Holy Cow - Now *That's* a Belly!!

Somehow, in the last week or so, Peanut must have doubled in size. My belly is definitely saying "prego". You can see it now in pretty much all my clothes. In fact, since we finally have something to show, we've decided to post a picture. Check out that profile! Oh, and yes, I'm quite proud of the top-half of that profile too, if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, the belly is catching up quickly, so my days of looking "busty" are definitely limited. :)

There Goes the Fun Food

So one of the things I let happen while I have been pregnant is that I've done away with my food allergy diet. I mean, if I'm craving something, I'm assuming the baby is in need of something in that food. I haven't gotten a lot of cravings, but I have changed my diet since being pregnant. I started eating cheese again (me, the dairy-free person). And wheat. And more sweets - not not like cupcakes or bad things like that, just sweeter type juices or syrup every now and then or cereal. All things I tend to stay away from because the sugar content is high. Well, for 5 months now, everything was going fine - even eating all these "allergy" foods of mine. Until recently. I noticed last week that no matter what I ate, I felt awful. I've hit that before (in times of cheating on my diet), so I decided maybe my days of allergy-free eating were over. I started behaving again - cutting out the cheese, and wheat, and sugar. Things started getting better. But one of my rules was always "cheat on the weekends". I mean, you have to feel human!

So last night, not very hungry for dinner, I decided to have a bowl of cereal. The cereal was wheat-free, and I used rice milk, so it's not as bad as it sounds. But about 4 hours later (after falling asleep in front of the TV), I woke up in a huge sweat. It was just dripping off of me. I threw the blanket off thinking I had just overheated while sleeping. But then I realized I was also shaking. Oh no! It's the darn sugar. Even though I had such "good for you cereal", my body didn't have enough protein and my low-bloodsugar problems were kicking in. I got up clumsily and grabbed the cashews in the kitchen and just kept eating handfuls of them. Let me tell you how fun it is to fill your belly when you aren't hungry (or drunk) at 1:30 in the morning. It took about 15 minutes or so, but the shaking went away, the sweating went away, and I was gaining my strength back.

If you've ever been hit with a food allergy, or a blood sugar problem, you know that it is unpleasant. Fortunately for me, neither are extreme and I can always control them with diet. But my carefree living of eating cheese and wheat and all the other fun stuff in a typical American diet are gone again. It appears Peanut is either following in Mom's footsteps, or on his own and leaving me back to my own problems.

As for this weekend, I don't think I'm going to cheat so much. Last night was an awful start that I wish not to repeat!

Half Way There!

Today was Peanut's 21 week checkup. Yes, we are half way through!!! Peanut is doing great, resting the little baby's bottom right on Mom's bladder, which explains why I am rushing to the bathroom all the time! Everything is developing normally and Peanut's due date (based on measurements of the femur, the belly, and the head) are still indicating about May 20. This means that Peanut is growing at a very normal rate. The doctor is not concerned about my weight because the ultrasounds show Peanut is doing fine, but then again, I think I'm actually right on track for the normal 25-30 lb gain. I've gained 10 lbs so far.

I apologize that Kim and I are slacking on posting pictures. Seems that everything is a whirlwind these days. Hopefully we'll be better at putting pictures up once Peanut is born and you have a real child to look at instead of a belly!

A Good Start to a New Year!

Tonight is January 2 - our first day back to work. Luckily, we left work early, and the weather was very nice so Kim and I went for a short run before making dinner. After eating, we were relaxing by watching a documentary. I'm not sure if it was the run or the dinner, but Peanut was kicking up a storm. I realized that it was pretty much in the same place and fairly periodic. So, I put my hand on my belly to see if the kicks were strong enough to feel on the outside. Barely. But, just for grins, I bared my belly and told Kim to just set his hand on it. It didn't take long - then all of a sudden he yelled "I felt it" at the same time that I yelled "Did you feel that one?" Yea! Now Kim can enjoy a connection with our child every now and then as well!! It may also mean that mom needs to run a little more often. :)

BTW, I am now at 20 weeks. Half way through!

Bye Bye Bellybutton

Friday I was complaining all day about the cramp-like pain I was feeling in my lower abdomen. No, it wasn't gentle Peanut kicks, it was more like strain. I just told everyone Peanut was growing and stretching my muscles, and they weren't taking too kindly to it. Well, I didn't realize how true that was! When I got into the shower this morning, I was washing my belly button only to find it didn't go NEARLY as deep as yesterday. It's really starting to flatten out, and that was a HUGE difference from the day before. Yikes! Looks like I'll be removing the belly ring a little sooner than I thought...

It's ALIVE!

Today I was sitting in a meeting. While several people were talking and I was trying to listen intently, my stomach was gurgling. After a couple of seconds, my thoughts drifted to my stomach instead of the subject and I realized that this was no normal gurgling, and in fact it was quite low in my abdomen to be my stomach... No, this was the handy work of PEANUT!! So the rest of the meeting was more of a blur to me as I was concentrating more on my belly to see if I could feel it again rather than listen to the the concerns of my fellow co-workers. A very exciting day, and for all you geeks out there, it appears Peanut feels about the same way about FCAPS as I do - RUN AWAY!!! :)

The Sleeping Peanut

Thursday was our doctor visit with Dr. Plimpton. Peanut is looking more human than peanutty these days. From the ultrasound, we were able to see a nicely formed spine, many organs, skipped over the genital area so nobody could see, and then on to the legs. Peanut's looking pretty cute! But no breakdancing Peanut, today Peanut was sleeping. Dr. Plimpton asked if I could feel the kicks yet. I can't... He said that once I can, it's really easy to make sure the baby is alive and well - just push on the belly many times (which he demonstrated for us with the ultrasound still going), and then we watched the results. The amniotic fluid lifted Peanut up so the baby was floating. Then we saw arms and legs start to move. Voila! Instant gratification that the baby is fine....as soon as I feel the movement. :)

We have a breakdancer!

Today we went to see Dr. Plimpton. The ultrasound showed Peanut's little head, eye sockets, arms, legs, and belly - complete with a little water in it. We also found that Peanut is extremely active. Several times we watched him kick, wave his arms, in general....breakdance. It's going to be fun catching up with this little one once mobile!

Everything is going fine. My appetite is basically back to normal (not that it really changed all that much). And my fatigue is going away fast. I wouldn't say I have a burst of energy, but I am definitely getting back to normal energy levels. This is good because Kim's 2nd job (his photography business) is starting to kick into high(er) gear. Everyone wants Christmas photos, so we're busy with 1-2 jobs every weekend. (Ok, it's not a big deal for me - I just help out.) But he's busy working full time at work and then coming home and processing photos to get fast(er) turn-around times. No falling behind - that would be bad...

We'll upload some pics soon. Our scanner isn't working but we think we know what we need to do - it's just a time thing right now.

Wait a few more days...

Nothing new really to post. I've been feeling pretty well (no morning sickness), but still a bit tired. I've been fortunate enough to still be able to run - only 2.5 miles at a time, but I'll take it! The pooch is getting a little bigger - some of the girls have noticed I have a belly. We should have more to report after Thursday (providing no babies need to be birthed and I can still have my doctor's appointment!) So, hopefully a new post will be available by next weekend.

Babblings of a Pregnant Woman

Well, Kim has asked me to make some posts to the blog, so here goes...

We are into week 9 of the pregnancy. Everything seems to be going pretty smoothly. I won't bore everyone with the intricate details of my bodily functions and changes, but in general, I'm still a bit on the tired side but no morning sickness! I've found that eating some fruit first thing in the morning makes my stomach feel the best - so fruit it is!

This weekend was great for me. After being down and out with a head cold the past 2 weeks, I felt great - like I had all my energy back. (Not quite, but so much better than when I was sick.) My good friend Myleen and I went for a run on Saturday morning. Myleen is one of the most thoughtful people I know - while pregnant herself, she never stops giving. She gave me some adorable baby sleeper shirts for the newborn and a couple of magazines. One in particular I am really enjoying is called "As Your Baby Grows" and shows actual photos of the egg, embryo, fetus, etc. through each month of development and also explains the biology of what is taking place. I find that much more fascinating and interesting than a lot of the other material. It also has small sections about what you as a woman are experiencing. Obviously, not as in depth in that area, but still quite good. It highlights all the main points quite concisely.

Kim and I were also able to go to the gym for the first time in about 3-4 weeks. We rode the stationary bikes for 30 minutes and then used the dumbbells a bit. (You know, gotta motivate him so he doesn't gain the sympathy weight!)

I also started cleaning out one of the spare bedrooms, starting with the closet. I feel we have a lot of work to do around the house - cleaning out clutter from two rooms just to fit a little, tiny baby. Whew! But I suppose it's a good excuse to get rid of some junk. :)

Saturday night we were able to spend with the Kingery's and the Pennell's. Very exciting indeed since Angel was being induced the next day for their (nameless) baby girl!!! It was a wonderful night and I finally got to participate in kid/baby discussions!!! Yay!!! :) Thanks again to Mike and Gina for hosting as well as grilling!

I think I'll stop here. Something tells me Kim's gonna have me put lots of entries in here, so I better save some good stuff for later!