Insert Foot Into Spleen

I felt the baby kicking yesterday morning while I was at work. This was the first time I was able to feel her when I wasn’t lying still, and it was amazing!

All of a sudden, I felt something move. It was similar to normal digestion or gassy feelings, but it was a definite kick – moving outward away from my spine at the front of the belly. And then, to assure me that I wasn’t imagining it, she proceeded to kick me about 40-50 times all morning. I’m so excited to be able to feel her in there.

There’a a PERSON in there. A tiny person, but still a people. Crazy!

Now that I’m about 20 weeks, my belly is more noticable. It definitely isn’t as big as I was expecting by this point, but I’m certainly not complaining. Because I’m on the heavier side, my weight gain goal given to me by my OB was 10-15 pounds. At first, I laughed a little when I heard it. I figured that despite all of my hard efforts, my body might just keep growing past the 25-35 mark.

Praise to the heavens, I’m currently STILL less than I was when I conceived. I gained about five pounds in the first month... before I knew I was pregnant. But then I changed my diet (no more crap food) and made yoga and walking a priority. No late night snack binges, despite occasional cravings. And no fast food. I lost 11 pounds, bringing me to about 6 less than what I was when I got pregnant.

Since then, I’ve been slowly creeping back up to the break even point (as I call it). I’m still about a half pound under my original weight, and I’m halfway done! Hopefully the 10-15 more from here will just be baby growing and amniotic fluid. ^_^

Girls, It's a Girl!

We had an ultrasound on Thursday at 18 weeks. The tech said she was 80% certain that we'll be having a little girl!

The whole experience was amazing. We were able to see her brain - you could clearly see two separate lobes. We also saw her stomach, bladder, kidneys, heart, and lots of feet kicking! We were also able to witness our sweet little girl trying to find her thumb. You can see it in this picture. =)

This weekend I went north to New Hampshire to visit my parents and brother, and my mother and I went shopping in North Conway with some friends. We got the most adorable little clothes at Carter's! A little pink dress and a soft, cream-colored cardigan to wear over it. (It'll be February, after all!) Also tights to keep her legs warm and some little booties! Everything's so tiny and cute. I can hardly stand it. In a good way, of course.

Yay for little girls!

Letter to Baby

Dear Baby (Name to be determined ^_^),

Mommy and Daddy are so excited to meet you!

You’re still only 12½ weeks, but you’re already almost three inches long. You’re growing so fast, and Mommy can’t wait to start to feel you moving in her belly!

We don’t even know if you’re a little boy or a little girl. But there are a lot of things that we DO already know. We know that we want you to grow up knowing how very much we love you. And we want you to know how much Mommy and Daddy love each other. You’re lucky, because your parents are best friends. We’re all going to have so much fun together!

We don’t know if our home will be filled with matchbox cars and baseball gloves or if we’ll be picking up princess dresses and costume jewelry. We don’t know if you’ll be wearing prom dresses or renting tuxedos. But we do know that we’re excited to play with you whether it’s GI Joes or Barbie dolls, to watch as you learn how to play catch and drive a car.

So for now, just keep growing. We don’t care WHAT you are. We just want you to be happy and healthy. We’ll see you soon!

On Fruit, Fetuses, and Lasting Nicknames

Blueberry = Baby. Did you know? At least, for my family it does. When we told Scott’s brother and sister that I was pregnant, they were ecstatic. They’re 24 and 21 (respectively), so they can’t wait to be uncle and aunt. They were also curious to know how big the baby was at that moment. Taking a page from “What to Expect” (not literally, of course) I explained that the 5 week old fetus was about the size of a blueberry.


Since not everyone knew about it, we spoke in code at the family reunion.

How’s Blueberry doing?
Good!

Make sure you eat enough for blueberry!

And my favorite, as I was eating fruit salad with blueberries in it.... Simultaneous looks (from both of those fools) of fake shock and disappointment as I “ate” my child.

They really are hilarious and awesome people – I consider them to be my closest friends... And because they’re so witty and amusing, the nickname has stuck. (Not surprised... ^_^) I have a feeling our little one will always be “Blueberry”... even when they’re going to their prom. Even now, baby is more peach than blueberry. But that doesn’t seem to matter.


I can still hope that the baby grossly mispronounces their names and they go through life referring to uncle and auntie as something completely random. Like my cousin who started saying “Gwah” instead of “Gram”. He’s sixteen. She’s still Gwah. That would be some funny irony.

Pregnancy Ticker

Keep track of our progress! =) I've added a pregnancy ticker to the footer of my blog. It helps me keep track of exactly how far along I am. And it lets me see pictures of babies at the same stage that ours is right now.

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see... And keep us in your prayers for a healthy baby!

Ready for Mommy Chores

I started babysitting on my own when I was about 13 years old. But for years before that, my younger brother and I went to a babysitter every day after school and every day during the summer. It wasn’t a huge babysitting company – only one woman who worked out of her home. Our play areas were the living room, the ktichen, the hallway, and the unheated mud room/porch. I was older when I began going... About seven. And when you’re that age at a babysitter’s with about 3 toddlers/babies still in diapers, it was occasionally easiest to seize the moment and change diapers yourself rather than calling for Di every half hour. Not to mention the fact that for a short while, I was convinced that I wanted to be a babysitter when I “grew up”. Turned out what I really wanted was children. To be a mom.

My point for all this is that I’ve changed my fair share of diapers in my life. Looking back on it, my sitter had a pretty good gig. The older kids were content to entertain the younger ones, leaving her free to clean up behind us, cook us our meals and snacks, and do the thousands of dishes that go with the territory by hand. I distinctly remember her lack of dishwasher. Poor woman. But it could have been worse. Without us to change diapers and rock babies with a naptime bottle, she would have had to do housework all night to keep up with the chores.

The plus side for me is that I already know how to do all of those mommy things. I know how to change diapers, get a bottle ready, spoon feed baby cereal, give baths, etc. I was doing it when I was still ten years old. I’ve also inherited a knack for putting cranky babies to sleep when they’re overtired. In fact, I did it for my friend, Serena at our friend’s wedding two years ago. She was a bridesmaid, and her little girl (Emma) was only about 2 months old. Long day + No Naptime + Lots of People = Overtired, Fussy Baby. I offerred to hold her, and was able to rock her and whisper to her softly until she was out. Like a light. Took about 3 minutes in a crowded reception hall.


Let’s hope my little one responds to my momma magic. =)