16 week checkup and ultrasound

well i guess i have to start off with an embarrassing confession--i apparently cannot count. :( as it turns out, i have been off on my count this entire time by one week. i'm not really sure how or when this happened, but it looks like i'm 16 weeks now, not 17. that's ok, i guess. just one more week to prepare, right?
so anyway, we had another checkup this morning, and everything was looking STELLAR in there. :) the placenta seems to have moved up some since a month ago, when it looked like the area it attached to might be covering the cervix a little. so, it seems to be correcting itself, as they most often do. good news. :) little bean was looking great, as well. lots of powerful kicks and punches going on in there. it's amazing i can't feel any of them yet. he was also a lot more substantial looking since we last saw him, when he was so skinny and jumpy he looked like a little tree frog. now he looks like a big fat baby, just miniaturized. his heart looked and sounded fantastic, and he looked like he really enjoyed stretching his legs out as far as he could. we got a few good pictures, but i think a video would be the only way you could be as impressed with him as i am. to see him moving around is really something else. and besides, he was so active it was difficult to get a clear picture of all his limbs. but when we were watching him, we got to see hands, legs, arms and everything, and they were pretty amazing. maybe next time i'll try to get a little bit of video to post.

in this one he's sort of facing us, but i think looking down toward his feet a little. his brain is so awesome looking! you can see the two halves so clearly. neat :)

these next to are both a side view with him on his back. you can really see all his bones.

and in this one, i forgot to put it in the caption, but that little black area just above his spine is his big strong heart. pretty awesome. and look at his big old baby belly! :)

and this last picture has a bit of information that some of you may want to see, and some of you may want to avert your eyes from: the crotch shot.

it appears we may have a real monster on our hands. :) (if you click on it, it gets bigger and you can see it a little more clearly.) i have to say i'm a little psyched about the toy situation that would result from such a thing being true--boy toys are just so much cooler than girl toys. sure, my heart would break a little if he NEVER wanted to have a pretend picnic with me, but i think playing with GI joes and cars and pretending to be dragons and daring knights would more than make up for it. but nothing's for sure, and we remain strongly opposed to pink and blue color-coding, anyway. so, a bean's a bean, beanpole or no. (and yes, i did use the following site to come up with that euphemism: http://www.gregology.net/Reference/Dicktionary) *snicker, snicker*

and lastly, here are the missing pictures in the growing belly chronicles:








first lying down picture


my cute little over the pants bump






we painted these blue, and the walls are going to be green and yellow. we can't change the drawer handles, so we're going to paint them. not sure what color, though. i wanted to just use the same green or yellow as the walls, but the handles are very ornate and antique looking, so i feel like maybe they should just be silver. anybody have any opinions on that?

well thanks for reading my ridiculously long update. :) hope you're all doing great.

ps
if anybody has any name suggestions for a boy, we would love to hear them. we're not doing too well in that department...

13 week ultrasound and check up

on friday we went in for a check up and had another ultrasound done as well. we got mostly good news, and a little bit of news that could potentially suck. let me start by saying about a week and a half before the appointment i went to the gym for routine number three, which is legs. i did some squats with a barbell and 30 pounds added on. although i hadn't done squats since i'd gotten pregnant, this was twenty pounds less than i was used to doing, and i did 3 sets of 10, no sweat; didn't feel like i was straining at all. (i had only been skipping them because it was usually occupied when i got there.) i also did another kind of squat which i hadn't done in awhile, with just twenty pounds or so, then some other leg stuff that i usually do. well, the next 2 days i could barely walk. i had no idea why i was so sore. and the scariest part was the next morning. i had a couple drops of blood when i woke up. i was really worried about this, even though i'd already read a lot about all the different things it can mean, and how it's usually no big deal if it's just a little (which it was) and i had no pain (which i didn't). i even checked online about doing squats during pregnancy, and everything was saying that it was actually a great idea. so i called my mom and my midwife and they said to just keep an eye on it, and to definitely not do those squats anymore. (don't have to tell me twice) so i was quite pleased when the day of our check up finally arrived and we got to see our little guy dancing around again. he looked healthy as could be, so i was quite relieved. however, my midwife took a close look at the screen and said it looks like my placenta may have attached a little low (which could explain that bleeding). in less than 10% of cases, this does not end up fixing itself as everything moves up and out in the next 2 trimesters, and when that happens you end up with placenta previa. that would mean the area where the placenta attached is covering the cervix, which would mean no natural birth for me. :( instead, it would mean a hospital, searching for a doctor i like, tons of medicine and interventions, a c-section, and possibly my entire birth plan going out the window if i don't find the right doctor/hospital. i wouldn't be able to bond with my baby right away, they would do all sorts of tests on it, breastfeeding would be delayed, they would cut the cord immediately...all these things i did so much research on for so long and feel so strongly opposed to. so, naturally, i was pretty upset with this news. but i'm trying not to let it get me down. in most cases the situation corrects itself, and even if it doesn't, the baby is still healthy, and that's priority number 1.
here are the three beautiful pictures we got this time:


this is him facing us. a little creepy, but cute.

this is him laying on his back. he kept putting his hand up to his mouth and it really looked like he was sucking his thumb! (which i did read they can do at this point)

this one is my favorite. he is facing down, back arched, arms out, and i swear he is doing a heel click! he looked like a little frog in there. he was squirming in this position for a good minute, and it was hilarious. he's just like his dad:

holy crap

we had another ultrasound today on a better, clearer machine. it's amazing what a difference one week can make. i was in awe of how human-like our little guy has become. his movements seemed less like involuntary flailing and more like joyful, playful wiggles. he would do this amazing dance that would cause him to rise up slightly in his cushiony liquid, and then slowly float back down. at first he was asleep, his little heart beating with determination, but the rest of him just peaceful. then our midwife gave him a few gentle jiggles, and he woke up with such excitement. it was really like he knew what we wanted, and gave us this cute little display just to please us. we could see his jawbone and spine, his arms and legs, and most incredibly, a little foot. it was perfect. it was this amazing, tiny footprint, so clear on the screen. it was as if he was trying to show me, see, i'm not a blob anymore. i'm a real human, just tiny. i could see his TOES. it was incredible. the entire time i was struggling to stifle this gigantic laugh/cry so that my movement wouldn't shake the screen and hinder my view. so i just laid there with this crazy, smiling, open-mouthed look of wonder and awe, several tears escaping this time. it was like i was a frozen image of someone who had just arrived at their own surprise party. it was the most amazing experience of my life, and i can't believe how lucky i am that it will only get better from here.
we unfortunately don't have a picture for you all to see, as the printer paper she had ordered had not yet arrived. i would have loved to have shared this incredible event i witnessed today, but hopefully my words will suffice. i know the image will never leave my mind.
we have our next real prenatal appointment on the first, and she said it *may* be possible at that point to find out what we're having. i think that calls for another "holy crap". should i start taking bets?

first ultrasound

so yesterday we had our first prenatal check up and ultrasound. our midwife said i look and sound like i'm doing great, and the baby also seems to be doing very well. the ultrasound was amazing. it was a very old machine, which did not provide a very clear view, and was not able to zoom in, but what i was able to see was the most amazing thing i have ever laid eyes upon. i just stared at it with my mouth open, stupid smile on my face, one little tiny tear rolling down my cheek. i kept wanting to peak over at jason and see his reaction, but i literally could not take my eyes off the little guy even for a second. we saw this little white dot, his heart, beating like crazy. and then, every once in awhile, he would do this dance, that looked as though he was training to be a prize fighter, working on dodging blows with great speed and proficiency. it's funny, because just the other day i was telling jason how he now has knees and elbows, and is in there learning how to move them. when i told him that, i imitated a boxer, and jason just laughed. but it turns out i was right! he's gearing up to be a tough little cookie. :)
here is the picture we got. it's not very good, i know, but his head is on the left, and if you really look closely, you can see his leg all the way on the other end. i think i see an arm, too, and one of those dots in the middle might be his heart. anyway, we're going to her other office sometime next week where she has a better machine, and we'll hopefully have a much better picture to post after that.



she did try to find the heartbeat using her doppler, but was unable to because she kept getting a lot of feedback on it. she said that had never happened before. jason is convinced it's because our baby's superpowers were interfering with the transmission... whatever it was, she wasn't concerned, because it was definitely going strong on the screen.
as for me, it's been quite a rollercoaster ride lately. every time a new thing comes up, it's gone in a few days. like earlier this week, i was finding that if i went just a few hours without eating, my empty belly (holy crap! has my metabolism increased!) would start making me nauseous. that only lasted three days, thankfully. then yesterday, i just felt grumpy all morning for no reason. i just wanted to yell and scream, no matter what was going on. after that ultrasound, however, i felt very at peace and couldn't keep the smile off my face.
my belly is getting bigger. i put a rubber band through the loop of all my pants and shorts now. it makes them so much more comfortable! and i went and bought a couple new shirts, as well, because some of mine are so tight now that i feel a little self-conscious in them. found some on clearance for $5! :D
food has continued to be a pain in the butt. i decided today that the only way i'm going to be able to stop myself from wasting food (and not wasting a ton of money eating out) is by figuring out what i want for dinner when it's almost dinner time, and then going shopping for it right then. if i don't do it one meal at a time like that, i'll buy things that sound good at the time, but repulse me the next day when it's time to eat them. or just keep eating at restaurants, which is like a terrible trifecta--costly, time consuming, and not as healthy. too bad i can't just have a chipotle in my back yard. mmm...those crunchy tacos are ALWAYS good...
the gym has started to feel good again. i think going earlier in the day helps. i'm not as tired then, and always feel pretty good. went swimming last night and that was pretty awesome,
too.
for a couple of nights now i have been waking up in the middle of the night and had trouble falling back to sleep because i'll be having some anxiety about how much my belly can really stretch, and whether or not i can really push this baby out of me, and without any pain killers! i know it's normal to worry about all that, and it's more a general pondering at this point than an anxiety attack, but i do feel like i should probably get started on the hypnobirthing stuff. i'm excited to learn it, but nervous about whether or not i'm truly capable of having a birth that is virtually painless, instead of just barely manageable. i do believe that we're all capable of giving birth naturally, but i also believe a very large part of that is whether the individual person believes she is capable or not. so i guess i better start getting rid of this negativity, and quick.