Birthday trip #1

For a little pre-birthday surprise, Justin took me up to Orcas Island for a weekend getaway. It was a gorgeous weekend, especially for Washington in April, and the trip out of town was much needed. I have a great husband. Pictures will show the quick trip best:

Saturday morning, April 21 we headed to the ferry. The day was already looking sunny and beautiful.

Down by the water waiting for the ferry in Anacortes (it was about a 1.5 hour drive to Anacortes).

The little car all lined up and waiting for the big boat.

Once on the ferry, it was a little chilly but we had great views of the puget sound and surrounding mountains (like Mt Baker, above).

...And of course, other islands within the sound.

We had a quick stop at Lopez Island before heading on to Orcas. Lopez is another island we'd like to go back to camp at. It was about an hour and 15 minute ferry ride to Orcas from Anacortes.

Once we got off the ferry, we headed to a quaint little place in town for brunch that Justin had spotted called the new leaf cafe. It was AMAZING. We tried to walk around a bit in town but it was a bit windy and chilly.

We headed to the east part of the island to a Moran state national part where Mt Constitution is. We headed up Mount Constitution and again, had phenomenal views of the puget sound. The weather may actually have been nicer here in April than it often is in the summer months. BIZARRE.

The tower at Mt. Constitution. Pretty cool and lots of history, too, which was pretty fun (for history nerds like us).

One more shot of the sound from a top the Mt. Constitution castle.

We then decided to go on a 5 mile hike from the top of Mt. Constitution. Above I am peeing in the woods as hiking 5+ months pregnant does not bode well for the squashed bladder.

After checking in to our suite, we cleaned up and eventually made it to dinner at the Inn on Ship Bay. Continuing with the views....

Justin at dinner.

The menu at dinner. Mmmm.

And our wine glasses. One empty, one not. Oh how sad.

We watched the sunset over the water...

While one of us enjoyed wine, and the other two of us ate asparagus soup.

Justin chomped on a butter leaf salad.... and then we both had salmon for dinner which we were too enthralled with to take pictures of. It was AMAZING. Everything here is grown locally and the menu is seasonal. So good. After dinner, we headed back to our suite. It was very quiet and woods-y there as I'm pretty sure no one else was on Orcas that weekend.

The next day we went back to the new leaf cafe since it was so amazing before we headed out on the ferry. It was the perfect start to my birthday weekend- couldn't have asked for a better surprise.

22 weeks.

22 weeks. IT IS GOING TOO FAST. That is all. I need more time to mentally prepare. I guess that's what the next 18 weeks are for.

22 weeks shot angle 1.

22 weeks shot angle 2.

And 21 weeks for comparison.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. And getting bigger. Seems to be the status quo these days. My hips are still moving around and hurting a bit but I've come to accept that is just normal. Justin and I played tennis this week and it was actually a lot of fun. I was curious to know how it would be to run around out there with a little (lot) of extra weight and a tummy... it was sort of weird. I'd run after a ball but would keep going because I'm still not totally used to the whole balance thing or the fact that I do indeed have a lot more weight leading the way. Justin said I looked funny running around but, hey, at almost six months pregnant and I'm still smashing a tennis ball around, I'll take it. Workouts were kind of more lax this week. I was busier at work so I only lifted once and I really didn't run at all. I walked a lot...and played tennis. I figure that is better than nothing.

I am also in need of new clothes again. All of my shirts are starting to look like crop tops. So I go home from work, put on a shirt that used to fit that is now a crop top, soon to be a tube top, sweatpants that are slightly too tight and socks that may or may not match. I'm looking a little WT when at home these days (call before you come over... or just come over and laugh, whatever, I'm past the point of caring). One of the days this week was particularly rough trying to get ready for work so instead I ended up ordering shoes online. Um... like 5 pairs..and heels. I figure shoes will always fit, right? It helped at the moment.

Later in the week, I conceded and I did go shopping to buy some actual clothes (no shoes) that fit better since I am now apparently in a new stage of growth. I ended up getting quite a few things at target, surprisingly. But hey, it's cheap, and I know in another month, I'll be back to needing new stuff again so I can justify the short life with the cheapness factor. I bought a few maternity things but most are so ugly that I ended up just buying bigger sizes of "real people" clothes that are actually cute. A lot of the stuff I bought was for Hawaii next week.

Backne has turned into shoulder-ne. GO THE HELL AWAY!! (I'm told this is due to the testosterone due to the baby boy). Who knows, but it sucks.

I'm also back to severe pregnancy brain. I can't remember what I was saying two seconds after I started saying it, I forget people's names, I talk and sound like I have some sort of disorder because my words are all jumbled. It's the weirdest thing.

How I'm changing?

Can we talk about boobs again? Do we talk about them too much? Let me just say: I had to buy a new bra this week. As in a NEED. The old ones no longer fit. Or, well, it was pretty much like wearing pasties. So I go in to victoria's secret. They measure me. TWO FULL cup sizes bigger. And still growing. Are you kidding me?

Oh, and maybe another slightly off color topic- my bladder continues to shrink. And shrink. It's really common for women to piss themselves when they are pregnant, sometimes without knowing it... whether it's due to pressure on the bladder from the baby or just the way the bladder is positioned. Some women have pretty severe incontinence during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester. Lovely, right? Well, I thought I was one of the lucky ones and I wasn't going to have this issue. Ha. Ha. Haha. I sneezed this week and experienced my first little leak. UNCOOL pregnancy gods, UNCOOL.

 

What I'm eating?

Pretty much I'm back to eating what I normally used to eat. It is SO nice. I eat oatmeal with walnuts and flax for breakfast, something lighter for lunch (salads are totally acceptable to my stomach still, thank god!) and then whatever for dinner. We have been doing a lot of rice and lean meats with salads or vegetables. I also don't hate peanut butter anymore like I did in the first trimester so I've been snacking on that some too. Some people say you shouldn't eat peanut butter during pregnancy (or anything else for that matter) but to these people, I think they would be better served to lock themselves up in a padded room for 9 months because they are so paranoid. On the flip side, I've read that if you DON'T expose the baby to potential allergens (nuts, gluten, dairy), then the baby is much more susceptible to developing allergies once born. I just go with what sounds good to me and know that my body will tell me if something is not ok.

Weight I'm gaining? 

I have no idea actually. Since I didn't really lift weights this week, I didn't weigh myself. I would guess I'm 135? Up a pound from last week? We did see a energy/chakra/healer person recommended by our naturopath for Justin this week (another post entirely) who told me not to gain more than 30 pounds based on how my pelvis is (more than 30 pounds will = a big baby). I'm thinking that a 30 pound gain would put me at 150-155 pounds at birth since my "normal" weight should have been 120-125 but I was about 8-10 pounds underweight when I got pregnant. We'll see what happens. I'm eating well, working out and no longer eat like crap since I am well out of the first trimester "eat whatever you can to survive" period.

How I'm sleeping? 

Not too shabby. One night last week as we were falling asleep, the baby was doing serious gymnastics. I put my stomach against Justin and he could feel everything, too. He was like WHOA, that's got to be so weird. Yeah. It is. 

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is about 11 inches long (almost the size of a ruler- WHOA) or the size of a spaghetti squash. The baby is about 1 pound.

-The baby is continuing to develop its senses, including it's taste buds and touch

-The baby looks like a miniature newborn (no longer like an alien!) His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are more distinct and tiny tooth buds are developing. The eyes have formed but the irises still lack pigment.

-Mostly the baby continues to grow and grow and is moving all about, especially since there is still alot of room for him in the womb (NO KIDDING)...

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-We didn't really do that much this week. The only thing I can really think of is that I had an insane pregnancy moment when Justin left the house for a few hours last weekend... I think my "nesting" kicked in. I thought it would be a good idea to start moving out the office furniture out of the office (IE: baby's room). This involves a rather heavy desk but I didn't think it would be an issue getting it down the stairs. Um, it sort of was. Justin came back to a pretty torn apart house a couple hours later and was all "WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU INSANE? YOU KNOW YOU ARE PREGNANT, RIGHT?" Uh....yeah...

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

Emotions are weird (theme of this whole thing). The craziest thing lately has been the fluctuations between, ok this is pretty cool (IE: feeling the baby move) to total anxiety about actually having a baby. And not so much the actual birth but the raising of a PERSON. I know a lot of it is hormones but man.... it would be nice to have a few days that aren't like the craziest hormonal roller coaster ever. Although I will say, I will take these ups and downs versus the bawling fests of the first trimester any day.

Birthday surprise #1

I came home the other night to Justin making me dinner- a nice big Thai dinner... from scratch including a miso vegetable soup plus a chicken pasta peanut dish. AMAZING. He says that it was my first of my "birthday" surprises. I think I'll keep him around.

21 weeks

21 weeks. I keep thinking "it's all downhill from here, right?" I mean, we are technically on to the "second half." But then I have to check myself and remind myself that, oh, yeah, I have been pregnant FOREVER already which means I still have FOREVER to go. And somehow my stomach is going to double in size again. I can't even fathom that right now. How about pictures? 

21 weeks.

21 weeks view #2.

And 20 weeks. I look bigger at 20 weeks. Remember I said I took the 20 week picture late in the day? I think that makes a difference.

How I'm feeling?

Huge. But I can't even go there for fear of how I'm going to feel in about 2 weeks... or two months. Seriously, I'm going to get bigger?!

I also had a resurgence of headaches this week. What is that all about? It was only at the beginning of the week and then I pushed it when we did our chest/triceps workout so I strained my neck. I do this about once a year as is when not pregnant and somehow because of, really, sheer stupidity and a changing body I have managed to strain my neck THREE times already while pregnant. And this is where the sheer stupidity gets even more stupid... by doing this to myself WHILE pregnant, there is absolutely ZILCH I can do about it. All of the ointments/muscle relaxing creams are basically out, advil (which usually solved the problem quickly before) is out... (and side note here: this was the ONLY time I'd ever take advil, so you know it's bad).

Basically, all I can do now when I strain my neck is sit there and want to die. Oh yeah, and have my husband practically break his hands by rubbing it. It's like rubbing giant rocks. Not pleasant. I mean seriously, this is the WORST of the worst headaches I ever get- all caused by neck strain. STUPID. So I did this monday and by Tuesday, I really wanted to just shoot myself and be done with it. It hurt SO bad. So much so that I found a bengay bottle and OHMYFREAKINGLORD, it didn't say "not for use in pregnant women." Somehow I think bengay somehow paid their way out of this one as I'm fairly sure all of my natural ointments (like topricin) had that "don't use if pregnant" or "ask your doctor if pregnant" warning but I'm also fairly sure the natural ointments are much more natural than bengay. Whatever. At this point, I did not care. At this point I'm also pretty delusional so I have Justin put a TINY dab on to hopefully help it out. Of course we did heat and ice and all that shit too but yeah. No dice there. And no dice with the bengay either. I TRIED to sleep that night. Tried. I woke Justin up eventually and told him I was dying (I know, I know DRAMA, but I really thought I might die). I literally was about to the point of puking (which does = dying in my book). You know if I'm to the point of wanting to throw up, it's bad. I do not throw up. Ever. So, Justin started talking to me and helping me breathe, talking me through the pain (perhaps like he will do when I'm in labor?) and I kid you not, he helped me calm down and relax enough to be able to get to sleep. And just that little bit of sleep helped my neck to relax to the point where I no longer was going to hurl my guts out and have to die right then and there. I have the best husband. It was really shitty but at least I learned that little lesson, as if I didn't already know- my husband is amazing.

After that little adventure, I felt pretty great all week.

How I'm changing?

Still getting bigger and bigger and bigger. That's about it. I continued my workout regime this week and it felt pretty great (minus the neck strain). My hips still get pissed off if I do too much walking or running but I've accepted that comes with the territory.

What I'm eating?

Pretty much still everything that I used to eat as a "normal" (aka- not pregnant) person. I'm back to eating not much gluten or dairy, just because I seem to feel better when I don't eat much gluten or dairy. But I craved both my first trimester (and sometimes together ala mac and cheese). I wish I could go back to not eating meat but I really need the protein right now so I'm still sucking that one up. I've also been eating a lot of oatmeal. Pretty much my morning trend. Steel cut oats, walnuts, flax, and cinnamon. SO amazing. I did have a black tea this week, the day after my neck incident kept me awake all night and I was basically a zombie the following day. I figured it was ok since it technically IS ok to have one cup of caffeine during pregnancy a day, but I just haven't been drinking any since I got pregnant, mainly because at first it repulsed me and then I just never started to drink it again. After this cup? OH MY GOSH. It was like I'd taken speed. I was jittery, shaky, felt like I was high as a kite- and I didn't even finish the thing. HILARIOUS. Guess my body has acclimated to the no caffeine thing....

Weight I'm gaining? 

I gained a pound from last week... 134. Holy crap 134. That blows me away. I have almost gained 20 pounds already. It's good that it's been a bit stagnant the past couple of weeks as I'd really like to keep the weight gain under 35 pounds. We shall see. I've been eating well and exercising so my body (and the kid) are sort of the sole dictators in what stays on or doesn't right now...

How I'm sleeping? 

I slept pretty crappy with the whole neck/headache thing but later in the week slept ok. Oh, until about Thursday night when I was jolted awake by someone performing gymnastic stunts in my belly. Cute, kid, cute. But not at 3am.

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is about 10.5 inches or the size of a banana (um, last week it was compared to a small cantaloupe.... is it me or doesn't a banana seems smaller than a cantaloupe?)

-The baby's digestive system is still developing and he is swallowing amniotic fluid and absorbing some sugar

-The baby mostly occupies himself by sucking on his thumb and moving about in the womb (YOU DON'T SAY)

-Other than that, the baby is just continuing to grow, grow grow (and will from here on out).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-We went to hypnobirthing this week... our last class until our update right before baby. Was great, as always. Now to practice until the big day.

-I lost a bet. The bet where I would wait to find out the sex of the baby. OF COURSE I couldn't wait. It's a boy as I'd thought all along. You can see the blog post by clicking here if you missed it.

-Other than that, not much else. Big ultrasound and hypnobirthing were pretty big deals in my book.

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

Justin and I were sitting on the couch one night this week. It was Friday night at the end of a fairly busy week as we'd had friends over for dinner one night, which we always love, and then had other things going on throughout the other weeknights. On Friday night we were snuggled up together and I was feeling my little kicker kick (or punch) the crap out of me. I put Justin's hand on my stomach and for a while, the baby settled down. All of a sudden though, POW!!! then a few lessor pow! pow's! At the big POW! Justin and I both jumped. He was all WOAH! And I laughed. We laughed. It was so cool to be able to feel together this little thing inside of me that is ours. I loved sharing that moment with him.  

It's almost (maybe?) summer in Seattle...

The signs of summer were all over this past weekend. We went for a long walk on Saturday where we wore SHORTS and t-shirts. In APRIL (this might be a new record). We had an awesome BBQ with friends on Saturday night where we only mildly were freezing our butts off. We had another dinner with friends who live in Alki Beach in West Seattle on Sunday and it was gorgeous out. Oh, yeah, and the true sign of summer? Justin shaved his hairy legs to prepare for bike season (it's a biker thing). Which also means? Now I have to start shaving mine more regularly. It is seriously not cool if your husband's legs are smoother than yours. Pictures:

Yes, I really just posted a picture of Justin shaving his legs. HI honey! It is a biker thing and this picture is PG, so all's fair.

Goregous Alki beach.

And another shot. It actually looks relatively empty here. It wasn't. It was PACKED.

And one more. I'd like to say the trend of summer-ness has continued but alas, now we are back into the 50s with rain predicted. Perhaps this past weekend was just another good old Seattle tease.

Opal Mae Ball.

Whenever I think of my dad's mom, I think of Opal Mae Ball. This was her maiden name and as a kid it cracked me up. Who names their kid "Opal Mae Ball" as in "Opal may ball," sure- why not? Ball away. Anyway, it always made me laugh and I'm not sure if this was just an internal joke I had with myself or if any other members of my family found this humorous but it's something that I always think of when I think of my grandma, even though she changed her name when she married my grandpa to Baker. Opal Mae Baker just didn't have quite the luster in my childhood mind.

I don't believe I was ever as close to to my grandma as some of my cousins probably were, or maybe even as close to her as my brother was, but I do have fond memories of her. I remember her house and the smells of her house- grandma's infamous rolls that still make my mouth water to this day, the way she'd make me scrambled eggs and an orange at her house in Denison, Iowa when my mom would sleep in and my dad was out golfing, the way her basement that was full of knicks and knacks that I could browse through for hours, pictures galore that she'd explain of "who was who",  playing cards with her, golfing with her from the time I was old enough to hold a club to the time I was in college..and even later than that as she played golf until the very end. I remember that she was always very witty and had something funny to say. She was, in the simplest way I can describe it, someone who lived life the way she wanted to and certainly a firecracker of a lady. She was no nonsense and had a sense of humor about her which are two valuable lessons that I will remember about her.

My grandma was the most healthy, really, out of my three remaining living grandparents. She was a little forgetful (and apparently becoming more and more forgetful) but a week before she died, she was out on the golf course with my dad. Playing. At 93 years old. Then, abruptly, true to form almost, she decided that was that. Despite appearing as healthy and as trim as ever, with just a few memory lapses, she had a stroke followed by a heart attack. She battled the repercussions for a week and again, true to form, was as feisty as ever fighting the doctors and nurses all the way until she succumbed to this world on April 12, 2012 in her sleep. She was 93 years old. I'm surprised that she passed. I'm not particularly overcome with sadness, as I do have fond memories of her and she lived a long, good and full life. I believe that her passing was just another essence of how she lived her life- it was time to die, so she died. She made up her mind to do it, and done (perhaps this is where I inherited some of my stubbornness- some traits are truly nurture, not nature).

I do know this: there will be a space missing where she once was in family gatherings. It simply won't quite be the same family. The circle of life continues to amaze and enthrall me. A life passes quietly and peacefully and another is about to be born. I would hope that we could all live a long and full life like my grandmother did. At the end of it all as we slip out, I would hope that we have the knowledge and peace that things will carry on without us...in a way that honors our memory and respects who we once were and everything we did in the life that we lived. That despite our absence, our loved ones lives move on with all of the fond memories at the core that make us who we are.   I think my grandma had accepted that and so, her duty was done. I'm sure she is in a much better place now- probably with a golf club in hand. And all of us? We are better in one way or another for having known her.

Soccer in Seattle

On Thursday, Bailey had a rare soccer game on this side of the mountains (meaning our side, the Seattle side...aka the rainy side). This would have been awesome if the game had been a few days BEFORE Thursday but the weather Thursday was schizophrenic. When we first got to the game? Sunny. About 3.5 seconds later? We were running for our lives as apparently the Phoenix monsoons visited for about 20 minutes. DUMPING rain, hail, wind. Insanity. Luckily, it didn't last long and the sun came out again just in time for the game. Regardless, we were still pretty cold by the end of it all. BUT! Bailey's team won and we got to see him play so all around, it was a pretty cool evening. A few pictures:

Bailey is #16, leading the pack at halftime.

IT'S A.....

CUTE BABY! SEE!  

Yes, we had our big ultrasound yesterday... who's dying to know to see if I caved? Who bet on it like my husband did? Should I just go ahead and tell you he's a richer man today?

Which also means that I know something that you don't know! (I'm such a tease). In all reality, all of my grand plans to find out on my birthday in Hawaii flew out the window the second I walked in the door. I couldn't wait. I have no resolve. I'm weak. Whatever. I justified it 400 different ways (IE: I'll STILL be in Hawaii on my birthday, which is STILL special, I will be thrilled no matter what, etc). Truth of the matter? It was special. It was everything. I cried and it was perfect and it still would have been perfect whether we found out in 2 days, 2 weeks, or 5 more months.

In all seriousness? The little turtle WANTED us to know. Seriously, SO ACTIVE... It would have been impossible not to see unless I had walked in blindfolded. Oh, what? You want to know?

BOY!! (As I've thought all along- maybe I do have some motherly instinct!) We caught this shot about 500 times throughout the ultrasound. As the tech said, "Wow, that is quite the boy part and he is definitely a proud little man..." He was displaying it quite frequently and quite prominently. To which my husband joked, well, he is a Valente man. Ha!

We couldn't be happier about this new little guy. And in all honesty, the best news we got of the day was that all organs and bones were there and in place and everything about him looks perfect. Now we wait... for 5 more months or so to meet him.

20 weeks (aka 5 months...how is this possible?!)

Halfway there. Halfway there. Halfway there. (Trying to let this sink in...so far, no dice).

Perhaps this week was the pop out week. WOAH. I really look pregnant.

And again. Yikes. I did take the 20 week pictures at the end of the day (usually it's in the morning) so perhaps that was the more popped out look. Who knows.

19 weeks for comparison.

And just for fun I thought it would be interesting to revisit 14 weeks. WOW. I can't believe I thought I was big then (I'm probably going to be saying that about 5 months soon enough...)

How I'm feeling?

I said it last week and I'll say it again- still feeling pretty awesome. Like my old self plus 15ish pounds (aka HUGE). I have decided that I really don't know what is good about being pregnant. You start off feeling sick, then you never shit, then you have terrible headaches, then you just feel "off", you can barely touch your boobs even with your shirts, then you grow and grow and grow and you are just HUGE and can't do half of the things you used to be able to. Oh yeah, and your poor husband is subject to much of the crazy emotions (understatement) added to all of the physical symptoms. I guess at the end of it all you do have a precious baby BUT I really don't know that there is much positive in the whole pregnancy thing. I know some of you ladies out there love it and for that, you have all of the respect in the world from me. If there is anything I can say about all of this right now at this point in time: I can finally see a GLIMPSE of why people might enjoy being pregnant. You are just mildly huge but you feel amazing, like your old self. No hormonal breakdowns, no headaches, no sickness, energy is back- and you are starting to feel the baby. All around the best time in the pregnancy so far, hands down.  

How I'm changing?

Still getting big (see pictures for proof). I discovered this week that putting on socks and shoes is getting to be quite difficult. Pretty soon I might need help here. I'm also sort of wondering if I have some weird pregnancy disorder where my boobs will not stop growing. Like last week, I'm still just baffled by the growth here. Starting to feel the baby move on a more consistent basis, like daily. It's pretty cool.  

Oh, another not cool symptom of pregnancy: backne (is that a word?) It is now. Seriously. I never had it as a teenager, never, never, never. But oh, hi, cool, I'm BREAKING OUT on my shoulders and back. GROSS. I guess it could be worse as it could be on my face. It would be fine if I was going to be in Seattle for the next few months as I can be assured I'll be living in sweaters, BUT I'm going to Hawaii in about 2.5 weeks. So, yeah, problem. Maybe the sun will help? Oh, and pregnancy glow. Haha. That's funny whoever coined that term.

I also woke up once this week in the middle of the night and got sick twice. WHAT was that about? I have no idea if it was pregnancy related or not but either way, not a fan.

Still worked out this week- lifted/ran three times, walked and did yoga. And by walked I mean I walked 8 miles with Justin on Saturday. It was gorgeous out in Seattle (try upper 60s and sunny) so it seemed like a great idea. By about mile 7, my hips were OVER IT. I was over it (thanks to my hips). The last mile was excruciating. It's extremely humbling to think "man, I used to run 8 miles easy"...now I have to really think about what walking 8 miles is going to do to my body.

What I'm eating?

Everything. There were really no trends this week. I did try to eat less sugar, including fruit. This was sort of as a result as some research my husband did on the topic so I can't blame the pregnancy for that. Still eating a lot and eating a lot more like I used to though trying to continue to get the protein my body/the baby needs.

Weight I'm gaining? 

About the same as last week. I weighed 132.something this week (forgot to write it down- stupid pregnancy brain- so, I can't remember where I was but somewhere between 132 and 133).  Not the two pound gain but I think I am definitely on track to gain 40 pounds for the pregnancy. I'm told that's normal for people that start out as what the medical world defines as "underweight" to begin with. The numbers definitely weird me out a bit but I know it will all come off.

How I'm sleeping? 

I slept really terrible this week. Sunday and Monday I barely slept at all, for whatever reason (well, one of those nights was the sick night) and then all week, I'd wake up at around 3am and be wide awake until the alarm went off (I call it "pulling a Justin" as this is Justin's nightly routine). I still had crazy dreams too which I think was part of the issue with waking up mid morning. 

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is about 6.5 inches or the size of a small cantaloupe (also in one report was compared to a butternut squash...take your pick)

-The baby's skin is becoming covered with a waxy-like substance called vernix which protects the skin

-The baby is also starting to produce meconium, the result of digestion which accumulates in the bowels until birth (lovely!)

-Other than that, the baby is just continuing to grow, grow grow (and will from here on out).

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-I actually can't say that we did anything this week for the baby. In fact, I'm pretty sure we did nothing. We did talk a bit more about plans for post baby- IE: care, my time off, working with my work to see what's feasible, etc.   

Next week is the big ultrasound! We'll see if I can actually wait until Hawaii to find out the sex. I'm pretty sure I can but Justin has bets against me. If I'm being totally honest, he's probably right. I am not a patient person and I am dying to know!

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

I'm halfway through this thing. HALFWAY. That means that in the amount of time I've been pregnant, which, really, feels like no time at all, we will have a baby. HOLY CRAP.

Easter 2012.

The Easter bunny came to our house today! Crazy as the two "kids" are 17 and 15.... but, hey, I got Easter deliveries from the Easter bunny until I was about 22 so it all works out. We had a great day here in Seattle- Easter brunch with the family, then we played outside in the almost 70 degree sunny day.

Hope everyone out there has a very safe and happy Easter!

April happenings.

April 2012 (ahem, my birthday month) is off to a great start. Here's a couple of random things:

Justin training with gummy bears around his neck (courtesy of one of his clients). Pretty cute.

We made a trip down to Justin's moms' house where Justin and Oliver help move a tree that had fallen into her yard. I took pcictures of them fence hopping.

Oh yeah, and that yellow stuff? Sun? AWESOME.

19 weeks.

I'm a little bit behind this week... work is pretty busy right now (ok, that comment deserves a slap in the face since now my "busy" was "moderately slow" at my old firm. Busy now has a whole new meaning. Who knew you could be busy at work and still have a life? Another post entirely on the night and day aspects of my new firm versus my old firm and the HUGE question of  "why didn't I leave YEARS ago?" but we'll leave that for a rainy day... or come have a glass of wine with me and I'll tell you all about it. Well, after August anyway). Moving on to the weekly update on the turtle in my tummy:

19 weeks (plus Justin's arm in the background. Silly husband... I WISH my arms had that definition...)

19 weeks, angle two.

And 18 weeks for comparison. I seriously feel like I keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger but the pictures don't quite show what is in my head. I just feel like I keep popping and popping though I know I am still considered "small" for almost being 5 months along. STILL. My belly button is pretty much at the edge of my skin ready to go. Boo hoo.

How I'm feeling?

Still feeling pretty amazing... in fact, much more like my old self than I have in oh, five months. My "normal" eating habits are returning, no hormonal meltdowns, feel great working out, have energy, etc. I finally get why they call the 2nd trimester the "honeymoon" trimester. YOU ACTUALLY FEEL NORMAL. Who knew that was considered a honeymoon? But I guess to put it in perspective when you've felt like shit for so long, feeling normal is pretty much euphoric.

My body, however, is still revolting the whole "normal" idea and reminding me that I am indeed 5 months pregnant. I continued my workout regimen this week (lifting, running, yoga). My brain tells me to run and walk and workout and it's AWESOME. Incredible even. And then 5 seconds after I stop, I'm walking around like I am 80 years old and need a cane, as well as some assistance to get off the couch, please.

How I'm changing?

See hip pains, above. Hasn't stopped. Belly hasn't stopped growing either. Neither have my boobs (INCREDIBLE by the way... I am still totally intrigued by this since I have always been a small chested girl. I actually don't LIKE big boobs, I've decided. They get in the way and it's not as comfortable to run with big jugs all over the place. Guess I know now. I swear, they are about triple in size). We saw the midwife this week and she showed me how to feel where my uterus is. Right now it's continuing to rise up and is about even with my belly button (which is also why I'm about to have an outtie). It's crazy to feel where the "hardness" is and to know where the uterus is and she also taught me to feel where the baby is (although I'm starting to feel kicks which I have determined are indeed not gas and can tell mostly where he/she is from that now anyway). The baby is currently sitting more on my right side. Not a square and centered kid, apparently. It's our kid.

What I'm eating?

I'm over the pita and hummus thing. Go figure. This week my normal eating habits returned! HOORAY (and also, weird). I actually ate SALADS three days in a row. I kid you not, I'm pretty sure I haven't eaten a salad in, you guessed it, 5 months. We also made tacos one night and I wanted them spicy! Before pregnancy I was the queen of spicy foods but as soon as pregnancy hit? REVOLTING. Made me sick. I wanted everything bland. Bread and butter bland. See my first salad in months below (and with a hardboiled EGG. Progress!):

Weight I'm gaining? 

I actually didn't gain much weight this week... consistent with last week, I've halted the two pound gains. I was 130.4 last week and 131 this week. My body has apparently decided that it has enough fat on it to be healthy enough to support a baby. From here on out, all weight gain (I'm assuming) is baby growth related.

How I'm sleeping? 

Really no complaints here this week although the DREAMS. HOLY crap, the dreams are out of control. It's like I dream all night and they are so vivid and so bizarre... and like I am dreaming in real time and not, if that makes sense. It's like my dreams are centered around current events that are actually happening but then there's something crazy thrown in. IE: I had a big meeting last week (for real) and I had to be there. In my dream, I went in to labor... with TWIN GIRLS...the night before. So I pushed those babies out (and seriously? Babies?! Please tell me there's only one in there!!) and Justin and I spent the night tag teaming. I'd feed one, he'd change her as I'd feed the other and back and forth. All of a sudden I freaked out because I had to be at my meeting the next morning so I ran to it and my boss was all "What the hell are you doing? Didn't you just give birth to twins?" It was so bizarre and felt so real. Even weirder?? I kid you not at work the next morning, an email came through from one of the partners about how a former co-worker (someone I don't even know) had given birth to twin girls. Um.... what? Am I psychic in my dreams in some weird twisted way?

What's the baby doing?

-The baby is 6.0 inches or the size of a heirloom tomato (I've seen some of these and I'm hoping it's not of the "giant" heirloom tomato sizes...)

-The baby's senses are developing and specialized areas in the brain are being designated for smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch (it continues to hear outside noises as if underwater).

-More controlled/conscious movements are occurring as neurons in the brain continue to develop (IE: kicks. FEELING THAT. It's so weird. Sometimes it feels like gas, sometimes it tickles, sometimes it feels like I'm being poked. One time- funnily enough- I was in my big meeting with my new client (the one I dreamt about) and I got a HUGE kick. Big enough for me to be startled and pause and say "excuse me" because it caught me so off guard).

-The baby's kidneys continue to make urine (which by the way, goes into the amniotic fluid). I started calling it our baby that floats in its own pee. Justin tells me its sterile but this was a very odd realization for me. Guess all of us survived!

-Baby is basically pretty much a baby, just needs to grow and grow and grow...

What we are doing to prepare for the baby?

-We went to hypnobirthing again this week which was, again, awesome. Justin had some bad side effects from the medication they put him on for his atrial fibrillation a few weeks ago (as in dizzy to the point of throwing up and the worst headache he's ever had). Needless to say, I had some doubts we'd be able to make it to hynobirthing but we saw another (way more awesome) cardiologist who promptly cut Justin's medication, Justin felt 1000% better, and we made it to hypnobirthing. I swear, I walk out of there feeling so relaxed it's almost the equivalent of smoking pot. It's just incredible. If this is teaching me how to relax during labor and I'm able to achieve this state, I am ALL FOR IT.

- We also saw the midwife as I mentioned. All looks good, heartbeat is at 150 beats per minute and we are just trucking along.

- We got our crib and Sam the giant moose for the beginnings of the nursery.

Random thoughts on pregnancy (pregnancy brain?)

I still have pregnancy brain. That is all. It is the weirdest thing to totally forget what you are saying midsentence. Multiple times. In ten minutes.

And also: the movement is really cool. It makes the whole thing seem more real and it was my big "WOAH, there actually is something in there" moment this week as feeling the movement got much more consistent.