22 Weeks

I'm a little late posting this week since on Wednesday (or soon thereafter) I will be posting 23 weeks, but it's been ridiculous around here. School and traveling for work, etc. I've got 3 papers, 2 final exams and a thesis proposal due within 2 weeks and I am not pleased. Then the torture begins again with a summer course. I must be certifiably insane.

Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out. Your baby's eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks some pigment. Your baby's lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. You won't actually see her first tooth until she's around 4 to 7 months old, unless she's one of the rare babies who are born with teeth.

DH felt the baby kick yesterday for the first time. He thought maybe he could feel it before, but it was uncertain. Yesterday when she was apparently practicing some form of martial arts I ran over to him and put his hand on my belly. I thought for sure we'd be disappointed again but he said, "Wow, I felt that!" Once again, we had been listening to music (piano on T.V). Yea!

We learned about car seat safety tonight in childbirth class - who knew there was so much to it! We're a little confused still, but we'll figure it all out before she comes.

My feet are swollen and my heels throb, my sciata is acting up, my fingers tingle at night, i can't sleep, but my upper back is better! Everyday is a trade off. I'm a bit more emotional lately, just ask DH. I really look pregnant now. I'll post a recent picture later. Too tired now. Going to bed. Must sleep...

20 Weeks

You're at the halfway mark — congratulations! Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. She's about 10 inches from head to heel— the length of a banana. (The way your baby is measured now changes.) A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats your baby's entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. She's also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance made of dead cells, digestive secretions, and swallowed amniotic fluid, which will accumulate in her bowels and end up in her first diaper.

Much to our families' chagrin, DH and I have decided to keep the baby's name a surprise until the ink dries on the birth certificate. There are several reasons we've chosen this route. First, it takes the pressure off for a while. This way we don't even have to really decide until August. And honestly, we haven't really thought of any names because there's no hurry. Also, it seems odd to me that people - even random people I barely interact with - seem to think that they can suggest names to us or make fun of the name we've chosen. Or tell us the "rules" for naming a child. I also realize that DH and I will likely change our minds several times and I don't want to have to tell people we've changed it yet again. And, although I don't know anyone who's pregnant and due before me, there's always the chance that someone could steal your name and give it to their baby. It happened to my aunt.

Also strange to everyone but us, we have not set up the nursery yet. We've got until AUGUST. DH has promised me it would be done by June, and my first baby shower isn't until the end of June, so that works out fine. Plus we've got to completely rearrange the house in order to accommodate a nursery, and that involves buying new office furniture and renting a storage facility. It's not as if we have an empty room we're ignoring. I'm sure that if I weren't in graduate school I'd be more focused on it but I just have so many things to divert my attention. Not that I'm not excited, because I REALLY am, I just have to take it one day at a time. Like Schneider. (Anybody get that reference?)

I'm feeling her move more these days, but it's still not easy to describe or detect. Most of the time I can only identify her movement by process of elimination: it's not gas or another gastrointestinal issue, I'm not hungry, I'm being still and quiet...must be the baby! Twice she's moved while I was listening to music - in once instance the choir was singing at church - so I will start playing her some good music. I'll start with classical and lullabies and hymns, then work my way up to Sarah McLachlan and Loreena McKennitt. DH said he wants to start reading to her as well. I hope she enjoys hunting magazine articles.

We went to our first childbirth preparation class Monday night and I think it was a real eye opener for Papa Bear. We watched two birthing videos; one where the woman had an epidural and the birth was fairly serene and quiet, and one where the woman chose natural childbirth and it was not so serene or quiet. I think he secretly hopes I'll have an epidural for his sake. :) We took a tour of the maternity area at the hospital and it was nice. The rooms are not scary hospital sterile and there's even a recliner in the room for Papa Bear. Could be worse. Oh, and the nurse shot a baby doll through a plastic pelvis and it was not cool. It hurt just watching. Next week we get to roll around on the floor and breathe. Eerily similar to exercise if you ask me.

19 weeks

I am now 19 weeks!

Here's this week's Pregnancy.com update:

Hello from BabyCenter! Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces, and he measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the length of a small zucchini. The hair on his scalp is sprouting. If your baby is a girl, she already has 6 million eggs in her ovaries. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Your baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. He may be able to hear you as you talk. Research shows that he's learning to distinguish your voice from others, and he'll soon show a preference for it. Let Dad get in on the act, too — encourage him to talk to your baby.

Yeah, I know, BIG change from last week, right? Maybe not a whole lot, but it's an excuse for me to post something.

I have the sense to understand that I've had an easy pregnancy so far. The morning sickness only stuck around during the 2nd and 3rd months, and it was mostly on the weekends (all day), and ce on some weekdays, just once in the morning. I recall only once having to call Ralph at work. Still, I feel like all I do is complain and I haven't even gotten to the bad part yet. I'm already getting used to the idea of getting by on 5 hours' sleep since throbbing heel pain, acid reflux, fear of killing the baby by accidentally lying on my back, and multiple bathroom trips currently keep me from getting my precious REM sleep. Who knew that it was BAD to lie on your back? I am a back sleeper, y'all! Sleeping on my side is unnatural for me and it requires the use of no less than 4 different pillows to accommodate that unholy posture. I keep one pillow behind me, kindof under my back and hips so that if I start to turn over onto my back (horror!) in my unconscious state I will quickly be reminded of my folly. I got a new, big, fat pillow for my head to support my neck, I like to hug one to keep my top arm from drooping, and I elevate my feet on the 4th one to minimize the heel throbbing. Soon there will be no room for my dear husband in our bed. And I have a feeling he won't mind being banished to the guest room, since I know it's uncomfortable trying to sleep next to Fort Fetus, especially since demolition and rebuilding of the fort is required each of the 5 times I get up to pee. Each night before bed I sprinkle several Tums on the nightstand so all I have to do is reach over and pop one or two into my mouth, ever so quietly, so as not to disturb DH YET AGAIN by opening the bottle and using it, unintentionally, as a rattle. Isn't his crap supposed to happen in the third trimester?! Having said all that, I feel pretty good overall, actually.

My point is that by the time I reach 8 months you'll all be begging my doctor to induce me so I'll stop whining. Well, I suppose then I'll whine about how horrible labor was and wondering why breast feeding is so hard.

Update

I have been chastised for not updating my blog, but let me say in my defense that I have been exhausted and soooo busy these days. Still in grad school, but this semester I'm taking two classes. My schedule has left no time for pursuing my hobbies. I haven't knitted in a hundred years and it was eons before that when I last wove something. I miss them both so much. I even wrote a paper on Native American textiles and just writing it made me yearn for yarn. I do have a pretty good excuse, though, since

I'm pregnant!

Woo-hoo!

DH and I are over the moon and so are our families. I have a feeling this blog will be less and less about textiles and more and more about the baby and parenthood. Good news for my fam, bad news for everyone else. I'm toying with the idea of starting a new blog just for the baby but since I don't even keep this one up...who knows. So here's the 411:

I am four months (18 wks.) along, due August 19th.

We found out at about 3 or 4 weeks, since we meant to do this.

We started telling folks at about 8 weeks.

This is our first child.

We haven't picked out a name yet.

I haven't gained a single pound. In fact, I weigh less than last month.

We found out yesterday that we are having a healthy GIRL!

She weighs half a pound and is about 5 inches long. About the size of a bellpepper!

We had the ultrasound yesterday morning. It's so amazing to DH and me. The ultrasound lady said everything looked perfect and that she was certainly very active! The hyperactivity she gets from her daddy, and the nose (so far) and the short, fat feet she gets from her mommy. Now I can't tell about the feet, but that's what the lady said. It's weird that you can see the bones, and at times she looks alot like an alien. I tried to post the video of the ultrasound, but it was a no-go. I will tinker with it some more and see if I can't post at least some of it. In the mean time, here are a few photos from the video:

The first one is so cute, because you can see her profile. The second one is hard to make out, but it's the tell-tale shot of a little girl's bottom. Her feet are in the air to the left and her bottom is pointed right at you! The third one is kinda spooky since you can see her skull and her spine and she's looking right at you- that's the alien shot. DH and I think they're priceless, beautiful images, naturally, and we're sure she's going to be an Olympic athlete/Nobel Prize winner/supermodel.

I think I felt her move the other day, it was kindof a vibrating sensation, very quick. I'm surprised I didn't feel her doing acrobatics yesterday, but I was distracted, of course. I just keep playing this video over and over! Have I mentioned how surreal it all is, but soooo exciting at the same time? :)

As it turns out, I wore a pink shirt and pink underwear to the doctor today - the ultrasound lady said I must have been trying to influence the outcome! It really wasn't intentional, I just had one of those bad mornings when I couldn't find anything to wear. Besides, we would have been ecstatic no matter what. Unless they said there were three in there, then it would have taken some time for us to get ecstatic about that. She's healthy and I think she's the most beautiful hyperactive alien I've ever seen.

Here's what I've chosen for the nursery

I like it because it isn't too "baby pastel" or too cutsie. And I love the ocean. I'm going to put a wave machine in there and play some ocean sounds that will soother her (hopefully). It will soothe me, and that goes a long way towards making everyone else happy!

Oh, and here's a shot of my belly.

Let me point out that I do not aspire to look like Elton John, I just wore the green glasses because it was St. Patrick's Day. I should have had pictures taken from the start to document the growth but I just didn't do it. I started wearing maternity clothes at 3 months, partly because I outgrew my regular clothes and partly because I just couldn't wait to wear them! I know many mothers will have a difficult time understanding that, but I really looked forward to ti and I love wearing them every day. They are so comfortable, never mind how unstylish they are. Even the styles that are in fashion don't really flatter pregnant women, unless you look like Angelina Jolie, which I do not.

Here's about what she looks like at 18 weeks. Thank you, Pregnancy.com!

I'm baaaaack...

If I'm blogging, that must mean that the Semester from Hell is over. Hallelujah!!!!!!!!
I'm so relieved. I lack the vocabulary to adequately express the agony I've endured these past few months, but let me assure you, it was torture. No more classes until January, thank ya' Jay-zus!

please excuse me while I do my happy dance



Sadly, since I was consumed with grad school, not much has happened since I last posted. We had our Halloween party, however, and it was a blast. I was an angel and my DH was the Grim Reaper. Here's a view of part of our cemetery, complete with a departed spirit. Frontier Days came and went, and i loved it as much as ever.

You'd think you'd mind your stock while teaching the youg'uns...

Anyhoo, the RWPS, (Ridiculously Wide Purple Scarf) is no more. I just stopped, tied it off and accepted defeat. Now I've frogged and restarted a Reasonably Wide Blue Scarf to take its place. I just can't seem to remember to purl and it makes for a goofy looking scarf. My nephew has requested the same scarf if rainbow colors, but since I'm pretty sure he doesn't really comprehend what a scarf is (hey, it's the deep South and he's six years old - he's never seen snow, or for that matter temperatures below 45 degrees) and I'm certain he doesn't understand the merciless teasing he would endure for wearing a girlie rainbow scarf, I decided to make it red.

I really miss weaving, and a vendor at Frontier Days had some wonderful inkle bands she made from her own hand spun/dyed wool that made me ashamed of having neglected the loom. I have been assured that my remaining classes won't require so much at-home work, so maybe I'll have more time for my hobbies next semester. Lord knows when the last time I touched the sewing machine was. Maybe I can hem some pants over the holidays...

The Iron Bowl sucked arse. I'm so disappointed in our boys in crimson and their fearless (and highly paid) leader. Ah, well, maybe next year.

Well, Christmas is coming up and I just put up my tree last night. I knocked myself out at Halloween, so I don't think I'll do too much Christmas foo-foo around the house. It's hard to get in the spirit when it's 70 degrees outside, anyway.

Nothin' much...

I finally got to knit again! Giving in to hand cramps, I just put it down after several very satisfying rows of the ridiculously wide purple scarf (RWPS). It's just stockinette, but man was it gratifying. *sigh* Maybe I'll give it to my niece next Christmas. Oh, how I missed your fuzziness, purple-mauve yarn...and the soft springiness of the wooden needles...and getting the needle in my left hand wrapped up in the yarn coming off the skein....and adding stitches...I digress.

I wasn't feeling very well today and stayed on the couch for about 8 hours with brief excursions elsewhere. I read a good bit in preparation for my final paper coming up in Hell on Earth - er, I mean Sociological Theory class and also squeezed in a bit of HGTV home redo's. Man, that's good television right there. Who's with me?!

One more thing...

I made my first order with Annie's Attic, a crochet and knitting catalog. I ordered a beginner's sock KIT, but what I got was only a pattern. No beginner-friendly advice or dumbing down, just a pattern. How can they call a pattern a KIT and how can they call your average knitting pattern a beginner's pattern?!

Has anyone else had a problem with Annie's Attic?