29 weeks

your parents at 29 weeks

Right before this picture was taken, your father jiggled you pretty good.  :D

we saw you!

Dear Little Lady,

Your dad and I got to see you today.  We saw your heart beat.  We saw your spine.  Your little feet and your arms and hands.  Your cute nose and adorable head.

We even saw your ladybits!

We can't wait to meet you.  We're already in love.

28 weeks!

tummy watchin'

This little lady is pretty darn active.  I like to imagine that she's having fun in there.  It seems she takes after her mother and really enjoys mealtimes!

I have fun watching my belly.  Sometimes when she's going nuts in there I just pull up my shirt and stare.  I can't even explain how bizarre it is for a living thing inside of you to move so significantly that you can see it on the outside.  I try to visualize what parts of her are making my belly move and I smile.  Maybe she's stretching?  Trying to find a more comfortable position?

So, remember all those times I was cranky about my menstrual cycle and I complained that the ability to bear children better be worth it?

Yeah, it totally is.  :)

it's a little lady!

The doctor confidently told us on Tuesday that we're having a little girl.

We would have been happy with either gender but just knowing feels so great!  I'm doing fantasy shopping online and we're working fervently on choosing a name for this little one.  I feel more comfortable imagining the future now.  It's all so very exciting!

(Plus I can stop saying "it"!  YAAAAY!!!)

27 weeks!

'sup?

One of my new pastimes: staring at my belly.  Sometimes I can see a movement and it's pretty bizarre/cool.  Mostly cool.  I like thinking that the baby is having fun in there.

I've purchased a few more items.  A hanging stars/moon decoration for the nursery.  An jittering owl toy.  Blanket.

Mostly I'm just anxious about finally finding out the kid's gender.  I want to get the name settled already and just prepare mentally.  Will I be changing boy diapers or girl diapers?  I MUST KNOW.

I have an OB appointment on Tuesday that I'm pretty excited about.  I'll be discussing the whole delivery thing for the first time ever with my doctor!  I have a million questions for him.  And, of course, he'd better tell me if this is a girl or boy!

Everything seems to be going well.  That makes me happy.  :)

26 weeks.

25 weeks!

24 weeks

The Worst Ultrasound

The fiasco that has been my health care situation so far should have prepared me for this.  But I was hopeful.  I don't know why exactly, but I thought that Kern County couldn't possibly ruin my ultrasound day.  I thought it was the one thing I could count on getting from them that was going to be good.  I underestimated their capacity for treating people like garbage.  How silly of me!

This is how my ultrasound experience went down:
1) The technician didn't say a word the entire time.
2) I could not see the monitor.
3) He finished abruptly.  I asked him if it was a boy or a girl and he said he couldn't tell.  I asked if it was measuring correctly and he just said yeah.
4) Then he told me to clean up and he walked out.

Just like that, it was over.

I managed to convince myself at some point during this thing that they would at the very least give me some pictures to take home since I couldn't see the monitor.  No.  That was stupid.  I didn't get anything.

I had been so excited about this appointment.  I thought I was going to find out the gender and get a little picture and be able to imagine what my baby looks like.

But I didn't even get to see my baby.  They took that moment away from me.

If you're ever looking for some advice on how to make a pregnant woman feel completely worthless, please call the OB-GYN clinic at Kern Medical Center.  They're pros!

that was nice

I met you in a dream last night.  You looked just like your cousin Andrew, but you had ridiculously thick black hair.  You were adorable.

I can't wait to really meet you.

Though I think you might have some explaining to do if you're a girl.

22 weeks

21 weeks and tubby!

apology

Dear Baby,

Yesterday your dad and I called you "the kid".  I feel badly about it; it sounds so cold and distant.  But I promise we don't actually feel that way toward you.

It's just that when we talk about you and the future...well, we don't know what to call you.  We don't know if you're a boy or a girl yet, so we can't whip out either of the wicked cool names we've got picked out already.

We're really very excited to see you soon.  It'll be nice when I know what to call you.

Love,
Mom

Belly pop!

movement!

I'm pretty sure I've been feeling the baby the past few days.  It likes doing somersaults after dinner.  Feels like it's just bouncing off the walls in there.

Very cool.  :)

"i feel fat"

I thought I was prepared for this.  I know pregnant does not equal fat.  I know this.

But then it happened.  I popped last weekend.  It's not very noticeable to anybody, but I just feel thicker.  My pants are a little tighter.  The scale has bounced up a little.  My pre-existing chubby belly is roundening into what I'm assuming will soon actually look like a pregnant belly.

The word "sausage" comes to mind.

A couple of years ago I would have punched myself in the face if I'd called myself fat at 170 pounds.  But you must understand, having weight loss surgery and then gaining weight is so very difficult, even when there is a perfectly good reason for the weight gain.

I'm doing my best to talk myself down, but it's taking some work.

I hope I stop being silly soon.  I don't care for this level of neuroticism in myself.  I have bigger worries--like when I am going to be able to see an obstetrician.

hi, baby

These are your parents when you were 18 weeks in the making: