16 Weeks - Trying to keep track

I'm trying to document this pregnancy better than my last, which wasn't documented at all. I was too excited/sleepy/nauseas to do this before. Plus, if I wasn't eating, I was barfing. This baby has been so much easier, so here we go. I'm borrowing this interview format from the awesome @jonnajae of inspiremethis.com.

We're 16 weeks along now, and this pregnancy has been so much different than with my little man. We're seriously hoping for a girl this round.

Here is the first photo I took at 11 weeks pregnant:

And here I am today, at 16 wks + 2 days:

WEEK 16 INTERVIEW

HOW FAR ALONG? 16 Weeks, 2 days

BABY’S SIZE? About an avocado.

DAYS UNTIL NEXT DOC APPOINTMENT? 6 - we're having an early appointment because our midwife is due with her 2nd baby in 2 weeks!

TOTAL WEIGHT GAIN/LOSS? 2 pounds up. no complaints here!

MATERNITY CLOTHES? oh yeah - for weeks now. The belly pops out a lot faster with baby #2. I broke out the belly bands by 10 weeks and was fully into maternity clothes by week 13.

STRETCH MARKS? only the minor ones left over from Baby #1 which are so minimal.

SLEEP: ugh. This baby hates sleep, but loves making me exhausted. I cannot get comfortable, I wake up and roll over every hour. If I have to get up to pee or just because of an intense dream afte 3 am, i'm not getting back to sleep.

BEST MOMENT THIS WEEK: Putting on my first pair of maternity leggings. omg how did I not live in these things before now? So comfy.

MOVEMENT: Lots! I'm loving this part. I started feeling little butterlies and scratches around 10-11 weeks, when I was curled up in a ball. Now, baby makes herself known throughout the day. I can feel kicks/punches and sometimes a full-body roll. Its so much easier to recognize the movements with Baby #2. She really hates tight pants and anything resting on my stomach.

FOOD CRAVINGS: Melted cheese in all its glory. Quesadillas, grilled cheese, cheesy dip, etc. And meat. for spending the better part of the year cutting animal products out of my diet, this child has done her best to undo that. I love prime rib.

ANYTHING MAKE YOU QUEASY OR SICK? Not too much. With John, everything made me sick and certain smells would send me running. this time around, i haven't been nauseas since 7 weeks, and only really nasty smells get to me. That said, soy things don't sit so well with me, but i've never been a big fan, so no loss there.

HAVE YOU STARTED TO SHOW YET? Yep. Complete strangers can tell this is all baby.

MISSING ANYTHING? Sleeping well, being able to walk my son to school without wanting a nap afterwards, Its only a few blocks!

GENDER? We think girl. We hope for a girl. This pregnancy has been completely different than my pregnancy with John, in so many great ways. I was miserable with John. Now, I finally get why women say they LIKE being pregnant.

LABOR SIGNS? nope.

BELLY BUTTON: In tact, getting really shallow.

WEDDING RINGS ON OR OFF? on.

HAPPY OR MOODY MOST OF THE TIME? mostly happy, but I get really irritated and cranky really quick when things turn.

WEEKLY SYMPTOMS: less sleep, bigger belly, more headaches and heart palpitations.

There's an elf on our shelf.

Day 1:

The elf was named Hawkeye. On the first day, he used Captain America's tank to have a war with Mr. Potato Head.

Mr. Potato Head lost.

Day 2:

The elf built himself a hot air balloon out of K'Nex.

Day 3:

Hawkeye had a few of his best friends over for a poker game last night.

I Ran.

I ran today! for the first time since my rib broke (early August), I ran. Not fast, and not far, but i've never been a fast runner. I just love to run. It will take a long while to rebuild my stamina, I think, but i'm so delighted to be able to run at all, that I don't care. 49 days since surgery, and I ran. That unsupported rib jiggles around when I run, and that's just weird, but at least it doesn't hurt.

Over the past few weeks, I've made some serious progress in recovery, and have celebrated little milestones like being able to drive again (last Monday) and being able to sleep laying down (two weeks ago). I can now walk a couple of miles each night.

My incision is completely closed and is scab free, though it's a nasty shade of purple for the foreseeable future. Once it is fully healed, the doctor said it will turn white and blend in. He did such a great job, I don't think it will be at all noticeable. The chest tube site is going to be the worse scar, but is healing faster.

I still have some issues:

• The unsupported rib acts like a steel band around my lung when i'm tired or have been sitting too long. 
• The area on my side that will be forever numb can't get goosebumps anymore. It feels so weird!
• When I don't stretch my arms and chest enough, a couple of ribs in the upper right side of my chest are yanked out of position and really hurt. My chiropractor taught me some good stretches to help with this. 
• Sleeping on my right side causes a fluttering in my lung, which causes me to cough. 
• Sleeping on my left side still causes some pain from the surgery positioning, so I have to keep my right arm supported. 
• My back is still very weak, and sitting or standing for too long makes it hurt. I'm told that as my muscles knit to the mesh patch in my back, this will improve.

Here are a few pictures of what i've been doing:

Lots of puppy snuggles.

And sweet little boy snuggles.

Hanging out with my handsome boy.

I cut out lots of paper bats for Halloween.

The little man in our house loved how they turned out.

Two firsts: my first glass of wine, post-op, and my first date night with the hubs!

I just finished my last appointment.

Today is a big day, because I attended my final doctor's appointment for this stupid tumor. The hubs and I just left the Northwest Cancer Care Office, where we had a final wrap-up appointment with Dr. Meyers, who I would recommend to anyone who actually needs cancer treatment. I'm so very glad that I don't.

So with that now done, I have no more scheduled doctor's appointments, and no obligations to follow up with any medical practice, unless something goes wrong with my recovery.

Speaking of recovery, it's a long, painful, and slow process. I feel like i've taken a few steps backwards this last week, and I am pretty sure its my own fault. As i've felt better, i've been trying to do more things, get out more, etc., and each ambitious day is followed by a terrible night and day after. Those days have been filled with lots of pain and copious amounts of frustration. I've also slacked on my physical therapy and breathing exercises, because I had started to feel more normal again. Bad choice.

Today is the start of my 4th week post-op and I am bored and frustrated stuck in bed, where I can't get comfortable anyways. It's hard not to overdo it, but I pay dearly when I do, so its back to bed and jigsaw puzzles for me.

Tomorrow is the first day I will be home alone all day. JT decided this weekend that he is sick of hanging out with boring grownups all day, and asked if he can go back to daycare, and Craig has all day meetings, so it's just me and the dogs!

The cost of great care.

I got the itemized statement (pre-insurance payment, thankfully) from my stay at the UW Medical Center. I'm so thankful for my very excellent health insurance, because this stuff isn't cheap:

Pharmacy - $3,013.61
Daily Service (nursing) - $5,967.00
Supplies - $2,583.00
Laboratory - $995.00
Pathology - $497.00
Radiology - $1,115.00
OR Services - $14,996.00
Anesthesia - $3,352.00

The list goes on, and the total exceeds $35k. That doesn't include the doctor's time, the post-op visit, and a lot of other outstanding bits and pieces.

It's hard to believe I consumed $3k in drugs in 4 days, but as Andrea mentioned in her posts, I was pretty freakin out of it, so clearly they worked. My nurses were worth a lot more than $6k.

Yay for a great job with great benefits!

Thinking back on a misdiagnosis.

A friend asked me if I am upset with my doctor for telling me I have cancer, now that I know I don't. The answer is no, i'm not.

Here's the thing, the pathologist looked at the cells from my biopsy and saw spindle shaped cells. That led to the diagnosis of spindle cell sarcoma. The doc told me he was 80-90% confident in the diagnosis based on the biopsy, and the pathologist was getting a second opinion from the Mayo Clinic.

What I actually had, a neurofibroma, is also made of spindle shaped cells. So from my view, i'm thankful that he went with the worst-case diagnosis. While I am not sure anything can prepare you for the emotion and depression that comes with being diagnosed with cancer, that initial diagnosis made it possible for me to be treated by the best doctors in the nation, within a month. My surgeon is the best thoracic surgeon around. He and Doc Conrad are directors in their areas for the UW Medical School. These are the guys who are entrusted to teach their skills. I couldn't have asked for a better care team.

I'm ridiculously relieved that the first diagnosis was wrong, but at least I was prepared for the worst, and it opened the doors to top-level care. He followed my case very closely, even when I was out of his care. Our doctor here in Richland is fantastic, and I will continue to trust him with our care and recommend him to every family I can.

Doctors are humans, they do their best, and they do it in a high-pressure environment.

Our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.