20 weeks

Halfway there!

 

Creative framing/head chopping courtesy of Andie.

 

I'm still carrying pretty small, though I can feel my uterus up over my belly button, so I know I'm still growing correctly.  At the ultrasound last week, the baby was breech (butt down) and folded in half-- his knees up over his face.  He had one arm up over his head and the other between his legs (boys!).  Anyway, I think his little squashed up position down low is keeping me from showing much more and also keeping me from feeling very much movement.  I do feel some, but the only guarantee to feel it is laying on my belly (which I can still do comfortably at this point).

 

I would like him to stretch out and explore the real estate a little more.  According to my weekly pregnancy update, most babies do stay folded up until about 20 weeks.  I'm thinking they mean curled up rather than acting like contortionists like this kid is doing, but in either case, maybe this week he'll check out the neighborhood a little more.

 

After the ultrasound last week, we went to a Brazilian steakhouse and ate too much.  At around 5:30, once my kids were home from school and had performed several dance routines, we went out for dessert, which turned into appetizers and 8 desserts shared by 7 people (including 3 kids!).  And then we went out for shaved ice, since apparently we needed more sugar.  My kids have now taken to saying WWMMD (What would Mr. M do?) when planning their ideal meals.  LOL.  He'd already won their affection, but limitless dessert did not threaten his #1 position.

 

Really not much else to report for me or on behalf of baby.  With all of his systems in place, he's just going to spend the next 20 weeks growing and getting cute and chubby.  Which I guess is true of me too, though I'm not sure how cute it will be!

 

 

It's a...

Baby is perfectly healthy, measuring just as it should.

And... It's a BOY!

19 weeks

And the big news for this week: movement like crazy!  Hooray! I'm feeling this little guy/gal kick and squirm at least a few times a day.  There's a little kick fest going on right now.  To which I say: slow your roll, little baby!  Because it's still nearly 3 hours until you get your moment in the spotlight.  It's ultrasound day!  Woohoo!

Wow, a lot of exclamation marks in that sentence.  What can I say?  It's an exciting time.

What else?  Still feeling good, with that lingering and occassional yucky reaction to sugary foods.  Again, not a bad thing, really-- I don't need to be living off of cupcakes.  I'm definitely showing more.  Probably right on the edge of someone being able to assume I was pregnant without potentially putting their foot in their mouth.  I got a "congratulations!" from a coworker I don't see much, who I must not have told, so that's the first time someone has noticed on their own.

I'm not sure it makes much sense to report on theoretical baby when we will see actual baby soon, but let's see what the internet says... The baby is developing all the sensory areas of the brain-- smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch.  I ate the spiciest thing I have ever had in my life last night, so, uh... sorry baby.  Hope you were ready for that!  Baby weighs about half a pound and all of the body parts are now in the correct proportion.  And hair is growing!  Just a miniature person, ready to hang out for another 21 weeks or so.

Let's see... final gender prediction from me is... girl.  No strong feeling one way or the other, though.  Now to wait away 2 hours until Rick comes to get me.  I'm going to have a sugary/caffeine-laden drink about an hour before the appointment, to jumpstart the show.  Should be fun.

Bonus belly shot

18w5d, in the office bathroom this morning. Definitely starting to show.

Prenatal appointment

I had a prenatal appointment with Mary this morning.  All is well.  Baby sounded great-- I made a video, but apparently the sound didn't work, so that's a bust.  My uterus is just under my belly button, which is exactly as it should be right now.  Mary says she feels the most baby down very low, so that's where we listened.  That's where I felt those four little kicks last week too, so that makes sense (still no more kicks though). 

I gained a whopping 7 pounds this month, which is the first weight I've gained-- just came all at once.  Mary said that was normal-- that they expect "off the curve" growth in this month and the next 6 weeks, which is primarily from increased blood volume.  Nonetheless, I think Rick can quit worrying that I'm not eating enough.  7 pounds doesn't materialize from nothing!

I've consistently gained about 35 lbs. with each pregnancy, but this is the first one that I didn't lose some weight on the front end.  So I'm curious to see where I end up at the end.  Not worried at all, regardless of the number.  I know it comes off as easily as it comes on and it's all for a good cause!

I also finally signed all of the consents and financial paperwork at this appointment-- I'd been slacking on that.  So the business side of things should be squared away now.

Next prenatal appointment is 10/25 at 8:00 with Debra.  But of course the next appointment is this Friday at 11:00-- the big anatomy scan!

18 weeks

No more distinct kicks like I felt the other day, but some little squiggles of movement-- right now, actually, I can feel something going on that I think is more than the oatmeal I ate for breakfast.  I do know that in my last pregnancy, it was just after 18 weeks that the movement picked up a lot, so hopefully any day now we start throwing in-utero dance parties.

I suspect the baby is positioned something like this:

...which would send most of the kicks/punches backwards into the placenta, where it's difficult for me to feel.  But baby is getting heftier-- my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe and the baby is 5.5" head-to-rump and weighs 7".  Sometimes it really blows my mind that a WHOLE PERSON that's already so substantial could be living in my body with very few clues that he or she is even there.  Craziness.
Some of the weekly development sites are saying the baby is starting to hear me talk now.  Sadly, baby, that means you also get to spend a lot of time listening to me sing, as living with me is a little like living in a musical comedy.  Why say it when you can sing it?

Some people use Belly Buds to play the baby's family's voices to the baby, so he or she will recognize them at birth.  Or to protect him or her from a crazy, singing surrogate.  Just saying.

That's about it.  I'm feeling fine, sleeping fine (albeit with a million pillows), eating fine.  Certain sugary things don't sit well, but that's no great sacrifice, particularly since chocolate is still safe.  Really, really looking forward to our anatomy scan next week, which is pretty much the last big test to assure everybody that this baby is as healthy as they come.  AND we'll soon know if it's a bambina or a bambino.  I could wait, but I know nobody else can!

Nice day

I had a fantastic massage at lunch from Inge-Lise Weber.  I'd never seen her before, but it was really wonderful.  She didn't talk (my pet peeve during massages is when I'm told "try to relax"-- hello, that's why I'm here!), the pressure was just right, and she even rubbed on my belly (lightly) a bit, so I felt like the baby got a treat too.  Ah, relaxation.

And then, since I was in the neighborhood, I snuck into the midwives' office for a heartbeat check.  Totally unnecessary since I'm going to be there next week, but they indulged me nonetheless and I got to hear the baby.  Heartrate was in the 150s at first, which Monika said was fast, but then it slowed down a bit, which I guess is a good show of neurological development.  She said my uterus is growing nicely too-- right where she would expect it to be at about 18 weeks.

And somebody gave me a cupcake this morning.  Pretty much a trifecta for a perfect day.  No complaints here!