Well, THAT hurt...

Thanks so much for your prayers and positive vibes, friends. I had my amniocentesis today in SLC and it seemed to go well.

Despite the fact that they stuck a needle the length of a TV remote into my stomach without any kind of local anesthesia.

Did it hurt? Yeah. Luckily, it was a very skinny needle. I'm grateful for that. I knew my friend Megann had an amnio with her last pregnancy, and when I asked her about it, her eyes widened. Like, "Oh, you don't want to know." It was really cute. I pressed her for more info, though. She said that you can feel the needle go through the different layers of you. And she was right. First skin, then fat (I don't think Megann felt a needle going through fat in her experience, because she doesn't have an ounce of fat on her, but I sure do, and in plentiful amounts), then muscle, then uterus, then the "bag of waters." (I love it when they call it that.) I think I bruised Ben's hand as I held it. He thought the whole process was so cool. I felt like I was going to die a slow and painful death.

It didn't last long at all. They extracted what they needed, and then pulled the needle slowly out. Only then did I take my hand off my eyes. There was no way I was going to watch the on-my-stomach version OR the in-my-uterus version on the screen. Blech. And then I realized that I was going to barf. They helped me down, and I knelt over their garbage can to barf. No barf came, but then I almost fainted. So I lay on the floor of the examination room for awhile. Eventually, I felt better and we were able to leave. My uterus cramped up for about an hour where the needle had been inserted. But it feels better now. Just kind of tender to the touch. And I feel compelled to move kind of slowly. I'm not allowed to pick up Micah until tomorrow afternoon, which he'll hate. That's life, son. Not always fun. Trust me on that.

All weekend, and all this week, I felt really great about getting this done. The risk is very minimal to the baby, but there is a teensy-weensy bit of a risk involved.

After we were done, however, I had buyer's remorse. How could I be so selfish? How could I sacrifice Gage's safety in the womb just so I could have peace of mind? How big of a jerk am I???

That was my thought process as we ate lunch at Rubio's with my darling friend Pooh and her adorable kids and her very swollen belly. And may I just say, oh, how I have missed you, Rubio's. And oh, how I have missed you, Pooh. And that was my thought process all the way home, while I tried to sleep in my uncomfortable sedan with Led Zepplin blasting loudly so that Ben could stay awake. Note: I love Led Zepplin. But Robert Plant is not the best person to fall asleep to, especially when the speaker to the back is right by my ear when I recline the front seat.

Sorry, my many good friends in the SLC area. I wish I could have seen all of you. But I felt crummy and needed to get home and in bed. Or, in my case, I needed to get in my couch bed. Because I still can't sleep in my own bed. Sigh. I will be back in SLC very soon, when Pooh's tummy finally pops.

I stewed about my amniocentesis more tonight, as I greeted my children and my exhausted mom. (I'm so sorry you had to deal with them, Mom. I will be getting drugs for Dylan soon. [More on that later, readers.]) I stewed about it as Ben and I bathed the kids and put them to bed. I stewed about it as I finished my book club book (Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. Pretty good read. But nothing compared to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, which I read last week. OMG. That is one for buying, for reals. My birthday is coming up, friends... hint, hint, hint) while Ben was playing basketball at the church.

I only wish I felt good enough to play basketball. I miss feeling good.

Sorry. I think Dylan comes by his ADHD genetically. From his mama. I get distracted easily. And yep, he officially has ADHD. Which is what my next post will be about, I promise.

So. Back on track. When Ben came back from basketball, I asked him for yet another blessing of comfort. Poor guy. I ask for lots and lots of blessings when I'm pregnant, I notice.

He gave me an amazing, powerful, very reassuring blessing. A blessing that brings tears to my eyes as I think of the promises he gave concerning this amazing child I'm carrying. Things that are too sacred to share here, but things I will hold close to my heart for as long as I live.

I love Heavenly Father. I love the priesthood. I would be lost without this gospel.

Okay. Wiping tears away.

I got another ultrasound right before the amniocentesis, and things look fantastic as far as the Anti-Lutheran aspect of things. The doctors just got the results of my blood test from last week. The level of my antibodies seems to be going down, which is great. They're down by half. From the ultrasound, the perinatologist was able to measure anemia again, and that is down by like 4%. These are all great things.

And the ultrasound tech was kind enough to give us more ultrasound pictures. I was so glad, because we only got one last week. Wanna see 'em? I knew you would.

Flexing his bicep, the little macho man:

Waving hello:

Giving his mama the thumbs-up:

And, finally, showing off his... manhood:

You may not be able to tell. It's like he's sitting on the camera. That's his pelvis. His femurs kind of fade away in this shot. But then you see the pelvic bones, and there in the middle....yep. All boy. And proud of it.

The little stinker wouldn't show us his face. He wasn't gonna do it. Maybe next time. I only have to get an ultrasound every two weeks now. So we shall see. We'll get a face shot yet.

Sorry for the stream-of-consciousness style of this post. Chalk it up to me only getting three hours of sleep last night. Yep, that phase is already starting. The you're-exhausted-but-you're-not-able-to-sleep-for-some-reason phase. And I have five more months of this crap to go.

You can stop being jealous of me now.