Update

Well, folks, I'm 6 months along!  A little less than 4 months to go!  I'm so excited to be at this point, but I realize I also have the entire hot summer to look forward to.  Lol.  It'll be interesting, that's for sure.  I'll be finding lots of fun ways to keep cool.  My favorite way will probably be to stay in air conditioning.

Here's what's been going on.  My son and I went up to Ohio last week for vacation.  We stayed up there for a week and visited friends and family.  We definitely had fun, but it'll be a couple years before we go back up, probably.  There is a fun event at Cedar Point called "Coasting for Kids" that I would love to take part in, though.  It raises money for Give Kids The World, which is like Make a Wish, but is based in Central Florida.  Working for Disney, Universal, and Sea World means that I've encountered families who use their services quite a bit and it's always made an impact on me.

On May 3rd, I volunteered at the Expedition Everest 5k Challenge at Disney World.  It's a night race that's run through Animal Kingdom.  You run a 5k, then you have to solve various clues while running back through the park.  It was a lot of fun.  I got to see a lot of my friends who were running it.  Here's a picture of my friend Rebecca and I.  It was her first 5k and she had a blast!

I volunteered doing Runner Direction, so I made sure no one came into my corral that wasn't supposed to.  

Now for the more serious stuff.  From the beginning, I've wanted to have a vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC) with this baby.  The parents knew that and were okay with it, as long as it was a feasible option.  I was never given any indication that it wasn't.  Right before vacation, I found out that my doctor told the mom that it was medically necessary for me to have a repeat c-section (RCS).  Because of this, they now want me to have a RCS.  Unfortunately, I was unable to speak with him before we left for vacation.  However, I did have an appointment yesterday with him.  The good news?  Baby has a great heartbeat and is growing normally.  The not so good news?  My doctor doesn't do VBACs because there is a minute chance (0.5%-1%) of a uterine rupture.  I was crushed.

I told the parents that I'm going to get my medical records regarding the c-section and get a second, and possibly third, opinion.  If I talk to the doctors and they tell me that, for some reason pertaining to me specifically, I'm not a good candidate for VBAC, then I'll stay with my doctor and get the RCS.  The parents aren't happy that I'm going to be talking to other doctors because they feel like me switching doctors at this point means my new doctor won't know me or my medical history well enough.  They also don't want anything to happen to the baby (neither do I, obviously) and believe, after having informed discussions with other medical professionals, that a RCS is the best option for me.

I've been doing my research on the pros and cons of VBAC vs. RCS and have passed that information on to the parents.  At this point, it's just a waiting game to talk to other doctors.  I already have one in mind.  He was my friend's doctor for her pregnancy and she highly recommends him.  He delivers at the hospital I'll deliver at, so I don't have to worry about switching hospitals.  She says he's straight-forward and honest, which is what I'll need.  Once I've spoken to the doctors, the parents and I will discuss what has been found out.  Ultimately, it's my decision, though of course they want me to take their feelings into account, which I'm trying to.  It's not an easy decision to make, by any means.  Just keep your fingers crossed that we get all of this figured out quickly.  I'm really hoping that, if the doctors tell me I'm a good candidate for VBAC, I can ease the parents' minds about it.

Our fun-filled Monday

This past Monday, April 21st, we had our big ultrasound and photo shoot.  The parents came down on Saturday, spent the weekend with family (we had lunch with them on Sunday), then left Tuesday morning.  So, let me tell you all about our Monday.

Monday morning, at 8:30 a.m., we had the ultrasound.  I scheduled it at the place I had my previous ultrasounds because I really like the technician I've always had there.  She's super sweet and she did the ultrasounds of the twins, too, until I had to start going to the hospital for them because I was having twins.  This pregnancy, she's put a lock on all the previous images so when I get closer to the end of the pregnancy, if I have another ultrasound, she'll put all of them onto a CD for the parents.  :-)  Anywho, we got there right on time and waited to be called back.  She came and got us, excited when she realized the parents were with me.  I had a really full bladder and apparently, it was TOO full, because after she checked my cervix on the screen, she had me go to the bathroom.  I just have to say, thank GOD.  I was much more comfortable the rest of the ultrasound.

We got down to it and she started measuring the baby's various parts.  We got hands, fingers, legs, toes, feet, etc.  And, the baby made sure we knew he was a boy.  That's right.  This kid spread his legs wide open and let it allll hang out.  We all started laughing and the tech caught a picture for the parents.  It turns out, he's measuring right on time, except for his femur, which is measuring about 2 weeks AHEAD of my due date.  He may be a tall kiddo.  I'm cool with that and so are his parents.  They're excited he's right on schedule.

Well, hello, baby!

 The parents and I parted for the rest of the day until we had the photo shoot at 4:30.  Unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic, so we didn't get to the location until about 4:50.  We had it done at Wekiwa Springs State Park here in Central Florida.  We had a fantastic time.  The photographer is a friend of mine and always does an amazing job, but this time, she went above and beyond.  We've all gotten so many compliments on the pictures.  If you'd like to check them out, go here: A Surrogacy Story.  Here are a couple sneak peeks of the pictures.

The light of my life

The photographer made the signs.  She was amazing.  :-D

The mom and I

Oh, and I found out today I've lost 3.2 pounds in the last week.  Apparently, overhauling my eating and getting out there to run/walk more has just turned my system completely around.  I'm going to call my doctor, just to make sure it's okay and see if there's a point where I should be concerned about any weight loss.  I'm optimistic, though.  Oh, and on a completely random note, 2 MORE WEEKS TIL OHIO!!!!!!

Yahoo!!!!

Today was my monthly check-up at my doctor's office.  Baby is doing very well, with a regular heartbeat and a very active little body.  It took the doctor a couple minutes to find him.  Of course, I knew he was active, since he likes to kick me at midnight every night.  Hopefully he'll kick on Sunday or Monday during the day so the parents can see it or feel it.  The ultrasound is on Monday morning.  It's the first time they'll get to see their kiddo live.  :-D 

I had some really good news at the appointment.  As you may remember, in January, I ran a half marathon.  Well, I walked a lot more than I ran.  However, it caused some issues and I was told then that I was unable to run at all during the rest of my pregnancy.  I would only be allowed to walk 2-3 miles a day.  While it hurt, I understood why.  Last month, my doctor increased it to 4-5 miles, still walking.  Today, I hesitantly broached the subject of being allowed to do intervals again, running 30 seconds, walking for a minute to a minute and a half.  You know what the doc said?  YES!  I'm so thrilled.  Listening to my body will be crucial, obviously, as well as walking more than I'm running.  I'm just so glad I can run again at all.  It will help in my training once I have the little munchkin.

On another note, yesterday was the 1-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing.  My friend Kirsten and I went out there and did 4 miles to honor the victims and survivors.  It felt amazing to get out and go, especially since she was nice enough to turn around and come back to me whenever she finished her running intervals.  We ran for those who could no longer run.  We ran for those who are no longer with us.  We ran because we will never forget.

We are #BostonStrong

One day, I would love to run in the Boston Marathon.  I won't be fast enough to qualify until I'm like 80, but I may join a charity one year. As a runner, it would be an honor to run in one of the most elite marathons in the country.  As a human being, I'm fairly certain it would be just an incredible experience to witness the support given by the community and the country.

That's all for now.  If I'm able to, I'll post about the ultrasound on Monday and maybe there will be some pictures in there, too.  :-D

Are you serious?!

You know how a lot of pregnant women get cravings?  And some of those cravings are for really strange things?  I don't get the strange things cravings, but I do get cravings.  With my son, it was Taco Bell.  With the twins, it was chicken and mashed potatoes.  With this kid?  It's SUGAR.  That's right.  I constantly want sweet food.  It's annoying, really, because if I'm not careful, I could end up getting gestational diabetes.

Oh, and every woman gains weight while pregnant, even if only a few pounds.  That's pretty normal.  With my son, I gained 40.  With the twins, 15-20.  With this kid?  30, and we're not even halfway through the pregnancy.  Honestly, I stepped on the scale the other day, saw that number, and almost cried.  I know it's my fault, because I haven't made the best food choices and I haven't been exercising as much as I did before I got pregnant.  Honestly, I'm always tired.  The baby is still sapping all of my energy from me.  But, that has all changed.  Yesterday, we did our big grocery shopping and at least 90% of it was healthy food.  I'm cutting sweets out and tracking my calories.

A great tool I love for tracking my calories is MyFitnessPal.  I used it when I was trying to lose weight and it really helped to see what I was getting from each food in terms of daily amounts of fiber and protein, etc.  Now, I use it to make sure I'm getting the correct amount of nutrients.  Unfortunately, there's no option to say "I'm pregnant", but I know how many calories I SHOULD be consuming, so I just add that number to the number they've already given me.  I started tracking today and you know what I found out?  I don't even eat all the calories they give me, much less any extra.  I'm going to have to start eating more, as long as it's healthy.  Fruits and veggies are delicious and will become more of a staple in my diet than they already are.

I've also decided to go back to my exercise routine that I followed while trying to lose weight.  I won't be focusing on increasing my speed or anything since I can't run, but walking for 30 or so minutes 3 times a week and then a 5-mile walk on the weekends will do me a world of good.  My biggest problem will be maintaining all of this while I'm up in Ohio for Mother's Day.  However, I'm confident my friends will help.  :-)  A lot of this is a mental thing and I just have to keep at it.  I didn't quit when trying to lose weight and I'm not going to quit now.  This is too important, especially for the parents.  Their baby deserves the best care I can give him and gosh darn it, I'm going to do the best I can for him.  If you have any recipes that can be made up to a week in advance (for meal planning), please pass them along!  I would really appreciate it!

Such a rad time! (My Color Me Rad race recap)

This past Sunday, the 30th, I participated in the Color Me Rad 5k in Orlando.  Last year, I did it with my best friend Kelly and her friend Jesamy, who also became my friend after that.  :-)  We had so much fun and I looked forward to doing it this year.  Sadly, I wasn't able to do it with either Kelly or Jesamy, but I did get to run with my friends Kirsten and Ty and their daughter, Addie.

We started in the 8:20 wave.  There were waves every 20 minutes from 8-9 a.m.  I didn't realize how close I lived to the location of the race until I got directions on my phone on the way there, which resulted in me getting there about 45 minutes early.  About 20 minutes or so later, my friends showed up.  We all made our way to the start line.  When we started, we were nice and white.  That didn't last long.  We started getting colored before we even started the run.  They had bought color bombs (packets of the colored cornstarch) and Addie was ready to start using them!

Before the start of the race, I was so nice and clean! 

I'm already getting colored before we even start!

They started our wave and as we crossed the start line, they were blowing color at people.  I think it was blue.  Suffice it to say, no one stayed white for too long.  Lol.  We started making it a game of tag with Addie.  It's one way to get a kid through a 5k that's fun for everyone!  Well, at least until the adults are out of energy less than a mile into the run.  Lol.  The first station we came up on was purple.  We ran through it and we all got a decent amount.

Thanks to the torrential downpours on Saturday, the course, which was very grassy, had turned pretty muddy.  Everyone's shoes got wet because there really wasn't anywhere dry to go.  I think my poor shoes are still drying out.  Soon after that, we hit the second color station, blue.  This one was colored water.  The temperatures were below 60 degrees when we started.  Everyone was a little chilly after that station.  We kept going and the kiddo decided she wanted to use a couple color bombs.  After opening one, she got me, her parents, and then some random strangers in front of us.  That's what I love about these races.  You can come up behind someone, throw powder on them, and they just laugh and say thanks.

My friend during the race.  Lovin those glasses!  They were part of the swag.

She was sooooo freakin excited!

We hit yellow third and then wound our way around to orange.  This year, they added half a mile onto the course because last year, it was only about 2.6 miles instead of 3.1  It also meant they had to add another color station.  Trust me, we weren't complaining.  We got to orange and the last lady with the powder DOUSED Addie in it.  It was pretty funny to see her afterwards.  We kept going to the finish line.  Right before, though, was the last color station, which was pink.  I, sadly, did not get any pink on me.  They kept missing me when they were tossing the powder on us.  Luckily, Ty had grabbed a handful to throw on Addie, but decided to throw it on me instead.  Lol.  Right after that, we finished the race, then went off to the side and opened the rest of the packets and got each other some more.  One of the photographers came up on us as Kirsten was throwing orange on me and got some pictures of that and then of the kiddo pouring powder all over herself, especially her braids.  I look forward to seeing those pictures.  :-)

Overall, it was a great race.  I definitely want to do it again next year.  At 17 weeks pregnant, I felt better this year than I did last year at 2 months postpartum.  I'm pretty sure I looked better, too.  Lol.  The next race coming up is the Darcy Foundation 5k in a little less than 2 weeks.  Matt and I will be running that race together.  It should be lots of fun!

So colorful!

One happy family!

Woohoo!!!!

So, today I had my monthly doctor's appointment.  I will be 16 weeks pregnant tomorrow.  The baby's heartbeat was good and normal.  I've gained 7 pounds over the last month and I am not happy about that.  I need some serious help with keeping my weight steady.  I did ask the doctor about this annoying cough and he said that right now, I obviously have no immune system, so I just need to be more careful about getting sick.

There was some really exciting news, at least for me.  He said I can increase my mileage to 4-5 miles!  I told him I did 4 on Saturday (not actually meaning to), but had no pain or bleeding, and he said that it was fine if I did more, as long as I don't do too much.  10k, here I come!  Lol.  I'm going to see if I can talk him into letting me do at least one at my next appointment in another month, depending on how I feel.  The parents are also okay with me doing more, as long as the doctor's okay with it and I listen to both his instructions and how my body does.

I scheduled the ultrasound for next month, as well, so we can see how baby boy is doing.  We're all moved into our new home, though we're still unpacking a few boxes.  I do need to find a nice bookshelf to put mine and Matt's books on.  Between the two of us, we have a lot.  Lol.  Next week is Matt's spring break.  I don't have my work schedule yet, but I'm hoping to find a couple cool things for us to do, depending on when I have off.

My plans to go to Ohio for Mother's Day are slowly solidifying.  Because moving cost so much, I'll have to wait to buy the tickets next month, but I'm excited!  Matt and I will be up there for about 5 days and will stay with one of my best friends.  It'll be my last trip out of state before baby's born.  That's pretty much it for now.  I'll let you all know how things go as the pregnancy continues.  Hopefully, the pregnancy insomnia will go away soon, cause I'd really like to get a good night's sleep.

The biggest drawback

I've gotta say, the biggest drawback to being pregnant is that I have absolutely NO immune system.  I always get sicker quicker when I'm pregnant.  For example, I've had this nasty cough for a little over 2 weeks now.  There haven't been any other symptoms, just the cough.  I ended up calling my doc on Friday night, who recommended heading to the ER in case I had the flu.  I go to the hospital and you know what they tell me?  My lungs are completely clear, but they're going to give me antibiotics.  I didn't think that made much sense, especially since I've been coughing stuff up every day, but he's the doctor, so I'm going to listen.  I started taking the antibiotics and the cough isn't as frequent, but it's just as hard.

Oh, we've got big news (kinda).  We're moving to a new home on Thursday.  The place we live now is raising the rent to $855/month (from $708), which makes no sense because there's another complex around the corner from us that is owned by the same company and charges $130 less for a 2/2.  We currently live in a 2/1.  The new place we're moving to is a 2/2 and charges about what we pay now.  It's also in a better location, being closer to Matt's preschool and Universal (where the hubby works). Hopefully, it all goes well.  The parents texted me today to remind me not to lift heavy things during the move.  :-)

My next OB appointment is on the 19th.  Matt and I have a 2-miler this weekend and then I'm meeting up with some mamas on the 18th to celebrate some big accomplishments.  I've got races planned through next month, though they're all 5ks.  I'm particularly excited for the Pig Run of Lake Nona in April.  You get to eat a donut halfway through the run!  Matt and I will each eat 1 donut (you can eat up to a dozen).  Hopefully, in May, I'll get to go to Ohio for a visit.  I'm hoping the rest of the pregnancy will fly by with all the plans I've got!