18 week update

Well I suppose it is time to update baby and myself. Baby hasn't taken center stage like Camden did before he was born (thankfully). I have had no scares with this pregnancy, it has been quite easy; well except for the sickness. I'm not sure I will ever forget how terrible I felt and how thankful I am to be back to normal again.

Ty and I decided to see midwives this time around. With our experience and scares last time we figured perhaps a less medical approach would be better. We see 3 midwives in rotation and at least 2 of them are great, the other one is mediocre. At 10 weeks baby's heart rate was in the 160's and 170's. At 14 weeks baby's heart rate was in the 160's and baby was being stubborn and Shawn, one of the midwives, couldn't find the heart beat so she pulled out the ultrasound machine. My mom came with to this appointment and was thrilled to be able to see baby and the heart beat pumping away. At my 18 week appointment baby's heart beat was in the 150's.

We go for our "big" ultrasound on November 9th and oddly I am not nervous about it.....yet. I truly feel confident that everything will be fine. Most people go to their 20 week ultrasounds and all they care about is the sex and wanting to know what they are having. We have a completely different outlook and did at our ultrasound with Camden. I just want them to tell me that all baby's body parts are there and looking normal and healthy. It amazes me so much that when a person goes through something traumatic, their entire view of life changes and worries change.

As for me, I am showing much sooner with this baby than I was with Camden. I remember seeing a 20 week belly pic and had a tiny bump with him. Well folks there is no tiny bump and we are at 18 weeks! Ha. Camden loves baby. He loves to lift up my shirt, rub baby and even hug and kiss him or her. I think he will be an awesome big brother. He loves babies in general. He wants to hold them and help feed them. Camden is still very attached to me, Ty says it best when he says "it's mom or bust." Now that Ty has a new job that is more family oriented and is home more often and regularly I usually leave for awhile each weekend to let them bond and so Cam learns that daddy can fulfill all his needs as well. So far it seems to be working, Camden and Ty love to dance together and he doesn't come screaming for me the second I walk in the door. I hope this continues so when I am needed by baby Camden will be fine with daddy.

I felt baby's kicks at 15 weeks and Ty felt baby's kicks around 17 weeks. It is so amazing to be able to feel things earlier this time. I felt Camden's kicks at 17 weeks and Ty didn't feel the kicks until 21-23 weeks. Speaking of things that have been different with this pregnancy, I have been having braxton hicks contractions already, fairly noticeable ones, not that I have anything to compare them to since I never felt pain or cramping with Camden just my belly get rock hard at 36+ weeks. Now I am feeling about 3-4 painful crampy contractions per day and my uterus get hard. I wonder if it is because I have experienced this before or if I am doing too much like lifting Camden all the time or vacuuming too much, because I am obsessed with my Dyson and HATING dog hair.

As the saying goes "No news is good news" and since there has been little to talk about with this pregnancy we are very pleased to continue on with the saying!