21 Week Stats

Baby Size: Beer bottle! Guess that's better than wine bottle

Mama Size: Up 9 pounds from pre-pregnancy. Before pregnancy, I used to love the mornings because I would feel so thin from having not eaten for >12 hours straight. Now I wake up feeling bloated. It's so strange that for 9 months, your entire way of thinking about your body just flies out the window. I told Peter that it's like, imagine for 9 months you change your race. Most mornings, at least for awhile, you'd wake up to, hey oh yeah I'm Tongan! It's just strange

Symptoms: Lansinoh is now my best friend. Or should I say breast friend? Also, I swear if I can't breast feed, my humps will literally be on the chopping block. No one should ever find out that they run out of alphabet letters after you reach a certain size

Other updates: Miracle of miracles--the two maternity pants I bought FIT! I would buy two more pairs but I got spoiled by only paying ~20 dollars for each and now I can't remember what the Gap deal was at the time. They are only on sale for ~60 now. On the other hand, having felt how comfortable they are, it might be worthwhile to think of their lifelong use....

Question of the week: What unexpected body changes happened during your pregnancy? Also why oh why are my nipples changing colors? No. Me. Gusta.

21 Weeks

Dear Baby,

I was too full--or lazy--to blog yesterday. Thanksgiving is a very indulgent holiday. Luckily my new maternity pants came in the mail today. Also, if I sit on the couch just right, I can begin to balance food on my stomach.

Love,

(Your ever-growing) Mama

20 Week Stats

Baby Size: 10 inches from head to toe. Needless to say the pictures are scaring me

Mama Size: Up 7 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight! Although yesterday at my 20 week check-up, it showed that I had gained 7 pounds in four weeks, but it was all water weight from flying that disappeared later in the day. Other than my stomach and chest, the rest of me is still the same. I am still wearing my regular pants although some of the smaller ones remain unbuttoned. My chest is making me miserable and I predict that new bras will make up the bulk of my new clothes budget :( At what point do you give in and just start buying nursing bras?

Symptoms: Feeling lots of movement from the little girl. I watch my stomach just dance and dance as I lay in bed at night. My joint pain flares up if I walk for extended periods of time so I'm feeling pretty unhappy about my overall health right now. Peter set up my bike trainer which is awesome--that should allow me to get in enough exercise a day.

Other updates: We are about to start painting the nursery. I was thinking yellow for a long time but then I saw the prettiest picture of a nursery done in a soft grey with a white stenciled mural on all walls. It was very light and soothing. Also, I registered for a childbirth class and a breastfeeding class which are conveniently located at the hospital where I'll be delivering. It's yet another reason why I want to be in shape--there is no way I'll have the endurance for birth otherwise.

Question of the week: Well besides my nursing bra question. Where did you find maternity jeans? Jeans are already the WORST things to shop for and I'm not looking forward to having to shop for maternity ones.

20 Weeks

Dear Baby,
Halfway mark! At least, let's hope so. I have a feeling you will stick around inside long after April 5 has come and gone.

You are kicking up a STORM and much to your daddy's delight, your favorite place to kick me is in the bladder. This causes my body to send me these rapid fire signals of "HURRY UP AND GO TO THE BATHROOM" to "Oh false alarm" to "WOW I REALLY NEED TO GO" to "haha sucker". He is proud of your trolling skills while in utero.

I flew you out to DC for yet another conference trip and in three weeks, we'll be flying out to LA. I decided that even though it is safe to fly until ~35 weeks, I am stopping after Christmas. It is so not worth it. See bladder comments above. Plus the jet lag. Plus the water retention. Plus the random bout of food poisoning that had me throwing up for 2 hours.

I am becoming more aware of your growing awareness. You can probably hear things now, taste the things I eat, sense light, respond to touches--or will develop those skills soon. I remember reading in grad school about fetal sensitivity to moods or hormones that accompany those moods. I want you to sense, even in the womb, that the world is a safe and secure place, that there is beauty everywhere. This means that I am stopping more frequently to calm myself down from work stress and meditating deeply at night which is good for all of us.

Love,
Mama

Growth

6 Weeks

19 Weeks!

19 Week Stats

Baby Size: Softball!

Mama Size: Up 5 pounds from pre-pregnancy!

Symptoms: As my coworker says, I'm growing a kangaroo pouch. Still feeling kicks and flutters especially right after I eat. Had a huge craving for a cheeseburger today, indulged it, and then afterwards decided to never eat red meat again :)

Other updates: Anatomy scan this week showed the baby was 8 ounces--so tiny still.

Question of the week: How soon would you travel with a newborn?

19 Weeks

Baby,

There was a forum thread that I was reading that asked whether new moms were more excited about having a baby rather than a person. I actually can't imagine you as a newborn--all I see in my head are sleep deprived night and days and dealing with a recovering body. Whenever I picture you, I see you as a toddler or as a child. Interestingly, never as an adolescent either. Maybe it's my brain's way of skipping ahead to the child ages I know best. Anyways, my answer to that forum was that I am most definitely more excited about discovering you as a person than dealing with a terrifying newborn that I have no idea how to handle.

I don't even like to hold babies, especially the ones that can't hold their heads up. You might be spending a lot of time on your dad's lap while he plays the latest video game because of my fear of the floppy head.

This has probably been my most random letter to you but as always, lots of love,

Mama

It's a......

So that picture is actually from my 15 1/2 week ultrasound but today at my 19 week appointment it was confirmed :)

At my earlier appointment, we got really clear pictures and the technician was great at capturing the cutest pictures. It was the first time that this pregnancy felt real, to both Peter and me. Even the ultrasound today wasn't as amazing although it was still very neat.

More importantly, everything looked healthy and all major organs and appendages were accounted for :)

21 more weeks until we get to meet her in person!

18 Week Stats

Baby Size: Electric shaver!



Mama Size: Up 4 pounds from pre-preggo. A few days ago I had a more noticeable bump below my belly button, but it's slowly risen so that now my torso is just rounder overall.

Symptoms: A little heartburn every now and then. Huge decrease in appetite so I feel like I'm eating "normally" again. Neck and shoulder pain, probably due to increasing weight they're carrying. I also stare suspiciously at my ankles but I'm pretty sure they are the same as ever.

Other updates: I have a little chest cold that's no fun and work has been unrelenting lately so I haven't been able to use my obscene amount of sick days. We met with our doula last night! She was very nice and has 9 children--yikes! She really helped us clarify what we wanted from our birth--basically, as little intervention as possible, but I'm not one of those no-epidural people. I will take it if I can't handle it. She persuaded me to sign up for a childbirth class because apparently they fill up really fast so we'll start those in a few months. I also registered for a breastfeeding class in March. The nice part is that they are all given at my hospital so it will give me a chance to get to know the childbirth center there. Oh and I also remembered that my FSA will pay for a breast pump, but the problem is I'd rather rent a hospital grade one than buy a less powerful one. But if I have too much in my FSA account, I might just go ahead and buy one anyways. This one http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10812796 seems well reviewed.

Question of the week: What classes did you (or are going to) take before birth? Did they help?

18 Weeks

Dear Baby,
I find it hard to believe that we are almost at the half-way mark. Apparently most people still can't tell I'm pregnant but I can :) Not because of my stomach growing larger but because you are kicking and moving around every night. In fact, your dad has felt you two nights now! The first time this happened, we were sitting downstairs watching a movie and you kicked hard enough for me to feel you with my hand. Ordinarily, I can feel you inside, but not outside. I pulled your dad's hand over and we both started to laugh at how alien it felt. The next day he told me:
it didn't fully hit me until this morning

but feeling those little kicks was amazing

like really amazing

there is a little person inside you

I mean, that is just incredible

1:49 PM I'm getting kind of excited about it

That looks like a poem but it was really just an online chat :)

There is a video making its rounds on the internet of a family law judge getting angry at and beating his daughter while the mother looks on and encourages it. People are outraged and while I am too, it seems almost unfathomable to me. We already love you so much and feel so protective of you. On the other hand, I understand raising a child is so difficult at times, which is part of the reason I am writing you these weekly letters. I hope when times are tough, we can read these together and remind myself to be gentler, more loving, and kinder towards you.

Love,
Mama