Spoiled Baby

We got home this morning from our trip up North. We managed to fit everything in our suitcases and carry ons... somehow. Well, to be fair, Al packed. Yesterday, Al went to open one of the packed suitcases and the zipper came off. So off we went to get another suitcase. Funny thing- we got the same exact suitcase that we had to go and buy to bring back baby stuff on Thanksgiving. So, we now have matching luggage! Very cool! We used one of the totes that my Gram gave us to serve as a second carry on bag. It was needed!

Anyway, back to the point. The title of this post is Spoiled Baby. Why? Because she is going to be starting her 20th week of development tomorrow (only 50% done "cooking") and I swear she got more presents this year than anyone else I know! I took pictures of everything she got and posted them on Shutterfly (PW: ThatGuy&KP). It is under "Baby Items" and I put a comment under each picture stating who gave it to her.

My mom gave me a gift card to JoAnns. Since the closest JoAnns to me down here is 40 minutes away, I went shopping up north. I got all the material necessary to make a monkey quilt. That's right, the nursery theme is MONKEYS!!! I will be searching the internet for a simple cartoon monkey face for me to use to create a monkey pattern. I promise that I will keep a picture log of the quilt to put on the Shutterfly Account once done.

On a separate note, I have been feeling her move more than once every day. Kicking/punching/head-butting is in also in full force! I can feel when she rubs up against me. This past week, I was having the feeling that she was rubbing against the base of my uterus and I told my mom she was moving. My mom came over and put her fingers where I said I had been feeling her. In the process of stating, "Oh yeah, I feel just a little bit of movement," the Little One kicked the palm of my mom's hand! I gave my mom the "See!" look. My mom got so overwhelmed with feeling her granddaughter for the first time her eyes swelled with tears. Note- Al still says he hasn't felt her and still contends that it must be gas.

A new feeling that I felt for the first time XMas evening was the feeling of her stretching. When I felt it for the first time I asked her, "What in the world are you doing down there!?!" I then told Al that it felt like there was a spring-loaded curtain rod stuck in my abdomen.

On a secondary separate note, a special thank you to Heidi for donating her old maternity clothing collection to me! Since I seem to be bubbling more and more by the day, I am finding that more and more of my pre-maternity clothes just don't cut it anymore. Tomorrow I need to go through my clothes (again) and try on my pre-maternity clothes (again) to determine what does and what does not fit anymore.

Feeling the Baby, I'm the First and Only at the Moment

So I am at still feeling movements from time to time. Al hasn’t felt her yet, but not because he hasn’t tried. When we are in the same room I let him know when I feel her moving. He typically comes over and puts his hand on my tummy and very patiently waits to feel something. Of course, since I rarely feel her moving for long, he typically misses it. However, it has gotten to the point where he thinks I am making it up. (Like earlier this evening, I told him that she was moving. His response, “Sure, sure, sure. Heard that one before!”) Even the few times I felt her move with his hand on my tummy, he claims to have felt nothing.

FYI- We are leaving for a week-long vacation on Tuesday night. It will likely be awhile before I will get a chance to post again.

Hair Growth

So I keep getting asked if I have noticed if my hair was growing faster than usual. I honestly couldn’t tell. My hair was 20+ inches long! One does not notice a big difference between 21 and 23 inches over the course of a month or two.

For months now I have been saying it is time to cut my hair, mostly because it was long enough to donate to Locks of Love. So this past Sunday, I called one of the upscale salons in town to make an appointment. (I noticed how “upscale” it was when I was told the final cost AFTER the hair cut.) The salon was great in sending in my hair for me to Locks of Love. I gave the stylist creative freedom beyond ensuring she knew that I needed a ZERO maintenance hairstyle. I figured if I was going to an upscale place, I was going to make them work for their money. Besides, from all the money I saved from not getting my hair cut professionally for three years, I figured I could justify the cost. In the end, I saved money overall.

So, my long hair is now gone. It is shoulder length again with layers galore! Now to “conduct science,” as Shaggz puts it, to see if pregnant women’s hair does in fact grow faster. Of course, I never took base-line non-pregnancy measurements, so there is no control group data at this point.

It’s a (answer contained within post)!!!!

Yesterday we had the super-powered ultrasound at the hospital. It was like an x-ray ultrasound. We got to see all of (gender identification removed) tiny little bones. The pictures they printed out for us were mostly profile views without the x-ray option.



We learned (gender identification removed):
- Is half a pound in weight
- Has 148 BPM
- Has four well formed heart chambers
- Has all the little tiny vertebrate and ribs
- Has very good blood flow
- Has ten little toes
- Has eleven, maybe twelve, little fingers. Left hand has a finger off the pinky, just like Al had when he was born. It will likely be removed after birth. We couldn’t get a good look at the right hand, but Al and I both swore we saw five fingers and a thumb. We will likely find out if this is true at birth. In the meantime, I am thinking about all the things (gender identification removed) could kick ass at with an extra finger on the right hand. Piano, any woodwind instrument, guitar (if playing left-handed), etc.
- Is very active

Also- IT IS A GIRL!!! When asked if the gender was definitive, the doctor at the hospital stated, “Well, let me put it like this, I can say whatever you want me to say, but it does not change the fact that when she is born she will not have a penis.”

Poor depressed Al. A couple quotes of his yesterday: “Now what are we going to do?” “Can we give her up like they do with baby girls in China?” “Can we spay her? It worked for the cats.” “I don’t want boys thinking what boys think. I know what boys think because I AM a boy and I don’t want any boy to think of my little girl that way!” He is coming around though. At first eye contact, he will be completely smitten, if not sooner.

When I barely felt her moving during the ultrasound, the image showed her flailing about. So apparently the movements I feel is her being super-duper active! (For the past four days I have been feeling her move at least once at some point during the day.) I do have to admit that feeling her move is one of the most awesome experiences of my life!

Marta demanded an update (per Jared), so here you go-

So obviously people I work with are finding out that I am pregnant.

I told one of the training guys on Monday night. A few minutes later he then said, “Oh, that makes so much sense now. That is the reason you needed the stool when you presented a couple months ago!” At the training he was talking about I had a 2-hour presentation to give. Most of you may know that morning sickness was not horrible for me, however pregnancy has made me very light-headed and I can get extremely dizzy if I stand too long. (A story about that to follow.)

He then explained that someone made a point to come to him during that training to point out that the youngest and healthiest looking person that was presenting that day did so sitting down, while everyone else stood. Supposedly there was some sort of indication that it was wrong and unprofessional of me to sit. He did not go into details who said it because it was apparently someone I knew well enough to pick out of a crowd.

I find it odd, and sad, that someone who works with individuals with developmental disabilities was so quick to judge another person based on outward appearances. I really want to know who said it, because I would love to create another "foot-in-mouth" experience for someone. Heehee.

Today...

... I was most definitely kicked. No stealth baby. Score: Mommy- 1 Baby- 1

Baby Items

I added a new album on the shutterfly account called Baby Items. I thought it would be a nice place to show things that we have gotten for the baby, things that have been handed down from family, etc.

So far there are just pictures of the crib linens that soon-to-be Avo Braga (avo means grandmother in Portuguese) gave us during our Thanksgiving visit. There is also a picture of some onesies that I purchased when I was in graduate school and saved. Graduate school you ask? Well: A) They were on sale. B) They were adorable. C) I knew I was going to have kids. Therefore I bought them... three or four years early. I am sure some of you question my logic, however.... (sticking my tongue out). That's right, think about THAT logic!

I also added a tummy picture taken today in the other section. Though, there is not much difference from last week's picture.

Also of note: Yesterday, I was sitting waiting for a co-worker when I felt a slight "pop" in my abdomen. I thought to myself, "Must have been a gas bu... waaaiit a minute... gas bubbles can't form there! Yup, keep it up kid, I am on to you!" Of course, I have not felt much else since then. Score: Mommy- 0 Baby- 1

The 15th

I changed the number of days everyone has left to vote to the survey on the right.

Reason: We have an appointment at the hospital on the 15th for a high-powered ultrasound. My thought is that it might be powerful enough to determine the sex. Then again, no doctor has told me that. I am just thinking it may be true based on my own personal research.


Note, today is: Week 16 Day 2.

What I do often...

1. eat
2. sleep
3. touch my tummy
4. smile

(Not necessarily in that order.)

A Cute Laugh for Us

We were walking around Ikea yesterday. We were looking at their cribs and light bulbs. Since there is so many other things to see, we started in their cafeteria to eat lunch before taking our 1+ mile walk through the store.

Near the checkout, Al looked at me and said, "Is that you?" then proceeded to poke me in the stomach. Apparently, he wanted to see if my sweater or shirt was bunched up over my stomach making it appear bigger than it really was.

"Yes," I said rubbing my stomach and looking at him strangely, "that is me."

"You didn't look like that yesterday!"

Quickening

So, yeah, for the past couple of weeks when I lay still and focus on the sensations in my abdomen (typically when I am relaxed in bed), I can sometimes feel little flutters. I can’t feel them if I am not paying attention. And just because I am paying attention, it does not necessarily mean I can feel them.

I liken it to taking a water balloon and filling it with soda. Which is then inserted into one’s abdomen. Then leaning back and being able to feel the slight little tickles of the bubbles forming and releasing on the inside of the balloon. This all simply means that I am in the, “I am not sure if that feeling is the baby moving or not” stage of pregnancy.

There have been two times now when I have focused and I have been able to say, “Yeah, that is new!” But that has been only twice. I am sure that this will change over time and I will wish that the little one would just sit still. But until then, I want to feel more!

Therefore, the word of the day is quickening.

Ultrasound Pictures

I just got my all-in-one printer re-installed on my computer. Granted, the darn thing is busted therefore it is really just a one-out-of-three printer... err, scanner. But after much frustration, yelling, and otherwise fun times I got the old ultrasound pictures scanned into jpegs on my computer. Then after some more frustration, yelling, and otherwise fun times I managed to upload the images to our Shutterfly Account.

To see these images, click here. You will need our password, which is: ThatGuy&KP. It is the same as the title, just with no spaces. The password is case-sensitive, so be sure to put in the capital letters.

The last ultrasound was a little over 4 weeks ago, but you can still see the little one's head, body, legs, and arms.

Heartbeat

Today is Week 13 Day 7 according to MY calculations.

At this morning's appointment we got to hear the heartbeat. Fast little sucker, but normal. Unfortunately we did not get any ultrasound pictures this time. Very sad. I have no idea how big the little one is! Four weeks ago he/she was 30 mm. I can only imagine that he/she is a little over 3 inches now.

WELCOME

I write this first post before I even hand out this web address. Therefore, this will likely not be the first post you read. As you may have figured out by now, we are el prego. And I do not mean we are the spaghetti sauce. Knee slapper! Oh, I am too funny for my own good.

I write this on Week 13 Day 5. I will try from time to time to think back over the past couple of months to tell the "wonderful" stories of the first trimester. A preview: how we first found out about the little one, nearly passing out at a Beer Festival (of course I was NOT drinking, but the police were having difficulty believing me), the morning where I sat on the bathroom floor with a glass of water in one hand and a package of saltines in the other, etc. I can't complain too much though, I still have yet to throw up!



As of the end of last week, I outgrew the last of my pre-pregnancy pants. Seems a bit early to me to start showing, but who am I to argue with nature? To the left you can see a picture of my tummy at Week 12 Day 6 (size 8 jeans) in comparison to the picture on the right at Week 6 Day 2 (size 2 jeans). Funny thing is that I even started to notice a difference when the Week 6 Day 2 picture was taken. I used to be skinnier than that! You may also notice a slight increase in bust size as well. An increase of two cup sizes in 6 weeks = PAIN!