Pregnancy Journal: Week 23

I am growing like a weed! Or, more accurately, a pumpkin :) There are times when I wake up and I am certain that my belly has grown overnight! My friends at work have even started commenting that they feel like I didn't really look pregnant one day, and then all of the sudden I had a belly.

I really feel pretty good, all things considering. I'm having a hard time with eating, I feel full all of the time and I get heartburn like nobody's business. I've started carrying around tums because I can never predict when it is going to hit. It doesn't even matter if I have eaten recently, sometimes it just comes! I'm trying to change my eating habits and eat smaller amounts more frequently and make sure to sit up as much as I can, but it isn't helping too much. Hopefully we can figure out a solution soon.

We haven't gotten very far in the name department. We just can't seem to find anything that feels right or that we agree on. The names that I like the most, Anthony doesn't like and vice versa. I also have this feeling that somehow I need to find his name, that there is a name that is perfect for who he will be and his personality and that maybe we just haven't found it yet. Or, I could be worrying way too much about it :) Either way, we are definitely open to any and all suggestions. I've even told some of my friends to not tell me any names they plan on using for their future children, because if we find the perfect name we agree on, at this point we will use it regardless of where it came from :)

It's a......

BOY! We are so excited and super thrilled to be having a boy. I truly didn't have a preference, but Anthony was really wanting a little fishing buddy and he got his wish! We had an awesome time at the doctor's office today (how often do you get to say that??). Our sonographer was really great and really patient. It felt like we got so much time to just look (or in my case stare in amazement) at our little guy and watch her measure and point out all of his organs, bones, and general features that they check to make sure everything looks healthy. Once she did all of her measurements, she flipped the ultrasound machine to 3D so that we could get some good pictures. I was so excited that she did this, we didn't even have to ask and we didn't pay anything for it!

At first the little guy had his hands in front of his face so we couldn't get a good shot of him, then he started moving his feet around too. The sonographer good naturedly kept commenting about how wiggly he was and about how he seemed to have arms and legs everywhere! She patiently kept trying until she could get some good face pictures for us. In the beginning of the appointment, Anthony told her that he wanted to try to see if he could tell from the ultrasound if it was a boy or a girl so she waited until the end to tell us. She repositioned the wand so that it was right over his bum, he spread his legs and BAM. Even I was pretty sure it looked like a boy :) She said, "What do you think Dad?" Anthony's classmate told him to look for a turtle (boy) or a hamburger (girl) so he told her, "It looks like a turtle". She said, "Yep, its a boy alright and he is not shy at all!!" I guess he had been flashing her throughout the sonogram, but she wanted to wait until the end to see if we could guess it :) Here are some of the pictures that we got: I think this front shot looks just like Anthony:

I also got a chance to take some belly pictures last night, so here is my 20 1/2 weeks photo:

Yay for babies and yay for little boys!!!

More from my photo shoot :)

Vacation

This morning my mom and I got home from spending the last 3 days in Ohio visiting my sister. It was so much fun!! The first night we stayed up until 5am just talking. We did a serious amount of shopping and I bought a good amount of maternity clothes. I finally found some that actually fit me, they just had an expandable waistband. I'm not sure that I will fit into them towards the end, but I will at least get a good few months out of them. Of course, we had to do some shopping for the baby! I think we hit our limit for gender neutral clothing :) Luckily we get to find out if we are having a boy or a girl in a little over a week!

We ate so much good food, shopped around, watched movies, and spent quality time together. My nephew is seriously the cutest thing ever! He decided that we were best friends and almost every time he would come into the room and see me, he would start playing and think look up and casually say, "Love you, Ginia!" and go back to playing. It makes your heart melt! My sister did an impromptu photo shoot with me and school photos for my niece and the first two she's edited have turned out so well! It is nice to feel so beautiful at 5 months pregnant :)

This isn't technically a belly shot, but you can take a look at the belly in it, so I am counting it!

January Preview...

Today I went maternity clothes shopping with my mom and my sister and I got to use their 3 month baby bump for trying on clothes. You strap it on and it is supposed to give you a good estimate of what an additional 3 months of pregnancy will look on you. I put it on and I couldn't stop laughing!! It didn't look that big before I strapped it on, but after I did the belly was everywhere. I tried to bend down, belly in the way. Tried to lean over, belly in the way. Tried to walk through the door, knocked some clothes of the hanger: belly in the way.

Who wants an honest husband anyway?

To all the friends and strangers who have made me feel good by telling me that I don't look pregnant at all and that I'm lucky to be so tiny at this stage in the game: don't worry. My husband told me today that he can definitely tell that I have a belly and that he doesn't really get why people say that. Ummm, maybe they are trying to be nice to a new mom? Thanks for saying it like it is, Anthony :/

Moving and Kicking

I've been feeling the baby move for a little over a week now and last night Anthony was able to feel it from the outside for the first time!!!

It has been so cool for me to be able to feel it now, and Anthony has been really bummed and felt left out that he hasn't been able to feel it :) Ever since it started, when I am at home and I feel the baby start to move around a lot (usually right after I've eaten something. Which is pretty much all the time) I'll just look over and casually tell Anthony, "The baby's moving". Almost every single time he immediately rushes over, sits down next to me and puts his hand on my belly. Usually the baby promptly stops moving at that point and without fail, Anthony will get a little sad face and say something like, "Dang! Move baby move!" and will shake my stomach a little bit. It is so cute when he does this!! He just gets so excited :)

Last night I had some Lime and Salt popcorn (delicious by the way!!!) and the baby started moving around like crazy!! As usual, I told Anthony and he came right over only this time the baby didn't stop. After a few times of me going, "Did you feel that?....or that?" Finally there was one really strong one right underneath Anthony's palm and we both turned to look at each other at the same time. I was in the middle of saying "Did you feel that?" and he was in the middle of saying, "Was that one?". Anthony was surprised that he finally felt something and was grinning ear to ear and going, "Woohooooo!". (Can you tell my husband is really just a big kid?). Almost immediately after that the baby stopped moving and after the expected "Baby, wake up so I can feel you again!!" and little belly shake from Anthony we went to bed.

Everyone keeps telling me that I will miss feeling the baby after he or she is born, and I can see why. It is so exciting, and special, and profound. I also love that Anthony gets so excited about everything, it makes it that much more fun for us to be starting this parenthood journey together.

Brownie

Dang I love my dog! I was thinking about our dog, Brownie today and how cute she is. Really, she is my dog since Anthony doesn't really like her and she is connected to me at the hip. We've been focusing so much on the baby, that I really don't stop and think about the good parts of having animals. It is so much fun to see their little personalities and it has given me a little glimpse into what parenthood is going to be like :)

So, some fun facts about Brownie:

• She is attached to me. Obsessively. No matter what is going on, she is always right at my heels or sleeping next to me. She will wake up out of a deep sleep, jump up from a comfy spot and follow me whenever I get up to go anywhere! She even follows me to the bathroom. Sometimes Anthony tries to hold her down to keep her from following me, but she freaks out and starts squirming and whining until he lets her go. Sometimes she crawls up my stomach and trys to lay down near my neck and I find myself jokingly reminding her that she can't crawl into my skin. Which of course, would be ideal for her :)
• She LOVES food. She always has, ever since she was a puppy, but now she has learned how to be more sneaky about it. We feed Bitsy and Brownie at the same time each day and sometimes we watch them eat. We've seen Brownie look at when Bitsy isn't paying attention, and try to eat as much of her food as she can even though her own bowl is still full! She has learned that if she can steal as much food as possible when she can, she can always come back to her own food at her leisure.
• She has the worst time with leashes. She always gets tangled up! Anthony and I have watched her literally hog tie herself before. Twice.

Even though they can be a pain, I love our pets!

The Almost-Nurse Practitioner

Today we registered Anthony for graduation!!! He is in his final semester and his graduation ceremony is scheduled for December 11th at 6PM here in Tampa. I can't believe that he started this program two years ago. In some ways I can't believe he is finally going to be done with school, but in other ways it feels like it has taken forever to get here!

So far he is loving this last semester. He has three different clinical sites:

• A clinic located an hour away from our house that mostly does Department of Transportation physicals for truckers. Yeah.....fun. Anthony says that the actual work isn't very interesting, but the nurse practitioner who is training him is really nice and is giving him tips on where to work. He also got to put in his first set of stitches at this clinic last week!
• A family practice clinic that does a lot of things for themselves. They have their own lab, x-ray machines, and they even do their own casts so Anthony is excited to be able to learn a lot of new things. They also follow patients for long periods of time, so he will be able to practice doing follow ups and things other than drop ins and urgent care.
• A cardiology clinic for some specialty experience. Anthony has always been interested in specializing in cardiology. He says that he just "gets" the heart and that unlike a lot of other body systems he finds all of the complicated things about it easy to learn and remember. He hasn't been assigned to his clinic yet, but it will be good for him to try it out and see if he likes the atmosphere. We've heard that cardiologists can be a bit...difficult to work with, as in big egos, which is totally not Anthony.

Since he only has class once a month, all Anthony has been doing is going to clinicals and studying for his boards. I can definitely tell a difference in his stress level when he doesn't have to obsess about exams every few weeks :) His birthday is coming up in a few weeks, the big 3-2, and even though I've been telling everyone he wants baby stuff ;) I'm sure he would like everyone to remember that he will be taking everything fishing or aquarium related.

Pregnancy Journal: Week 17

I am finally feeling better!! I feel much more like myself, I have most of my energy back and I rarely feel sick anymore unless I don't eat RIGHT away when I am hungry :) This has made for some interesting situations...like when Anthony insisted on taking me over to a friend's house where he was taking care of their aquarium while they were on vacation. Multiple times that he brought me over, it was before lunch or dinner and I was starving!! I couldn't help myself, I had to eat some of their food and then I felt really bad. I even had Anthony warn his friend that some food would be missing and to take responsibility for it since he hadn't fed me prior to going over there. I can't be responsible for my actions when I'm hungry!

A lot of my clothes really don't fit me anymore. The rule is becoming: "if it has a zipper, it will not fit you...". I can still wear most of my work clothes as long as I don't button my pants, but they are still pretty snug. I keep telling myself I need to go clothes shopping, but I just can't get the motivation to do it.

We have our 3rd doctor's appointment tomorrow. The main thing I am excited about is that after this one, our next appointment will be when we find out if we are having a boy or a girl!!! I totally can't wait. I am not the kind of person that does well with waiting for things. I need to know now so I can keep planning like crazy :)

Here is my belly picture. I enlisted Anthony to take this one, I wanted to start moving away from my mug shot-esque pictures that come out when I take them myself:

Pregnancy Journal: Week 14

Still sick. Still tired.

I am starting to get amazed at how much my body can expand and grow when I feel like I am not keeping down/eating much. It makes me realize just a little bit more that there really is a little person inside of me! I am slowly getting some of my energy back. Now, when I come home from work I can do a few things and actually watch TV in the living room all night instead of watching it in bed :)

My clothes are really starting to not fit anymore, but all of the maternity clothes that I borrowed from my wonderful sister-in-law Happy (thanks Hap!) seem too big. I'm thinking that it might be time to do some in-between wardrobe shopping.

Belly picture:

Pregnancy Journal: Week 13

We had our second doctor's appointment this week and got to hear the baby's heartbeat again! It was so wonderful!!

Right before Anthony hit record, the doctor had found the heartbeat but then the baby moved and he had to search around a while before he found it again. I imagined he/she getting woken up by someone messing with him and trying to move away from the intrusion :)