Week 20: Halfway there!

So here we are, 20 weeks down, 20 or so to go.  And in less than 48 hours, if Gunior is feeling cooperative, we'll know if we're greeting a son or daughter when those 20 weeks are up.  Here's a little song dedication to inspire Gunior to answer this week's burning question: are you a boy or a girl?  Go to this link: http://www.boydemusic.com/music.htm and select the 3rd song shown...the name is self-explanatory.

We have our ultrasound this Tuesday at 10am.  We'll get our first look at him/her since 8 weeks, when s/he was just the size of a blueberry.  Having worked our way through much of the produce department, the kiddo is the size of a cantaloupe.  We also change the way we measure baby's length now, instead of going from crown to rump we measure head to toe.  End to end, the baby is the length of a banana.

So far that banana-cantaloupe still isn't kicking in a way I can definitely distinguish as kicks, but I'm still feeling the fluttery sensations from time to time.  Shouldn't be long before that first real kick comes along though.

I did feel plenty of kicks yesterday, but unfortunately they were from the lady sitting behind me at the Phantom of the Opera.  That distraction aside, the show was great.  When that chandelier came to life at the beginning I remembered how I felt seeing the show for the first time as a 14 year old on a class trip.  It'll be fun getting to experience those moments with the little one and seeing them through his/her eyes.

This week's been pretty good for me, symptom-wise.  A few moments of acid reflux but not too bad.  Knock on wood that that continues!  Spring allergy season has come to north Texas though, and to our house.  For a change, I'm not the one suffering much, but poor Kevin seems to be getting his first real dose of allergy troubles.  Hopefully the prescription he got will help soon and this spring will be much kinder to me than last year's was.

My first week in maternity clothes went well.  The rumors of their comfort are true and fortunately I found a lot that were pretty cute and flattering.  I've been particularly happy with the Gap's maternity offerings.  The jeans look like their regular jeans, just with a comfy demi panel waist.  Today I went back to get some black slacks and not only were they 25% off, but all their tops and sweaters were buy one get one free, quite convenient if you're trying to build a wardrobe from scratch.

So far I've gained about 10-11 pounds.  And in the past week or so the baby bump has definitely become quite pronounced.  Every coworker I've run into this week who didn't already know has been brave enough to ask.  I know, etiquette says you should never ask a woman if she's pregnant, but given that they've known me for years and can't help but notice that I'm now sporting a belly, it doesn't bother me.  At least they don't think I'm just getting fat! 

Speaking of the baby bump, here it is:

Holy growing belly, Batman!

This week my closet staged an intervention with me, in which many of my pants and shirts let it be known that they were going to have to take a sabbatical till fall. So this weekend I shopped for maternity clothes and bought the first round. It's an interesting experience shopping for clothes to fit me in the short term and hopefully grow with me for another 5 months and 20 pounds. I guess time will tell if these clothes will make it to term with me or not. Fortunately the clothes are pretty comfortable and reasonably cute. I'm very glad that I work at an office with a business casual dress code. I'll have to get a few pairs of nice slacks and a few more things but thank goodness I'm not having to shell out for a few business suits too.



Here's a picture of me in one of the new outfits. Not too bad, eh? At least now the belly definitely looks like a baby bump and not like a beer gut...9 pounds now and counting.

 And the requisite belly shot:

 

Last Tuesday we had our appointment with the midwife. Measurements were good and we had a strong 125 bpm heartbeat. And next Tuesday morning we have our sonogram and get to see baby for the first time since s/he was 8 weeks old. We'll get to make sure everything is going well with development and, if baby cooperates, we'll also find out if it's a he or she.


As for symptoms, this weekend it was acid reflux that reared its ugly head. I had been pretty relieved to have largely avoided this problem for as long as I have but it seemed everything I ate this weekend seemed to set off trouble. Today at work, rationalizing that if I'm going to have acid reflux anyway I might as well eat what I want, I put some habanero sauce in my soup and...it was fine. I chewed a few Tums throughout the day to help but never had any trouble. So, was it a random flare-up this weekend, or was today just a brief reprieve? Hoping time will prove that it was just a random flare-up.


Lately my ankles have also gotten a little sore. I know I haven't twisted them or anything like that so I assume it must be the early stages of swelling...oh joy. I just hope I don't develop cankles!

18 down, 22 to go

Tomorrow we meet Jane, a midwife of the OB practice we go to.  We really liked Cecily, the first one we met, and have heard and read great things about Jane so we are looking forward to meeting her too.  They have a good system: they split their call 50/50, so their patients alternate seeing them on visits.  That way, whoever's on duty when Gunior decides s/he is ready to "head out" will be someone we've gotten to know and feel comfortable with. 
No big landmarks at tomorrow's appointment, just monitoring to make sure all is well.  But within a week or two we should have our next sono and, assuming the little one is not feeling modest that day, we can stop referring to the baby as "s/he" and start talking about our future son or daughter (and come up with a name besides Gunior).

Before our last visit 4 weeks ago, I was a little concerned that I hadn't gained any weight yet.  While I had read that that was perfectly normal for the first trimester, I was wondering when the weight would start coming.  Well, 6 pounds later I think we can put that worry to rest.  That means I'm averaging about 1.5 pounds a week - right on track.  That also means by next week's entry, I should be at my Heaviest Weight Ever.  The record which is about to fall was set on our 2-week trip to Europe when we binged on pasta, gelato, wine, brats, and beer.  Yum!

 

The tummy's felt about the same this week.  Still nothing that definitely feels like a kick or punch but there's definitely something going on down there.  Shouldn't be long though before I feel something more substantial.

In other news, I'm getting used to sleeping on my side.  I think that is helping with the dizziness and lightheadedness I've had the last few weeks.  I have been noticing that I seem to be having more dreams and more vivid dreams, probably because I am still waking up several times a night for the bathroom.  No baby dreams yet, but my dad dreamed a few weeks ago that we had a little girl (one of Kevin's managers has said 100% that it is a girl)...

Here's tonight's belly picture.  No question, I'm definitely starting to show now.  Still not quite big enough for maternity clothes but we may be within a few weeks of that.

In other news, we got some snow this past week...a little over a foot of it on Thursday in fact, setting a single-day record for the Dallas area.  My office closed early Thursday and opened an hour late Friday, and Kevin came home early Thursday and worked from home on Friday, so it was a nice break for both of us.  Speaking of breaks, I also got to stay home today for Presidents' Day.  Woohoo, your tax dollars at work!  Alas, the next federal holiday doesn't come till Memorial Day :(

Snow falling Thursday on the houses across the park

Snow-covered trees on the way to work Friday morning.  By that evening the ground was still white but the snow had melted from the trees.

Kevin and I made snowmen Friday night.  One for me, one for him, and one for the little one.

We didn't have carrots or coal on hand to make the faces but improvised with some food coloring.  By the next morning the colors had started to run.  As of tonight the Gunior snowbaby has melted and the other two are hanging on but have seen much better days.

Week 18: Growing pains or baby kicks?

This week my tummy has felt...different.  Not nausea or indigestion, at least I don't think so.  I can't tell if what I'm feeling are the growing pains as the round ligaments stretch to accomodate the growing baby or if I'm feeling kicks, punches, etc., or some combination thereof.  "What to Expect" says I should be able to feel the little one's kicks and punches sometime in the coming weeks, so that might be what I'm feeling, but nothing yet that I felt and said "that was definitely a kick!"  Maybe in the next few weeks I'll feel something that is more definite.  Till then, my tummy just feels weird.

In the meantime, the kiddo continues to make his/her presence known as the belly slowly but surely gets bigger.  So far I'm up about 5 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.  It's starting to look more like a baby bump, less like a beer gut but still some room for confusion on that.  I wore the Belly Band last week with one pair of pants and it worked great.  I think that will buy me a few more weeks in my normal pants as more of them start to get too snug.

By the way, I should mention that we usually take these pictures in the evening when I've changed out of my work clothes and into "around the house" clothes.  Just so you don't think my wardrobe is limited to trackpants, or that that's all I can fit into already.  I might as well get used to them though, that may be all that's comfortable in the last month and the first post-baby weeks!

I got my first round of maternity clothes last week courtesy of my friend Dawn, who graciously offered me her hand-me-downs.  She and I are about the same size pre-baby so I assume a lot of what fit her will fit me.  I tried several things on yesterday but so far they are all way too big.  Pretty surreal to think I might actually be big enough to fill them out in a few months.  I'll have to wait till I'm a little futher along to shop for anything else but it's nice to know I've got a few things in the closet so I'm prepared on that first morning that nothing else fits.

In the past week we've made our first few trips to Babies R Us so we can start to get an idea what we'll need, what the options are, and how much it's all going to cost.  For any given item (crib, carseat, stroller, bouncy chair, etc), there are at least a dozen options and a wide price range, which equals two bewildered parents to be trying to figure out what we need.  Needless to say, baby shopping is an overwhelming task.  As Kevin said, it's like picking out our wedding registry items except in that case we actually knew what everything was, what it was supposed to do, and how we would use it!  Oh, and there's the worry that "if I get the wrong carseat, my kiddo won't be protected in an accident."  Other than all that, just like wedding registry shopping ;)

I think we might have found our crib already though.  I was thinking modern, but the choices seem to be traditional and transitional (something in between traditional and modern), so transitional it is.  I like the lower profile and clean lines of this crib and it's got nice features.  While it's being used as a crib it has 3 height settings so the baby can start out higher up then gradually go lower as s/he gets heavier.  It's also convertible so it can become a toddler bed and daybed and later the back piece can become a twin bed headboard.  The plan is for baby #1 to sleep in this till baby #2 comes along in a few years, then baby #2 gets a few years in it, so we ought to get plenty of use out of it.

On the stroller front, we're still not sure what we want.  I definitely want a jogging stroller I can take for runs but other than that I'm not sure how often and where we'll use a stroller.  I've heard from several people that the big travel systems are nice for the first few months but so heavy and bulky that they are too much trouble to use.  We may want to use a backpack-like carrier a lot of the time rather than haul around a stroller...might just have to wait till the little one arrives to figure out exactly what we want.  Any thoughts?

So much to figure out...no wonder Mother Nature gives us 9 months to prepare!

Gunior's heartbeat

I posted the heartbeat wav file to http://www.localextent.com/kevin/Gunior%20Week%2017.wav.

Thanks to Scott for providing a site to host the file.

Week 17: Getting bigger

Yesterday we had the amazing experience of seeing a baby who was about 10 minutes old.  Our friends Richard and Lisa were expecting their second child and opted for a home birth.  We went over to watch their 2 year old, Mia, so Richard could focus on being there for Lisa.  All in all, the whole thing was surprisingly calm and relaxed...Richard was making breakfast when we got there, we watched Disney movies in the living room with Mia, and didn't hear much of anything from the bedroom 30 feet away where Lisa was in labor.  We went out about 1 to pick up some sandwiches for everyone from Schlotzsky's (Lisa's mom was watching Mia at that point) and when we got back about 115 Kevin and I started eating in the kitchen, unaware that on the other side of the wall, little William was being born in the tub!  It was pretty amazing to see him and realize he was less than an hour old...the next baby I see that young will be ours in about 5 1/2 months! 

It was reassuring for us to see how calm the natural birth process was too,.  While we'll be at a hospital rather than our home, I also plan to have a tub in my room for labor/delivery.  At this point I have no idea what will feel best once labor comes but it's nice to know the option will be there.  It also reaffirmed for us that we definitely want a doula present to help Kevin and me through the process.  So, it was exciting to be part of their big day, and also helpful for us too.  Congrats to the new family of 4!

In other news...
In every pregnancy, there comes a time when a mom-to-be must acknowledge that most of the clothes in her closet have turned on her and no longer fit.  Well, actually most of my shirts and sweaters still fit (though, as I discovered this morning, my button down dress shirts are no longer in that category), but my pants selection has narrowed to about 5 pairs.  The good news is my favorite jeans still fit on Saturday and weren't too tight.  But this morning, a pair of gray wool slacks that had been comfortable before were pretty snug.  I drove to work this morning resigned to some maternity shopping this evening when I remembered the belly band I picked up at Target last week.   I tried it on when I got home.  Voila, the pants fit again!  I'm going to rock the belly band under a long shirt/sweater over unfastened pants, and that should buy me a few more weeks until I'm big enough for maternity clothes.

The belly band:

I felt good for much of the week, but from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday night I felt lightheaded and dizzy.  I ended up staying home Wednesday resting up.  I've been feeling better since, thankfully.  Knock on wood, hopefully that one ran its course.

Here's this week's belly picture.  Starting to fill out a little more, yes?  Last week I gained a little over a pound, a good rate.  At this rate within a month or so I will hit my Heaviest Weight Ever, which I previously attained by gaining 5 pounds in 2 weeks eating and drinking my way through Europe.  This time features plenty of eating, but none of the drinking!

We've also been playing with the doppler kit my brother got us for Christmas...the perks of having a doctor in the family.  We recorded Gunior's heartbeat.  Once we figure out how to upload it to this page we will, in the meantime we'll email it to the grandparents to be!

Week 16: Baby or tapeworm?

The big news this week is we had our first appointment with Cecily, one of the midwives we'll be working with.  We liked her a lot and will meet Jane, the other midwife, at our next appointment.  They split their call 50/50 so one of them will be there with us in labor.  We'll also meet a doctor from the practice at one of our next visits, but assuming our pregnancy remains uncomplicated and there are no problems in labor, that's the only time we'll see a doctor.
My measurements were right where they should be for 15 weeks in, and the baby's heart rate was 134 beats, which is apparently good for this stage of pregnancy.  We have our next appointment at 18 weeks with Jane, then at 20 weeks we'll do a sonogram and see if we are to be the proud parents of a little boy or girl.  Call it hunch or 50/50 guess, but my prediction is boy.  We want one of each, and have no preference on order, so we'll be excited to welcome whatever God decides to give us this time.  The last time we had a sonogram was at 8 weeks, when Gunior looked like a little peanut, it will be interesting to see how s/he has changed in 12 weeks.

My appetite has certainly shifted into overdrive now.  It seems like I'm hungry every hour or so, and no matter how much or often I eat it doesn't seem to fill me up for long.  Sometimes I wonder if I've got a baby inside me or a tapeworm!

Last night after dinner though, I managed to not only be full, but miserably full for hours.  We made a delicious dinner with lemon butter scallops, sauteed bok choy, and roasted endive and radichio salad with pears, Stilton cheese, and walnuts.  I filled my plate with 80% veggies and 4 scallops.  You wouldn't think that would fill you up, but it did that and then some.  As I went to bed, still stuffed, I remembered the infamous Spago dinner on our honeymoon, when we both managed to get miserably stuffed and couldn't drink much of the complimentary bottle of champagne our hotel had left us.  I ordered a scallop and bok choy dish and felt ripped off when it arrived-$40 for 5 scallops and a plate full of cabbage?  But I've never been so stuffed in my life as after that dinner.  Funny then that after a week of constantly feeling hungry, I would get the idea to cook scallops and bok choy...I guess my subconscious wanted me to get "Spago full" again!

I figured with all the eating, sooner or later I'd start gaining weight, and last week for the first time, I did, adding about 1.5-2 pounds to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Ideally I'll put on about that much weight every week for awhile...a little scary to contemplate. 

In anticipation of that, today I went to the Gap to get a pair of "in between jeans" to wear once my regular ones get too snug but before I need maternity jeans.  I ruled out the skinny-leg styles right away, because if I couldn't pull those off pre-baby now certainly isn't the time to try.  And low-rise works best on me anyway since I'm short-waisted, and with the belly growing it seemed like a good plan to stick to that.  So I tried on two cuts, the "curvy" style and the baggier "boyfriend" style.  The curvy jeans were more flattering but wouldn't let me grow much in the hips and booty, just the waist.  The boyfriend jeans gave me a lot more room to grow but had a saggy butt.  So I had to choose, go with the cuter jeans or hedge my bet and go for the bigger ones?  In the end I chose the curvy cut because even buying pregnancy jeans, rule #1 applies: go for the ones that make your booty look good!