Emotions (Week 22)

We have had a super hectic week. Thanksgiving came and went quickly as we have been working non-stop getting our house and the paperwork ready to try and find tenants to rent it. Since the market couldn't support the sale of our beautiful house, we have decided to become landlords.

What does this have to do with my pregnancy? Stress. I'm not an easily stressed person and generally keep my chin up, aside from the occasional hiccup, but this week has been different. I think it's the combination of the pregnancy hormones and the stress of what we're dealing with right now. I have read and heard about how pregnancy can affect your moods and can make you moody and put you in tears at the drop of a hat. So far, I had been doing pretty well up until this week, where I found myself in tears on a number of occasions. I don't like feeling upset while carrying my little baby, but thinking about being upset only gets me more upset. What a crazy circle that is.

Anyhow, we are moving along and making progress, so hopefully we will be able to take a breath soon.

Gender Revealed! (Week 20)

At 9am on Friday, November 11th, 2011, Dave, his mom and I went to our baby's 20 week ultrasound appointment. Our long wait to find out the gender is over... we found out that we are having a BOY!

The ultrasound technician made sure to ask us twice, as to whether we wanted to find out the gender, then she showed us an image of our baby which made the reveal. No questions there. We are having a boy. I laughed about it a little in disbelief, as this is to be my parent's seventh grandson. We have yet to buy any little dresses on my side of the family.

Now that we know the sex of our baby, we can start thinking about names, looking at cute little boy outfits and other baby items to get ready for a our little one to arrive. We couldn't be more excited, nervous, overwhelmed, and happy. I have been enjoying my pregnancy and thinking about him growing and developing inside me. It's hard to believe I'm now half way through creating a baby.

I love this picture where you can see his spine:

and this one, where it looks like he's smiling at us:

Vernix What? (Week 19)

It feels like I have a big, giant baby in there already. If I bend over it feels like there's a volleyball under my shirt. Yet our baby only weighs about half a pound and measures about six inches from head to bottom (there's also the placenta, uterus, and amniotic fluid to account for). The baby's brain is designating specialized areas for its senses. It also has a greasy white/ cheese-like coating on its skin (called vernix caseosa) that protects if from becoming a prune while floating around in the amniotic fluid.

At this time next week we will know whether he/she is a boy or a girl!! I can't wait. Take the poll on the right of the screen and we'll see what happens.

I'm very thankful to only be working part-time right now. It would be really difficult if I was still at my former job working 50+ hour weeks. Thank you, Dave.

Expanding Belly

In the beginning, I couldn't wait for my stomach to start getting bigger. For some reason, I always pictured a pregnant woman with her big, pregnant belly. I didn't consider the beginning stages when you can't even tell between someone who is pregnant and someone who isn't. It's an interesting stage to be in. Being so excited and now having spread the word, it's funny being out and about and wondering whether the person you just passed knows you're pregnant or whether they just think you have a few extra pounds around the middle. I want to wear shirts that say "baby inside". I did buy one that says, "got baby" that I found at the thrift store, but it's a little small and if I'm not careful, my belly hangs out the bottom already.

At first I was concerned that I wasn't gaining enough weight and was constantly wondering whether the baby was still in there. Now suddenly it seems my growing phase has kicked in(which I read it would) and I find myself now wondering whether I'm bigger than I should be at this stage. I fear someone asking me how far along I am and in telling them that "I'm 4 1/2 months", seeing their eyes bulge in disbelief, thinking I was further along.

I know it's silly to worry about such things, I trust my body is doing what it should. Everything I've read and learned says I'm doing just fine where I'm at. I wore a maternity dress today when I went to get our car smogged, someone actually offered me a chair out of the sun when I stood up and they saw my big belly. That felt good.

Pregnancy Symptoms

I've been reading about different aspects of pregnancy pretty much every day. I have two books: "Your Vegetarian Pregnancy" and "What to Expect When Expecting". I also read from a plethora of websites and have an app on my iphone, called "Pregnancy" from BabyCenter. The topics cover basic pregnancy info, fetal development, key nutrients, other pregnant women's thoughts and experiences and lots of pregnancy symptoms.

Not knowing how I would feel before getting pregnant, I expected to feel all the symptoms I was reading about. In the beginning, the main one I wasn't looking forward to was nausea and vomiting. My frame of reference aside from the reading was remembering my old boss puking pretty much every day when she was pregnant. Poor thing would come to work, throw up in the parking lot and then conduct business as usual with a red face and watery eyes between running to the bathroom and her office. I was not looking forward to that.

Luckily for me, I made it through my first trimester without puking once. I think I gagged twice and that was it. I would begin to feel nauseous if I didn't have something in my stomach, but as soon as I would start feeling that way, I would eat a little snack and then it would subside. I wouldn't think that would feel like the natural thing to do. I mean, who want to cook when you're feeling nauseous? But, what works, works.

Anticipation (Week 18)

Today is the start of my 18th week. From what I've read, our baby is now about 5 1/2 inches long and weighs about 7 ounces. He or she should be able to hear us now. I feel like I should start talking to myself (or to the baby) more so he/she can get used to my voice. I did read the baby a free book that I downloaded on the ipad, "The Little Engine That Could". I felt silly and when I was done, Dave said I should speak more clearly. It's true, I actually thought about that as I was reading, I really should use better annunciation. I was slurring all my words together, mostly because I wanted to get it over with once I had started, but also because I tend to do that.

Two more weeks to go until our next ultrasound and we get to find out if it's a boy or a girl! I'm so excited to know which it is I can barely stand it. My mom said that they didn't have the technology to tell her what sex she was having when she had us. Yet, with all five kids, she knew what she was having and brought either blue or pink to the hospital. I don't know how the heck you would know?!

Baby Movement ? (Week 17)

I was lying in bed this morning with my hands on my belly, concentrating and trying to decipher whether I can feel my baby move yet or whether I'm just feeling the usual belly rumblings. Suddenly I felt what seemed to be the baby doing a somersault! I could feel it internally as well as with my hands. I smiled to myself and thought, "Dave would have been able to feel that". I then drifted back to sleep.

When I awoke some time later, I couldn't figure out whether I had been dreaming or whether I had really felt the baby move. I still remember the sensation, but I believe it was just a dream.

My First Post (a History and a Beginning)

My husband and I were married in July 2010 after having known each other for over 10 years. In April 2011, we decided that we would try for our first baby. I was 36 years old and we felt that the time was right. I stopped taking birth control pills and started taking prenatal vitamins right away. We thought it would be best to wait a few months before trying to conceive since I had been on birth control pills and that is what the doctor had recommended. Even though we had made that decision, every month I anxiously awaited my period to come and was disappointed when it did. Everyone kept telling me that "I would know" when I was pregnant.

I had decided to cut back on alcohol in anticipation of knowing I'd need to be without it throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding. I'd say I was a moderate drinker. I liked my glass of wine (or three), especially when hanging out with friends or winding down at the end of the day. It wasn't that hard to do, knowing the reason behind the decision.

In July, Dave and I went camping. My period was to start any day now and I wasn't "feeling pregnant". I even thought I started spotting, put in a tampon and enjoyed a few glasses of wine. We got back from our weekend trip and my period actually had not started. A couple days went by and I thought to myself, "ok, something is going on". Although, last month I thought "something was going on", bought a pregnancy test kit, both of which came back negative. The anticipation was just killing me though, so I called Dave to see if it was ok if I bought a pregnancy test. I don't know why I needed his permission, I just wanted to see what he thought about the idea. After a few minutes on the phone, I was in the isle, trying to decide which one to get. I couldn't decide and called him back. After describing the boxes, he chose one to make the decision for me and I left happy.

When I got home, I went straight to the bathroom to run the test. The directions said it would be best run in the morning with "first pee", but I wasn't about to wait that long. I ran the first test and it appeared to turn up positive right away. I must have read the directions 50 more times to make sure I was doing it right and ran the 2nd test. Both positive!!

When Dave got home I led him to the bathroom where the tests were sitting with their positive results. I think he was a little shocked as he allowed reality to sink in. We were going to have a baby.