Dentist vs OBGYN

We started off the day early yesterday, with a trip to the dentist.

He had spotted some "inflammation" along the gum line of one tooth the last time I was there for a checkup, but it hadn't been bothering me none. So when it still didn't bother me any for the next 3 weeks, plus there wasn't any redness that I could see, I thought "oh well, he'll just check and see that there's nothing to be done, and that'll be that".

Yeah, right. He said that there was still some inflammation, and he wanted to use a local tetracycline antibiotic that would not get into my system ( i.e. Junior ), but I was reluctant to do that. I told him I would consult my OGBYN ( whom I would be seeing right after I leave his office ) about that first.

Long story short, the OGBYN was quite adamant that no tetracycline was to be used at all, and I don't blame her. Tetracycline does all kinds of stuff to the baby ( even tho the dentist said it was merely local and wasn't systemic )

From a drug safety site :

Problems attributable to the use of the tetracyclines during or around the gestational period can be classified into four areas:

• Adverse effects on fetal teeth and bones
• Maternal liver toxicity
• Congenital defects
• Miscellaneous effects

Gah, no thanks.

Yikes, I'm squishing you

I started getting on and off Braxton Hicks contractions several weeks ago, not on a daily basis, though. Just once in a few days and like that.

Today I had one that got my lower tummy into a pretty hard ball. It wasn't painful, just a little uncomfortable. It wasn't associated with any other "signs" and it was just a one off thing that lasted probably 10 seconds, so I know it was just a Braxton Hicks and nothing to worry about.

But still, I wonder when that happens, if you feel terribly squished.

Feels like I'm wearing an invisible corset

and someone keeps tightening the laces up.

With the baby growing bigger and taking up more and more space in my belly, my internal organs are being shifted around, and my stomach is getting more horizontal with time. It's only the 25th week, but already today I've had several episodes of reflux and generally feeling very bloated, as well as a little short of breath as the baby squishes my insides together, making less space for my lungs to expand.

And it's only going to get worse as babyness starts growing more and more in the next months, until the "dropping" back into the pelvis thingy.

Oh well.

Shake Rattle and Hum

The first time it happened, it really really surprised me, and when I told your daddy about it, he totally freaked out.

Letti : My belly's just VIBRATED!!!

The Hubs : WHAT??

Letti : The baby was doing this vibrating thing in my tummy!

The Hubs : OMG is he having a seizure???

Letti : I don't think so. It was only for a second. Like popcorn exploding in my tummy, like "gaboing gaboing gaboiiiiinnnnnggggggggg".

The Hubs : *erk*

Anyway, we've been to see the doctor since the first incident, and you've had several "vibrating" episodes since then, but we believe it's hiccups or something, and nothing to worry about. Apparently, a lot of mothers feel their babies vibrating in their tummies sometimes.

Eat Sleep and Grow

Seems like that's basically what I'm doing these days.

Eating, sleeping and GROWING bigger.

Coincidentally, that's what JUNIOR is doing too, so that kinda makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

And speaking of sleeping, I wasn't quite the night owl before ( that's your daddy's department, Junior ), but I probably went to bed at around midnight or so. I've noticed, though, that in the last week, come 9 pm, and I would have a hard time keeping my eyes open. Totally khamazing. Usually, at that point in the night, I'm in bed with my feet propped up, laying on my side, playing some games on the laptop which would be on the nightstand next to the bed.

And I would close my eyes for a second and wake up 3 hours later or something, with the laptop having gone to sleep as well.

More Check Ups

Your daddy and I had to go to Brownwood ( where grand-daddy WLW grew up ) yesterday for a ( repeat ) medical checkup for immigration purposes. ( Bureaucracy, what can I say ) It all went smoothly, and the only thing I had to do, other than being examined by the doctor, was have a chest xray done. I had cleared it with our obstetrician, as well as maternal and fetal specialist, and got the green light to go ahead and have the xray done, with a lead apron/shield on.

Your dad was especially nervous, but I know you were well protected. Your mommy even hung around while the xray film was being processed and read her own chest xray film. LOL. Once a doctor... oh well, I knew there was nothing wrong with me, but this was immigration red tape stuff, and I wanted to be sure. You were pretty active at the doctor's office, though. I guess your parents' vibes as to how important this was to them got passed on to you... :)

If you can't beat em, join em

The hubs says he's getting a taste of what I'm used to having to deal with at night, because all of the sudden, in the past week or 2, he says I've started snoring. And not too subtly either.

GAAAAHHHHHHHHH

I can't help it if I'm getting pregnancy congestion...

I can't help it if my face and neck are now swallowed up in mounds of fat....

*sigh* This is highly unladylike and very disturbing. I wake up in the night feeling thirsty, and the back of my throat is a little sore and full of yucky mucousy stuff.

But what can you do about something that is part and parcel of almost reaching your third trimester? I guess some breathe right strips and propping up with more pillows and more sleeping on the side.

And to think there is a whole 'nother trimester to go .

Palpitations @ week 24

Having between 45 - 50 % more blood coursing through your veins does weird things to you, like making your heart beat up to 20 beats/minute more than usual... . As well has having your insides and different organs shifted around to make space for an expanding uterus as well as changing size and shape .!!!..

Position and Size of Heart

As the uterus enlarges and the diaphragm becomes elevated, the heart is displaced upward and somewhat to the left with rotation on its long axis, so that the apex beat is moved laterally. Cardiac capacity increases by 70-80mL; this may be due to increased volume or hyperthophy of cardiac muscle.The size of the heart appears to increase by about 12%

Cardiac Output

Cardiac output increases approximately 40% during pregnancy, reaching its maximum at 20-24 week’s gestation and continuing at this level until term. The increase in output can be as much as1,5L/min over the non pregnant level. Cardiac output is very sensitive to changes in body position. This sensitivity increases with lengthening gestation, presumably because the uterus impinges upon the inferior vena cava, thereby decreasing blood return to the heart. The increase in plasma volume (40-50%) is relatively greater than that of red cell mass (20-30%) resulting in hemodilution and a decrease in hemoglobin concentration

And that's just the part that has to do with the heart. I haven't even begun to think about the widening of my rib cage, and pushing up of the diaphragm etc etc.

I've been getting these ( not really episodes, but ) brief moments in the day when I feel like my heart's beating too fast, and it makes me uncomfortable for a little while. But it doesn't make me feel faint or anything like that. It just makes me feel like I've run up a flight of stairs. And then it goes away after a couple of minutes.

It's also strange, but I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world :)

Did you finally grow some butt?

I must have had the flattest rear end on earth. Seriously. It was like there was a straight line from my back down to my thighs..

And then, I got pregnant.


Overheard in our bathroom last week

Letti : *leaning over sink, brushing teeth*

The Hubs : *passes through, and suddenly stops in his tracks*

Letti : "What?"

The Hubs : "Wow, did you suddenly grow some butt?"

Letti : "It's this whole shift in the center of gravity thing, causing me to have a whole different posture that makes my buttocks stick out. And it's gonna get worse. Bleh"

The Hubs : "............"

New "Complaint"

We were at a Christmas concert yesterday, where I was sitting ( and trying to stretch my feet ) for about 2 hours or more, I guess... and when it was time to get up and go home, I was a little stiff, but what struck me was that the bottom of my right foot was hurting with every step. It almost felt as if there was a broken blood vessel on the sole of my foot where the arch was, but when we got home and I took my shoes off, I couldn't see any bruising underneath the skin.

I figured it might be like the foot's equivalent of carpal tunnel syndrome from swelling or something, because I didn't stretch as much as I should have during the concert, nor could i put my feet up during the show, although the hubs did offer his lap for that very reason. So off I marched into the bedroom & lay down, legs raised on a couple of pillows, and surfed the net a little, searching for "foot pain in pregnancy". I was quite surprised that after a couple of hours, I got up to go to the bathroom, and the pain was all gone.

Phew.

Pregnancy Dreams

I took a relatively long nap after church and lunch today, and had 2 pregnancy dreams that I can remember.

In the first one, you were a newborn.. in fact, so newly born, that I can remember that it was 4 in the afternoon in my dream, and you had been born 4 hours before, at noon. And we were somehow at some pool, and we were already starting you on baby swimming lessons. The only thing that concerned me in the dream was that I hadn't brought any swim diapers with us.

The second dream was about water retention during pregnancy, and my legs were the size of chunky logs. Quite distressing.

I think I gotta go put up my feet before they DO become that way.

Latest pregnancy "grouses"/developments

Getting tired during the day
Some shortness of breath with "exertion"
Mild constipation
Mild cramping in certain positions in bed at night.

Christmas came early

Lucky you! You received a couple of early christmas presents from your daddy's good friend, Clay and his wife Chrissy in the mail yesterday and today! Clay was best man at your mummy and daddy's wedding, so it was really very sweet of them. We don't get to see them as much as we should, but for sure we'll be sending them a thank you note for you! :)

Check out the booty on mummy's other blog, over HERE.

Oh Baby

Mummy had a dental appointment this morning, followed by a visit to the maternal-fetal specialist for a followup ultrasound. My teeth are doing good, except for this one in the upper left molar region where the gums are a little inflamed. If it doesn't settle down in a couple of weeks, I may have to get a topical antibiotic thingy for it. I am hoping that the inflammation will settle down by itself and nothing further needs to be done.

At the ultrasound appointment today, we were told you were doing really good. In fact, you were still measuring about a week and a half ahead, in the 60 somethingth percentile. From your measurements, the doctor estimated you to be about 1lb and 6 oz right now, and he also mentioned that you had long arms and legs. I'm glad you're growing well, but I pray you don't get too ginormous for me to deliver! I mean, your daddy is 6' 2 1/2" and your mommy is a tall asian woman at 5' 6" but I pray everything will go well and there won't be any problems.

Double Whammy

Both mummy and daddy have caught a bug

Daddy's coughing coughing with a stuffy nose, poor baby... Mummy is feeling flaky and tired with post nasal dripping out the tuchus.

So we're both taking it slower than usual today. Daddy's stretched out under a blankie on the recliner in the living room, all konked out, and mummy's in bed with her be-stockinged feet raised, and the Vicks Vaporub near at hand, surfing the net., wondering what to make for dinner.

Bah.

Are we there yet?

I know it's only been 22 weeks, and we are more than halfway there, but boy, it sure takes a long time to prepare a baby for this world.

David : "Just be glad you're human and not an elephant or you'd be pregnant for like 2 years"

Letti : "Gasp!"

A good night's sleep

We had gotten a couple of bolster pillows a number of years ago when we first moved into our house and didn't really have much furniture ( or even a bed yet ). Then after we got situated, they were stored in the spare room .... till last night, when I asked the hubs if he could go retrieve one of them and whack the dust off of it ( we didn't have a rug beater, so we used a badminton racquet we had laying around.. LOL ) so I could see if it could help me with the backaches I would get from sleeping on my side and like that.

The hubs was super sweet about doing all of that for me and even said he would get me a PROPER pregnancy body pillow thingy, but I said that would be a waste of money as well as the resource we already had - the much underutilized bolster pillow we had.

Anyway, once it was adequately cleaned and like that, I slept with it last night, and man, we should have gotten it out earlier.

It was totally heavenly. For some reason, it helped "align" my body in such a way that less stress was put on my back and I was able to sleep, literally, like a baby :)

I used to have very skinny feet

as well as ankles.. the kind that have bony protrusions everywhere.

Now I have cankles.

*sigh*

Other than that, we had a visit with the doctor today, and everything was good. No protein or sugar in the urine, my blood pressure was really good at 108/68 mmHg, even after I had told the nurse my blood pressure was probably going to be sky high from having seen my weight just seconds before.

You, my babyness, is doing tremendously well, growing as you should, and having a strong healthy heart beat of 164 beats per minute. Next week when we go see the maternal-fetal specialist again, we get to see you on the ultrasound again. That's always neat.

Oh, and your daddy's too funny. He's been complimenting me on what a good job I've been doing, as your incubator :P

Sleep Wake Cycle

Not yours, baby, but mine.

Our OBGYN told us that from 20 weeks onwards, I shouldn't lay on my back much anymore, especially when I sleep at night. Now sleeping on my tummy is definitely not an option either. So I have to sleep on either side ( left being better ), but then it's not a very "natural" position to me, and so I tend to wake up several times a night to switch sides, partly because my arm that's underneath has gone NUMB

I am going through such accelerated fatness, I get distressed whenever I step on the scales. I can literally put on several pounds overnight, it is ridiculous. It would be hard for someone who had never had a weight problem to understand, but I'd been constantly teased as "the fat girl" or "fatso" and "clumsy clod" when I was younger, and still carry that baggage around with me into adulthood even though I'm supposed to know better...

My dearest Junior, I promise to do my very best not to "inflict" any of these kinds of "psychological trauma" onto you, EVER.

Tumbling Tots

You're quite the active baby, aren't you?

Mummy loves feeling you tumble around in her tummy at different times during the day, and night. It's such a strange but lovely feeling all at the same time. It's reassuring and makes me just stop and be awed at the wonder that's you, growing inside of me......

I can't wait for when you're strong enough for even daddy to be able to feel you moving about, stretching and doing your thang :)

I know I can, I know I can... I DID!!

I conquered the "showing my pregnant belly on my blog" fear, and so here's the first glimpse of Junior's humble abode for now, at 20 weeks. We're halfway there, baby! No radical changes in the belly button department as of yet, but who knows. There's 20 MORE weeks to go. w00t! What an adventure :)

I know.. the growth of my belly is finally starting to overtake the immense boob expansion.

Presents!!

Thank you Stephanie!!

Your cousin Stephanie was so delighted that she finally knows that you're a boy, that when Target had a sale, she went out and got you some cute little outfits!!!

Hurray for Stephanie :)

More of your Daddy

Daddy : "Arghhhh April's still sooooo far away"

Mummy: "You'd better believe it'll be here before you even know it"

Daddy: "Gah, I don't think I'll stop worrying about this kid till he gets a driver's license. *pause* WAIT, I might worry even MORE then! GAAAAAAAHHH"

Poor daddy :)

Baby Bump

I'm trying to muster up courage to post a "I'm halfway there" baby bump.....

be patient with me.

*sigh*

Silly Daddy

Your daddy is just as in awe of this whole adventure we're having with you as I am.

And he says the funniest and silliest and sweetest things sometimes. I just don't want to ever forget them :)

Overheard at the Dr's ultrasound appointment

"Wow, look he's scratching his chin.....*pause* CAN HE DO THAT?!?!! LIKE, ON PURPOSE???"

"You mean he can actually MOVE his fingers?!?"

"Gosh, he looks like a little fossil"

"I can see LIPS!!!"

"Woah, look at that face. We need him to have your brains and my looks" ( lol )

And your daddy's been trying to feel you through mummy's belly, which is just so incredibly sweet. He'll give mummy little belly rubs like he's cuddling you.

"Wow, it's not like, rock hard, but it ain't doughy either"

"Hey, my hand found itself onto your tummy without even thinking"


But he has his anxieties and apprehensions too...

"I wonder if I was a younger father, if I would be less nervous and so would be able to enjoy this adventure way more"

"I want this baby to be 6lbs like, TOMORROW, so if anything happens, I know he will be okay"

Everything's Bigger in Texas

It's probably a discrepancy in dates thing, but during the last ultrasound, you measured almost a week ahead in terms of all the different measurements. Your mommy's period has always been kinda weird anyway, with a 32 day cycle etc etc, and the cycle when you were conceived was weirder than usual. My temperatures were not rising etc etc.

ANYWAY, the doctor told us that you were 12 ounces, the weight of a can of coke. Like, woah.

Dreams of a little Young'Un

Two nights ago, I dreamt that you were already born. You had some asian features and some caucasian features, and were as cute as a button. In my dream you were a new born, but looked much more like a 3 month old, full of baby chubbiness and alert and smiley.



AND, I was feeding you "cantonese style" porridge.

And you were loving the porridge, when I suddenly realised I should be breastfeeding you, but by that time, you were nice and full and not interested in nursing anymore.

I told your daddy about the dream, and he said, "Oh boy, looks like we might end up with a Sumo Wrestler instead of a Cowboy".

vs


What do YOU think, Junior? :)

Getting Bigger Overnight

I swear, before we left for Vegas, I was considerably smaller.

Then, like a day or two before we got home, it was like there was this massive growth spurt or something on your part. Even the doctor says you're about a week ahead. I told your daddy "well, everything's bigger in Texas".

I say that tongue in cheek, but I hope I don't get all those stupid diabetic complications ( your grandaddy Tan and great grandma and some grand-aunts are diabetic ), and have problems with delivery later on. You'll be a good boy, won'tcha? *grin*

And Mahbel at the Asian Noodle House says she's been watching my boobies get bigger and bigger each week!!!!!

ANYWAY, praise the Lord that you're a perfect little boy and that He took care of all of us during our long road trip, and we got home safe and sound. Like I was saying, the trip was sooo much more fun because your daddy and I knew that you were tagging along with us the whole way. How amazing was that?! I mean, you're not even born yet and you've been to Vegas and the Grand Canyon and like through New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Utah !

I'm feeling you move a little bit more now, a little bit more distinctly. But like the doctor said, because my placenta is in the front, it cushions a lot of your little kicks and punches. In the next few weeks, you're going to get much stronger and I'll probably be wishing I had a cushion all around!

Junior :)

I'm officially outnumbered :)

Other things that are happening at the moment

1. Snot with blood almost every time I blow my nose. Not fun
2. Some ankle swelling when I am on my feet too long
3. Any amount of sucking in will not mask my tummy any more
4. Your daddy and I brought you all the way to Vegas, Zion National Park and The Grand Canyon! Your first Road Trip! You were of course, way more convenient to bring along than let's say, if it had been after April next year, but it was a fun fun trip and it was all so much funner (?? ) with you along.

Your daddy is so proud of you and we both love you soooo much!!!

Blog Background

I thought we'd spruce up the blog background a little bit... and since we're not sure if you're a little boy or a little girl yet, I thought we would use a "gender neutral" background. Earthy greens and browns always seem to work. Hopefully by the end of next week I'll know for sure which color to settle on for the background :) *wink*

More strange aches & pains and adjustments

I have been "training" myself to sleep on my left side, and it has so far been pretty good, except I will wake up every few hours feeling kind of achy or sore from sleeping on one side for too long. I think I'm one of those people that sleep with part of their side and part of their tummy, if that makes any sense. Straight up 90 degree sleeping on the side is kinda taking some time to get used to.

Anyway, during one of the times I woke up last night, I had this horrible pain in my right er, nipple. I mean, very isolated nipple pain, on the right side. It lasted about 3 minutes and then thankfully went away. I was going "WTH" and was very glad when it didn't recur.

Hoy.

Tightenings

Once in a while, it seems like there's a little bit of tightening of the uterus into a little ball, and I can feel it more prominently. These aren't frequent - maybe once a day or less, and are never painful or accompanied by any sort of "other" symptoms. I talked to the OBGYN about them, and she said that it shouldn't be a problem unless it was painful or accompanied by bleeding etc etc. They're probably Braxton Hicks, and in my "research", have come across a bunch of women having irregular uterine contractions in their second trimester, and of course it'll only get more prominent and frequent towards the end of the pregnancy, and it has all gone well with them.

Feeling Better

I forwent the Claritin D last night and don't feel too worse for wear. I did wake up one time in the night coughing, though. Bleh. Overall, I'm feeling better and hopefully the your daddy will too. Right now, he's all excited waiting for tonight's college football game between the Texas Tech ( his alma mater & ranked #7) Red Raiders and theTexas Longhorns ( #1 at the moment ). I'm sure he'll be more than happy to explain to you all the ins and outs of football when he gets the chance to.

Your Aunt Cindy and I were at Walmart yesterday, doing our usual grocery shopping, and I got you a present! Your very first present, actually, which will come in very handy even as we bring you home from the hospital after delivery. A car seat strap cover ! With cute little puppy doggies!!!

Nose Bleeds, Sleeplessness and Restless Legs

I haven't been sleeping very well. There is that frequent peeing thing, and now that I have a cold and cough, there's that waking up in the middle of the night and having a serious bout of coughing. Or I could wake up in the middle of the night - usually between 4:30 am and 5:30 am and feeling hunger pangs and am wide awake. What I usually do is go pee, then make myself a hot cup of decaf tea, have a few crackers, watch some early morning TV/ news and am usually drowsy again when I'm done. So off I go to have a preemptive pee and can usually find myself dozing off again.

This week it's been slightly worse because not only am I sick, the hubs has caught the nasty bug from me, and he's also restless at night and waking up with bouts of coughing. Poor baby.

Another thing that has cropped up with this cold that I am having, is not really nosebleeds, but when I blow my nose, sometimes there's some blood together with the "snot", especially from the right nostril. As this is quite scanty, I'm not too worried because of all the blood that's pumping around in me, nosebleeds can be quite common in pregnancy.

Oh, and what's up with this RESTLESS LEGS business?!!?!? It's VERY annoying.

Meanwhile, my babyness, I made our first "baby purchase" ( albeit a small one ) at Walmart today. Will take a picture of it and post tomorrow.

Night night. Oh! And Happy Halloween and Happy Week 17 !!

16 + week visit with the doctor

Your mommy may be feeling pretty bleh right now with this cough & cold and painful face congestion, but you're certainly doing well. The doctor says you're growing well, as you should be, and you had a strong heartbeat at 161 beats per minute. I hadn't taken anything for my cold coz i didn't want to take anything that might hurt you, but the doctor said it was okay to take either sudafed, xyrtek D or claritin D. So off we went to Walmart to get that rightaway, cos i don't know how much longer i can take this.

It was really reassuring to hear your strong heartbeat over the doppler though. It'll be hard to wait another 3 weeks to a month before we see you on the ultrasound machine again! We can't hardly stand it! :)

*hugs and smooches*
yer mumsie & daddyness

Post Nasal Drips are da pitz

I started getting some post nasal drips 2 nights ago. That was when there was a change in the weather, and temperatures dropped like 25 degrees from one day to the next or something to that effect, but anyway, last night was quite horrible. I couldn't sleep coz my nose was all stuffed up. I had to sleep with the Breathe Right strips on, and propped up, and then my nose got all dry and my sinuses started to hurt, my head was pounding a little, and I STILL had to get up and pee amidst all the tossing and turning.

Woke up this morning feeling blah, but got up and did some chores. Finally gave up and went back to bed around noon. Da hubs has been great, bringing me whatever I need. I don't have a temperature, though. I just wish this confounded post nasal drip ( which is gonna start giving me a sore throat, I just know it ) would stop.

Bleh.

I am a human commode

You turn 16 weeks tomorrow, can you believe it?

You've got nails that are well formed, you're growing fine hair all over, and are peeing every 45 minutes or so. And then drinking it all in, while practising swallowing and breathing movements. Sounds kinda icky ifyou think about it, but hey, it's all sterile and I guess we've all gone through that phase ourselves.. in utero, that is. Hence I am a walking human bathroom.

I'm still not sure if I'm making up these little vibrations I THINK I feel down there, or if it's you doing your tai qi exercises.. It's probably my imagination running away with me coz I want to feel you moving so badly.

My tummy's finally got a little bit more of a significant swell to it, and today someone said I was finally starting to look a little pregnant. Maybe it was the sweater I was wearing though. It's been a cold couple of days. But it's nice to know you are nice and warm and snuggly IN ME. Now THAT is totally mind blowing. Something IN ME. Living. Growing.....Peeing.

You're about 4.5 - 4.8 inches long now and about the size of a grapefruit. If you're anything like the grapefruits your daddy and I eat, you're BIG!

Nasal Congestion

The nasal congestion has started....

I have to turn over several times at night because at first one nostril gets stuffed up, and so i turn onto my other side. After a couple of hours ( or maybe less ), the OTHER side gets stuffed up, and then I have to turn over again... and on and on, and on and on... interspersed with all those times I have to wake up to pee.

I'll just have to coordinate my nostril decongesting with my peeing and I should get just about enough sleep.

Hoy.

Protective Momma

I find myself putting my hand over my tummy and rubbing it, although there really isn't all that much to the bump yet ( although I do feel my uterus halfway up to my belly button by now ). It just feels reassuring for some reason. Even the hubs has taken to doing that. Just a little while ago, when I went and cuddled with him on his recliner, he reached over and tickled my tummy, saying "oooo we're tickling the little babyness". Like, AWWW!

15 down 25 ( more or less ) to go

I've been trying to be quiet at times to see if I can feel any more "bloop bloops", but so far, none. Bleh. I suppose though, before long, I'd be wishing you would quit kicking me in the ribs :)

Anyway, hey hey you're 15 weeks and being likened to a large pear! A LARGE PEAR! Gosh... about 4 inches long. That just seems amazing to me to have something that is growing at a rate of knots and 4 whole inches long in me! ( Stop smirking.. you're not old enough to smirk yet, wise guy, even if you ARE making all kinds of faces right now )

I just put the ruler to my tummy and measured 4 inches, and that's big! We pray that you are growing well and strong and the women at bible class can't wait to see you! OR see me with my big belly wobbling around :) Right now although your mommy's pants are getting overly tight ( and her BBs are just humongaloid by now ), other people can't tell yet.

Oh, a piece of horror news though.. This morning I sneezed and LEAKED! Like, for crying out loud! I have to get back to those Kegel exercises for sure.

AND i can't wait for when i can use my stethoscope to listen to your little heartbeats!!!! :)

Mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah.

Did you just do a somersault?!

I know only "experienced" mothers are supposed to start feeling their little baby moving this early, but I felt a little flutter, like a "bloop bloop" at my lower pelvic region just a moment ago. Of course it could be gas, but then again, it's down there where YOU are. Then like 30 seconds later, there was that second "bloop bloop"!

Whatever it was, I'd like to think it was you stretching around. :)

Cosmetic Changes in Pregnancy

It may all be the power of suggestion from the different websites and books I'm reading, but I dont' really think so. Since I got pregnant, my fingernails have gotten stronger and are growing much faster than I've ever known them to. I never had great fingernails to begin with, and they were always kinda weak, and it'd be weeks ( I think ) between clippings. But now it seems like I need to do them every few days or at least once a week because they mess with me doing everyday stuff.

That said, I'm enjoying my stronger nails while it lasts.

14 weeks and counting :)

Hey you turned 14 weeks on 10/10 ! Sweet :)

I'm feeling better and better, although I still get a little tired in the afternoons. I can't imagine if I was preggers and had to work in the hospital full time, be on call and all like that. Like, woah. It's a blessing to be able to do this in this "relaxed" manner while I get ready for my exams.

ANYWAY, it's been pretty exciting because now, when I lay down and try to find the fundus, I can actually feel it like 2 finger breadths above the pubic bone! Which means I'm able to feel the secure little "housing" you're in right now, which just makes me feel all that much closer to you.

You're the size of a peach right now, and so being able to feel the fundus of the uterus in a way helps reassure me that you are growing as you are supposed to... and you've got FINGERPRINTS now! And you're practising your facial muscles by grimacing, squinting, frowning.. quite the regular mime!


You're also supposedly very active.. whenever I try to feel at my tummy for you, I imagine I'm tickling you in some way, making you agitated. Hehe.. Mummy's tummy ( hey, that ryhmes ) is starting to pop some and I've decided that unless I wanna be in yoga pants and the one pair of maternity jeans I have, for the rest of this pregnancy, I'm gonna have to invest in a bella band of some sort.