Hiccups

26 weeks today and I felt hiccups for the first time! Paul and I bought a device that comes with earphones and amplifies the sounds in your belly. It was only $20, so it's nothing even close to the doppler the doctor uses. We can't hear the heartbeat through it yet, but we can hear kicks and various rumblings. She kicked me so hard it hurt a couple times after dinner so we thought we'd give her a listen and the random kicks suddenly turned into light, steady movements. I started to get a little worried someone planted a bomb in my abdomen when I wasn't looking until it occurred to me it was hiccups. Kind of cute! After they went away she resumed kicking the crap out of me.
As for the glucose tolerance test, I still haven't had it. I fasted all night last Sunday and Monday morning only to get to the lab and be turned away because the loopy nurse at our OB's office wrote the order up wrong. The lab called to get the correct info but since it was a Jewish holiday the office was closed. I was not a happy camper because between the heartburn (I wasn't sure if Tums were ok to take while you were fasting), middle of the night starvation (ever been pregnant? You may know what I'm talking about), and all the water this veinless wonder had to drink all night to be hydrated enough for veins to MAYBE put out (translation= I had to piss every 15 minutes), I didn't get much sleep. The good news is that the mistake was sort of in my favor because originally the order was for a 3 hour test when really it was just supposed to be a one hour test. If I fail the one hour test I will have to do the longer one anyway, but let's keep our fingers crossed. Enough babbling about playing pincushion.
We took down all the furniture in the guest bedroom and are now waiting to recover from property tax time. I hope those sonsabitches are proud of themselves, taking the money from a poor, helpless baby's nursery fund. Bastards.
I leave you with that.

25 Weeks

Well it's my last week in the 2nd trimester, folks. Apart from all the sinus issues, I really didn't have too many complaints the past 2 months. Rumor has it it all goes downhill from here. We'll see. I am hoping working out will help with the aches and pains associated with pregnancy in the next 3 months, but who am I kidding here? There's probably a reason you never see really pregnant women on the elliptical, and I am already having a tough time cramming my bump in some of the resistance machines. Luckily it's almost pool time, and I may just not come out all summer. If you need me that's where I'll be. Get this woman a giant floating chair and some water pillows! I might look like a prune by birth, but at least I'll have spent my last 3 months in a cool way and not a cranky, sweaty, swelled up mass of flesh.

On with the Mavis update... she is kicking like crazy, and I can tell you our daughter is no wimp! I think when it first started happening I said she felt like an eel swimming around in my belly. Forget that. There is nothing swimming anymore. These are clearly the kicks and punches of a creature trapped in a small space. I still can't tell which way she is turned, and which kicks/punches are feet or hands. Maybe our ultrasound on May 15th will shed some light on that. Last week Paul decided to put his head on my belly and got a kick to the head. He said he could hear the movements. I guess that's one thing he can experience that I can't during pregnancy because I don't see myself becoming a contortionist anytime soon.

On Monday I go for the standard glucose tolerance test to check for gestational diabetes. Not looking forward to being a pin cushion, which is what people with tiny collapsing veins like me have become accustomed to. Not fun, and after about 16 hours of not being able to consume anything but water (and that nasty sugary syrup they make you drink), you'd better believe this pregnant lady is going to be heading over to Taco Bell on the way home. I'll try and update on Monday about how it all went.

23 Weeks

I haven't written lately because, other than a few varicose veins and slighly larger belly, not much has changed. The heat has subsided, so no swelling. Yay. The baby's movements are getting stronger, but are still sporadic. The oddness of feeling some sort of alien movement going on in my abdomen is gone and now it's purely exciting and feels more like genuine kicks and punches. Remind me I was excited about those the day I write and complain about getting kicked in the ribs.
Over the weekend we bought a crib, and I actually made a decision on paint color. I made a decision! What a feat these days. It really was ridiculous how long it took me to decide between slightly different shades of green, but we have a winner, and in 2 weeks we're going to start moving the furniture and getting ready to paint the nursery. In the meantime the closet is housing the crib bedding, a dozen or so cute outfits, and a few blankets and stuffed animals waiting to be put in place. I can't wait to get the rest of the furniture picked out and everything set up. Maybe then it will sink in that there really is a person living in my belly and the roundness is not just the product of too many tacos.

21 Weeks

It's hot here and I noticed last night at dinner that my oh, so comfy heels were not oh, so comfy anymore. Due to said heat, when I took my shoes off I noticed lots of marks because my feet had swelled up slightly. Great, here we go with the swelling. We are having an unusually hot spring and I have a feeling this is the beginning of a long, hot summer. I know the folks back home are swearing under their breath at me because they just had a spring blizzard, but for those who don't know what "long hot summer" means in San Fernando Valley terms, it means temperatures of 100+ every single day (by 100+ I mean anywhere from 103 to around 112), no rain, rare clouds. It sounds lovely, but consider being pregnant and having 2 extra months of this summer tacked on. Not that we will get 100+ quite yet. Right now it is about 90. If you need to reach me this summer I will be floating like a giant whale in the pool.
My fingers are swelling too, so I decided it was in my best interests to say a temporary goodbye to my engagement ring. I am a sentimental fool and didn't want to take it off, but I figure it's better than having to get it cut off of my finger at some point. My wedding band is slightly bigger so we'll see how long that lasts.
Now onto the fun stuff! I saw the baby move from the outside of my belly for the first time today, and Paul was able to feel some light kicks. It really just looks like my belly pulsates every so often but it's really exciting. I've been looking forward to this part of pregnancy and I'm glad it's finally here. I'm glad Paul can finally share in a little bit of the fun too.

20 Weeks- Halfway through!

Yep, it's happening. She's growing. Just 2 weeks ago the maternity pants were slightly too large and now, despite having lost a pound since then, they're the only pants I can fit into in the gut area. Today I got a pair of maternity pants that are so comfortable I will be sad to give them up after pregnancy. Goodbye rubber banded buttons and zippers that only go up halfway and hello elastic, stretch waistbands! Life is good.

In other exciting news I can now feel the baby. The first time I felt her was the day I was 19 weeks along. At first the movements were scarce and light, but every couple of days they get stronger and more frequent. As I'm writing this I've been kicked just under the belly button twice. Sometimes they actually feel like little kicks, but mostly it feels like an eel is swimming around in there. I haven't heard anyone else describe it that way, but it makes sense to me.

Now that we're halfway through the pregnancy, Paul and I decided it's time to start figuring out what we need to make this baby at home so we went to Babies R Us on Saturday and registered. We're not completely done, but we've picked out all the important stuff and then some. Pretty soon we'll start on the nursery at which point I hope to have figured out how to post pictures on this thing.

Happy Easter and Spring!

FYI- This was actually posted on the 18th, not the 13th. That date was from an old draft.

Move over Ginger Ale, make room for Buckler!

Got an email from my friend Stephanie the other day reminding me about something I would have never given thought to before pregnancy... non-alcoholic beer. Let's face it, pre-pregnancy I would almost never choose beer over liquor, and frankly, I like alcohol in my alcoholic beverages (sorry, but I don't believe 0.5% counts- if you do, read the statistics here and feel better http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/FetalAlcoholSyndrome.html) I thought I kicked the beer craving but last night I saw some people drinking beer on Three Sheets (a funny show about drinking on Mojo HD) and it was all over. Paul offered to go to the store and get some of Stephanie's recommendations, one of which was Buckler. I was a little skeptical, wondering if it would taste like the real deal. When he got back and I took the first sip I was in non-alcoholic beer heaven! Thanks Buckler. Now I can kick back with a cold one and relax. Sigh...

19 weeks

Today we had our second trimester ultrasound. The doctor said everything looks great. The organs, blood flow, and size of the baby are all just as should be at this point. Right now "the Mave" weighs 9 ounces, and once again they confirmed it's a girl. That's good because I couldn't help but buy some cute girly clothes after the last ultrasound.
We don't have any great pictures of the baby right now because she was sleeping, but I'll post them later anyway once they're scanned in. She was pretty cute, resting the right side of her head on the placenta like it was a pillow.
As for mommy, I feel great. No more fatigue or major symptoms, and even the cravings have subsided a bit (except for pickles... I just can't get rid of that one). My belly is growing by the day, and though I haven't graduated into maternity pants yet (they are still slightly too loose), I have had to use the rubber band expansion trick on most of my pants. Now I'm just waiting 'til I can distinguish the baby moving from gas! Not as easy as it sounds. I will let you know when I can tell for sure. :D