pictures from my first ultrasound and my ultrasound today. Baby girl is measuring at 22 weeks.

Waving hand from last week.

Waving hand from this week. 

Baby's profile <3

Little baby feet

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

I found this recipe for cinnamon swirl banana bread and had to give it a try. It turned out to be really tasty and wasn't nearly as caloric as I thought it would be. It's by no means a healthy treat, but I have no regrets after eating it either. I didn't grab a pretty picture of it before the family tore into it, so this is what I have.

Ingredients

For the bread you will need:

• Three ripe bananas
• 1 1/2 C flour
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1/3 C melted butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 dash of salt

For the cinnamon swirl, you will need:

• 1/3 C sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 then coat your pan in butter and flour. I don't have a loaf pan anymore, so I just used a smaller casserole dish. 

Mash your bananas with a fork, then add in your sugar, melted butter, egg, and vanilla. Mix them together with a blender. You could probably do this by hand if you wanted, but using beaters would be a heck of a lot easier. Add your salt and baking soda then stir in the flour.

In a separate small bowl, mix together your cinnamon and sugar. 

Pour half your banana batter into the pan then sprinkle half of your cinnamon sugar blend on top. Add in the remaining banana batter and repeat the cinnamon sugar topping. 

For my pan, I only needed to bake it for 50 minutes. Deeper pans may require more cook time. 

Nutrition Information

	Cals	Fat	Sat	Trans	Sodium	Carbs	Sugar	Fiber	Protein
3 over-ripe bananas, smashed up	315	1.2	0.3	0	3	81	42	9.3	3.9
1/3 cup melted butter	533	58.6	21.3	0	453.05	0	0	0	0
3/4 cup sugar	579.75	0	0	0	1.5	150	150	0	0
1 egg, beaten	60	4	1	0	69	0	0	0	6
1 tsp vanilla	12	0	0	0	0	0.5	0.5	0	0
1 tsp baking soda	0	0	0	0	1259	0	0	0	0
dash of salt	0	0	0	0	291	0	0	0	0
1 1/2 cups flour	682.5	1.8	0.3	0	4.5	142.5	0.45	5.1	19.5
1/3 cup sugar	255.09	0	0	0	0.66	66	66	0	0
1 Tbs cinnamon	19	0.1	0	0	1	6	0.2	4.1	0.3
Total	2456.3	65.7	22.9	0	2082.7	446	259.2	18.5	29.7
Total per serving (8)	307.04	8.22	2.87	0	260.34	55.75	32.39	2.31	3.7125

Pregnancy Week 18: Shoulder Surgery Update and Braxton Hicks

Josh's shoulder is healing well, but we got some unpleasant news. The paperwork he went home with said he would be in the sling for two weeks. When he went in for a follow-up appointment, the surgeon informed him he will be in the sling for six weeks. Boo. He can, however, start physical therapy right away.

I started experiencing Braxton hicks contractions in the last week. I didn't start getting them with E until I was about 21/22 weeks, so I wasn't really expecting them this early. I'm also still sick :( My cold turned into a sinus infection. I'm finally almost over it. Today is the first day I could shake my head without feeling sinus pain/pressure. I still feel it if I walk too quickly from the impact of my feet on the ground, though.

Here are my comparison pictures of 18 weeks from my pregnancy with E (on the left) and this pregnancy (on the right):

It may not be super obvious, but I'm starting to bow outward a little bit.

We go in tomorrow for the anatomy ultrasound. I am super excited to see baby girl. I haven't had an ultrasound since seven weeks or so.

Pregnancy Week 17: Illness and Shoulder Surgery

This last week has been a little rough on everybody, the last few days in particular. I started getting a cold in the early hours of Monday morning and it is still kicking around a week later. I am feeling much better (no more sore throat), but I still have a lovely combo of runny nose/chest congestion. I also still have a phlegmy cough (lovely visual, I know). Hopefully, I am on the tail end of this illness. I think it's been sticking around for so long because I can't take many medications while pregnant and I'm not getting quality sleep.

I'm still not looking very pregnant. My comparison pictures from my last pregnancy are super blurry since I had to take them with my iPad. I think I look smaller this time around, though. Some pregnancy stats: baby girl #2 weighs about 5 ounces and is about 5 inches long. She is roughly the size of a pear. She is developing fingerprints and her ears are almost fully formed. This means she is starting to be able to hear me when I talk. I've felt her move a couple of times, but they were just flutters. No major kicks or pokes yet!

I have hit that point in pregnancy where I wake up with a flat stomach and go to bed with a bump. I also look different in my clothes regardless of the time of day.

WARNING: PICTURE OF STITCHES TO FOLLOW. They aren't gruesome or anything, but I know some people are made squeamish by stitches and such.

Hubs had shoulder surgery on Thursday for a torn labrum. Prior to surgery, we were told it is called a SLAP 2 tear. It is the most common of the SLAP tears. However, once the surgeon got in there it was worse than he anticipated. After surgery, the surgeon told hubs, "I have no idea how you were doing anything with that shoulder." The incisions were a lot smaller than I expected. The surgeon wrote the word "Yes" along with the smiley face. Apparently, it was so the surgeon and his team would know for sure that they were working on the correct shoulder. These pictures are from right after we removed the bandages (48 hours after surgery).

Our daughter does not understand at all that she cannot climb all over daddy, so I spend most of her awake time keeping her off hubs. He will be in a sling for two weeks and the total recovery time is 4-6 weeks for normal usage and 12 weeks before he can begin doing pull ups and exercises of that nature. His pain is much less than I expected, which is great. It hurts him a lot if it gets jostled, but resting pain is minimal.

Pregnancy Weeks 15 + 16: Doula Search and Gender

These last few weeks have gone by in a blur. I had a prenatal checkup at 14+4 and got to hear the heartbeat again. It was 152 :) My sciatica pain is starting to be constant. I have the name of a chiropractor who specializes in pregnant women, so hopefully I can get an appointment soon.

I'm also in the process of finding a doula. I asked around my neighborhood for some referrals. I'm meeting with those doulas in the next couple of weeks so I should have one soon. I wish I could use the same doula I had with my first, but we've both moved to opposite ends of the country, haha.

Here are my comparison pictures of 15 weeks with my daughter to this pregnancy.

Here is my 16 week comparison.

I shared the gender news on Facebook a week or so ago, but baby #2 is a girl! Getting our daughter to cooperate with the paint and handprints was a challenge. She did the right handprint no problem, but the left took a few tries.

I was hoping I was wrong, but it seems I have caught some kind of illness. I woke up the night before last with an uncontrollable cough, but it went away with a drink of water. I woke up yesterday morning feeling fine. However, last night I woke up in the middle of the night with a killer sore throat. I also have a runny nose and sneeze a lot, so I'm guessing a cold. Since I'm preggers, there are few medicines I can take.

On to much cuter news than my cold, E had a blast this Halloween. Here she is in her strawberry costume:

She calls it a straw-bee :) She loved knocking on doors and getting candy. She also wanted to follow all the people into their houses. I mean, they had candy after all.

Here are the instructions on how I made it.