Sunday, December 23, 2007

A Christmas Wish Fulfilled!

I had this fantasy that Ray would be able to feel the baby's movements in time for Christmas. Awesome gift idea, right? But not exactly in my control. With previous failed attempts and being a bit early for it, I wasn't expecting the fantasy to be realized. BUT IT WAS! Last night while watching a movie in bed (get your mind out of the gutter, it wasn't that kind of movie) I could feel the baby was pretty active. I was tempted to get Ray to put his hand on my tummy yet again, but I had previously decided that I didn't want to keep trying it over and over only to have him feel nothing - we would just wait until it was more of a sure thing. But when the movie was over I felt a couple of pretty significant movements, so we went ahead and tried. Ray humoured me, but I'm pretty sure he was expecting to feel nothing, again. Then it happened - it was so awesome, both of us being able to feel it at the same time. And the look on Ray's face! The first time we heard the baby's heartbeat, and when Ray was surprised to actually make something out of the images on the ultrasound, and now feeling the baby's movements... his eyes light up at these milestones and I just love it.

I started out the weekend in a pretty kick ass mood. Christmas is almost here, family is almost near, and the gravy is so close I can almost taste it. Who knew the weekend could get so much better? I am so full of warm fuzzies I'm nearly making myself ill. Scrooges beware: I will squash any bah humbugs coming my way with so many shortbread cookies and chocolate truffles you won't know what hit you.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Belly Button

Ray and I read this week by week article online that gives an overview of the development of the baby that week and what's up with Mom etc etc. We like it because its normal-speak without too much medical mumbo jumbo and with a decent dose of humour. For this past week 22, it mentioned that Mom might be noticing her belly button is getting flatter and may soon pop out. Well I guess I hadn't recently inspected my belly button, because when I checked it out right then and there I was shocked to see it looked different. It's not popped out yet, but normally I'm a total "innie" and I can tell it's starting to look a little more like an "outtie." I just inspected it again. I have a little freckle in there I couldn't really see well before that is now totally obvious. And my surgical scar is easier to see now - wonder how that'll look when the whole belly button has popped out. A bonus to this new change: I was able to clean out a collection of lint with a cumulative size of a cotton ball.

Ray is totally reading this over my shoulder as I'm typing it and was completely grossed out by that last comment. He actually asked me if that was what he found on his chair this morning. Disgusting. I was totally joking. What he found on his chair was probably the collection of hair I pulled out of my hairbrush and rolled up into a little ball for easy disposal. Guess it didn't make it to the garbage can. Oops.

This blog topic has led Ray and I to quite the discussion on hygiene. Have you talked to your significant other about personal grooming habits recently?

Back to baby... still feeling a lot of movement, though I gotta say sometimes I'm not 100% sure whether I'm feeling the baby or various digestive movements. I can't wait for Ray to be able to feel some movement through my tummy, but lately I'm less anxious to get his hand over here because I'm afraid if he feels something it will actually be gas. Don't tell him. Now the first time he feels something and I insist it's the baby he'll insist it's gas and give me a hard time, probably joke about one of us needing to evacuate the premises if I'm rumbling that much.

We had another checkup last week and everything was ticketyboo. One thing that I've been conscious of is my blood pressure since one of my sisters had trouble with it both during pregnancy and since then, but at my checkups I've been told it's right where it should be. Until last week - it was on the low side. Weird, but apparently nothing to worry about. We heard the baby's heartbeat again which never gets old. We'd still like one of those contraptions for home. Anyone not done their Christmas shopping for us yet?

Almost time for bed so I must be going. In case I don't manage to make it on here again before then... Merry Christmas everybody!

Sunday, December 2, 2007

A month gone... how'd that happen?

Woops. Looks like it's been a while. I'll try to be better! Wanna hear my great excuse? During Ray's football season I used his practice time as my online time, but since his season ended my habit has been broken. I need to make a new one and make sure I get on here more often. In the meantime I'll spoil you with a long post today - lucky you!


Well, just past 20 weeks along now, we're at the halfway point ladies and gents! We had an ultrasound a little while ago, that was interesting. I'd had one before so I knew what to expect about the general process and of course remembered the bladder issue very well. But it turned out that the baby wasn't cooperating so the technician couldn't get the snapshots needed, so I had some unexpected changes during my visit. First of all, she had me rolling on to one side to try for a better view, then on to the other side, then back on my back again, and over and over again several times. I never considered moving around might help, I just always pictured myself on my back. Wait, let me take that back... that was not good at all. Moving on... baby still wasn't cooperating so I had to go empty only part of my bladder (I was given a cup - fill it, no more, no less... sure thing) and try again. Good times. There's nothing quite like having to pee in a cup, am I right ladies? Anyhow baby still wasn't cooperating but the technician called Ray in to get the fun visual shots for us and said if she still didn't have any luck with the required ones after that we might have to reschedule. Fortunately she did end up getting what she needed, so no second appointment needed. It was very, very cool when she showed us the baby and pointed out all of its adorable yet alien-like parts. The printed snapshots make so much more sense after having seen them in action and with the pointers from the technician. At one point, the baby was "facing us" so you could see the two eye sockets and nose, and its little jaw was moving up and down like it was jabbering away at us (that's the bottom left picture). So cool. At another point one hand went flailing about as though it was waving at us. Hello little baby! We see you!




















I've also been feeling some of baby's movements over the last 2 weeks. Surreal. Just like everything I've read and heard, it is unlike anything else I've experienced and I totally misted the first time. Ray was actually in the air on his way to Toronto at the time, so I called Lori right away and got excited with her. I left a voice mail for Ray and he called me that night so I got excited with him all over again. A time or two I thought that Ray might be able to feel it on my tummy, but it's hard to tell if I was actually feeling it with my hand or if I was just feeling it on the inside. He's tried a couple of times patiently waiting with his hand on my belly but no luck yet. Ah well, it's very early for that.


I recently realized that I had totally forgotten about a little goal I had always wanted to do while pregnant and now I'm wondering if I can actually do it. I used to cross stitch a bit and found all sorts of cute babyish patterns, even stitched a few. I thought I could put them together into a quilt for baby. But then I decided I didn't want to do the work ahead of time, I wanted to do it while pregnant, so that I could tell the little one that mama made this blanky just for you while growing you in my tummy (I could say in my uterus but it doesn't have the same ring to it and I think it'd be lost on the child). Now all of a sudden I'm halfway through my pregnancy, very out of practice with the stitching, and I with no sewing or quilting experience I have no idea how I could actually put these things together into a blanket. Hmmm. Well, I'll start by pulling out the old stitching supplies and we'll see how it goes.

On a non-baby note... I feel a song coming on (when don't I?)... It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I actually have a love/hate relationship with snow. It's beautiful to look at, and sometimes a blast to play in. But it's also horrible to drive in, especially when you really should have new tires but don't. The first snowfall here was last Monday night. We went out to dinner and when we drove out the roads were bare but when we left there was at least an inch on the ground. Driving down the hills from point A to point B was extremely stressful, especially when at one corner we spotted about 4 vehicles off the road and others slip sliding around. It was among the longest drives of my life, though we were on the road for less than a half hour. Now we're limiting how much we take the truck out, or at least when nervous nelly me is around. But Ray has to drive a fair bit for work so I still worry. Ick. On the plus side, now that December has arrived it is officially acceptable to start decorating. I'm not usually that into the decorating (Mom's gene landed with Lori, me not so much), and we don't have much to put out, but this year I'm excited to. I think it's because Ray's going to be gone for a while this month plus we don't know how much of the family we're going to be able to see over the holidays with plans very much up in the air, so I could use a little cheer. I'll be hauling out the boxes in the next day or two and I'm sure I'll get it all finished up while Ray is away next weekend. Ooooh and another big plus to this time of year: I've loaded up my ipod with Anne Murray, Boney M, Barenaked Ladies, and a little Alvin and the Chipmunks and NKOTB Christmas tunes. OH YEAH!


Well... (I use that term a lot both when typing and verbally, and nearly every time I hear my Dad's voice pointing out what a deep subject that is) next up is my regular apointment on Wed Dec 12. I'll check in again after that, if not sooner. Ray leaves on a 10 day trip shortly after that, so the computer will be mine all mine and I'll have no excuses for forgetting to blog... maybe I shouldn't be saying that now just in case... no, no, I want to be doing this, no more excuses.

Boy this really was long. And a photo too. You are so spoiled.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Tick Tick Tick

I love tickers. I might just change the one here every time I post. But I'll leave "His" as is - I don't think I could find a better fit.

Not much new in terms of this pregnancy in the last two weeks, hence the lack of posts. I still don't see any bump, though I can't fit into my skinny jeans very well anymore. I knew it was coming. I'll try to get another week or two out of them. But it's hard, especially when they're fresh out of the wash. Why is that? Why do jeans feel so much more snug when they have just been washed, but they get more comfortable as the day goes on? Oh yeah. I ask all the deep questions.

This afternoon I delved into the world wide web of pregnancy websites. I got lost again. Dang! Maybe I'll have to start getting my information from actual people instead of websites. My reclusive lifestyle is in jeopardy!

Mmm. Dinnertime. Later!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Music to my ears

What an awesome feeling we had today. It was pretty cool to hear the sound of our baby's heartbeat. I've heard the sound before, just on tv or whatever, and I was trying to describe it to Ray last night. The look on his face this morning when we heard it was awesome. It was so fast, faster than either of us expected. I wish I had one of those gadgets at home so I could listen to that heartbeat whenever I want. I think I'd start and end my day with it, and it would be impossible to have a bad day with that routine. I'm still anxious to show. Now I can feel a firmer section of my belly (distinguishable in the middle of that squishy-cushy stuff!), and I'm excited for it to keep growing so I can show off.

Doctor says everything seems normal so far. The nausea seems to be less frequent, but I definitely notice I don't feel well if I eat too much at once. When "they" say it's best to eat 6 smaller meals a day instead of 3 big ones, they mean it. Big meals just sit in my gut like a rock for hours and hours. Ick. But hey, that's manageable, and so far I haven't come across anything that isn't. Here's hoping the ride will stay smooth the rest of the way!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Lucky 13

It all feels fairly surreal. We're at 13 weeks now, which means our little one should be about 3 inches long and about one ounce - one website compared this to a jumbo shrimp. Aw, my little shrimp!

So far I have no pregnancy bump, and I haven't had any weight gain. I'm not worried about those things, since I know that every pregnancy is different and I could just be a late bloomer in those areas. But it really makes this feel surreal. I'm anxious to start showing so it can feel really real. I'm hoping at our next check up we get to hear the fetal heartbeat, that'll make me feel better.

Have you ever tried searching for information on pregnancy online? The amount of information available is overwhelming. Plenty of message boards and matters of opinion, plenty of scientific information including lots of realistic images, which I find fascinating. As I was sifting through the various sites today, I was surprised to come across one that was completely original, and even made me laugh a little. I highly recommend checking this one out (come on, play along): www.thepregnancytester.com.

In other news, the last Ugly Betty episode I saw included a montage of basketball, while Get'cha Head In The Game played. In a totally separate scene, there was a Zac Efron reference. Pop culture is so awesome.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Well, it's about time!

About time I started a blog.
About time I put effort into keeping in touch with my friends and family.
About time I expose the world to the wonders of my mind.
Oh yeah, and it's about time we became pregnant!
This little one has been a long time coming, and it wasn't for lack of trying. We are so excited! Hopefully I'll use this space to keep you all up to date on Baby's progress and our excitedness. Stay tuned!