What a week!

This update is a little overdue, but it's been an exciting week for us with much to tell.

Getting our kicks
Last Tuesday I felt my first unmistakable kick and since then I've been feeling him more and more throughout the day.  Either he's becoming more active or stronger or both.  The kicks haven't kept me awake or woken me up yet but they have kept me from taking full advantage of the snooze button the past few days, as the alarm apparently wakes baby up too and he starts kicking.

Last week baby was limiting most of his kicking activity to the late afternoons when I'm still at work, so Kevin wasn't able to feel the kicks.  I think the first and only time he's been jealous of me during this pregnancy was when I told him that I'd gotten to feel kicking and he wasn't able to yet.  Fortunately he didn't have to wait long though and was able to feel the little guy kick for the first time on Saturday, and most days since.

Alejandro
Friday our good friends Marko and Nicole got a wonderful, life-changing phone call.  They've been hoping to adopt a baby for awhile and got the wonderful opportunity to do just that when a birth mother in Arlington chose them from among several potential adoptive families for her newborn baby boy.  They had to rush out to get a carseat, bassinet, and all the other baby essentials, but on Sunday they got to take little Alejandro home.

We had already asked them to be godparents for our child, and they returned the honor by asking us to be Alejandro's godparents.  We got to meet the little guy Tuesday and he's beautiful!  We'd have been excited for them whenever they adopted, but it will be really fun and special that our sons are so close in age.  No doubt they'll get into plenty of mischief together!

How do you spell relief?  Wish I knew...
I've had a few episodes of heartburn recently but today's has been especially painful.  I haven't read Dante's Inferno but I'm beginning to suspect one of the layers of hell might involve severe heartburn.  I've taken Pepcid and Tums (practicioner-approved) and the heartburn's better but still there.  Very much hoping this is an occasional thing and not a sign of what I have to look forward to for the next 16 weeks.  16 weeks could feel very, very long at this rate!

Making introductions


We've had a name idea for awhile but were still mulling over it, but now we've decided to make it official.  Our little boy will be Daniel Scott Williamson.  Why did we pick that, you ask?

Daniel is my maiden name so it honors my dad's side of the family (Mom's side is covered since her maiden name was Williams and our last name is Williamson).  In particular, the name will be a special connection between our little boy and my paternal grandfather, DadDad, who served in World War II and was called "Danny" or "Daniel" by the men who served with him.  I've looked up to him since I was little and remember choosing him as the subject of an essay on "someone I admire" in junior high.  He's 92, so our son probably won't get to know him well, but I hope he'll be proud to hear about his namesake.

The family connection aside, we also like the name Daniel for its meaning.  It's Hebrew for "God is my judge" (the "El" suffix being the Hebrew name for God), and in the Old Testament Daniel was a Hebrew prophet who rose to great success as an advisor to the Babylonian court because of his skill in interpreting dreams.  Eventually he was persecuted for his faith in God and sentenced to death by being sealed in a lion's den, but emerged unscathed because of God's protection.

Scott is Kevin's brother's name.  Kevin and Scott's middle names both honor an uncle, so we're continuing that tradition with our son's middle name and honoring Kevin's side of the family.

So, our baby is Gunior no more.  From now on, he's Daniel.

Next week
Monday we have our next appointment with the midwife and it'll be an eventful one.  In addition to another sonogram, I'll also have to take a glucose tolerance test to screen for gestational diabetes which will entail drinking a sugar solution then having a blood draw an hour later to see how my body is processing the glucose.  Good news is I don't have to fast beforehand.  Hopefully I'll pass the test with flying colors and won't have to take the more rigorous followup, which involves a series of blood draws over 3 hours after drinking the solution on an empty stomach. 

We're looking forward to seeing Daniel on sonogram again, it was so neat to see him moving around last time and get that glimpse into what his life is like right now.  I hope he'll let us get a good view of his face this time, last time he had his hands in the way.  Come on buddy!

Today's song dedication: Alive and Kicking

We had an exciting milestone today.  This evening, about 5:20 or so, I was sitting at my desk at work, hand resting on my belly, and it happened.  I felt an unmistakeable kick from the little guy.  I would have felt it from within even if my hand wasn't there but I was able to feel it on my hand too.  Hopefully he'll do it soon when Kevin's around so he can feel it too!

News from the front line: 22 weeks in

Used to be when I was out somewhere I didn't really notice babies, unless I heard them crying.  Now every trip to the grocery store, mall, or anywhere else is a chance to do some homework and check out strollers and infant car seats live and in action.  It reminds me of starting driver's ed: all the traffic signs and signals had always been there but I had seldom paid attention to them.  But once I started learning to drive, I couldn't help noticing them every time I was on the road (which is a good thing!).  Now with a little one on the way, every trip out is an opportunity to see what works and what doesn't in the land of baby gear.

Tonight's trip to Kroger provided an example of each.  First, I saw a couple with their baby in an infant car seat in the grocery cart.  I kept sneaking furtive glances to see what brand the car seat was and how it fit in the top of the cart.  It looked like our car seat brand but I couldn't ever get a good view of the label.  I also saw a mom schlepping her big travel system through the aisles and carrying her groceries in her hands.  Needless to say, that didn't seem like a very good system!
Speaking of car seats, we pulled the trigger and bought one today after much research.  We were out running errands and were near Buy Buy Baby.  The car seat we want isn't available in store at Babies R Us so we thought we'd see if BBB had it and if they'd take our BRU 20% off coupon.  Yes on both counts, and the helpful sales guy (who seems to have a Masters in strollers and car seats!) even carried the floor model out to our car and showed us how the base attaches to the backseat of the car.  This car seat will hold our little guy till he's 30 pounds and is top-rated for safety.  So, cross one big item off the list.  Here's what the kiddo will be riding in:

Last weekend we went to a wedding reception celebration for our friends (and next-door neighbors) Marinda and Brian.  It was a great party and a chance for me to wear my cute new maternity dress, which I bought at Kid to Kid, a local consignment shop, for $5.  With Amy's wedding in San Fran coming up in May, I'll have at least one more opportunity to wear this one or another I bought.  This one's so cute, I'm actually disappointed I won't be able to wear it post-baby.

Here we are all dressed up:

In other news, the belly continues to get bigger.  I suppose being short-waisted, there's not much place for the belly to go but out.  But looking at pictures for the last few weeks, you can really tell that the belly has really started showing and growing within the past month or so.  Weight gain is still pretty reasonable, about 13 pounds, and seemingly pretty much all of it in the belly area.

Here we are:

At my office we have a tradition of celebrating birthdays, holidays, and sometimes just Fridays with a food spread.  This past Friday was a coworker's birthday in my area so we celebrated SBA-style with tons of food.  I made a fruit salad with fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and bananas, and another coworker brought in fresh pineapple.  The token healthy selections went over quite well but were outnumbered by the breakfast casseroles, quiches, and desserts.  Everything was delicious, but the hit of the day was a fantastic homemade sopapilla cheesecake.  It was so good I wanted seconds.  Since everyone expects the pregnant lady to eat a lot anyway (as if "eat for two" means "eat for two linebackers") and I was, after all, wearing elastic waist pants, I splurged and went for that second piece.  While I wouldn't want to eat so heavy every day, may as well play the pregnancy card to splurge once or twice, right? ;)

You've got male!

We had our sonogram yesterday morning and got to see the baby for the first time since week 8.  And we can stop referring to the baby as s/he or it, now we know it's definitely a he.  At first he was a little shy to show his boy parts but with a little coaxing the sonographer was able to get a good view.  He has long legs and wasn't shy about kicking them.  We also saw him wave his hands around, yawn, touch his feet, and suck his thumb, and I think he might have even given Mommy a Gig'em sign ;)  He had his hand in front of his face a lot so we couldn't get a great profile shot of his face but hopefully we will next time.



We met with an OB afterwards (the practice requires one meeting with an OB, the rest can all be with midwives), and he noted a few spots on the sono which he said were not of great concern, but that we will follow up with in 4 weeks with another sono.  At that visit I'll also do my glucose tolerance test to check for gestational diabetes.  All in all, the doc said the sono looked very good.  The baby's size and weight, my weight gain, the amount of fluid, and my blood pressure all looked good.  Given that, we expect that all will be good on the next sono.  He said he saw no reason why I can't travel up until the last month (which means we will be able to go to Amy's wedding in San Fran in early May!) and also that I was a great candidate for a natural birth.  So, good visit all in all.

I think Gunior must not have cared much for the sonogram though because ever since then, he's been camped out right under my left ribcage.  It must be comfortable for him, but not so much for me.  I'm hoping he will realize soon that he has lots of other real estate to enjoy and will decide to spread out some!

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.