Someone Could Have Warned Me

So here's how I look at 24 weeks:



Looking more and more like I'm hiding a basket ball under my shirt. Overall, I feel pretty good.

So by now, everyone knows that we're having a girl. We've decided to name her Sophia. We're pretty sure we've picked out a middle name, but we've decided not to share that information with everyone- yet. There still needs to be some surprises, right?

Well, Sophia is shaping up to be one powerful girl. She is kicking the crap out of my insides (well, not literally, but I think you know what I mean) on a daily basis. Today she stretched out so hard that I thought she would break thru the top of my uterus. It brough tears to my eyes, and not the tears of joy. Tears of pain. Lots of kicks and squirmies and hiccups sometimes. The Husband has been able to feel her too. I think he is just as amazed as I am when he can feel her kick right into his hand.

But while Sophia is busy growing and stretching, other interesting things continue to happen to my once sassy figure. I've been documenting the disappearance of my belly button with some sadness. Last year, I had the cutest belly button. Slowly, it has left my body.

I was hoping that it would merely unravel and flatten out- leaving a smooth surface. But that does not seem to be the case. I am going to have the turkey timer belly button. It's coming, and this bun is not nearly ready to come out of the oven.

I always thought that I would just wake up one day to find that my button had "popped." Sort of like the jack in the box toy from when I was little that played "Pop goes the weasel" when you turned the crank (sing along with me in your head- do de do de dooodleedo do de do de dooooodo do de do de dodleedeedo POP do de do do).

Yeah, not so much.

My button is popping out in slow motion, starting at the top. The result is a very sad looking, lopsided button. See for your self:

Look how big SHE is!!

She's sucking her thumb!!

Fasten your seatbelts-

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!


We'll post the picture tonight or tomorrow!

The belly is bigger, and the button is flatter

Here's my changing shape at 20 weeks:



Now I only look fat in gym clothes- the rest of the time, I'm startin' to look like a pregnant lady. The husband insists I "only look pregnant from the side." He's nice for saying that.

You can also see that my belly button is rapidly disappearing:



There are parts of my navel exposed to air now that I never knew existed. Let me tell you, when they become exposed- they are sensitive!!

The baby started to kick about 2 weeks ago. I feel lots of squimies and pokes and prods. On October 18 (the day after our anniversary) the muffin kicked so hard that the Husband could feel it. He was so surprised, you would have thought I was the one who kicked him.

As just about everyone knows, we go for the "big ultrasound" on Thursday, the 26th. Hopefully, if the muffin cooperates, we'll get to know if it is a "he" or a "she." We both want to know, because, well, gender neutral is lame. Right? So- stay tuned for details. I'll be updating the blog around 10am my time on Thursday. We probably won't have time to call EVERYONE right after the appointment (I know, you're shocked- how can it be that everyone we know ISN'T at the top of the call list???). But as soon as I get to the office, I'll be posting an update

Oh Mah Belleh!!!

I am now approximately 16.5 weeks pregnant. I go to the doctor tomorrow, just a normal visit to make sure everything is progressing well. As you can see, I am starting to look round.



Now, mind you, there is a shadow cast on the wall, so I'm not as big as it looks. But, yeah, definitely rounder. The Husband swears I don't look pregnant from the back (whew! my butt's wide enough) and I only look "a little" pregnant from the front. But sideways...sideways its a little undeniable.

I'm now officially wearing maternity bottoms all the time. Normal pants were just getting way too constrictive, and if you thought tight pants upset your stomach before- watch out! A whole new level of discomfort.

I also decided to share the disappearance of my beloved belly button. Personally, I thought this would start happening much later. But I checked it out for the first time tonight, and it is definitely less shallow. After some poking and prodding of his own, The Husband agrees with my analysis. I'm a little sad to see it disappearing. Hopefully it will only unravel and become flat, rather than turn inside out and pop like the turkey timer button.



Good bye belly button!!!!!! I'll miss you.

Beh-Beh's second picture, and I am getting lumpy

We had our 2nd of 3 ultrasounds last week. The purpose of the ultrasound was purely medical- take some measurements to make sure the beh-beh doesn't have a scary genetic disorder. It looks like this beh-beh of ours is fine. However, he/she wouldn't truly cooperate with the doctor. The doctor needed a perfect profile. As you might be able to tell, he/she decided to turn his/her back on us. The beh-beh's way of saying "I really don't care what you want." I'm relieved to see he/she has my attitude!




Also, as I sit here, today is the last "official" day of the first trimester. The big scary parts are over. However, parts of me are going to get big and scary!! So I decided it was time for the first official belly picture. I swear, three months ago, I had a flat stomach- I swear!!

Beh-Beh's first picture

This is Beh-Beh's first picture. It's not the best image we saw, but its the best picture the doctor took. You think he/she looks like me??? At least we know he/she as "an" eye-I'm going to assume there are two. The second round of pictures are going to be taken this week. We're both pretty excited about seeing how big "the muffin" is now (why a muffin? because it's baking, and everyone loves muffins).

How Cute is This?

I can't believe a raspberry can make me feel like THIS

Sooo, like any generally technologically savvy person, I have found every website available to tell me about the week-by-week progress of a developing pregnancy. What's funny about these early weeks is that the baby is compared to produce- first it's as big as an apple seed. Then you graduate to a small lentil bean. Now it's a raspberry. I think we get to graduate to a grape next, then a kumquat, a lime, a lemon, an avocado...you get the drift. I told The Husband I was going to go to the grocery store and buy all these items to make a collage of fetal development. He laughed.

It doesn't say when I'll start looking like I'm hauling around melons, but that's probably a different website anyway.

So this raspberry of mine makes me nauseated all day long. It's not constant, but it comes and goes in waves. I haven't gotten sick yet, and I consider that a good thing. But honestly, it's like the longest hang over of my entire life. If I just had a blinding headache and was curled in the fetal position, it would be exactly like a hang over. Except some greasy food and fries isn't going to make me feel better- and that is sadness, not gladness.

Crap I'm Scared

As soon as the "possibility" of having a child became the reality of pregnancy, the "what if's" started to grow and multiply like some sort of Petri culture. What if I'm bad at this? What if it's bad for our marriage? What if the kid is bitchy like me and not nice like the Husband?

On top of questioning my personal abilities, there's all the scary medical stuff you start to learn about. Today's scary phrase for the day is "blighted ovum." Now, I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on TV, but here's what that basically means: your body acts like your pregnant, but there's no baby. The placenta grows, but the fetus does not. Your body just keeps going along until it figures things out and eventually will reject the sac.

Now how freaky is that? You think your pregnant. Your body is acting pregnant- bigger boobs, sick to your stomach, bloat- but you're not.

I wish I never read those words- like I need something new to obsess about until the first doctor visit.

Are those TWO lines?!

Is that? No...can it be? Holy crap that's two lines!

Holy Crap, I'm pregnant.

So let's call this the "before" picture. Aren't we adorable?

In July 2006, we found out that we were expecting our first child in March 2007. By then, we'll be married for about three and a half years.

Right now, we're planning on telling our families in the next few weeks, and our friends after that. I'm not so great at keeping secrets, but let's see how this goes.