35 Weeks

I am not even going to bother pasting in a picture of what the books say the baby looks like now, because OBVIOUSLY my baby is not a normal 35-week baby.  The books says she should be anywhere from 5 1/4 pounds to 5 1/2 pounds ... but at the ultrasound earlier this week she was in the mid-to-upper 6-pound range.  So, from now on I think I'll just say length: long, weight: very heavy.


As for other baby-making developments, her kidneys should be fully developed this week and her liver can process some waste products. Her brain is also developing at an amazing rate and her body fat, which used to be about 2%, is 15% (or higher) at this point.


This week has been slightly rough for me, but mostly just the discomfort of being so big and not being able to move.  I have been sleeping a lot.  Just not at night.  Also, my gentle little lamb has her foot shoved up so far under my ribs that sometimes I just sit for hours trying to push it out and trying even harder not to cry.  And when I try to push her gently so she will move?  Yeah, she kicks and kicks until I give up and leave her alone.  

The official caption of the photo:  "The glow is gone, people!"

As you can see by the picture, yes, I have outgrown almost ALL of my maternity clothes.  They have all become belly shirts.  Classy, let me tell you.  I actually wore this outfit around town today while we ran some errands.  We went and picked out stain and whatnot for the dresser (which Jeremy worked on today, and it is looking GREAT!), then I went into Barnes & Noble.  I was looking for a baby book ... and I ended up running out of the store crying.  Classic.  At first I was crying in the aisle while reading all the pages -- first smile, first bath, etc. -- and then after I had gone through all of the books they had, I was suddenly overwhelmed and couldn't remember which had which pages, and WHICH was the best??  I was too busy crying to remember.  I needed a piece of paper so I could make a list of pros and cons!!!  Then I ran out.  Good times.


Jeremy said it was okay because we had plenty of time, and I wailed, "What if she is EARLY?  We need the baby book at the hospital to get the FOOT PRINTS!"  He reasonably suggested we get the prints on a piece of paper and put them in the book later.  I cried.  He is in for so much more than he ever imagined.  But he hasn't run away yet! :)

Odds and Ends #5

1.  Since I didn't get a belly shot on Saturday or Sunday, I thought some of the pictures my cousin Kristina posted on Facebook from our shopping trip might do the trick.


Here is a lovely shot of "Mount Dimick":

And here is a front view:

Yes, I waddled all the way across Target just to show my mom and Aunt Julie the Twilight dolls.  Totally worth it.  They both said Jacob has better abs in real life.

2.  I also found THIS at Target for the baby:

I bought a 9-month size, because at this rate, she might come out big enough to fit into 9-month baby clothes!

3.  I also found a replacement fake wedding ring on our shopping trip to fill my empty ring finger.  I even got it a little loose on a day when my fingers were extra swollen, so I should have room to grow!

It's nice to have a ring on that finger again (for the low-low price of $7.95!), although it is nowhere near as beautiful as my real ring.  

It will be nice when I can wear it again.

4.  The other day I took our cat MoJo to the vet, and, as usual, many strangers had comments and questions about the baby.  HOWEVER, a MIRACLE happened, and it was not a horrible experience.  First, a vet tech asked me when I was due, and when I told her I had six weeks left, she said, "Oh!  You are that close?  I would have never guessed you were that far along!" and THEN a vet came up smiling and said, "Only a few months to go, huh?" and I said, "6 weeks."  He looked surprised, and said, "You don't look big enough!"  It was such a nice change of pace ... and I was so happy I almost cried. :)

5.  Pregnancy hormones are so much more strange than I could have predicted.  I have a nice new layer of fuzz on my stomach, but the hair on my legs has practically stopped growing altogether!  The hair on my legs used to start regrowing approximately 5 minutes after shaving and would be unacceptably prickly in like two hours, and now it is very fine and I shave once a week, but there is hardly anything there.  So strange.

6.  I got the sweetest handmade gift in the mail a little while ago.  My friend from high school, Hayley, who has a sweet little daughter of her own who is about 6 months old, sent me this adorable headband:

I LOVE it!!  And isn't she talented?  If you are in the market for something similar, let me know and I will contact her for you.


7.  Jeremy's co-worker also sent home a gift yesterday.  Get ready to squeal:

I cannot WAIT to dress her up in these!

8.  I used to show the film Super Size Me to my classes all the time when I started teaching, and I decided to use it again this quarter for a paper.  I have probably seen the movie about thirty times now, what with prep and showing it to all of my classes, and every single time it totally disgusts me and makes me never want to eat fast food again. However, watching it this time for prep and then showing it to two classes ... nothing.  I was actually thinking a nice big order of fries would really hit the spot.  There should be a warning on the box:  "Not effective on pregnant women."

9.  Jeremy has been working on fixing up a dresser I bought about five years ago (for ten bucks!!!) to use in the baby's room for a dresser/changing table.  

He has been working really hard on it; it is all sanded down, the drawers are almost completely fixed (he re-fitted and glued them then added a bunch of nails to make them nice and sturdy) and ready for staining.  The top looks beautiful -- the wood grain looks amazing after stripping and sanding it.  Then we just need some hardware and we are good to go!

32 Weeks

Yesterday was 32 weeks!  This week the baby weighs almost four pounds and could be up to 19 inches long, head-to-toe, though she is actually back to a curled-up position.


The books say that the baby has probably settled into the head-down, bottoms-up position in preparation for birth by now -- not my baby! :). She is still flipping around in there; sometimes her head is under my ribs and she stretches her little legs as low as they will go (ouch) and sometimes her head is down low and she kicks those little feet in the direction of all my organs.  She's a lively one, for sure!


The baby's digestive system is all set and ready to go by this week in preparation for the transition from umbilical cord to breast milk. Because she is accumulating more fat, her skin is finally turning opaque, and she is starting to look more and more like a newborn.  By this week she is also sleeping in cycles of 20 to 40 minutes long.


The reason I had no post yesterday is because we were up at Treetops Resort in Gaylord for the day ... at a toga party ... thrown by my parents.

I can't wait to show the baby these pictures and tell her shortly before she was born we all went to a toga party thrown by her grandparents!!


As for me this week, I am fine.  I feel very stretched and I am tired and uncomfortable, so I assume everything is normal!

31 Weeks

31 Weeks!  We are getting closer and closer to D-day, and I simply cannot wait.  Not only because this pregnancy is kind of killing me, but because I have been DYING to meet our baby ever since the day we discovered we were pregnant, on December 22nd.  It seems like a million years ago to me, but to Jeremy, the time has flown by (lucky him).

This week, the baby weighs somewhere around three and a half pounds and is probably 18 inches from head to toe.  This means that she is getting pretty close to her birth length, but she needs to pack on a few more pounds before she comes tumbling into the world.  Jeremy is actually more worried about premature birth than I am.  Whenever he gets up close to my belly to talk to the baby these days, he tells her over and over to "Stay inside!" Luckily, she has a huge growth spurt coming up.  Just when I thought my abs could not feel any more stretched and painful! :)

The baby is also developing brain cells at an amazing rate, and can perceive signals from all five senses at this point.  I was happy to read that she is now putting in longer stretches of sleep, because I was wondering why she went from having a 24/7 dance party in my belly to taking long breaks in between what must be kickboxing classes.

I am still getting lots of comments like, "The doctor must be wrong! You're due ANY DAY!" and "Are you SURE there aren't two or three in there?"  I don't think most people realize how insecure these comments make me, so I try not to get mad at them; instead, I just laugh and smile and say "I am measuring right on track and she is a healthy weight."  If people keep asking questions and pestering me (which a lot of people do), I usually say something like, "Well, I was big BEFORE I got pregnant, so what did you expect?" (with a smile on my face of course).  That usually makes them laugh but also ends the conversation.  I just don't think most people realize that telling someone who has a terrible body image and was overweight BEFORE getting pregnant that she looks huge is maybe not the brightest point in my day.  I know they are probably just caught up in baby excitement, but it still stings.

This morning the baby had her head shoved WAY up toward my ribs, and there was a bulge you could not only feel, but see.  I called Jeremy in to feel it, and he couldn't believe it.  He kept feeling it, and then leaned in exactly where her head was, and repeated, "DON'T COME OUT YET."  I love that guy! :)

30 Weeks

Today the baby is probably about 16 inches long and weighs a little over over three pounds (and she’ll be packing on the weight at a rate of half a pound per week for the next seven weeks!).  Also growing daily is her brain, which is actually starting to look like the real thing with the characteristic grooves and wrinkles.  And now that she can regulate her own body temperature, she'll begin shedding her lanugo (the downy body hair that's been keeping her warm up until now).  Her eyes are also continuing to develop, even though she keeps them closed most of the day.  When she does open her eyes, her vision is 20/400, meaning she can only see a few inches in front of her face, but she will respond to changes in light.


I have been feeling okay -- just the normal "uncomfortableness" of being huge and waddle-y.  I have had some nausea return and am also having a little bit of heartburn off and on, but nothing too drastic.  The swelling in my ankles and feet have been MUCH better over the last few weeks, and I even found a new pillow arrangement that allows me three hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time before I have to wake up and roll over to my other side to give the current hip a break.  Before, I was waking up EVERY twenty minutes to flip over.  Not ideal.  I did have to steal one of Jeremy's pillows to create this new arrangement, but he seemed more than happy to have the constant flip-flopping stop!


And I just got home from my shower and got a belly picture, but I am much too exhausted to say anything about it.  That will have to be a post for tomorrow.  

29 weeks

Yesterday was 29 weeks.  I am really moving along here.  This week the baby is nearly three pounds and measures about 17 inches from head to toe.  Though she's getting pretty close to her birth length, she still has to chub out a bit.  In fact, over the next 11 weeks, she'll more than double -- or even come close to tripling -- her weight.  As she grows and the room gets tighter, supposedly I'll be less likely to feel those big kicks she has been dishing out.  However, I'll also be more likely to get poked by an elbow or jabbed by a knee.


Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain.  This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in her hardening skeleton each day.

Don't mind how disheveled I look in this picture -- I had just gotten home at 11:30 PM and Jeremy didn't get home until almost 1 AM.  Don't worry, it was just a normal Saturday for him -- probably hookers and whatnot.  Okay, he was at a graduation Open House with his family.  Whatever.

I, on the other hand, was seeing Kathy Griffin (!!!) one of my favorite comedians EVER!  Here's me and the baby all excited to go in:

We went with my good friend Jess, and the baby seemed to enjoy herself.  She danced along to the music playing before the show, and she kicked in between jokes, but every time I laughed really hard, she must have enjoyed the rocking and was totally calm.  I also managed to avoid all elbows to my belly, which has become very hard in crowds.  

It has been a good week, especially with all the good news at the doctor's office.  Next week is 30 weeks -- which seems HUGE to me -- and my BABY SHOWER!  I am so excited!!

28 Weeks

I missed last week's update and belly shot because we were up on Mackinac Island for four days.  I even forgot to get a good profile shot of my belly.  I had just mentioned to Jeremy that we couldn't forget to take one when we got to a pretty spot, but then I walked up 304 stairs, so my only thoughts were death and I forgot all about it.  But I did get some shots that give you a pretty good idea of how big I was.  These were all taken on Friday, when I was one day away from 27 weeks:

The baby makes her first visit to Arch Rock

Beautiful weather for our 8-mile bike ride around the Island!

I felt the need to pose for Tommy's camera.  One of my friends said the caption for this picture is "I'm too sexy for my belly!"

I am wearing HEELS in this picture!  So stupid!

We all had loads of fun, but unfortunately, I was a big buzzkill.  The day before we left, I was working and packing and cleaning and preparing directions for the dog/cat/housesitter from 7 AM until 2 AM ... and then I looked at my feet.  They were bigger than I had ever seen them, and my body told me there was no way it would allow me to sleep with my feet elevated while I laid on my side (per doctor's orders), so I went to bed and hoped for the best.  I woke up four hours later to leave and, surprise, surprise -- they looked about the same.  Then we spent 3 hours in the car, half an hour on the ferry and then started a vacation that included a lot of walking, standing, and socializing.  So, basically, my feet never had a chance to return to normal, and I walked around getting shocked looks from people when they saw that my ankles were bigger than my knees and my swollen feet were jammed into dress shoes like ten pounds of sausage in five pounds of casing.

So, I was pretty lame, complained about it, and put my feet up on people's laps whenever I got five minutes to do so.  At one point, I went into my mom and dad's suite and she had some friends I had never met hanging out in the sitting room.  I plopped my feet on her lap and they both gasped.  The husband said "Is there anything we can do for you??" and the wife immediately ran back to her room and got a tube a cooling lotion to use on my feet.  She even insisted that I keep it because I needed it more than she did!  

Also, I don't know why, but the beds killed me this year.  I have stayed in this hotel for years and years, and usually I wake up feeling rested and ready to take on the day.  They are very nice mattresses.  This year, the same bed I slept in last year felt like a torture device and I woke up every morning exhausted and with every muscle in my body aching.  On the last night, my arms were actually going numb because of the knots in my back, and instead of letting Jeremy drink and party with everyone else, I insisted on an hour-long back rub because I was certain I was about to die.  So ... sorry fellow travelers!!  And especially Jeremy. :(

Well, that was a big re-cap, but now here we are at TWENTY EIGHT WEEKS!!!  I am offically seven months pregnant and in my (drumroll) ... THIRD TRIMESTER!!!  

Look how big she is!!

This week our amazing baby has probably reached two and a half pounds and could be as long as 16 inches!  Along with being able to cough, hiccup, suck, and take practice breaths, she can now blink and experiences Rapid Eye Movement when she sleeps!  Thankfully, her lungs are fully mature at this point, which is the milestone I was waiting for with bated breath.  Although she would still need a LOT of help if she were born at this point, she is out of the "danger zone."

It hit me in the shower this morning that it was my third trimester and I frantically started listing all the things we have yet to do (because we had SO MUCH time) like finding a pediatrician, pre-registering at the hospital, and taking a childbirth class.  Of course, when I freaked out, Jeremy just patted my hand and told me we couldn't do ALL of those things today, so we will sit down tomorrow and make a schedule of when to get those things accomplished in the next month.  What a guy.

Tonight I am off to a Girls Night with some old friends from high school.  We'll see how the baby likes the car trip from Rochester Hills and back.  She has been giving me some trouble to and from work lately.  I often have to lean really far to the right so the pain in my left side will go away. Oh well, I have a lot of working left to do and that means a lot more driving, so we will both just have to get used to it.

My ligament pain has also returned with a vengeance, at exactly the same time when I am having a hard time hauling myself in and out of certain positions.  At night, I usually wake up about ten times, whimpering because the hip I'm laying on hurts so bad.  When I have heaved myself halfway to the other side, my ligaments stretch and I feel like someone is stabbing me under my belly, so I flop back down.  It can take a few tries to roll over now, and all the while I am grunting.  Of course, Jeremy sleeps right through this.  I am going to need a system of pulleys and levers soon! :)

I guess I never appreciated being able to just get up off the couch or go from sitting on the floor to standing or roll over in bed without effort and embarrassment.  I will cherish when I am able to again! :)

A few big achievements also took place this week.  The baby has been SO ACTIVE and sometimes I feel like she is beating me up in there, but every time I put someone else's hand where she was moving, she would instantly freeze, then the second they gave up and moved their hand and I put mine back, she would go bonkers again.  Sigh.  She also moves so much now that I see my belly moving like an alien movie all the time.  I even freaked a student out in the Writing Center because she was doing it, but Jeremy couldn't see it.  But THIS week, Jeremy felt TONS of hard kicks AND saw my belly moving around!  AND I finally found the baby's heartbeat and put Jeremy's hand on it ... and he FELT IT!!!  It has been a good week! :)

26 Weeks

26 weeks!  Our little girl now weighs two whole pounds and is about 14 inches long!

In other big news, her eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, are starting to open!  Obviously, there is nothing good to see in there, but she might respond to bright lights near my belly with increased pulse or movement.  She is able to react to loud noises outside the womb as well because her brain has become more developed and sophisticated with an increase in brain waves (I know this part is true, because we went to a movie on Thursday and she simply THRASHED around the whole time.  I felt bruised when we finally got out of the loud theater!).

The baby's nostrils have also begun to open, and she is making periodic muscular breathing movements to prepare for drawing air into her lungs after birth.  Within the next two days, the air sacs will also begin to develop in her lungs.  Also, over the next couple of days, her fingernails will be visible!

Her movements are strong and frequent, as she is practicing movements she will need outside the womb.  Apparently, she is even "pedaling" her feet against my belly (this made a lot of sense when I read it!  So THAT'S what's she doing when I thought I could feel both of her feet at once!).

I am feeling bigger and bigger, and the baby's kicks are getting harder and harder!!  I can't believe how big of a wallop she packs when she only weighs two pounds.  She also found some new, not-so-pleasant places to kick me this week.  

However, her kicks are now strong enough that Jeremy can easily feel them!!!!  Last night at 9:50, he felt a bunch in a row, including one that was on the opposite end of my belly -- she kicked so hard at the top of my belly that he felt it at the bottom!  It was so great.  His face lit up like he had just won the lottery.  Then, ten minutes later, he was actually around to see her "super-activity" time and saw my stomach bouncing around while she kicked like crazy.  It was a big night!

Some not-as-awesome news from yesterday -- the name Jeremy really wanted for the baby that I definitely wasn't in love with but thought I could learn to like?  I finally admitted to Jeremy that I was never going to be happy with it.  So we got the baby name book back out and started over from scratch.  The good news is, I think we are down to about three or four, so I think we will be fine.  I feel really badly about dashing Jeremy's hopes like that, but the name just didn't sit right with me.  I just knew it wasn't her name.

Today, we went to Detroit for the Race for the Cure.  About 30 of Jeremy's family came out and about 25 of those walked or ran the 5K.  I, however, brought a snack and sat on the ground in Detroit and waited at the finish line to cheer them on.  Apparently I looked like this:

Classic.  Jeremy thought it was worth capturing for posterity.  

The baby kicked really hard when we cheered for the runners!  She loves saving boobies too! :)

25 Weeks

Head to toe the baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches and still weighs only about a pound and a half, but she's starting to fill in with some baby fat.  As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn.  The small blood vessels under her skin are also starting to fill with blood, so her skin is taking on a pink color.


She's also growing more hair, and if we could see it, we'd now be able to discern its color and texture!  Her adult tooth buds are also developing up above her baby teeth buds in her gums.  The baby’s nostrils (which until now have been plugged) begin to open this week. By today, blood vessels will have developed in the lungs.  After birth, these vessels will allow blood to flow through the lungs to intercept oxygen and circulate it to her tissues.  The amniotic fluid (all six gallons of it) is also being removed and replaced by my system EVERY THREE HOURS!  Yikes!


The baby continues to practice reflex movements, and by now, she has developed the startle reflex, meaning she might jump when she hears loud noises outside the womb.  Jeremy said he would be more careful from now on! :)

As for me, I am uncomfortable, but feeling good overall.  The kicking is getting harder and more frequent -- but Jeremy still cannot feel it! Every night, I put his hand on my stomach and keep saying over and over again, "THERE!  Did you feel THAT?" and he shakes his head. Soon enough, I guess.


Jeremy and I did some planning in the nursery today.  We had some high hopes that we might not be living in this city or this house when the baby came, but we got some good news the other day that Jeremy got another job at the Henry Ford Museum, so we will be here for a little while longer at least.  So, we started the process of changing the room next to ours from the workout/storage room into a nursery and talked about what we will have to do to make it work.


There are a few problems, like PANELING on the walls, which we probably can't paint pink because we are renting, and the fact that there is NO CLOSET.  However, there is an entry to a flight of stairs that leads to the attic, so I am going to buy two tension rods today -- one for baby clothes and one to go behind it with a white curtain to make a fake back wall of a closet.  Genius, right?  And, the room is actually ivory on the top half of the walls and lavender on the bottom half (because the homeowner was going for "neutral" ...?) so if I just do pink bedding and pink accents, I think it can work.  Anyway, I know we could have MUCH WORSE options for a room to put the baby in, and like Jeremy said today, it is not like we are putting her in our horrific "Silence of the Lambs" basement.  So, parents of the year, right? :)

23 weeks

Today is 23 weeks, and that means that the baby is embarking on a weight-gain extravaganza over the next four weeks.  Today she is probably a little over 11 inches in length and a little over a pound, but in the next four weeks she will more than double in weight!  YAY, but ... she already seems to be taking up a lot of room, so ... we'll see.

Her hearing is also getting better and better every day, to prepare for all of the sounds she will hear when she arrives.  She is also supposedly able to feel me moving around now because her sense of feeling is so well developed.  It only seems fair, since I can DEFINITELY feel her moving around in there!  She continues to be a big mover.  I have to constantly remind myself that she is only a pound -- it is hard to believe she is so little but can make her presence known with as much force as a bowling ball! 

Her skin is also reddish in color right now because of the rapidly developing blood vessels and the fact that her skin is so thin.  The blood vessels in her lungs are also developing to prepare for breathing.

I continue to get bigger and bigger -- big surprise -- and have been getting some fun comments lately.  

Strangers will say, "OH MY, you are ready to POP!  When are you due?" and of course, I tell them "In four months" and they look horrified.  This past week, FOUR different people at work asked me, "Are you SUPPOSED to be this big?!?!"  I REALLY wanted to say, "I don't know.  Are YOU?" but I just smiled and said something vague and walked away.  

Other than unwelcome comments, I am feeling the stretch in my muscles all up and down my torso and am getting some unwanted pressure on my diaphram, making it difficult to talk a lot when I am teaching (which, if you know me, is a CRYING shame, since it is what I do best!), but things are pretty good overall.  Still some feet and ankle swelling, aches and pains, and trouble sleeping, but nothing unusual, and nothing that I don't already know is going to get worse as time goes by! :)

In just a few weeks I will be in the third trimester, and I can't wait!

20 Weeks, Continued

Here is my 20 week belly shot from last night:

I had to wait for Jeremy to get home from the Tigers game so he could take the picture, and then when he went to snap the photo, the battery died.  I reminded him that I haven't been able to find my charger in weeks and asked him to help me find it.  We thought it might be in the overflowing office closet, so we spent about two hours organizing and cleaning.  We got two bags of garbage out (so embarrassing!) ... but no charger.  Five minutes later I found it shoved back and hidden in the corner of a drawer where I had already looked.  Classic.  At that point, dinner was two hours late, but dang if we don't have a clean closet!

When Jeremy was at the game yesterday, I was sitting on the couch doing tons of work for the new semester, and every so often I went to www.detroittogers.com to check the score.  Every time I visited the website, the baby kicked!  I told Jeremy when he got home, and the biggest smile I have seen in weeks spread across his face. :)  He has big plans for a Tigers fan!


We also watched SNL last night, and Justin Beiber performed.  We were obviously not impressed with the tween, and then Jeremy said "Oh my god ... one day our baby will be a tween and like terrible and annoying things!!!"  Yikes.  I said, "Yeah, that's why it's a baby first and by the time it gets to be a tween you already love it too much to give it away.  Hopefully."

17 weeks (plus a day) belly picture

I didn't get a belly picture yesterday, so 17 weeks and one day will have to do:

When Jeremy showed me the picture, I said, "Holy crap!  I'm huge!"  It doesn't look that big when I am looking down at it!  But I know I will look back at these pictures and laugh, wondering how I could think THAT was huge, when the real hugeness was yet to come. :)

16 Week Belly Pictures

I remembered late last night to take 16 week belly pictures.  Still counts!

I guess I AM pretty big ... no wonder everyone keeps asking me if there is more than one in there!

12 Weeks

Twelve weeks already.  I would love to report that I am feeling better, but now it's more like intermittent horribleness.  One day I will be feeling awesome (and then I stupidly say something like, "Jeremy!  I think I am turning a corner here!") and then the next day I will be back on the couch unable to lift my head.  But at least I am having some good days!


On Thursday I was actually thinking about posting about how much better things were getting, but I decided to wait for Friday.  Friday morning I was feeling fantastic.  I had a morning meeting at work (still feeling fantastic) and then I was driving home and ... BAM.  I threw up in a Tim Horton's bag while driving on the expressway.  It was so freaky and came out of nowhere!  Most of what I have been dealing with is just that overwhelming nausea feeling, and I wasn't even feeling nauseated when this happened!  I called Jeremy panicked and crying (which turns out, didn't help), and then got home and took a 3-hour nap.  What a weird day!


Anyway, two more weeks and the first trimester will be a distant memory!  This week the baby is the size of a lime ...

... and I am apparently already the size of a house! :)


But amazing things are happening this week.  The baby is developing REFLEXES!  Reflexes!!  I told Jeremy (through sobs, of course) and he was just as shocked as I was that the baby is opening and closing its little fingers, curling its toes, and making SUCKING MOVEMENTS!  It is just too amazing.


Nerve cells are forming rapidly now, and synapses in the brain are forming furiously.  The face also looks more human now.


The baby probably looks something like this today:

Except, let's be honest -- my baby probably already has a MUCH bigger butt than normal babies at this point! :)


The next doctor's appointment is this Thursday, and Jeremy will get to go with me to hear the heart beat!!  I am so excited!  Maybe they will also tell me it is twins, and that is why I am already as big as a moose!

Materinty Clothes and Shopping and Crying, Oh My!!

I wore MATERNITY CLOTHES today!!  In honor of such a momentous occasion, I took a picture, and I even took ... a BELLY SHOT!

You may have noticed a lack of belly pictures, and to be honest, I have been embarrassed to take any.  I started showing very early, and after hearing about a thousand mothers tell me I probably won't show until the 4th or 5th month, I was feeling fat.  I was sure that I was just gaining pudge, and I didn't want to go showing that off to the Internet.


Well, guess, what?  I have lost SEVENTEEN pounds since getting pregnant, and I still gained THIS bump ...

I am assuming it is baby-related and not fat-related.  I also read that if your abs were not in such great shape when you get pregnant you are likely to show earlier because there is not much resistance.  I'll be honest.  My abs were NOT in tip-top shape when I got pregnant, so I think it just popped right out.


So, NO MORE SHAME!  I have a bump and it is not fat!!  I'll just tell strangers that I am like 5 months along when they ask! ;)


In addition to all this excitement, Jeremy and my mom when to Babies 'R Us today ... and I got so overwhelmed that I cried.  Kind of a lot.


The crib I thought I liked was WRONG WRONG WRONG in real life, and they didn't have the swing or bouncy seat I wanted to check out.  I was also very underwhelmed by the car seat stroller combos.  The seat does NOT seem secure in that stroller.  What if we move to San Francisco and have to go downhill all the time and the seat pops out??


Anyway, it was all just too much.  Like the first time I went shopping for my wedding dress and the consultant wasn't bringing me the dresses I asked for and I felt like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and left crying.  The moral of the story is that I went back a few weeks later and the second dress I tried on was the one and I bought it and took it home with me and looked at it lovingly every day for 10 months until the wedding.  So, the next baby shopping trip will probably be amazing.  Right?