22 Weeks

Brace yourselves, a loooong post is coming!

Baby's first Segway ride!

 This has been a good weekend! On Friday we went to the Alaska Greek Festival and had a good time. Unfortunately, I started coming down with some GI issue and I couldn't even finish my piece of baklava!

I was very disappointed because I love Greek food! But we had a good time walking around and seeing the sights.They had a bouncy castle and John wanted to take Denali in for a bounce. I was too nervous to go in, though. I'm afraid I'm going to fall and go into premature labor, or something.
  Saturday I was still feeling crummy, but finally decided to go to the mall. I've been needing an article of clothing and the only place that carried it in town is Motherhood Maternity. As I mentioned before, I really didn't want to go in there, and I've been putting it off. I steeled myself and went in anyway. It was pretty crowded so I didn't get any questions from the staff while I was shopping. When we went to check out, the cashier put started to put an informational booklet about cord blood banking in the bag and I freaked out. I told her I didn't want any information as my baby has a fatal diagnosis. She said she was sorry and did not proceed with the normal onslaught of questions and promotions. I was a bit drained emotionally after that, but I wanted to stop in the Hallmark store to see the new Christmas ornaments. John left me for a few minutes and I started crying right there looking at ornaments. I felt like an idiot! At least I'm pregnant and people will attribute my craziness to hormones, I hope. John came back and we left the mall. I was tired, emotional, cranky, and my feet were killing me. At which point John announced that we were going on a Segway tour of Anchorage. He's been wanting to go on this tour for a year now and I reluctantly gave in. The rain from earlier in the day had cleared up and it was actually warm out. As luck would have it, we walked in right as a tour was getting started (you normally need reservations)! We watched a training video and then we had a quick orientation session with the Segways. I'm a cautious person at my best, but right now I'm downright paranoid. And my balance is really off, so, I had some trouble getting started. But once I got the hang

of it, it was really easy and really, really fun! Our tour guide was awesome and we zipped around Anchorage just having a blast! We stopped on the Coastal Trail and...we could actually see Denali!!! I couldn't believe we could see it since it had been raining earlier and it's difficult to make out on the clearest days (it's 130 miles away). The tour guide started describing Denali and how it protects interior Alaska from incoming severe weather and how it's the biggest mountain in North America. I thought to myself that we definitely chose the right name for our little girl! The qualities that people attribute to Denali are qualities that I want her to have. I want her to be strong and protect others from severe weather. I want her to stand steadfast throughout changes that shape the landscape all around her. I want her to know that she is strong and that every time I see her I'm struck dumb with a sense of awe at her beauty. Although we will never know what type of person she would have been, I sense that her soul  is mighty!
  After we finished the Segway tour, we went to John's co-worker's house to play a game, eat pizza and get some animal therapy. It had started raining again while we were there and as we left the rain cleared up and there was a double rainbow in the sky!
  On Friday we did see the perinatologist, Dr. I. This was the first time we met him. We had an ultrasound, which was awesome! I so enjoy watching Denali moving around and doing her thing! Both John and I felt like she was more cooperative this time. She moved around a lot, but we got some good looks at her face. And, as the sonographer pointed out, she is getting fatter and looking less skeletal and more like a newborn! She weighs 12 oz now! She's a can of soda!
  We had some questions for Dr. I about our chances of a recurrence. He said that he thought a recurrence was unlikely and that having a tubal ligation was "extreme". However, he said that we should wait at least 6 months to a year before trying again and that I should lose weight. Having a BMI greater than 30 increases the risk of anencephaly by 50%! I take umbrage with that data. Given the obesity epidemic in the US, you would think that the incidence of anencephaly would increase proportionally. However, I have not found that to be the case. According to CDC Surveillance reports, the incidence is decreasing! The report did not look at the incidence among obese persons specifically, but I would have still expected an increase overall.
  So, if we do decide to try to get pregnant again (which is a BIG if) I have got to lose some weight. Not only will I have to lose pregnancy weight, but also enough weight to get my BMI below 30. I'm in no way morbidly obese; my pre-pregnancy BMI was 33. So that means an additional 25 pounds. I have no idea how I'm going to do that! I've lost 30 pounds in the last two years, but I've been at a plateau for over a year. Trying to lose weight during my intern year is going to be next to impossible. I guess I will give it a try.