19 weeks!

19 weeks! So that's a maternity shirt that I'm wearing, Old Navy, size medium. I'm starting to think I'm going to need at least a large by the end of this pregancy, if not an extra large!

Things are going well. After the ultrasound last week and being able to feel Baby Rhody pretty much every day now, I am feeling very confident about this prengancy. I had a dream a few days ago about actually giving birth and holding a newborn. It's just great.

Along with this, I've kept up my energy from the second trimester. I was able to cook a 4-course dinner from scratch and entertain 6 of Mr. Rhody's family for Christmas, though, now that my in-laws have left, it seems to be catching up to me. Regardless, I don't know if I could have done most of this in the first trimester.

We have another midwife appointment this week to review our ultrasound results and then we'll be doing Christmas with my family this coming weekend. I'm off this week, and I'm hoping to make a real dent in the nursery, though maybe I'm being over-optimistic there. We will see.

"Big" ultrasound

Yesterday, we had our "big" ultrasound. We have no plans to find out the gender before Baby Rhody is born, but we were still very excited to see baby again--and a little bit anxious to make sure everything was progressing well!

Well, the great news is that everything looked good. It was really amazing how much detail they could see already on the ultrasound, even down to the brain stem and the kidneys. Baby was measuring above-average for 18w at 9 oz--no wonder I've been feeling him / her so early! Baby was also really active the whole time; I'm sure that had nothing to do with the cookie dough (eggless!) I was snacking on before the appointment.

The tech seemed somewhat relieved to find out we didn't want to know the gender; apparently, there is a pre-Chistmas rush where everyone wants to find out to announce on Christmas, and it puts a lot of pressure on her to be able to find the sex reliably.

Anyway, she gave us a bunch of pictures, and I've scanned a few in to share. :)

Baby's face. I think I'm supposed to say "OH, how cute!" but in reality, all I can think is, "My baby looks like Skeletor." Baby sticking his/her tongue out. Now that's my child.

Hand + mouth = NOM.

It was really pretty amazing. There's really a baby in there!!

We felt the baby!!!

Baby Rhody was really active yesterday, all day. I got a couple of good kicks, and I started to wonder if I could feel them from the outside. Keeping in mind that I was still super early, when I climbed into bed at night, I put my hand on my lower belly and waited. Soon enough, I felt a distinct "thump" against my hand! I was so excited. I took Mr. Rhody's hand and placed it there, and after a minute or so, he felt it too!

Oh man, I am so excited that we can feel the baby now! Every day, this pregnancy is feeling more and more real.

I had my appointment with the high-risk doctor today. I had to see another doctor because mine wasn't available, which made me a little nervous going in, but it turns out my anxiety was unfounded. The doctor just asked if my headaches/numbness were still bothering me (they aren't), checked my Lovenox injection sites (they look good), made sure I wasn't showing any other strange symptoms (I'm not), and telling me that my TSH came back perfect (1.22).

"Big" ultasound tomorrow! I can't wait! I am also officially on vacation until January. I have a lot of cooking and cleaning ahead of me, so I'd better get started!

18 weeks!

Here I am, at 18 weeks! I realized a few weeks ago that I had a sort of mental block around 20 weeks. I was sort of riding through this pregnancy, but I really didn't think I'd make it that far. Now 20 weeks seems right around the corner!

Based on pictures alone, it doesn't look like my belly is getting much bigger, but it feels bigger to me. I think it looks a bit bigger as well, but maybe that's just because my pants can't hold it in anymore. Every day my belly feels a bit harder as well. I am starting to have to be careful what I'm wearing because my shirts keep getting shorter and shorter on me. Also, when I stand up straight, it feels like my belly is getting stretched. It's an odd feeling.

So I tried to Doppler yesterday, and I kept getting a lot of static. Even when I changed the batteries, I couldn't even find my heartbeat very well! Eventually, I found Baby Rhody's heartbeat, which was reassuring, but I think all of that "static" I was hearing was Baby Rhody kicking around. Today, after lunch, I kept getting more and more thumps. I love it! It's the best feeling ever to feel my child and be able to smile to myself and know that everything is OK. It's like my little secret.

This is going to be a busy week. I have two doctor's appointments--visiting with the high-risk group tomorrow and then my "big" ultrasound on Wednesday. Of course, Friday is Christmas, and we are hosting 8 people, which will be fun! I need to start cooking!

A couple of good "firsts"

Mr. Rhody and I made our first baby purchase this weekend, and it was totally frivolous: a 4-foot stuffed elephant for the nursery! I am SUCH a practical person usually, so this is totally out of character for me! I just saw this elephant in Aldi, and I HAD to have it! Mr. Rhody and I kept giggling as we went through the aisles. We had a giant elephant in our cart!

At the check-out, the clerk said, "I wish I had a reason to get one of those," and I was thinking, "I DO! I really do!" When we got to the car, I buckled the elephant into one of the back seats. Mr. Rhody didn't notice until we got him, when he finally saw it and cracked up laughing.

That was pretty much the highlight of my weekend.

And then, yesterday, the woman in the check-out line at my work cafeteria stopped me while I was paying and asked, "When are you due?" Eep! My first sort-of stranger comment! It was so exciting!

It's the little things that put a smile on my face these days.

17 weeks!

17 weeks! This has been the week of finding my boundaries and getting used to my changing body.

Last Monday (a week ago today), I fell out of bed. How did that happen? I don't really know, except that I went to swing my legs over the edge, and the next thing I knew, I was on the floor, crying. I ended up with a fist-sized bruise on my back.

I told myself that I was all better, and I took Friday off to work on the house and clean and prepare for Christmas. I got a lot done, but I ended up with an achy back and being exhausted for the whole weekend.

Today, I finally felt back to normal, and, after work, I was doing some laundry in the basement when I tried to step over my bike and ended up on the floor, having caught the pedal. I was so angry with myself for not just moving the bike first. I did cut myself somewhat, but good to know the Lovenox is not overly thinning my blood since I had pretty much clotted by the time I made it upstairs to clean myself up.

On the mental side, I've been having nightmares about not being able to find the heartbeat any more. I'm not sure where this extra anxiety is coming from, but I am so happy that I have the Doppler and have been able to check on Baby Rhody. I even had a dream that my dogs were sick and given 24 hours to live! Yikes!

I got a Facebook message from a "friend" of mine today that I haven't spoken to in over a year. She wanted to let me know that she's pregnant. It wasn't planned; I don't even know if she's in a relationship. I suppose I should reply with some congratulations, but I really want to ask her why she felt the need to tell me. She doesn't know about my pregnancy--in fact, most of our non-local friends don't. I was considering announcing after our "big" ultrasound next week, but considering the anxious week I've been having, I'm not commiting to anything!

16 weeks!

16 weeks! I'm not sure these pictures adequately show how my belly is growing, but it is! Every week my maternity pants fit a little better, and that's exciting! I think I've started to feel some movement. I actually felt it first right before 15w, but I wasn't really sure and I was hesitant to call it before, but I've been feeling it enough that I'm pretty sure that's what it is now. It's so exciting to have another sign that Baby Rhody is doing well!

I really love having energy again. I went shopping for over 3 hours on Sunday. I worked until 4:30 today, got a hair cut, made cornbread, had dinner, did a load of laundry, and I'm still not asleep yet! I honestly don't think I've felt this good in over a year.

Overall, things are going really well. I'm starting to get excited for the holiday season. To be perfectly honest, there is a part of me that is trying my hardest not to think about last Christmas (when we annouced the first pregnancy to our parents and family), but I am focusing on the future and trying my hardest not to think of the past.