Woah Nelly, It's begun

I think it's finally begun.
You know, that finally "feeling pregnant" part of being pregnant has begun.

So far, it had just been morning sickness, and just a little extra weight around the middle.

I knew was pregnant, but I didn't feel pregnant yet.

But boy oh boy it's begun.

Sunday, I wore this dress:


I am 15, almost 16 weeks along (4 months! Geeze louise!)

This is the same dress when I was only 7 weeks along:

I think thats a pretty big change, considering I was about 117 Lbs in this photo, and 127 in the one above it (eeek! This is the most I have ever, ever weighed in my entire life!)

But what made me really happy, was that at church, people who have never spoken to me in the year and a half I've been here congratulated me on being pregnant.

The other night, as Bryant and I were unwinding and watching some TV I was thinking about my next appointment, (which got pushed back, read on for details) and I suddenly though "holy Moses, I'm pregnant i'm carrying Bryant and I's child. A child that we will raise into adulthood. There was no going back.

Thats when I felt pregnant.

And over the past couple of days, I've had to deal with the unpleasantly painful side of being pregnant too. Being at school is torture, instead of worrying about how accessible the closest garbage can is in case I get sick, I know get really uncomfortable and my back begins to kill! Work is torture because I'm on my feet the entire time I'm there running around and my feet and my hips are in agony at the end of the night. Not to mention, I get 1 break if I work over 5 1/2 hours and I'm STARVING by then.

And even trying to sleep at night is torture because the muscles on the side of my stomach feel like they are being stretched and pulled all night long so I'm constantly rolling over trying to relieve some of the pressure.

And I know this is only the beginning. I can't even imagine how uncomfortable I'll become near the end of this pregnancy when I'm the size of a small elephant!

But its all completely and totally worth it!

In other news, I had to switch doctors. This may be temporary, but we'll see I guess.
The problem was that my other doctor didn't accept baby your baby, which is the temporary insurance I am on while I'm applying tor my other insurance. Which means that last month when I had my first appointment, all they were able to do was take my blood pressure and do an ultrasound. They couldn't do any blood work, which is crucial to make sure everything is OK with the baby, and because I am very anemic and my blood and iron levels need to be monitored.

Lately, I've been feeling sick, my parents were worried because I look really pale and I'm overly tired all the time, which are signs that my levels are low (remember how I said I once came minutes away from needing a transfusion? Yeah I want to get this checked out)

Well I finally got approved for my insurance, however my card wont be here for 10-14 days and my appointment was for yesterday. I called a different doctor and they accepted baby your baby and said they would be able to do all the tests that needed to be done (I mean, I'm 4 months along tomorrow and all I've had was an ultrasound, I'm getting a little anxious to make sure all the other stuff is OK)

Then I called my doctor that I had seen last month. They said that since I don't have my card yet that all they could do was take my blood pressure. Seriously? Lame sauce. When I asked if I would be billed for that or If my insurance could back-pay, she said I would be billed. The grand total for getting my blood pressure checked??? 350 big ones! Yup! 350 dollars to do something I could go into any pharmacy or grocery store and do myself for free! Thats a big old serving of lame sauce!

So I told the nurse that I would have to cancel my appointment and make one somewhere else. I wasn't waiting till I was over half way done with my pregnancy before I got any sort of prenatal care. Then it got funny, the nurse immediately started freaking out, telling me that If I went somewhere else, they would charge me TWICE as much. I asked " they will charge me 700 dollars to take my blood pressure?"

"yes, anywhere else is going to be expensive, we are the cheapest doctors you will find"

I kind of giggled a bit and said, "well, I actually already found a doctor who accepts baby your baby and they will be able to do everything that needs to be done and I won't be charged for it. I'm 4 months along and I haven't had anything done yet at your office"

Suddenly, I felt kind of bad because she sounded defeated when she said "oh... 4 months? Ok I understand, I'll cancel your appointment tomorrow"

To make her feel better, I told her that I would go to this months appointment at the other doctor, but that I would call her this weekend to schedule next months with their office.

I don't know if I will or not. This new doctor gives you the choice of a doctor or a midwife, but they kind of push you towards the whole, natural birth thing, which I'm just not into. (Think and say what you will, I just like the idea of a sterile hospital, and yes, I know I'm awful, but I want the epidural and pain meds, I don't do well at all with pain)

So I have my 2nd appointment tomorrow, and even though I HATE HATE HATE needles and any pain, I am actually really excited. I was worried because the only time they had available was only an hour before my class, but this morning as I was struggling to get out of bed (after all, I had minimal sleep with all that pain along the sides of my abdomen last night) I realized it is fall break at school! (it felt so good to roll, over, shut my alarm off and head back off into dreamland...) So I won't have to worry about being late to class.

Bryant thinks they will do another ultrasound there since they are a new doctor. I kind of hope they do too. I think Bryant hopes they will do one so that there is a chance of finding out what it is. (Our other doc said they can sometimes tell around 15 weeks, but that the only other ultrasound they would do would be at 21 weeks, which is next month) I would love to get another ultrasound, just to see the baby again, but it would be fun to find out what it is so I can start planning! Woo!