My first date with 17P injection

Today, at 17w6d, I had my first injection of 17P (it has a long scientific name, but it's a progesterone compound in Castor oil).  Ow!  It was a relatively painful injection, mostly because it is thick and takes a while to fully inject in the muscle tissue.  Of course, the burning subsided not too long after the injection, so imagine my surprise as about 30 minutes later, while making the kids dinner, it started majorly hurting.  In fact, I reheated the heating pad and strapped it on while in the kitchen.  Yowza!  And I still have 19 more injections to go until I'm done! :oO
My mid-back has been pretty sore lately and I'm definitely getting the the first level of discomfort, not to be confused with the all-encompassing, massive discomfort to come as I run out of room and end up as large as a house.
Tomorrow I will be 18 weeks, meaning it's that magical time at my next ultrasound (Friday!) that I find out whether I am baking a little boy or a little girl.  I also get to find out if my body is working with or against me and if I need further intervention to keep baking the baby to full term.  I'm oddly very calm about finding out the gender.
Perhaps it is having one of each already that makes it seem slightly anti-climactic, but the "planning" side of me needs to know.  We got rid of almost all of our baby stuff - we have a crib, the matching changing table and the double jogging stroller, and that is it.  The smallest clothes I think are 18-24 mos in boys and 3T in girls.  Um, yeah...not super prepared here.  It's funny that after 4 years, it feels slightly like starting over again.  It will be so weird to have tiny clothes, tiny diapers, and all the wonderful things that will fill up our house yet again.
So I suppose I'll be back to post this weekend and give the gender verdict.  Until then, I'll be hanging with my new BFF - my heat pad. :)

Let the poking begin...almost

I will be 16 weeks tomorrow, which is that "magical" number.  I start weekly progesterone shots (17P - progesterone in oil) in the next week.  I'm waiting on a call from a nurse to set up the schedule, but hopefully we can get it all sorted out.  I'm not looking forward to these injections, but if that means this baby comes out AFTER 36 weeks, I will be a happy camper.  Granted, the size they were, it might mean for a much bigger baby come L&D time, but I think I can handle it.  Oh yeah, did I mention unless I have to have a c section, I'm absolutely skipping the epidural this time?  After the spinal headache from my epi with Noah, I'd rather just have the pain.  I'll just have to discuss post delivery pain management before hand, that was where I struggled with Em.
I've been trying to workout a couple of times a week, well, I intended to do more, but either headaches, nausea or laziness got the better of me. ;)  I'm just determined to be the strongest I can be during this pregnancy.  I mean, hitting the ground running with workouts once I get the all clear would be awesome.  It honestly has more to do with mental well-being and just a general feeling of wellness rather than trying to lose baby weight.  I really miss running and how great I would feel after a good run.  It kills me that I get exhausted just walking a mile (in 1 flipping hour) on the treadmill.  My weights routine yesterday killed and it wasn't nearly as hard as I used to do.  Man!  Talk about feeling out of shape.  But the round of braxton hicks contractions after I was done reminded me why I'm taking it slower.  We'll see if the 17P injections help to keep the BHs at bay more than with Noah.
Well, since I got woken up early from a phone call, I am going to take a little nap.  I need to shake this headache before it's time to take the kids to summer camp!