17 week belly pic

16 week appointment

Last week I went in for my 16 week appointment. The appiontment went well. I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat which was in the 150's this time. I learned that my low-lying placenta is marginal and only half a cenitmeter off from being considered normal. She thinks it will be normal by the time I go in for my next utrasound. I'm hoping so because I would like to try for a natural birth. My next ultrasound is to be scheduled for 18 weeks (about 1.5 weeks away). At that ultrasound we should find out the gender! I'm so excited!

Belly button and abs.

There have been some very odd things going on with my body lately.

To start with, there's my belly button. I cannot remember a time when my belly button was not the perfect shape and size. It has always been and ideal button for piercing. Although that will never happen, I have always had a perfect belly button for it. A little dip in my belly with just enough skin over it to hide the inside from view. Well, that belly button is a thing of the past. My new belly button is nearly flat. The inside is now very bodly showing itself. I'm not so sure I like this new belly button, but I guess I will have to tolearte. It only gets worse from here.

Although the belly button thing was a bit of a surprize, I at least knew that it was going to happen at some point. The change in my abdominal muscles, however, was a complete shock! You cannot imagine the look on my face the other day when I was getting up from lounging on the couch and happened to notice the shape my belly took when my abs were flexed. I have always prided myself on my toned ab's which, when flexed, squared off my belly rather nicely. There was just enough shape to look good, with ridges faint enough not to look manly. Always a distinct flat section between to tight parallel lines of muscle. It appears that this pregnancy has caused the two muscles to join together, causing a single verticle bump down the center of my belly. Very odd looking indeed. From my view it looks like my belly had turned into a small mountian which peeks in the center by my belly botton. Very odd indeed.

Tuggings and Flutterings

At around 12 weeks, I adopted a habit of concentraiting very hard on my uterus in hopes that I might feel the baby move. I found this especially easy to do during church, which is much safer than while driving since I should be concentraiting on the road. Anyways, my efforts brought forth no fruit during the first few attempts. I thought that if I'd concentrait hard enough, I'd be able to distinguish the ever-faint "flutterings" I'd heard so much about. But no, every time I felt something, two seconds later... I farted. So at least I learned exactly what gas bubbles on their way down feel like. But that is not was I was looking for.

So, my efforts continued until about a week ago during church, I am certain I felt something different. My best description is that it was a light "tugging" feeling. Not so much a "fluttering" as I'd been told to expect. It was more of a brief tightening followed by a relaxing. It felt, for all the world, like an involuntary muscle spasm. You know, when you're watching a movie or reading and suddenly a muscle in your arm or leg simply starts moving on it's own. Or does that not happen to everyone? Anyways, the general idea is that this sudden movement did not originate in your brain. It just happened rather suddenly on it's own, and then was gone just as quickly as it came. I concentraited extra hard for the rest of service and was pleased when it happened 2 or 3 more times, never followed by a toot.

Now, I'm nearly 15 weeks along and these feelings have become quite regular and have been joined by the occasional "flutterings" which usually occur right after a "tugging". My best guess is that the baby first stretches or arches it's back, giving me the tugging feeling, then is moves around a little more perhaps peddaling it's legs, which gives me the "fluttering" feeling. I most often get these feelings while I'm sitting, watching a movie, or driving, often taking me by surprize. I am now quite certain that what I am feeling is the baby.

14 Week Ultrasound

Today we had another ultrasound and were very pleased to see our baby once again. At 14 weeks, the baby is looking more like a little human. The heartrate was 154 beats per minute this time and the baby measured right on target.

I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to find out the gender yet, but I guess I can wait another 4 weeks for our next ultrasound.

Here's the ultrasound picture. I didn't think it was a very good printout, since we could see the baby much more clearly while we watched it on the screen. So, for your benefit, I've sketched around the body of the baby, so you can get a better idea of how it looked (see lower right hand corner of picture)...

This is Not a Beer Gut

At the wedding on Saturday night, for the first time a complete stranger, not only recognized that I was pregnant, but also asked me when I was due.

It happened as TJ and I were making our rounds passing out online access cards at the reception. As I handed the card to a very pregnant lady, out of the blue she asked when I was due. She did not ask IF I was pregnant. No. She skipped right to, "when are you due?". I was shocked. That morning, I had chosen to wear a simple, non-maternity black sweater instead of wearing one of my new maternity tops because the top seemed to be yelling out "hey, I'm PREGNANT!" and I did not think that appropriate quite yet. So, I'd chosen a simple black sweater and she knew I was pregnant anyways.

So, for the rest of the night, I was quite pleased with myself, just knowing that at least one person did not assume my belly was just fat. As I was mulling over this little victory, a man at our table leaned over and asked "Are you pregnant?". That makes two! So, now I know that at least 2 out of the 150 people at that wedding thought I looked pregnant rather than fat. That is good news indeed.

Shopping Day

Last Thursday, after weeks of self-control and having not purchased any cloths, I went maternity cloths shopping. My cousin-in-law, Julie who is also pregnant, had planned the trip and I was happy to join her. Especially since more and more of my cloths were beginning to look rather hideous on my protruding belly.

So, at 9:30 AM, I met up with Esther (my mother-in-law), Mima (my-grandmother-in-law), Julie, and her son Tyler. And off we went to Purple Cow, Once Upon a Child, Old Navy, and Motherhood Maternity. The shopping took a good portion of the day and by the end, I was completely exausted, but not without pleanty to show for it. I came home with 8 shirts, 5 skirts, 1 dress, 1 pair of pants, and 2 pairs of nylons. I promise, I don't usually come home with so much after only one day of shopping. I am, however, very happy with each of my purchases.

Although, based on the success of our trip, you would think that we were strictly focused on the task at hand, I must confess we goofed off a bit too. We actually made a video of Mima wearing the maternity pillow belly at motherhood. Very funny. But to see it, you'll have to visit Julie's blog. It'll be the clip labeled "maternity cloths shopping".

After our shopping trip, we made cookies at Julies house. I was SO tired during the cookie-making, I cannot answer for my behavior at that point (see the end of the video to understand). Oh, and here's a picture of me and Julie. I am almost 14 weeks and Julie is almost 11 weeks: