18 weeks

Tomorrow marks the day that I am 18 weeks pregnant. That means two more weeks and I am at the halfway point! Yay! Some days I feel like I still have SO much longer to go but getting to the halfway point has been a huge goal of mine for months so it feels good to have it actually near. Yesterday my nurse came for a weekly visit and changed the bandage and took vitals. Each week my skin is more irritated and raw under the bandage. It itches quite a bit most days now but I try my best not to scratch it because then the bandage comes loose. When my bandage was removed yesterday there was a rash everywhere underneath and a few places that were bleeding along with lots of bruising. The nurse said that unfortunately irritation like that is normal and that sometimes women get it so bad that their skin looks like raw hamburger. YIKES! After hearing that I counted my blessings and realized my rash isn''t so bad. It doesn't spread outside of the bandage at all so all is well.

She called back with my levels today and it is much of the same. My potassium stayed the same at 3.7 so low but barely. My sodium dropped again so is down to 133 which is the lowest point it has been at. Frustrating since last week it went up a few points but I have come to terms with the fact that I haven't had normal labs in months and this is just how things are going to be for awhile. We are going to stick with the same regimen as I have been doing the last several days- two bags of fluid (2000 ml) a day which I run both at night. Both bags are sodium chloride to help boost my sodium and one is infused with potassium as well. Nurse will come back again next Tuesday to do labs.

My cramping/contractions have settled down the past few days. I mostly only feel them towards the end of the evening when it is getting close to IV time. This past Sunday we were out shopping and I started getting contractions that were painful 20 minutes apart so we came home and once I got some water and rested they settled down. I just need to take it easy. I go back to the doctor in 2 weeks for my 20 week checkup and the anatomy ultrasound so looking forward to that.

Baby is moving more and more every day. I love feeling the little kicks and taps. This is the fun part before the movements get too painful! :) My belly continues to grow- here is a picture from today:





I feel like my belly has grown a lot in the last few weeks! Oh and the random thing on my arm would be the shower bandage that Jeff creates for me each time I want to shower! At first somehow the PICC would always get wet but he is a pro now and my arm stays nice and dry! Here's a close up:

I am so thankful to have Jeff. He helps me so much. He gets my IVs ready every night and injects all my meds and just pretty much keeps everything under control. I don't know what I would do without him!