Flat Belly

I am 17 weeks and I woke up this morning with a flat belly. Now, I am intelligent enough to understand that my baby is the size of an onion and if something were wrong with it, i would most likely know. At the very least, that just because I can't find it doesn't mean it isn't there. But I still googled...

So baby is just in a different position today i guess. Most "answers" seem to imply the baby and i are spine to spine, like little nesting dolls (We're spooning!!!) so poking my belly would be lucky to find its tiny feet. My belly does and has changed shape this whole time, but i was starting to look a little noticeably pregnant (especially after eating since my intestines basically got pushed toward my belly button for baby), and today I don't look even a little bit pregnant which is sort of unsettling and entertaining at the same time. You would have to know me really well (or have seen the early photos) to know that my belly is different at all, much less has a baby behind it.

17 weeks

4 weeks

A crib!!!

The crib came today. I put it together by myself and then made Bob get out of bed to help put in the spring and tighten the screws. The bedding came earlier in the week, but I still haven't bought a mattress :)

I finally went and bought a new bra today (actually 2). My old bras made it as long as they could, but even the biggest got painful. The new ones of course look huge to me. I've always been somewhere between an A & B cup and have managed to ride out my lightly padded B-cup bras til now, and can I just say that a C cup looks gigantic in comparison. Even my husband questioned whether or not the bras i was buying were going to fit me (since my logic was essentially- my band is the same, my B cups are too small, i'll get a C) and they do- in fact I wouldn't be entirely surprised if I end up a D cup by the end of this and that would really look gigantic to me. The stretch marks have stayed away though i do have some crazy boob veins radiating from the center of my chest that look straight out of a comic book. I feel a little bit like Storm. lol.

I worked a really long weekend (8hr night, 14 hour, 12 hour, 7 hour day stretch) and weighed myself and am concerned i'm going to get yelled at by the doctor for not gaining enough weight. Our last appointment, i kind of got a glare and "are you eating enough?!?!?" but she otherwise let it go. Bob did point out that i weighed myself after burning A LOT of calories. I'm eating, and I eat when I'm hungry, but I am a rather active pregnant person considering I don't actually exercise outside of work. I'm not overly concerned. My understanding is that baby will pretty much take whatever it needs.

1 week to gender!!! I hope...

Tiny Flutters

I don't feel our baby all day long. I'm not supposed to feel it all, but between my uncomfortable familiarity with what gas feels like (and what it doesn't feel like) and possibly the fact that i'm thin, and maybe that every time we've seen or heard our baby, it's wiggling up a storm, i feel baby squirm a couple times a day. The best description for the sensations that I can distinguish as absolutely baby is like a big fish in a tiny bowl swimming circles- it tickles, and seems almost like a slimy wiggler. Mostly, I only notice when I'm laying down and not doing anything and it never lasts terribly long. It's something I can feel from the inside, but not something Bob would be able to feel from the outside and not something you can visually see.

I frequently lay with one hand on my belly, call it nesting or a comfort pose, or maybe wishful thinking but for whatever reason, it's something i do. I don't ever feel anything, i just sit that way. But tonight, ah tonight, i felt that little wiggler against my hand and IT WAS AWESOME!!! It wasn't forceful or strong, but the middle of my abdomen pushed out a little against my hand and then there was a very definitive fluttering/drumming sensation for about 10-15 seconds. I thought it was pretty cool so i pushed on my belly a little and got the cutest little weak kick back. just once. We are currently at 15 weeks and getting very excited about more obvious movements. I can't wait til Bob can feel them too. Baby's ear canals are supposed to start forming in the next couple of weeks so talking to it won't feel so dumb.

Our floors are officially done and will be easier to clean and no splinters for our little one! We can start putting furniture back tomorrow. In less than 3 weeks, we will hopefully have a gender for our little one. If it's a girl, we already have a name, and if it's a boy we can start really brainstorming as we haven't quite picked a boy name. In 3 weeks we tell the rest of our families. :)

Heartbeat

Today's appointment was- as expected- not terribly exciting, BUT we DID get to HEAR the heartbeat!!! We've seen the heartbeat twice (at both ultrasounds) and we've seen our baby move a lot, but we hadn't actually heard it until today. True to our baby's current history, it was moving around in there and messing up her count so it took awhile to get a number (160), but an active baby is a healthy baby, right? Right!

We did ask and she did reluctantly write the slip for our gender ultrasound at 18 weeks (though i think they ideally scan at 20 weeks). The lady who actually makes the appointments said she's been making them for 18 weeks all day and then they get to me, and the ultrasound people were like "that's too early! she might have to come back!" and the appointment lady smoothly lied that we would be on vacation for 2 weeks after (which is not completely untrue, we will be on vacation right after, just not for 2 weeks) and they would just have to do it. I told her she is just the coolest. All the books say gender ultrasounds are good anywhere between and 18-22 weeks. Anything earlier than 18 weeks can often be inconclusive (though people do frequently find out before 18 weeks). Between our big family vacation at 18.5 weeks (which we'd like to announce during) and the fact that our super active baby may not cooperate for any number of gender ultrasounds, we don't think it was an odd request, and she said they absolutely should be able to tell at that point. Beth the receptionist/appt lady rocks!

Today we paint the nursery :)