Spider Veins, Itching and Cysts- Oh My!

Pregnancy Update: I'm in the 3rd Trimester! Yeeeeehawwww. 27 weeks to be exact. Here's the big belly to date:

Oh where do I begin. The baby, whom we lovingly refer to as Baby Girl, is doing great. I feel her kicking and hicupping all the time now, and love it. At my last appointment, though, at 23 weeks, the doctor started out by saying, "Well the gender ultrasound looked great, except for the cysts. Did they tell you about the cysts?" NO, they certainly did not. At 19 weeks, we found out she was healthy and a cute little baby girl, but they'd failed to mention that little detail. So my doctor went on to explain that there were little cysts all over the baby's brain, called Choroid Plexus Cysts (CPC's). They're pretty common in babies between 17 to 24 weeks, and disappear on their own. Not quite sure what the cause is, or why they come and go so quickly, but he said there was no need to worry. He'd seen lots of women with this, and had never delivered a baby who still had the cysts. However, I'd need to have a follow-up ultrasound at 27 weeks, just to make sure they'd disappeared and everything looked fine.

When he told me what they were called so that I could tell the appointment desk what the ultrasound was for, he said "Ok, I'll write it down for you, but I don't want you going home and researching it on the internet." I guess he knows that I would work myself up over it. "Okay, I won't". But I just couldn't resist, and neither could Jake, and we each read up on it. Apparently, if there are other abnormalities present in the baby along with the cysts, it can be a sign of Trisomy 18 or Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome). But most everything I read said that it was very rare for the cysts not to disappear, and not to worry. So ANYways, I didn't make a huge deal of it and just told a few family members to keep her in their prayers.

This morning we went in for our follow up ultrasound, and the cysts were gone! Hallelujiah! Baby girl looked great, her heartbeat was resounding and strong, and she measured about a week ahead. So everything is dandy.

As for ME.....*sigh*. I've never been so ITCHY in my life. Please make it stop! What started out to be a tiny itchy patch on my belly, escelated into an out of control itch all over my legs, ankles and feet. It's now making its way into my hands, and it's pretty much all the time. It gets WORSE at night, so that I dread going to bed because I know I'll lay and itch for sometimes hours before I finally get to sleep. Or I'll get to sleep and then wake up early at like 5 with itchy hands and not be able to get back to sleep. I apply cortizone and anti itch lotion all over my feet and legs before bed, and I've even tried Benedryll a few times since that's what my doctor suggested, but nothing works. It feels like little ants are constantly crawling all over me, even between my toes! Scratching just makes the itch worse. And add in the summer heat, and it's a nightmare.

I got my blood drawn so that they could test me for Cholestasis, which has to do with the liver and not breaking down bile acids properly, but the tests came back fine. SO, the next step is to go to a dermatologist and see what else can be done. Seriously though, the thought of 3 more months of this is unbearable, so I HOPE there is something that will give a little relief. And I didn't have any issue like this with Cami, so I have no idea where it came from.

Aside from that, I'm fine. Just the normal stuff: spider veins appearing on my ankles, a poppie outie belly button, foot and leg cramps that make me jump out of bed sometimes (and yesterday I went swimming and swam some laps, but my toes would not stop cramping up, I had to stop. I hate toe cramps!), hearty appetite (although I lost a pound since my last doctor's appointment, even after the junk food holiday weekend- bahaha), sore tail bone, little energy, burning in the ribs when baby's pushing everything up there, and some Braxton Hicks contractions already. I felt them for a good part of the day on Monday, which is just that uncomfortable tight feeling, and I'm surprised they've shown up so soon. Last time, I didn't feel them until Cami was almost due and my doctor pointed it out to me when I was at my appointment. HowEVER, I've noticed that with pregnancy, my normal heartburn has gone away! Go figure.

SO, I think this pregnancy started out awesome but has proven to be more difficult for me than the last, mainly because of the itching and discomfort. I have a feeling each subsequent one will be a little more uncomfortable as I get older and my body gets less spry. But I'll try to be optimistic. I don't want to complain, cuz I know it could be much worse, but I just wanted to write down how it's going. All in all I'm SO grateful to be where I'm at, and that baby is healthy and we'll get to meet her in less than 3 months!!!

Here's an after church shot on Sunday, and one of Jake, Cami and I at the Scera Shell in Orem. We were at a Mark Wills/Mark Chesnutt concert, and Cami wanted to pounce the belly. She's excited to meet baby girl.

She says when baby girl comes out, she'll "read books with her, play with blocks, eat dinner with her, sit in the car seat next to her, and share the toys with her. :)