Bumpdate: 21/22 Weeks

I'm combining these last two weeks since I forgot/didn't have time/was too lazy to update last week.

The most amazing thing about these past two weeks has been all of the movement.  I'm noticing patterns in Sprout's movement.  It's really fun to know when to expect some kicks and rolls.  When I wake up first thing in the morning, I'm always greeted with lots of kicks and bumps.  It's my favorite time of day :)  The kicks usually continue until mid morning and then die back down until after dinner in the evening when I lay down to relax before bed.  Then, they start right back up.  My belly twitches and sometimes even shifts!  It's pretty fun to watch.  Louie can feel the kicks regularly now, and the look on his face when he feels Sprout banging around is my favorite :)

People I don't even know are able to tell I'm pregnant now.  I was at a bridal show last weekend, and both a photographer and a DJ noticed (and gave me their cards in case I had any needs)!  

We've signed up to take The Bradley Method classes.  Those start in March, so we've got some time.  A friend let me borrow a book, and I'm enjoying the preview to what we'll be learning.  I think that having Louie there to support and coach me will bring us closer together.  I'm very excited to spend this time with him learning about labor and birth.

I'm setting up an interview with a highly recommended doula for when we come back from vacation.  I'm not sure if we'll need one, but I she will provide excellent support for both Louie and I in the delivery room and be able to act as a liaison for us both between the medical staff and family.  Our midwife says she loves working with doulas, so it's nice to have that extra support from the medical.  Birth can go so many ways; it will be nice to have another knowledgeable individual present.  

Until next week, my friends!

Bumpdate: 20 weeks!

Hitting the halfway point definitely felt like a huge milestone.  It's also kind of terrifying because we are realizing how much we have to do before Sprout gets here!  The first half of pregnancy, I was just kind of trying to survive and get to the point of actually feeling pregnant.  Well, I'm there, and now this is getting real!

Things left to do:
1. Set up the baby nook in our room
2. Baby shower
3. Shopping for more baby things
4. Childbirth class
5. Breastfeeding class
6. Hospital tour
7. Find a pediatrician
8. Interview and hire a doula
9. Figure out maternity leave/work stuff etc.
10. Kick up my exercise program aka start exercising!
11. Write a birth plan

I'm sure I've left things out, but that's the gist of it.  I've decided to let most of it slide until after Louie and I get back from our "baby moon"  That's right, folks, we're taking one last pre-baby vacation, and I'm so excited!  I'll probably register for some classes and start some of the things (exercising) before we go, but all the nitty gritty can wait til we get back.  Right now, I'm just going to relax and enjoy being pregnant.

We went out to dinner to celebrate hitting 20 weeks.  Then, we got some Ben and Jerry's Half-Baked ice cream.  It was a fun and exciting day!  I think we both really started to feel the enormity of what is going to happen.  It's awesome and kind of scary.

Sprout has been moving around in there pretty regularly, and I'm loving it!  There are a few times of day I can expect movement, and the rest is all just icing on the cake.  If I'm sneaky enough, I can put my hand on my belly when Sprout is kicking and feel the little bumps on the outside.  Louie has gotten to feel a few more of those, too.  However, Sprout is kind of shy and often stops when my hand hits my belly.

Our next big milestone is 24 weeks - viability day.  This is when Sprout will have a pretty good chance of surviving outside of the womb should pre-term labor cause an early delivery.  Of course, we all hope Sprout keeps on cookin' until at least 37 weeks, but it will be a good feeling to know that my baby is developed enough to have a good chance of survival should the worst happen.  We can talk more about viability later.

For now, let's just enjoy the fun of the halfway point!!!

Bumpdate: 19 weeks!

Last Thursday, I hit 19 weeks, and we had our second ultra sound.  I scheduled it for first thing in the morning this time, since with our last ultra sound (lunch time) I was super distracted and got nothing done beforehand.  Louie and I headed over to the hospital's fetal diagnostic center where they do all the ultra sounds.  We got there right on time, but had to wait about 15 minutes.  Ugh.

Our ultra sound tech's name was Kathy.  She was a different tech than the first time around, but I really liked her.  She was super sweet and positive.  She took us into our room and got us all set up, asked us a few questions, and we told her we didn't want to know the gender.  She squirted the goo on my belly and BAM there was my little sprout up on the screen!

What a difference 7 weeks can make!  I thought Sprout looked like a baby back at 12 weeks, but now every feature was so defined!  Kathy did a bunch of measurements to track Sprout's growth and make sure things were developing properly.  She told us everything she was looking at.  She looked at the brain, the heart, the kidneys, the placenta, my cervix, the amount of amniotic fluid, where the cord attaches to Sprout, and how blood is flowing throughout Sprout's system.  It was so cool!  Then, we got some adorable profile shots, hand shots, etc.  Kathy had us close our eyes as she looked at Sprout's bladder, legs, and feet so we wouldn't accidentally see anything.  It's like she knows me!  I may or may not have been hoping to "accidentally" see something, but she made sure we stuck to our guns.

Side Note: I know you're asking yourself, "Why don't they want to know the gender?"  Well, we want to be surprised.  We don't want to set any expectations beforehand, and we both think it will be a very magical experience to find out at delivery.  Let me tell you, it's not easy!  Especially, when you see all the adorable clothes on the clearance racks and think, "Man, if I just knew what we were having, I could save us so much money!"  Super unnecessary, but definitely tempting.  Plus, I like the idea of having a lot of gender neutral stuff that we can use with our next kid.  Wait, next kid?  Oh yeah, next kid!

For what it's worth, the four people I know who have psychic abilities - including my friend's little girl - have all said/alluded that Sprout is a girl.  I was originally thinking boy, but now I'm not so sure.  We'll see who is right! 

So, once we were all done, Kathy gave us our string of pictures (to be uploaded to Facebook later today) and went to check things over with the doc since I didn't have an appointment with Jane, my midwife, that day.  After a 10  minute wait, we were OK'd to head on out!  Sprout is looking great!!

On Friday, while I was sitting at my desk, I had the pleasure of feeling Sprout banging around my belly.  The kicks and bumps and turns and twists have become more evident lately, and I'm loving it!  Kathy did say my placenta is posterior (on the back of my uterus) which is very conducive to feeling movement.  I'm all for that!

Then, yesterday after lunch, Sprout was banging around more, so I decided to lay down and put my hand on my belly to see if I could feel anything.  After holding my breath for what seemed like forever, BUMP!  Right on my hand!  I called Louie into the room and put his hand where I was feeling the bumps.  I asked, "Did you feel that?!"  He said yes, and I yelled, "THAT WAS THE BABY!!!!"  The look on his face was priceless!  We are always going to have this memory, and honestly, it was the most amazing thing I have ever felt in my whole life.  I love this kid!

Bumpdate: 18 weeks!

This pregnancy is starting to fly by!  Only 148(ish) days left.  How did that happen?!

Little Sprout is growing and getting stronger!  I've feeling movement at least once a day all week.  It is the most magical feeling in the world!  They are just little taps, but they are the cutest little taps I have ever felt.  I was feeling sad for Louie since he doesn't get to experience the baby moving (yet), and it was getting old saying, "Oh, I felt the baby move again!".  Plus, that's hard to say when you're in the middle of a conversation.  So, I started saying, "Bloop!" every time I feel something.  It's easy to sneak in there, and it's fun to let him know what's going on.  The smile on his face is priceless.

Aaand, my belly button is half-way out already.

Tomorrow is our 2nd ultra sound!  I'm so excited to see Sprout again!!  Hopefully, everything will still be looking good.

Here's my post-holiday sleepy bump picture that I took last week: