Thursday, October 27, 2011

17 Week Stats

Baby Size: Hockey Puck! (Is it just me or did stud finder seem much freakier than hockey puck?)



Mama Size: I refuse to weigh myself until all my airplane bloat and salt retention has died down but I will say that this was the first time my pants had to remain unzipped, rather than zipped and unbuttoned. I also went maternity shopping with Peter and that was pretty unproductive.

Symptoms: (Maybe) Movement! My stomach has certainly grown and TMI alert, oh my gosh my boobs are unrelentingly swollen and tender. Google informed me that I am possibly making milk ducts already. It feels like pre-period all the time now and ironically, some of my shirts aren't fitting due to my chest rather than my stomach. I'm hoping this is one of those things that come in waves and will not be as painful in the next few days. Oh and heartburn and an accompanying decrease in appetite. Hooooooray for not having to eat 24/7!!!

Other updates: I went running for the first time in forever and was shocked that my heart gave out before my body did. I don't know if it's due to the pregnancy or if I'm simply out of shape, but no me gusta. I will try to work up to 3 miles again but it might be a 3 mile walk most days.

Question of the week: How much exercise did you get in while pregnant?

17 Weeks

Dear Baby,
I think all that ravenous hunger has made you grow because I finally have a noticeable bump. Either that or it's all doughnuts, pizzas, and cheeseburgers I've had in the past few days. You think I'm exaggerating but traveling=bad food choices.

I also could swear I've felt you move! About a week ago I noticed that when I would lay down at night, I'd feel these shakes in my torso and I thought it was my heart beating arrhythmically. Then on Monday night, I swear I felt some thumps! They were very very very light but I have never once felt my body (esp. below my belly button) do that before. Sadly, I've been on a horrendous conference travel schedule since then and haven't been able to stay awake at night long enough to settle down. Maybe this weekend it will start up again.

I have to admit that it was a very weird feeling. I guess I should finally come to terms that I have another living thing inside me :)
Love,
Mama

Thursday, October 20, 2011

16 Week Stats

Baby Size: A stud finder!






Mama Size: Up two pounds from pre-preggo weight. I will upload a picture soon! I think I am carrying low. Peter finally turned to me this week and said, "You're PREGNANT?!" I was like....really? I guess it has started to sink in now that my stomach is growing.

Symptoms: Insomnia at 2-4am due to hunger pangs. I finally caught on and started to eat a snack right before bedtime, but for awhile I had no idea why my sleep was so disrupted. Quick poll: Peter thinks a banana with peanut butter spread on it is the weirdest combination ever and he thinks it's just the beginning of me eating weirdly. But I just was like, bang for my buck! Calories plus protein. Who is right :) (b/c isn't that what marriage is REALLY about?)

Also, today for lunch I had TEN chicken nuggets and a chili from Wendy's. I guess it wasn't the worst choice but I did send an apology towards the tiny parasite. Let's see....I think I am going to gradually take up running again even though I still get some pelvic and joint pain at night. Oh and I have felt like I was going to faint several times this week. Oh and the incessant peeing.

Other updates: Baby will be a traveler before even leaving the womb! I fly out to DC next week and Virginia mid November. While I am doing all this traveling, our house--well, basement--will be getting painted and carpeted which means I can finally move the guest bed downstairs and start working on the nursery. I am thinking birds and owls and yellows and whites.

Question of the week: When did you start to feel your first baby kick?

16 Weeks

Dear Baby,
I had my 16 week checkup today and got to hear you again and found out that we'll get to see you in three weeks! According to my doctor, I will have felt you kick and maybe my stomach will have grown a little by my next appointment at 20 weeks. I am shocked that I haven't gotten any larger since I eat everything I can and our weekly grocery trips have turned into tri-weekly trips. I go through fruit that fast! I am a little anxious about what will happen once winter comes. I guess a lot of canned fruit?
Till next week,
Mama

Thursday, October 13, 2011

15 Week Stats

Baby Size: Baseball!


Mama Size:
I am still only up one pound from when I got pregnant but I could swear I'm losing my waist. Maybe this is the week I start my ab work again!

Symptoms: Oh my gosh. I am hungry all the time. I wake up and feel faint. So I eat a normal breakfast--cheese and fruit. Two minutes later, my stomach growls. I drink water and it still growls. I eat every two hours and it still manages to scream FEED ME every chance it gets. I am running out of food ideas! I am on a strict high-protein low-carb diet from my doctor and it is so hard to think of filling snacky foods to eat right now. Ideas?

Other updates: I can feel my uterus! It's this hard muscle right below my belly button. At least I think it's my uterus; I can't imagine it's my rock hard abs that disappeared after high school shining through. Thankfully I still fit into all my clothes although I feel like a slob wearing loose tops every day.

Question: When does this insane hunger spell end? Is it just a growth spurt? Why did I eat three slices of pizza last night? Why does grease taste so much better than black beans??????

15 Weeks

Dear Baby,
Another edition of "Things I didn't know would happen during pregnancy"
1. That I would get wider before I got rounder. WHERE ARE MY SIDES? Your dad valiantly tries to reassure me that he can still see an hourglass shape but all I can think of are cylinders.
2. That I would have to feed you so often. No, I realize that once you're actually born that you will eat night and day...but I don't understand why my body thinks it's normal to eat a meal and still be hungry. And when I refuse to give in to such unreasonable demands, it plummets my energy levels with low blood sugar and general malaise. Tyranny
3. That I would be giving your father more back rubs than I'm receiving. Yeah we really need to work on that one.
Love,
Mama

Friday, October 7, 2011

14 Week Stats

Baby Size: Stress ball! (How can something this large be inside me? The size comparisons are really starting to freak me out)


Mama Size: Up two pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. And yes, most of that is the food baby that is growing alongside my actual baby, but come on! Pho season is upon us!

Pho aka asian crack












Symptoms:
Crazy dreams. Tailbone pain has vanished whoohoo! Also, I am back to my energized and super happy self and it feels like night and day compared to where I was a few months ago.

Other updates: Peter is obsessed with the word meconium and keeps asking when the baby will start making it. Well according to the baby websites, it's beginning this week! Also, I just found out another friend of mine is expecting a month behind me which is really exciting! It's much more fun to go through this with friends.

Question for the readers: What was your greatest fear during pregnancy? Mine is that our child will have a mental disorder of some kind. It is highly unlikely, and even less likely since Peter and I come from pretty different genetic backgrounds (aka mutts are generally more healthy!) but you just never know. Some disorders aren't tied to genes anyways and some come through accidents in the environment (oxygen deprivation, car accidents). I just pray that we have a healthy child.

14 Weeks

Dear Baby,
I didn't think I was going to write a letter this week because, let's be honest, this is probably the most boring, symptom-free time of the pregnancy. Just as I was getting complacent, my body reminded me that I still get the really weird and vivid dreams that come along during pregnancy.
Last night I had a dream (this is also the opening line in a song in Rent, although I'm under strict orders from your father to 'please not indoctrinate them in the womb'). You and I were getting an ultrasound done and then, as clear as day, you were a boy! At first you were adorable and had the cutest almond shaped eyes but then, they began to move closer and closer together until you resembled a pig. I was horrified and so upset. I think that dream falls under the "i'm-not-a-bad-parent-but-i'm-possibly-a-bad-person" category. I wonder why parents worry about the attractiveness of their children?
Anyways, so I briefly woke up, stopped the freakout session, and then fell back asleep to have yet another dream. This time, you were still a baby boy and you slept throughout the entire dream. The problem this time was that your dad kept criticizing how I was swaddling you! Something he would never do in real life, mostly because he wouldn't know how to swaddle you himself :)
Bottom line: How can you be anything other than a boy at this point? The dreams have spoken!
Love,
Mama