Paul & Sarah

So this week has been kinda a rough week, with Paul’s job going bust and all. (It was a hellish 2 weeks, actually.) Combined with our slight annoyance/disappointment that we didn’t get confirmation of the baby’s sex at this week’s appointment; and well…. we were looking for a happy.

I was looking into 3D ultrasound places here in Las Vegas and found one with great rates AND a coupon! They were able to get us in this morning at 10:30 for a basic package of 2D and 3D images and a guaranteed gender confirmation. (Seriously, if they can’t tell 100% for sure you get to come back for free and if they’re wrong you get your money back or another free 4D session. We were pretty stoked about our chances of finding out with policies like that!)

So this morning our friends Sibyana and Cheri met us at Miracle in Progress (it was like 5 minutes from their house – on the other side of the valley for us) and we had ourselves a little viewing party! The tech was really great – more gentle than the nurses at Dr. Schwartz’s office to tell the truth. She ended up working with us for 30 minutes instead of the 15 minutes our session was supposed to be. She wasn’t able to really do any of the 3D or 4D stuff because of the placement of the baby in relation to the placenta. The baby was laying *on* the placenta, using it for a pillow. But she kept trying and trying to get the baby to turn and “look” at her so she could get some 3D images.

So even though we only got one 3D image, we’re still stoked because we got the one thing we came for:

It’s a boy for sure. I commented on the ‘tiny wang’ and the tech replied that it wasn’t small at all. Paul, ever the proud Papa, was beaming as we all collapsed into giggles.

We got a great view of our son as he waved his arms, yawned, gulped amniotic fluid, kicked, and wiggled. It was the first time that I’ve watched him moving around and was able to feel some of it. SO COOL.

So we have a DVD of the whole 28 minute session, and a CD with some pictures. I’ve culled the best of the pictures and put them in a gallery. I label one picture and then place the original behind it in the gallery so you can flip back and forth to see what’s what. For most of the session, the baby kept his back to us, so that’s why some of the best shots don’t have his face in them. (We’re gonna see about editing down the DVD of the ultrasound and posting some of that. A lot of it is kinda boring, but some of it is amazing – like watching him yawn right at us.)

Afterwards, we had brunch with Sibyana and Cheri, and then Paul let me hit the nearby Target to add blue things to the registry. :)

But yep. We’re having a Boy. And no, we have no idea for names yet at all.

I felt the baby kick this evening!! I was hunched over my laptop – trying to read the screen without my glasses on, and I felt a [something] from inside. Well, they’re right – it would be pretty easy to dismiss it as a gas bubble if I wasn’t looking for it. So I stayed in the same position, and a few seconds later I felt it again in nearly the same spot. A few seconds after that, there was a quick succession of three kicks.

And now at just after midnight as I type this… baby is kicking me again.

I am so happy.

• The raging psoriasis on my arms is gone. Apparently it’s a common occurrence during pregnancy because of the elevated estrogen levels. (I was surprised that it wasn’t from the progesterone, since that stuff seems to be responsible for everything else!) The stuff on my head is not nearly as bad, but I have been using a medicated shampoo for the first time ever – so I’m not sure what’s fixing that. (For those who don’t know, I have really horrible psoriasis on my arms: unsightly and extremely painful.)
• I’m still not feeling anything from the baby. Really beginning to bug me. I think I’ve felt a flutter or three, but nothing more than that and not for over a week. Dangit, I’m more than halfway done with this process…. I wanna feel something! Plus, it’s just disconcerting to not feel anything. I want some sort of confirmation that everything is OK in there. I poke and poke at my belly, and I can feel the honeydew melon in there… but no response from it’s tenant. Wah.
• Speaking of that honeydew melon… bending over is a thing now. Like, I avoid doing it now. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s not comfortable. And I figure if it’s not comfortable for me, it can’t be enjoyable for the baby. I’m noticing it more when I get into bed too these days. We have a fairly high-up bed, so it’s a bit of a climb to get in. Lifting my leg up that high kinda shoves everything up. Maybe it’s time for a little step-stool.
• I have an appointment to see Dr. Schwartz on Wednesday afternoon. Dr. Schwartz said we could take another look and see if we can find out the sex at this upcoming appointment. I really hope the baby cooperates this time. I’m gonna drink orange juice on the way over to the appointment to wake the kid up. I REALLY wanna find out the sex. I’m pretty sure it’s a boy, but confirmation would be great.
• I’m gonna talk to Dr. Schwartz about a bit of swelling I’m having in my ankles. Most days my ankles are a little swollen by the time I get home from work. If I put my feet up for a little while it goes back down, but it’s a little worrisome. I’m really concerned about pre-eclampsia, so I’m on watch for any symptoms.
• Lastly, I’m STARVING. Like all the dang time. Doesn’t seem to matter what I eat, I’m ravenous again within 2 hours. I’m trying to make healthy choices, but it’s still worrisome. I’ve never been this hungry, this often in my whole life. It’s hard to deal with, cuz I know I’ve gained weight. Granted, I know that some weight gain is expected – cuz ya know, the baby is growing… but when you live your entire life trying to avoid any sort of weight gain, it’s hard to get right with this gain. (Plus the books and websites say I should gain somewhere between 0-14lb for the whole pregnancy, which short of living like I’m training for a marathon doesn’t seem possible or realistic.) I wake up a couple times a night to pee and most nights I’m starving for at least one of those trips to the bathroom. Usually I just ignore it and go back to bed, but then come 7:00am’s alarm I’m so hungry I’m nauseous. But eating in the middle of the night just seems so wrong. So yeah, there’s that.
3 Comments | Tags: changes in me, development, Doctor Appts, emotional hoo-ha, movement, Ultrasounds

I am half-way through my pregnancy. Yes, 20 weeks is the usual half-way mark, but seeing as I’m not going to go to a full 40 weeks – I did the math and the magic day is today! (currently Dr. Schwartz is aiming to induce me a week early on July 10.)

There is SO much to do. We’ve made a little progress, but between Paul’s work schedule and me getting totally sick (and now Paul is sick) it’s been hard to get things done. Plus, while I’m not exhausted like I was during my firxt trimester, I am pretty beat after a full day at work, so I don’t have much left after getting home, doing homework and getting dinner made. But I have faith in us.

We’re hopefully picking wall colors for the nursery and baseboard colors for the house. I think once we have the paint purchased and in-house it will lend a new sense of urgency to getting the office emptied and getting the guest room cleared out.

But… Um, yeah. I’m half-way through this. Hopefully that means that I’ll start feeling something soon. I’ve felt a couple of flutters, but I’d like to start having poking contests with my kid in the near future.

I’ve been trying to find ways to make the baby more real to Paul, since all the books say that this whole thing won’t be real to him until he can feel it kick. (Which I guess makes sense… since he doesn’t have to second guess every move he makes based on what it might do to the baby.)

So based on my weekly e-mails (and that nifty little fruit widget on the right side of the website) I find things in the house that are the same length and weight of the baby. It’s been a neat thing for Paul to be able to hold something in his hand that’s the approximate size of the baby. (And then holding it up against my belly really puts it in perspective that there’s something *growing* in me.)

Tonight it was the 3/4 full Mrs. Dash container. (5.5″ long and 6.5oz) Two weeks ago, it was the container of poultry seasoning (4.5″ 3.5oz). Prior to that, there’s been convenient fruit to approximate our baby. It seems amazing to me that in a matter of weeks it can go from a tiny clementine orange to a seasoning container.

I don’t know if I’ve felt it move yet or not. I may have felt some flutters, but they’re not regular or anything. Neat thing though… I can feel my womb now. It’s high enough out of my pelvis that I can feel it when I’m laying down. I hope to start feeling something soon though. That’s gonna be so neat. I cannot wait until Wednesday. Here’s hoping the little critter cooperates and tells us what it is. I wanna start looking at Pink or Blue things. :)

It amazes me reading about what’s going on with the critter right now. Mostly because it’s moving around now. And with this week’s ultrasound confirming this fact…. I was amazed watching our baby do somersaults, flip from side to side, kick and wave – and I couldn’t feel any of it.

Some of the pregnancy forums I’m lurking on have women in their first pregnancies saying they’re already feeling the baby move. All the books say I won’t feel anything until at least 16 weeks, and probably not until 20 or 22 weeks because I’m so big already. That’s kinda depressing. I’m sure folks will say that I’ll get sick of being kicked and prodded fairly quickly; but I don’t think I will. I’m trying to really *live* every moment of this pregnancy, because I figure I’ll get told not to have another kid after this. So I wanna get all I can out of this experience.

Just kinda feels weird to know I’m our baby’s personal little dancefloor and I can’t even feel it yet. I’m still taking time every day though to just lay my hands on my belly and connect with the little critter. I’m certain that one of these days I’ll be focusing my thoughts on my little one and I’ll feel a little prod back. Just wish that day would get here sooner.