You've earned a free ultrasound

Yesterday was my last monthly OB appointment...we are now moving on to the bi-weekly schedule as we enter the third trimester on Saturday!! Woohoo!! I can't believe we're 2/3 the way there and Autumn will be here in just 3 short months! It still feels forever away, but I know the time is going to fly by so I'm just trying to enjoy every little awesome moment of it that I can...rubbing my expanding belly, feeling the little kicks...and the big ones...haha...all the congratulations and friendly questions from friends and strangers about the little one growing inside of me! I love it! Oh and the sleeping in on Saturday mornings...hehe...how could I forget that...sleep is going to be a distant memory as our life is forever going to change in just three short months...it still feels surreal...and I can't wait!

So anyway, yesterday as I'm waiting paitently in my OB's waiting room the door opens and the ultrasound technician calls me in. I'm confused, but figure they're just short of help that day and she's going to take me back to the examination room. As we're walking back though she goes "our last ultrasound we didn't really get a good look at everything, did we?" I of course said no, hoping for a chance to get an unexpected peek at little Autumn. So she says, "well, I better sneak you back there then and just do a quick scan." Yeah!! My wish was coming true! :o) So we went back and did an ultrasound where we got to confirm once again that Autumn is in fact going to be an Autumn...which is probably good since Jacob informed me that morning that he had a very realistic dream that we are actually having a boy! And we also got some pictures of her sucking her thumb, looking directly at us, and of one of her little feet! The ultrasound tech informs me that she thinks she's going to be cute...haha!! It you've ever seen an ultrasound picture...where it's sometimes hard to make out the face from the rear-end...you would find this funny, but I'll totally take the compliment :o) It was great fun though and a welcome surprise for what I thought was just going to be another routine visit! Dr. Chen says everything else looks great! He also gives me my paperwork to go get my gestetional diabetes test done this week...ugh...I really hope that comes back negative! And I mention to him we're going to Florida next week and he said besides staying hydrated and watching my seafood intake that shouldn't be a problem! So I'd say my last OB appointment of the second trimester was a success!

After that I headed over to the acupuncture office. I'd mentioned a few weeks ago that I was considering doing acupuncture again to hopefully help cope with the heart palpitations. I'm still having several an hour...so definitely enough to be annoying, but not sure it's enough to warrant finding the time to go get the treatments...or to pay $60 a pop for them!! But I went yesterday anyway. The new place I'm going is called the Wellness Connection and is a chiropractic office in O'Fallon. Yesterday I was getting my acu-scan done which basically measures different pulse points on your hands and feet and is supposed to tell you where you have imbalances in your body. My scan came back saying I had an imbalance in my lung region which can cause anxiety, stress, and palpitations. So that is what she wants to treat. I give in and end up having a session done, but she can only needles 6 points total (3 on each side)...as there are many point in acupuncture used to induce labor...so obviously at this point we are staying as FAR away from those as possible. So she takes me back to a private room...thank goodness! (if you read my drinking and acupuncture story from last year you know why I'm grateful) and puts a needle in each wrislt, one in the top of my middle fingers, and one in each pinky finger...just by my nail bed. Now, if you've done acupuncture you know it doesn't normally hurt...maybe a little tiny prick, but not bad, well the finger ones are a different story! She said they call them the "sting" points because they definitely carry quite the punch!! The pain fades pretty quickly though and by the end of my 18 minute session both my hands actually feel kind of numb...not sure why, but I guess that means it's doing something. I'm supposed to go back again on Thursday and I'm still kind of teetering with whether to go or not. I mean, I'm managing ok with the palpitations, so again...just trying to decide if it's worth the money and the effort. We shall see!

Other than that everything is going quite well! I have my first baby shower coming in less than three weeks and am ecstatic…I can't wait to just soak up all of it!! It's going to be a blast!!