25 Weeks Today!

Please excuse the use of headings and bullets for this post - my allergies are a bit out of whack so getting words to flow into sentences is just not going to happen today.

OB Updates
Had my regularly scheduled OB appointment last Wednesday.  I am starting now to rotate through the other physicians in the practice at each visit, so saw Dr. P this time.  Here are the highlights:

• I asked about how to prevent/stop the yeast infections and she suggested I start taking a probiotic - apparently what is "good for the digestive tract is good for the vagina."  Had never heard THAT before, but at this point I'll try anything!
• Reviewed my visit to the hematologist, who was not terribly concerned about any excess clotting risk due to my MTHFR mutation, but wanted to leave the decision of whether or not to continue me on baby aspirin up to my OB.  Dr. P said she would discuss with my primary, Dr. E, and someone would let me know how to proceed.  Got a phone call later that day from Dr. E saying okay to stop taking the baby aspirin for the time being.
• Discussed whether any further testing would be necessary to determine the cause of my extreme fatigue.  Since my thyroid panel and blood counts were normal, there is nothing to be concerned about.  Dr. P's recommendation:  exercise more!
• Found out I have now entered the phase where any travel plans require a "travel check" prior to departure.  We were leaving that afternoon for our anniversary trip to Michigan, so Dr. P wanted to check my cervix.  She proclaimed it "closed up like Fort Knox!" and gave us her blessing for the drive, along with strict instructions to get out and walk/stretch every hour of the trip.
• Did my glucose tolerance test.  I had heard so many horror stories from friends about the test, but honestly it was not a big deal.  I actually tried some of the orange stuff they make you drink back when I was going through my phlebotomy training (we all did since we were learning how to perform those tests on patients).  It isn't pleasant to have to chug the whole bottle, for sure, but I survived and never really felt dizzy or hyper or any of the other stuff my friends have mentioned.  Maybe that's a bad thing?  Who knows.  The lab called Friday to discuss my results, but they were closed by the time I got the message.  Usually they just leave the results in my voicemail, but this time they said to call back Monday.  I am trying not to read into that as far as bad news, but with my strong family history of diabetes, it's hard not to be a little concerned.

Symptoms & Side Effects
As far as symptoms go, nothing new really, just varying degrees of things I've already been experiencing:

• I did have a random nosebleed last weekend, which was weird for me, but totally normal from what I've read.  
• I've also had some pretty fierce heartburn lately.  I can handle it during the day but when it hits at night is the worst.  
• I have had a bit more of the fuzzy brain feeling, but that again could be attributed to the fatigue/exhaustion.  
• My lower back and hips are also hurting a lot more.  I'm hoping now that we're home again and sleeping on our lovely new mattress this will go away.  
• As mentioned above, my allergies are kicking my butt this weekend.  I don't usually have a hard time with them, so maybe they are worse due to pregnancy?  
• I'm also out of breath a lot, especially with any kind of activity (i.e. walking up the stairs).  I know this is normal but it feels ridiculous!  
• In the category of "not sure if it is real and therefore new" I do suspect that I've been having a few Braxton Hicks contractions here and there.  It hasn't happened a lot, but enough that I've noticed it.  It's similar to the round ligament pain I was having a few weeks back, but with a bit more of a "sting" to it.  I'm not 100% sure about this, but I did mention it at my OB appointment and they said that it certainly could be Braxton Hicks.  I'm also entering the stage where it's important to be on the lookout for pre-term labor, so they went over the differences between Braxton Hicks and actual contractions.  

Goals & Plans
Between the work craziness and being out of town for two short trips in less than a week, I've had a hard time following any kind of routine lately.  Now that we're home for a bit, my goals, in terms of pregnancy health, include:

• Walking (at whatever pace I can manage) for 30 minutes each day.
• Doing at least 20-30 minutes of yoga each day.  I got a new DVD that I like much better.  It's still a little yoga-esque for my taste, for lack of a better word, but the actual movements and poses are more like an extended stretching routine and it actually feels pretty good.
• Continuing to take my probiotic.
• Figuring out a counter-attack plan for dealing with the heartburn.  Tums are not cutting it (and I hate the way they taste too) so I need to find something else.
• Making an appointment with my acupuncturist.  I haven't been in several weeks, and I think I'm overdue for a "tune up."

Flash & The Bump

• Flash is doing well, as near as I can tell, and is quite active.  Sometimes I can see the movement on the outside, which is strange and fascinating.  One day I was reading something and had my forearm kind of resting on the upper outer quadrant of my belly and Flash kicked it off!  That was pretty funny.  Paul can feel it a lot of times now too.  I haven't had anyone else try yet, mostly because the best spot to feel him/her is pretty low down on my abdomen, which would be a little weird to have someone other than Paul feeling around in that zone. 
• I think we went through a bit of a growth spurt last week - I felt huge and had that sore/stretchy feeling for several days.  It seems to be over now, but I still feel huge.  I know I have a ways to go still, but there's definitely no hiding the bump at this stage!  
• Things I'm noticing:
• It is getting more difficult to tie my shoes.
• Movements such as sitting up, rolling over in bed, and standing up from certain seats (like our futon upstairs) are rather challenging!
• I can no longer see my feet when I look straight down.
• I'm up anywhere from 9-11 pounds from my "baseline" back in January, most of which has appeared over the past 4 weeks.  We'll see where it goes from here...
• Casual and/or work acquaintances, and even complete strangers, are commenting now and asking when I'm due.  It's kind of fun!  I definitely enjoy answering that question as opposed to "So, do you have any kids yet?" or "When are you going to have kids?"

That's about it for updates right now.  I do want to post more about our anniversary trip and some other bits and pieces, but will do so in another post.  In closing, I will leave you with a bump pic that Paul took during our trip (he also took a full-length shot of me, but this one he said was specifically a picture of Flash):

Here's Flash, on the beach on Lake Michigan, at 24 weeks 5 days.