The Joys and Journeys of Motherhood and Baby #2: 23 Week Recap

I am now 24 weeks pregnant, 2 days today :)

Sweet Pea is 11.8" long and 1.5 lbs in weight. Her skin is still translucent, but thickening. Her skin tone is now a blush pink and her lungs are developing branches. She is growing stronger and developing more and more by the day and week.

Here is a little recap of my 23rd week now that this chapter is closed and a new one is beginning....

OB Disappointment
Ok, so disappointment is not really the word to sum up how I felt as of Friday of last week. It was more a mixture of disappointment, frustration, anger and disheartenment. As mentioned in an earlier post, my Dr advised me a few weeks ago at my last prenatal appointment that my paperwork was submitted to the Credit Valley OB office. She reassured me that I would be getting a call with an appointment very soon and that they would be taking my care and Sweet Pea's into their hands moving forward. If I didn't hear anything back from the OB office in 4 weeks, I would have to return back to her for a regular prenatal appt.

For those unaware, pregnant woman are suppose to start seeing an OB anytime between 20 weeks and 23 weeks pregnant, and are seen by them up until delivery.

Well, last week marked 4 weeks and I hadn't yet heard back from the OB office. Before going in to see my Dr for my prenatal appointment, I called the office to see if they heard anything back. This is where things took a turn for the worse; she told me the office had called and booked me in for my first OB appointment May 1st. MAY 1st?!?!! What!!! I'll be 31 weeks pregnant by then; I should have started to be seen by 20 weeks!!! Very upset now and not getting a clear answer as to why my appointment has been booked so far out, the receptionist gave me the number to the OB office to contact directly. Speaking to the receptionist there, I was informed that at the fault of my Dr, they didn't get my paperwork until Feb 11th. They should have received my paperwork from my Dr at the beginning of November after my first prenatal visit. As a result to my Dr failing to submit my paper work on time and it taking 2-3 months to get in with an OB, I was pushed to a May 1st appointment date.

I was beyond livid by this point! How could my Dr make such an error? I've been seeing her every 4 weeks since the day I found out I was pregnant.

I was told by the OB office that I could be put on a waiting list and if there were any cancellations from other patients, they'd call and let me know. This would allow me the chance of possibly getting in to see an OB sooner. In the meantime, they are all backed up with patients and can not see any new ones until May 1st.

I called my Dr's office back right away and explained the situation. The receptionist was very apologetic on behalf of my Dr, but advised me that there was nothing they could do on their end to get me in sooner with an OB.

After speaking directly with my Dr this past Monday (now 24 weeks pregnant), she was at a loss of words. She admitted she made the error but just kept saying 'I don't know how this got missed? I don't know why your paperwork wasn't submitted earlier'. SMH!!!

Loooong story short, I am on a waiting list and anxiously awaiting a call from the OB office in hopes of getting in sooner. 31 weeks is totally unacceptable, to me at least, to be seen for the first time by an OB.

Until I hear back from the OB office with a possible new date, I will have to continue to see my regular Dr every 4 weeks.

Tummy Rash
Friday last week, I was feeling kind of off all day. This was even before the huge ordeal that occurred above. I felt a little queasy and VERY much out of breath. Doing nothing, just sitting on the floor folding baby clothes, had be gasping for air. It felt as if someone was sitting on my chest.
This occurred on and off throughout the day. Come around 3:30pm that afternoon, I hit a breaking point. I was literally panting for air just sitting on the carpet with Nya. I told Nya that I needed to lay down for a bit and that we could snuggle in my bed for a while. Dennard came home shortly after and I explained to him how I had been feeling and that I was going to jump into the shower to see if the relaxation of the water would help.

When I came out of the shower to dry off, I notice a very bumpy red rash all over my tummy. It was no where else on my body; just my tummy. Very bizarre to be honest. I noticed that it was slightly itchy too. I hadn't noticed it earlier in the day; however, being clothed all day I wouldn't have seen it. It didn't get itchy until after I got out of the shower, so the heat of the water must have irritated it.

In anycase, I showed Dennard and he began to look up 'red rash on pregnant tummy' online. lol
Anytime I tell him about a symptom of something, he jumps online to research. ha ha
We came across a few articles that read that the rash could be hormonal and something that commonly occurs during pregnancy.

Now, whether or not the rash had anything to do with my shortness of breath during the day, we didn't know.

I went to see a Walk-In doctor Saturday AM as the rash was still there. He took a look and told me that it was nothing to be concerned about; probably hormonal and that it would go away in a few days.

Fortunately, he was right. Come Tuesday of this week it had finally cleared; however, I'm still having a lot of shortness in breath.

I spoke to my regular Dr about it on Monday and she wasn't concerned. It could just be where the baby is sitting. So, we will continue to monitor it to see if it continues.

Pregnancy Acne
I've noticed that I get the worst flare ups around the time that I would normally be getting my period. Even though I'm pregnant, it's as if my body is still in menstruation mode at the beginning of each month and my horomones are thrown into an even deeper loop.

This just dawned on me last week as I began to break out very badly. I realized that this has been a pattern the last several months.

I'll break out very badly and then it will clear up after a week, then return a few weeks later. I'll have minor breakouts in between this period, but nothing like at the beginning of each month.

Come the beginning of each month, there is no concealer that works well enough to hide these wonderful (NOT!) blunders. lol

Some have radiant, glowing skin when they are pregnant, while others like myself have not so 'glowing' or 'radiant' skin. lol

I can't really complain though. Pregnancy acne is the only thing that I seem to struggle with during pregnancy. Everything else is a walk in the park. lol

Sweet Pea at 23 Weeks