Active Little Thing

Baby Estelle has been VERY active lately. The other day, as I was attempting to listen to her heart with the fetal heart moniter, she kicked the mic! Not just a gentle nudge either. She nailed the thing. So I tried moving it to a few different locations and she still got it. It was like she was aiming for it. I'm just loving everything about this pregnancy! I couldn't be happier.

It's a GIRL!!!!!

We had our big ultrasound yesterday and were pleased to see our baby girl moving around, healthy as can be. She weighs about half a pound now, and is measuring in at almost 19 weeks. Her heartrate was 156. The sonographer had a hard time getting it because the little stinker kept moving around! I'm excited to know the gender and can't wait to get started decorating the nursrey. Here's some pics....

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:

Measurements

Ok. So, my cousin-in-law who is also pregnant, just posted her measurements, and I thought that sounds like a good idea. So, here they are:

To start with, here are my pre-pregnancy measurements. So we have something to compare to:

Pre-Pregnancy Waist: 26 inches
Pre-Pregnancy lower-belly: 29 inches
Pre-Pregnancy Hips: 36 inches

And here are my measurements at 13 weeks pregnant:

13 weeks Waist: 29 inches
13 weeks lower-belly: 34 inches
13 weeks Hips: 37 inches

So, my waist has increased by 3 inches, my lower-belly has increased by 5 inches, and my hips increased by 1 inch.

And so far, I have gained 1 lb.

12 week doc appointment

I had a visit with the doctor yesterday for my 12 week appiontment. Looks like I've managed to gain 1 lb in the past 6 weeks. Other than that, everything looked great. I got to hear the heartbeat this time. It was 149 bpm. So that was pretty exciting. I have another ultrasound in 11 days. I can't wait! We probably won't get to find out the gender quite yet, but it'll still be fun to see the baby again.

12 weeks!

You can't imagine the joy I feel at having made it this far. I have to admit that I was not entirely optimistic at the beginning of this pregnancy. But, as the weeks went by, my confidence grew. Now, for the first time, I can really believe that we are going to have a baby! I know there is never truly and "safe" time and that anything could happen at any time. I also know that such cases are rare and I feel truly blessed to have made it this far.

Maternity

It is with much hesitancy that I now admit to having purchased a pair of maternity jeans yesterday. It seems WAY to early for me to be showing, and yet, in a hardly noticeable way, I am. I have always believed that girls who start "showing" in the first trimester are simply getting fat and should be disregarded as overly anxious moms-to-be who have been giving in to a few too many unhealthy cravings. However I have recently been proven wrong by my own body. Although I have not gained an ounce, there is a "bump" on my tummy that would suggest otherwise. I don't know how this has occured because usually getting fat involves gaining weight. However, in my case, it has not. My best guess is that my uterus has been stretching and moving a lot, and has somehow shifted and pushed things into different places.

2nd ultrasound

On Friday we went in for our second ultrasound. At nearly 10 weeks, we were hoping to see more than we could last time, and we weren't disappointed. The baby looked great. We even got to see it wiggling around in there. The heartrate went up to 171 and the baby measured right on target.

9 weeks and counting

I cannot believe we've made it this far. Today I am 9 weeks and 4 days pregnant. It is truly wonderful to read about how my baby is developing. They say it should be about 1 and 1/2 inches long now and it has fully formed eyelids. All of it's joints should be working, and the baby may even be sucking it's thumb.

In 2 days I go in for another ultrasound. I'm both nerveous and excited about this. Nerveous because something could be wrong and the ultrasound will tell us. Excited, because there's a good chance that everything will be fine and we will come home with another beautiful ultrasound picture of our growing baby. I try not to dwell on the possibility of problems, but it's hard not to. Dare I risk getting my hopes up?

Tears

It's 12:15 and I'm sitting accross from TJ in the St. Louis Bread Co. In front of me, is a bowl of chicken noodle soup, an apple, and a cup of green tea. I look at my food, think of the cooler weather we've been having and cry. For no particular reason, I cry. This is not the first time this has happened. For some reason I cry a lot lately. I cry when I'm talking to TJ. I cry when I hear the soothing thunder. I cry when I'm taking a shower. I cry when I'm washing the dishes. I don't know why I'm crying so much, but I am. And they're not sad tears either. Maybe happy tears? I don't know, but I have a sneaky suspicion that is has something to do with these pregnancy hormones.

My Cup Runneth Over

Last night after church, my dear husband took me bra shopping. For me, bra shopping is usually a very unpleasant experience. Unless you've been blessed miniscule breasts as I have, you can't imagine how difficult it is to find a bra that fits and is not laden with disney characters. It's humiliating when you find yourself shopping for bra's in the MaryKate and Ashley section at walmart. Not cool.

So, you can imagine my absolute glee when I found that the size A's were too small. For a girl who usually has to hunt for the "nearly A's" this was quite a shock. Fortunately my husband had suggested I take a couple size B's just in case. To my utter amazement, the size B fit. Not only did it fit, but it fit comfortably and there were no huge gap's between my breast and the cup. Instead, I found that it fit rather nicely. Not to tight, nor too loose. I was elated.

Today, I am joyfully wearing my new SIZE B cup bra. What a happy day it is!

Morning Sickness

You know what's worse than puking? Feeling like you're going to puke but not getting to. Right about now, that's what I've been feeling. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate any symptom that reminds me that I am indeed pregnant. But can't I just puke already and get it over with?

And another thing, morning sickness is a myth. It, in fact, does not occur only in the morning. Whoever made up the term "morning sickenss" should be injected with pregnancy hormones and left to gag (but not puke) all day long. Then we'll see what they think it should be called.

I find that certain foods greatly disterb me, while others can be tollerated. If I go too long without eating, I start to feel sick, at which point, there are only a few foods that I can even think about consuming. And these foods are (in no particular order)... Oranges, Green Beans, Cherrio's, and Chocolate Milk (i know milk is not a food, but it fills my tummy enough to allow me to eat food).

The rest of the time, I try to keep at least something in my tummy at all times, as this seems to be the best technique for keeping nausea at bay.

At the moment, there is a can of pringles staring at me. Excuse me while I gag....

7 Weeks.

Today is a nerveous day for me. I am 7 weeks pregnant today. My last miscarriage started when I was precisely 7 weeks along. If I make it through the day, I will have passed both my previous miscarriage dates, making this my longest pregnancy yet. Here's hoping today is an uneventful day.

Baby Aspirin

The nurse called me back yesterday and said I can go ahead and continue taking 81mg of aspirin per day all the way through the first trimester. I'm VERY happy about that. The test she wanted me to retake, which would require I not be on aspirin, can wait until later. For now, I'm not going to take any risks. I want this baby to have the best possible chance.