Nudge, nudge

This past weekend was spent celebrating my old man's birthday. My parents took Chris and I and Kurt and Lauren and Bob to Red Lobster to celebrate the January birthdays (Chris, Kurt, and Lauren). Then we made them play Scattergories (my dad hates the timer on that game and Chris makes crap up) and ate ice cream cake.

The next morning Chris and I were up at 5 am for some reason. I started playing my Nintendo in bed. And then I felt a weird sort of nudging around my belly button. Holy crap I can feel the baby! I woke Chris up and he got very excited. I was happy to finally feel him/her.

But now he won't stop! I do believe that he's practicing or headbanger's ball in there. Cool feeling. A little flippy floppy. Utterly bizzare. And I challenge anyone who has felt this moving to not realize that there's a little person in there, even at 5 months. Yippee!

It's a.....

I haven't written in awhile because I find myself whining too much.

I was a little worried that I haven't yet felt the baby kick. Chris' friend at work can, and she's due a month later than me. Of course, she's had 2 other kids so she knows what to look for. I thought maybe it was because I'm rather a larger individual, but it turns out that my placenta is in the way for me to feel anything. Stupid placenta.

Do I want a boy or a girl? As i have said before, either but not both (that doesn't mean twins; if you can't figure it out I'm NOT explaining it).

Today we went to get the major ultrasound. 20 weeks baby. I'm halfway there. My attendance prize for going to the doctor is a cooler and ice packs for my breastfeeding kit later. Yes, I'm breastfeeding. It's good for my health and good for baby. I promised my coworkers already that I'd be like Hannah from the Office season 3 ("put away your udder!").

I got few baby things for Christmas. My mom said she didn't want to just buy a bunch of baby stuff for my Christmas - that's saved for next year. I got a few unisex outfits and my mom made me a boy outfit and a girl outfit. She wants to have a granddaughter because girl clothes are more fun to make. But the little boy outfit was adorable too. Let's just have babies so we can get baby clothes.

So what are we having? I have no idea. The bugger is apparently head first and ready to go (not yet! 4.5 more months!), but crossing her legs. i say her, because I'm hoping that keeping her legs crossed means that she'll be a very modest girl (unlike her mother).

Chris was disturbed to discover that the amniotic fluid is mostly made up of urine. I won't tell him that the baby inhales and exhales the fluid. It's good to know that we all started life floating in our own piss.

The ultrasounds didn't show us much. Chris nodded when the sonographer (he keeps saying 'stenography') said "here's the Femur" and "look at the abdomen", but didn't have a clue what we were looking at. I saw some things, white lines, you know. The important part is that baby is healthy and growing at a normal rate. She's also got a really large tummy, and Chris and I both love fat little babies, although I really don't want to give birth to a fat baby. She can just grow into herself AFTER she's born.

We are trying again in a few weeks, but honestly if I don't find out I'm not too worried about it. We'll find out soon enough!

what the hell happened to the last month?

Oh yea, I tried to finish my class. Splendid.

I've been limping around the past 3 weeks. Doc said that the baby was stretching some of my ligaments. I'm going to really have to try not to give this kid a guilt trip for what he puts me through. Crikey, I know that some people have had it much much worse, but give me a break. I'm only telling you the PG stuff anyway.

The baby is still Alfonz, but now Chris calls my expanding stomach "Leon". It gets confusing.

I believe I have developed RLS (restless leg syndrome, an apparenlty new "syndrome" that both Chris and I made fun of when doctors put a medical term to something we called "Charlie Baer leg").

Also, vertigo is much fun. I successfully went from the 2nd floor to the 3rd floor on that open escalator at the Macy's in the Galleria by leaning forward and closing my eyes. But I had to take the elevator to go back down. I also couldn't lean on the railings in the mall that overlooked the first floor. I used to not mind heights, now they scare me silly.

Alfonz is the size of a kit-kat bar. I can actually eat food now (still no tomato sauce). I still can't tell if I'm showing or it's still the same ol' round stomach I've always had.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Am I showing or is it belly fat?

I have never had a flat stomach and am resigned that I never will. I have a wonderful husband who holds one sided conversations with my stomach right now anyway, so if that doesn't gross him out I'm okay with it.

Chris says I'm showing. I can't tell if I am or it's just the same rounded stomach I've always had.

I burp a hell of a lot more now. I think I would make my little brother proud.

Today is officially 2nd Trimester, and apparently "peach" according to a website. It still seems too damn small to be making me feel this bad. And Alfonz is not happy with me today for some reason. Maybe he's celebrating his own little accomplishments, for making it to the next stage of fetalhood. Whatever he's doing, it's making me... really..... tired..........

Old ladies in church

Chris and I were prodded out of our pew in church yesterday. We went to a different church than usual, and sat in one of the short pews in the back (you can get into in on both sides). We were sitting on the left side, when a lady just started coming in our pew from the left side, so we scooted down to the other side, wondering what the hell that was about. I think we stole her usual seat. She could have just gone around. Then she flashed the "peace" symbol during the sign of peace. Some people.

I am weak weak weak. I'm afraid to go to the gym and try walking on the treadmill; I couldn't even stand up in church for more than 10 minutes. I looked at all the little old ladies calmly kneeling and standing at all the right parts and felt like a complete and utter wuss.

I'm reading those silly Twilight books, and I'm going to the silly movie.

12 weeks

Nothing interesting. My teeth hurt. can babies make your teeth hurt? I've never had a cavity, so I don't know how it feels.

Just found out that out of the 5 women in my wedding party, 3 of us are pregnant and due May-July. Huzzah for family life! And prayers for healthy pregnancies and babies for me and my friends.

Also, no one seems to have "expectant mother parking" anymore. That figures. Just in time for me to be able to utilize it.

Post Script
Got the flu shot, felt really really queasy a few hours after, but at this point that could be anything. My friend said that her friend blames her premature pregnancy on the flu shot. Great!!!! I think I do have a cavity. I get a cavity for the first time when I'm almost 30. Need to quickly find a dentist. I probably can't get it drilled anyway. I don't think I can have Novacaine (sp?). Icky.

Holy crap I'm a mom

Y'know, sometimes it just takes time for that kind of stuff to hit you. I’m not “going to be a mom”, I am a mom. That little “ball of cells” as some so eloquently put it is my baby, with a heartbeat little fingers and toes, eyes that see and ears that hear, and a blessed little soul. Even if God decides to take Alfonz away before s/he is born, Chris and I are still parents because we have a child.

I did not expect another ultrasound on Wednesday. I had mentioned that it's hard to "feel" pregnant when you don't show and you aren't sick all the time like you used to be. The doc said he might not be able to hear the heartbeat using an abdominal scan at 11 weeks. Chris said I looked terrified, and I guess the doc wanted to calm me down or something, because I ended up getting another one.

Boy that sucker is getting huge! And it looks like the poor guy is running out of space. I think the most amazing part was watching him occasionally kick a little bit and wave his arms. Wow.

By the way, don't anyone get start yelling sexist at me. I refuse to call my baby "it", so my baby will be he, his, or him, until the January ultrasound (sometimes I refer to him as Alfonz). A gender confused girl is much easier to remedy than a gender confused boy (Chris is still obsessed with his hair, terrified of bugs, and in love with Captain Kirk, so it's taken over 30 years without a cure for him. Plus he doesn't own any tools).

Yesterday morning I fell on my bum getting out of the shower. I’m ok, and it seems baby is okay, but it was a little scary. Alfonz is small enough and cushioned enough that a fall on my rump probably didn’t even jostle him. Daddy sang a song to him when I got home in case he was still a little shaken up.

Well, here are the latest pictures. I call the bottom one the "Face of Boe" (only recognizable if you are a Dr. Who fan). At first I thought my child might be a Jawa, but it turns out I was looking at the shadows wrong. I decided that since the nose is already visible the baby must have Chris' Polish features. His large Polish nose that sounds like a foghorn when he blows it (which is quite often).

I’m not going to bother most of my coworkers with my joyous news anymore. One sweet lady said that Face of Boe looked like a blob or an alien head. Another coworker chimed in by telling me that she thinks all newborns are ugly. These are the wonderful people I work with.

You see Alfonz’s baby head and the upper par t his torso. If you have trouble seeing him, make the picture smaller. Face of Boe is best looked at small. Blowing him up only makes him harder to see.