Sleep Training - it's working!

About a few days ago we started to see some promising results of ST. Kaua has been going down to bed, recently with only a short amount of fuss - approximately 5-10 mins, then even more recently, has been going down w/o fuss!!!! Hallelujah! Unfortunately, he still isn't super consistent and there has been an occasional going to sleep with screaming, but generally, prebedtime fuss is fairly mundane and consists of blowing off steam whining/crying instead of screams. the past 3 days or so, he has gone down w/o any crying or fussing, but I have to admit that I cheat a little and stay in the room after putting him down for an extra 5 minutes or so, gently patting him and shushing him until he sleeps. I dont know if this is helping or harming the situation, but I greatly enjoy leaving the room with a sleeping baby rather than leaving the room with a crying baby.

As for MOTN, that still is a challenge, but there has been significant improvement in that department as well. He generally doesn't need a bottle anymore, but does still get up one time in the MOTN and has been inconsistent in getting back to sleep. Sometimes he'll fuss and cry for what seems like forever and at other times, he'll go back to sleep with just a small amount of shushing and patting (after picking him up to calm him down). He'll also get up a second time usually around 5am-6am and again, we've still been allowing him to co-sleep with us at this waking, only b/c we each only have about 1-2 hours left of sleep and we desparately want those precious minutes/hours (for all of us). It is sooo easy to just bring him into bed at this time and have him sleep quickly, rather than having him screaming for 20 minutes, pretty much ensuring that none of us get anymore sleep for the morning. It is upon this waking that Kaua usually asks for his first bottle of the day, and it's been working out to give it to him. I figure that he's been asleep and w/o a bottle for practically 11-12 hours, so a bottle at this time is more than necessary.

As for how we ST, I must say that having that bedtime routine is a must. I'm not super exact in how we do it, but it generally consists of bath, playtime, storytime, lullabye while rocking him with the lights off, then put him down. The playtime, storytime and lullabye with rocking is an always. The bath is sometimes done early or later, depending on where Kaua is and who is watching him. Dinner sometimes is thrown in, as well as a bottle, and these mixers to the bedtime routine dont seem to throw him off very much. I'm also not extremely strict with the clock and when he goes down to sleep, but I do try to keep everything in between 6:30-7:30pm. Occassionally, it may be later, depending on how he naps during the day. (Which is another challenge, only because there are several different people watching him on any given day, so his nap location and the way he goes down are ever changing.)

Anyway, I must say that ST was a success and we saw real results after 2 weeks.

As for bebe #2, I'm now 13 weeks and apparently out of the 1T. Time sure does fly! The doctor's visit yesterday went smoothly (despite a 45 min. delay at the office!) and bebe's heartbeat is at 160's. A little higher than Kaua, so I'm hoping that signifies a girl! I know, it's an old wives tale that girls have faster heartbeats than boys, but anything to amuse me. We're seriously considering flying to the main city to give birth because let's face it, I'm a wimp when it comes to labor and I need to have access to an epidural and they dont offer epis at the local hospital. It'll take significant planning, however, to fly to another island to give birth, in large part because I wouldn't know when to go, how long to make acommodation arrangements, how long to have a car rental, etc. Another issue is what to do with Kaua when we do go to the hospital. Here, we have family members who he's extremely comfortable with, but there, none. Both my grandma and mom have volunteered to fly up with us though, so that is a possibility, if we can work out the acommodations part.So if we can pull it off, we're going to try.

Housing situation is getting better. DH installed the wood laminate floors and it's looking wonderful. Still tons more work to do and it is pretty exhausting, especially with a toddler, but it's working out.

Oh and kaua can take several steps on his own, but STILL NO WALKING! Ugh! This boy is really taking after his mama, and may end up walking at 15 months like I did. He turned 14 months old yesterday...so we've got 1 month to get him to beat my record. lol.

two teets and an army crawler

Kaua now has two teeth (two teets, which is what I've been calling them) poking through! His bottom two teeth are coming in. Still not big enough to really see when he smiles, but when they are, I'm posting a picture of his new "toothy" grin. (If I can find my camera that is! Ugh!!)

He is also now a fairly efficient army crawler. I think that crawling really is coming around the corner. I better get ready, because when I put him down, he wont stay put for long. For instance, I usully put him down when I'm in the kitchen, and when I turned my back on him, he started crawling towards an outlet socket. That really made me realize that baby proofing is definitely in store. Yikes, I haven't read up on these things and really need to get prepared!

I'm still here!

Hello bloggy buddies.

It's been a while since my last post (a little over 1 week). Just been plowing along with life.

Kaua has had a cold for over 4 weeks now! We took him to the doctors when he first had the cold (April 28) and again on Tuesday (May 18) and basically we've been told that its not serious, there's nothing we can really give him to help it pass, and to just let it run its course. It's been somewhat miserable at night when he wakes himself up coughing, but other than that, he seems to be a happy camper. His cough is pretty bad though. When his congestion was really bad, we'd have to prop him up in his car seat in his crib. Like so....

(Too funny his pose, he's actually sleeping like this. When we walked into the room and saw this, we had to snap a picture).

Luckily, the congestion is getting better, but that darn cough is still there. We've been rubbing Vi.cks on his chest and back in hopes that it'll help, but nope, not much luck there. Poor guy.

In eating news, nope, we still dont have the sprouts of any teeth yet, but we are expanding his food repetoire (sp?). We've went from rice cereal and poi, to squash, peas and today carrots. I had all these big designs to make his food myself, but right now, I just cant find the time to do it...so we're feeding him Earth's Best organic baby firsts from Whole Foods. So easy to just buy the jar and pop it open. He seems to like all the foods we've introduced so far. It's kinda cute when we introduce a new food to him, he shudders and it appears as if he doesn't like the food, but then he'll happily chomp away. He's finishing about 1/3 of a baby food jar in one sitting. He seems to be hungry fairly often (looking at my food when I eat it and showing interest in it), so we've just begun feeding him baby food or rice cereal 3x a day. He eats every time! I've also been feeding him small sips of water from a cup or glass and occassionally when we're on the go, a sippy cup. I read somewhere that getting a child used to a cup or glass now is better than a sippy cup, because at this age they're still maleable to anything. If we get him too accustomed to a nipple or sippy cup, he may not transition to a big boy cup as easily. Ah, whatever, I think I use a regular cup with him because i'm too lazy to go get a sippy cup for him and just give him sips from the water I'm drinking.

I've begun contemplating weaning him off breastmilk. On the one hand, it's just so time consuming and demanding to be pumping every 3 hours or to be present to breast feed him. I really do plan my life around pumping or breast feeding, and I'd love to have the luxury of not having it be that way. But on the other hand, I'm cheap and dont want to spend the money on formula and am worried I'd be taking away any additional health benefits that Kaua may get from my breast milk. DH wants me to continue breast feeding, but only because he read somewhere that its good for Kaua. I will at least do some research as to whether it really makes a difference to breast feed or formula feed your baby after he is six months old. For some reason, I feel as if I read that breast feeding for 6 months is ideal, and after that it doesn't really matter. (but I could just be making that up).

The little guy is about 18 lbs now (17 lbs, 9 oz) and wears size 6-9 month clothing exclusively and some 12 month clothing. He'll be 6 months old on May 27! Half a year away to his first birthday party!

In milestone news, we're working on having him sit by himself unsupported. He can sit pretty well on the couch:

But sitting on his own without any back support is still iffy. He can sit ok, but someone needs to be there to make sure he doesn't topple forward or backward or to the side. It's quite funny really. He's still not a crawler. He doesn't even get up on all fours when on his tummy and I'm not sure how to show him how to do it. He does roll from front to back and vice versa pretty regularly, and sometimes it drives me bananas because when he's sleeping with us, he ALWAYS rolls himself all the way over to me, crowding me on the bed, no matter how often I move him away, he somehow finds his way back to me. And usually, it's his feet or hands that are digging into me. He also loves to be held so that he can stand on his legs. I've heard of babies going directly from back/tummy to standing on their own (skipping the crawling stage) and I wonder if that will be Kaua. One thing is for sure, when he starts to move, we're going to have to baby proof the house. (Hopefully it'll be a house of DH and my own...we're in the market to buy again!)

His bed time is between 7pm and 8pm usually and he takes either two long naps during the day (approximately 1-2 hours) or if there's too much noise and his naps are disturbed, he'll take three cat naps throughout the day. He gets up at the God-awful hours of 5am-6am daily! On the rare occasion, when he gets up before 5am and wants to play, I can sometimes get him to fall back asleep in half an hour and he'll then sleep until about 7 am and that's what I call "sleeping in!" So as you can see, these kind of hours really take a toll on any night life I'd like to have (like I have any option of having a night life....at my new/old hometown, there is nil in the way of nightlife).

Well, that's all in the news of Kaua-chronicles. I hope everyone else is doing well out there!

Rolling

Kaua is a late bloomer in the rolling department (I think). He finally rolled over from tummy to back the day before Easter. He was about 4 months and 1 week old at the time. He did it again the day after Easter too. Each time he did it, I congratulated him and then put him back on his tummy to see if he'd do it again. He didn't replicate it. I dont think he quite realizes that he can roll over. He does know how to turn onto his side, he just doesn't quite get himself all the way over.

I wonder if he'll be a late crawler?

We got him a jumper for Easter. He sure loves that though!

Oh, and man oh man, does he have a bald spot on the back of his head where his head touches the floor/blanket etc. It looks really bizarre. Any other hairy headed babies have this?

3 months old and now that I'm a mom...

This post has been rattling around my head for a while now, but I am now only getting the chance to write about it.

Now that I'm a mom....I view the world in a different light. For instance, when I'm watching tv and I see any scene with parents in it, especially moms, I really connect with it. Like when I watch reality tv shows and I see the moms cheering on their kids, with such pride in their faces if their kid makes it, or such agony when their child doesn't, something just resonnates with me. It's like, I can connect with other women out there who are moms, and I can just imagine the same joy or agony that I'd have if I was in their position with respect to Kaua. Or when I see commercials, such as the olympics P&G commericals where they boast that they are the "proud sponsor of moms", I get warm fuzzy feelings inside and feel as if the commercial is speaking to me. It's surreal, because I've seen these same types of commericals or scenes prior to Kaua being born, and I wouldn't have even thought twice about them, but now that I'm a mom....everything is different.

I know my DH feels the same; when we see news reports of parents abusing children or other horrible things happening to children our paternal intincts kick in and we cringe at the thought that anything bad should happen to our son. We comment that we feel so thankful that nothing has happened and feel so grateful for his health. (In fact, every night, I say a prayer thanking God for Kaua and my husband and asking that he keep them safe, happy, healthy and successful for their entire lives and my entire life.)

I know that many of you other mommies feel the same, because I've read similar posts before. But now I can say, I know what it's like, and I know what you mean. Being a mom makes everything so different.

And in closing, here is my little man, who is exactly 3 months old today.

He's doing tummy time. As you can see, he still isn't super great at holding himself up, but we're trying and practice makes perfect. He has recently been able to somehow move himself around while on his back. He kicks so much with his legs that he is able to inch worm his way around on his playmats while on his back. He moves so much that he created two little knots in the back of his hair that I had to cut out! And of course, he's still as handsome and perfect as ever in my eyes.

Focusing on baby

I went back and reread my prior posts: when I first found out I was pregnant, that first OB visit where we saw the heartbeat, that second appointment where we looked for baby's heartbeat, to that 16 week and 20 week appointment where we held our breath to see if Kaua was alright and healthy, to those first movement milestones. What an amazing journey to re-read. It made me realize that my most recent posts - fretting over DH's job, and money and the home, well.....they're all so trivial. Right now, the best thing going on for me is this little guy kicking inside me. I realized, I haven't posted about him lately, and that to me, is the focus of my blog. (Well technically, this blog was supposed to be about my journey to motherhood, so I guess all the other things count as well, but still, I prefer to keep blogging about Kaua and have him be my main focus). So this post will be an update on the pregnancy:

Kaua is still a little mover - as I'm sure all babies are at this point. Over the past few days, I've noticed that he likes to hang out on my right side. Literally pressing up and out on that side. I feel kicks and taps else where, but some huge body part is constantly pressing up against my right. It's really cool looking because sometimes, you can just see something sticking out, like a round bump. It's also sometimes uncomfortable and I find myself sort of massaging and somewhat pushing him back in --- like go more in the middle son, you're making me uncomfortable. (Dont worry, I dont press hard, I'm very gentle and I'm pretty sure I'm not hurting him). I also notice when he's likely to be head up (breech) because the movements/kicks are more low. I dont like those days as much b/c although I feel his movements, there not as noticeable so to me, not as fun. Generally, movements are up high though, so I think he's for the most part, head down.

I'm noticing that I'm more short of breath lately. Nothing that impedes my exercising, but enough so that I notice that, yup, my uterus is pressing against my lungs, making breathing a little more labored. My sleeping is still pretty good, but I find myself getting uncomfortable in bed more easily. I'll toss and turn just to be sure that I've got the right position, with a pillow supporting my belly and a pillow supporting my back and a pillow in between my legs. And man, is it HOT!!! I've got a fan blowing right at me, and I'm still sweating at all parts where my body has to touch another part of my body or is touching a pillow. I'm normally a lover of hot, I like to be warm (b/c I always feel cold), so it's obvious that Kaua is making my body temperature higher. I also find that sitting on my couch is not as comfortable unless I'm in the reclined position with the leg rest up and a pillow behind my head or back (thankfully we bought those couches with the built in lazyboy recliners in all the cushions). I also noticed last night in the shower that I cannot see my vajayjay any more (no more grooming unless I have a hand held mirror). I used to be able to sort of look around the belly to see down there, but nope, no more. Contemplating getting DH involved in the grooming process....we'll see what he thinks. lol.

Lets see, what else. Oh my mom and I are talking daily now about upcoming plans for her to be here when he's due. We're also getting excited in planning my baby shower. We've ordered invitations and made a banner for the wall. We're discussing table decorations, gifts, etc. We're going with a "warrior" theme and a "firefighter" them since Wyatt = little warrior and DH is a firefighter. It's kinda fun because it's also football season and our local college team are the warriors and DH and I are football fans. Super duper fun. =) Although Kaua will be the 4th grandchild for my mom, I think this experience is exciting because I'm her only daughter and so she gets to play a major role and in this pregnancy and birth. This is the whole reason why I want to have a girl one day. I am enjoying all of this QT with my mom, just as I did when I was getting married. It's soooooooooo fun to have a best friend who is all about you. =)

Well, that's all on the pregnancy update front. 29 week belly pic and post coming up this weekend. =)

Hiccups

Kaua's got the hiccups just now. I can tell b/c I can feel very light consistent movement in the same spot. They are about 1 every second and only last for about 30 seconds. This is the second time I've felt his hiccups. I also felt hiccups from him on Sunday. Too cute.

According to WTE, he's almost 17" long and almost 3 lbs this week. He's also building baby fat (white fat) used to regulate his body temperature.

Kick counts

So at my last appointment, my doctor didn't really instruct me to do kick counts, but did mention that I should be feeling Kaua move at least six times after I eat. Now, I should have asked him, how soon after I eat? And how soon should I feel the six movements in conjunction to the first and the last? but I didnt. So I went on line and did some research on how to do kick counts. I found some very very helpful information here:
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/duringpregnancy/kickcounts.htm

And based upon this information, created my own little table for me to record Kaua's kicks. Here's a sample of what it looks like. (shucks, guess you cant paste a table from a word document in here). Well, it sorta looks like the tables here:

http://health.utah.gov/rhp/pregnancy/preged/duringpreg/kickcounts.PDF

except that I tweaked it a little more to fit my preferences. Last night, I started doing the kick counting for the first time at 27 weeks 4 days. I started at 7:45 pm and lo and behold, Kaua finished his 10 kicks in 6 minutes! Crazy! Wonder if it will always be that quick? My goal is to try and do the kick counts after dinner, when I feel his first movement. We'll see how that goes.

DH comes home tonight for the weekend! Yippee! We can finally set up his crib!

Another PNA went well.

I'm losing track, I think this is my 6th PNA. We'll just call it my 27w3d appt since that what I am today. Overall everything is still going well. I gained just 3 lbs since my last appointment (but that could be because most of my appointments have been after lunch and this one was before, but hey, I'll take it). So far the weight gain is up 22 lbs since my prepregnancy weight and while that seems like way too much for me, the doctor said I'm right on track in the weight gain department. (Let's pray I only gain 8 more lbs total and I'll have stuck to my original goal of just gaining 30 lbs).

My uterus is also measuring approximately 27 cm which is right on track and Kaua's heartbeat was averaging in the 140 BMP which is also right on track. My pee test (which I think they check for sugars or proteins, who knows) is normal, my blood pressure is normal, just about everything is normal. Hah, you'd never guess the kind of MC history I had prior to this pregnancy had you not known about it. But it's all very good so I'm happy.

We talked about me passing the glucola test and being slightly anemic. Doc said it was normal for women in this stage of pregnancy to get slighly anemic and that if I had a low red blood cell count, I would feel fatigued and lethargic (not sure if I'm feeling that now) and that during birth, I will typically lose some blood and if that is coupled with an anemia condition, it could make me even more fatigued and lethargic after birth. So, I could either take an iron supplement OR eat more foods rich in iron. (Hmm, too late, I already bought the iron supplement based on the advice of the nurse who called me). So I told him I'll be doing both, taking the iron supplement and trying to eat more foods rich in iron. We went over the instructions that I was not to take the supplement with dairy products, but he did tell me that if I took it with citrus (like orange juice or cranberry juice) that that would HELP with the iron's absorbtion in my body. So perhaps, I'll go pick some cranberry juice up to have with my pill (which I love, but it's got to be cran-grape or cran-apple, or some other mixture) .

From here on out, doc said I'm supposed to be able to feel Kaua move pretty consistently. Doc was a little vague on the meaning of "consistently" but what I got from our discussion is that I should feel him every day, I should feel at least 6 movements after eating and if I think that I dont, I should drink something cold, lie down and really pay attention to his movements. Baby will typically move more when I'm resting.

As for what type of movement I'm actually feeling, I'd say he's pretty active often and I feel him probably every couple of hours. Over the past few days he's been very active, to the point where I'm like geeze Kaua, take it easy in there, I'm trying to rest! But he still makes me laugh. His movements are a mix between kicks (taps) and what I call body movements (where it seems like he's brushing a body part against my tummy or pressing his head or other body part out). Doc said that it's normal to be feeling the body movements at this point, but as the space gets more cramped, it'll diminish to more kicks. I can tell that Kaua is getting bigger because his movements are stronger and on the rare occasion, his movements/kicks will take my breath away or really make me pause. Nothing painful, just more surprising and sometimes uncomfortable or distracting. Overall, his movements are reassuring though.

I've been reading that some girls due around the same time as me are starting to have every 2 week appointments from this point on, but not me, I got one more 4 week appointment (sometime around October 3, they didn't have the schedule up yet, so they'll call me to confirm soon), then after that one (where I'll be almost 32 weeks), I'll be going in every 2 weeks.

I also asked if I had any other big tests to take and he said the only other thing that will happen that's different than what I've been doing in these PNAs is that at my 36 week appointment, they'll be doing a vaginal exam and culture to check on my cervix (looking for dilation) and to see what position the baby is in. Doc said that by 36 weeks, the baby usually doesn't flip around and is usually in the position he'll be in for birth. For about 95% of women, the baby is head down, but if I happen to be in that 5% category (breech), then we'll have to talk about my options then. I hope Kaua decides to stay in the 95% category. Doc said he thought the baby was head down during the exam because when he found the heartbeat (which was immediately, it's amazing how fast they find it now), it was below my belly buttom which indicated to him that baby was likely head down.

We also talked about pediatrician recommendations and pregnancy class recommendations. Lucky for me, he agreed that I didn't need to take the childbirth preparation classes (which cost $80!!). I am already taking other classes offered by my health care provider (which are free) which he said are the important ones, and I'm planning on renting the Laugh and Learn DVDs (on childbirth, labor, newborn care and breastfeeding) from my library, so we're covered in the educational department. Also, I asked about getting a lactation consultant and he said the way it works for our health care provider, the consultants usually come around while I'm in the hospital after birth to see if I need help. He said to be sure that I see one, all I need to do is tell the L&D nurse I'd like to see one and she'll set it up. So, no worries about that till after birth.

I meant to bring my birth plan in to talk about it with my doctor this appointment, but I forgot it (which is becoming quite typical for me nowadays - forgetfulness), so doc said to bring that in for the next appointment and we can go over it.

So far everything is going A-OK for me and baby and that's just dandy! (yeah, I said dandy. =) ) We're in the home stretch!! =)

T-3 and glucola test

Well, we made it to the third trimester! Yesterday, Kaua made it to 27 weeks gestation and here's my burgeoning belly picture:



I'm currently spending my last night visiting DH in his new home (my old hometown) and on the plane ride over several nights ago, my plane seat mate asked how far along I was and complimented me on how great I looked! She said, she hopes she looks like me (my size) when she's pregnant. I was pleasantly surprised...b/c I've always been getting comments on how big I am and my mom even said I may not eventually fit into the maternity clothes she bought for me for my birthday. (Thanks mom!).

Anyways, 27 weeks and the 3rd Trimester! Woohooo! The end is in sight! There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Dont get me wrong, I love being pregnant, but with my growing belly, it's starting to get uncomfortable. Baby moves a lot and sometimes when I'm trying to get comfortable, his kicks throw me off. It's almost like (well it actually is) my belly doesn't belong to me anymore, it belongs to him. I'm also just feeling really big and cumbersome. I'm 39 inches and I'm still growing! I know a lot of this growing is b/c I've got this unbelievable sweet tooth. I know I'm so going to kick myself after I give birth when I've got 20-30 lbs to lose. But you know how you know something is not good for you, but you do it anyway? Yup, that's me.

So I've got some good news. I passed my glucola screening test!!! Yippeeeeee!!! I took the test on friday and I got a call from my doctor's office on Saturday. They said I passed my glucola test, but my blood results showed that I was slightly anemic (meaning low red blood cell count, meaning I need to up my iron intake). She said that it's a very common symptom of pregnancy because the baby takes up a lot of the nutrients that I would normally get from food and all I really need to do is take an iron supplement. She also recommended I take the gluconate based supplement rather than the other one, (I forget the name) because that one supposedly causes less constipation. She also said that because an iron supplement can cause constipation, I should make sure my diet has lotsa fiber. She also instructed me to take the iron supplement at a different time than when I take my prenatal vitamin and not to take it with any dairy food/products because that can inhibit my body's absorbtion of the iron nutrient.

I'm very happy that I passed the glucose test. Especially b/c my coworker was surprised that I wasn't instructed to take the test first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. From what I hear, sometimes what you eat can affect your results because it affects your blood sugar. I took the test late in the afternoon after a very starchy breakfast and lunch. I specifically asked my doctor and even called the advice nurse before the test and both said I dont need to alter my diet at all (but my doctor did recommend that I dont take the test right before eating a candy bar and drinking a soda). And I followed their instructions, ate typcially for me and voila, I passed. =) woohoo! Back to work tomorrow, but the good news is, DH comes home friday night for the weekend! =)

Kaua surprised DH

So the firecracker (aka Wyatt Kaua) is definitely a mover and a shaker again. And whenever DH is home, and the firecracker is moving, I tell my DH (and sorta force him) to come feel him moving (why is it that DH isn't glued to my tummy everytime Kaua moves like I would think I would be if our roles are reversed?). So last night, as I was putting DH's hand on my belly, the firecracker really really kicked hard. For me, Wyatt doing significant movements is becoming a normal thing, but for DH, all the other movements he's felt have been generally light taps. But nope, this one was a full on limb pushing out and pressing against my belly and brushing it. Upon feeling this, DH jumped and made a weird face and pulled his hand back. He was so surprised at the force of the movement. He said it was like an alien was in my tummy. It cracked me up!!! I told him that that was how our son has been moving for a while now, as if he wants to jump out my belly, and he was just so amazed and in awe. I couldn't stop laughing for a good 2 minutes at DH's surprise. That moment was definitely priceless and something I want to treasure (hence the bloggy entry).

I am just LOVING this pregnancy and feeling this little guy move all the time!! He definitely makes me giggle when he's so active. And he's active generally up high on my belly, which according to something I read somewhere, could indicate that he's head down and feet up because the feet are generally in the location where you feel most movement. I dont know if that's true, but if Kaua is head down, then that's fine by me. We definitely want him in the right position when its time for birth. (Which shouldn't be for at least another 12 weeks...so sit tight baby boy!).

Anyways, that's all in the pregnancy chapter for today.

MIL leaves in 1 week (wahooo!) and my mom is coming to visit for the weekend, beginning tomorrow! Yay! (I love my mommy!).

We've reached VIABILITY!

Yup, this is another big milestone in the pregnancy timeline. But one that while I'm ecstatic we reached, does not allow me any sighs of relief. At 24 weeks pregnant, we've reached viability (baby boy has a decent chance of surviving outside of the womb with intensive care at this point), but baby boy still has a significant amount of time more to grow and if he did come now, he would face the potential for severe complications. So baby boy, stay in my belleh and continue to cook. I wont breath any sighs of releif probably till after we hit 36-37 weeks. That's when in my mind, he'll be full term and can come out. That's 12 more weeks away, or 3 months!

So in my mind, I want to say I'v completed 6 months of pregnancy (24 weeks divided by 4 = 6 months), but because months are not exactly 4 weeks long, according to most websites, I dont complete 6 months of pregnancy until the 27th week (3 more weeks away). I feel like I'm too big for 5 months of pregnancy, but I guess I'm just not quite yet there to 6 months. Oh well, I'll be 5 and a half months pregnant I guess.

And here's this weeks belleh picture, where I'm now 38 inches in circumference:


Oh and in the movement department, on Thursday and Friday, it was the first time since I started feeling significant movement where the firecracker's movements decreased significantly. To the point where I wasn't even sure I felt him. I got nervous and even mentioned it to the hubsters on friday afternoon. DH was cute, he tried talking to my belleh in order to get him to move for daddy --- no such luck (huh, our son is disobeying his parents already!). According to Dr. Google, its common at this stage of pregnancy for movement to be sporadic, periods of high activity and periods of low activity. I read that some moms on message boards chalk this up to growth spurts in their babies. When baby is not as active, they notice that their bellies get bigger, which could indicate baby is growing. Not sure if that's the case in my book or not...but hey, I'll take it. I started feeling him move again yesterday, last night and a little this morning, but he still hasn't been as active as before. We'll see how it goes. Part of me thinks that he is going through a growth spurt and the next time I feel him move, it'll be movements that feel a lot stronger.

I see him moving!

Just now, and while I type this blog entry baby boy is kicking my upper left tummy and I can SEE him doing it! It's soooooooooooooo cool! My tummy sort of pops out a little for each kick (well not all of them, there are some lighter ones that dont make my tummy pop out, then there are harder ones that do). It makes me giggle, it makes me laugh, it makes me happy. OMG, I love being a mommy already!

Also, this morning, he kicked me hard enough in the middle of my tummy while I was driving to work that it made me jump. I love that!

Ok, I'm going back to watch my tummy now......

Braxton Hicks

I think I experienced my first Braxton Hicks (BH) contractions yesterday. I felt them two times, both after having urinated. The first was while I went to the bathroom at work and the second was after I went to the bathroom at home. They were both pretty light, but I noticed them b/c I felt a pressure in my abdomen and my tummy went tight. I had read about other women experiencing BH before, so I knew that's what I was feeling. It wasn't painful at all, just weird. More like a pressure in my tummy rather than anything else. I conteplated whether I should call my doctor, but I read in my WTE book that women can get BH anytime after 20 weeks (and I'm 21w2d), but it's more common for women to get them in their 3rd trimester. I also read that should I have more than 5 an hour, I should call the doctor, and of course, if they start becoming consistent and/or painful. Right now, I'm a little surprised that I felt them this early, but I'm not too worried.

I also read that I should be drinking lotsa water because dehydration can cause BH. I also read from one website poster that her doctor advised her to routinely empty her bladder because a full bladder can sometimes bring BH on. I think, that was the cause in both my cases cause I had been holding in my pee for a while (which I know, I shouldn't do).

On the movement front, the firecracker's movements are getting a little stronger. I'm noticing them more and more often. And today, he made me jump a little as I was sitting and working at my desk. He tickles me! Even last night, when I was watching tv (the bachelorette...anyone else a fan?), he made me giggle b/c his kicks were tickling me. It's too funny. Too bad DH was out walking the dog, or I would have called him over to come feel. Anyways, feeling the firecracker always puts a smile on my face. I love being reassured that all is going well when I feel him.

Hey, maybe pretty soon I'll actually be able to see him make my tummy move when he moves? That'll be another cool milestone to look forward to.

Movement milestone

On Saturday, July 25, 2009, at about 10:30am (20weeks 6 days pregnant), DH felt the firecracker move for the very first time. It was awesome! I was sitting on the couch in the living room reading (the baby bargains book) and DH was on the computer in the adjoining dining room. As I was reading, I was leaning back, which allowed my forearms to rest on my belly, sort of as a prop (yes, I'm getting that much bigger...21 week photo coming up in next post). Then I felt baby boy kick in what appears to be a favorite spot of his, on the right side of my belly, up high. He did it again, and I felt him on the outside (on my forearm). So I called DH over, didn't say anything and and just placed his hand on that spot. (I had been trying to get DH to feel him move for the past few days with no luck). And the little boy did us proud, he kicked twice in about 20 seconds and each time I said, there, did you feel it, and DH, said, yeah, he did! We were stoked! It almost brought tears to my eyes to be able to share that moment with him. It's something I've always been looking forward to in pregnancy, and the moment finally arrived. It was awesome! We were both so thrilled. Anterior placenta's got nothing on me. =)

I consider this to be such a significant milestone, something much more so than when I first began to feel the baby move because recognizing baby's movements was something that eventually crept up on me. What began as feeling potential gas bubbles eventually developed into a realization that that was baby moving. But the first time that DH gets to feel baby, now that's a real milestone; it went from nothing to DH getting to feel his first child (and son) move. That's such a beautiful thing to share with the man you love, your best friend. I'm sooooo thankful and grateful to have been blessed with that gift and I know that I'm lucky to have had that experience.

I feel like this is just a preview of what more joy is in store for us...all those awesome moments where we'll look at our newborn son sleeping and gaze in awe at the beauty we've created together and wonder in excitement as to what's yet to come. This little life will be depending on both of us for the next two decades at least! OMG! lol. (Ok, I'm not going to get carried away with this, I'll get back down to earth now).

Baby boy's movements are still not fully pronounced, but I'm feeling them more often. There has just been two times, both when I'm lying on my right side, when he's kicked hard enough to make me jump (both times he also kicked my ticklish spot on my side, so I think that has something to do with causing me to involuntarily squirm). Other than that, his kicks are still pretty light, like someone tapping inside of me, and it's been difficult for me tofeel his movements from the outside. I admit that I am slightly grateful that his kicks are still light because I know there will soon be many a time when his movements will be waking me up or causing me some other discomfort. For now, they're just light rumblings and taps in my stomach. He's kicking now as I type this blog!

HALFWAY THERE!

I made it! I am half way through this pregnancy. Still seems like forever to go for me, but I bet for most of you, it seems quick. It's because I'm counting down the days and hours till this baby boy comes into this world, so time goes by a little more slowly for me.

New this week in the pregnancy body - the linea nigra! I started noticing a faint sign of it since last weekend, and now its almost noticeable enough to take a picture of it.


Can you see it? It's still really faint right now, so I think it'll get darker. I think it may also go past my belly button too, though you cant really tell in the picture because that part of it is still pretty faint. Isn't there a saying, that if your linea nigra goes past the belly button its a boy or a girl? I forget.

I also took a belly picture this week:


My belly looks bigger than it did last week (I think b/c of the shadowing and b/c my shorts are pulled down a little), but in terms of inches it hasn't grown. I'm still 36.5 inches. According to WTE, baby boy is the size of a banana (in terms of length). =) Cool huh?



On the movement front, I've been feeling the firecracker more. It's still very light and potentially confusing in terms of distinguishing him from other bodily movements and gass, but based on what the doc said, I'm pretty sure most of the feelings are him. =) I also think I feel him rolling as well as kicks/punches, because sometimes, my uterus will feel like its turning. A coworker described it as a nervous sensation or feeling in the pit of your stomach, and that kinda sounds right. For me, it just feels as if something is moving around in my uterus, but I dont feel like a tap or a pop, so I imagine that that's baby boy moving around.

I have my SECOND level 2 ultrasound tomorrow at 4pm my time! Wooohooo! I'm excited. Not much nerves for this one (even the 1st one I wasn't nervous). I'm not sure why. I think its because the thought of seeing our firecracker for so long on u/s is so exciting, it overshadows the actual purpose for the u/s (to make sure nothing is wrong with baby). I'll post soon about the results. =)



On the buying baby items front.....this post got long, so I split it into the next one.

4th PNA went well... as usual.

Whew, sigh of relief. The 4th PNA went well. =) It was kinda boring, as usual. I had my IRL friend come with me since DH couldn't make it. (Thanks M.alia!)

We got to hear the firecracker's heartbeat, but only for a couple seconds because he was moving around too much and the doctor had to chase him. Doc said he's pretty active, and I think that's a good thing, though I didn't ask and he didn't say. But generally, I've known that an active baby is a sign of a healthy baby. It was also pretty funny b/c at one point, we could hear the faint sound of music. I commented that baby's got a radio in my tummy and doc laughed and said sometimes, dopplers pick up music.

Doc also told me that my uterus is about 1-2 inches above my belly button and said those popping, fluttery gassy feelings are probably baby movement. He said my bowels are pushed up higher, so anything belly button level and down is baby. That's awesome, b/c that means I probably have been feeling baby a lot. I'm pretty sure I felt him move last night and even in the middle of the night.

I've also been instructed that after my next PNA appt (which is on Aug. 11), I should not be sleeping on my back anymore. I've been pretty consistently trying to sleep on my side for the past couple of weeks already b/c my back gets a little achy when I lie on it for long, so now I have doctor's orders to try and avoid it. I know the drill though, dont freak if I wake up and I'm on my back, just roll to the side and go back to sleep.

The pillow between my leg deal has also been my best friend at night. =) And I bought a very comfy cheap sports bra on sale and I've slept with that on the last couple of nights. I like it b/c I'm not used to these puppies being so big and it feels weird to have the bottoms of my BBs touching my skin underneath. Very uncomfortable for someone who's never been that big ever before.

Next hurdle is having a great anatomy scan (and where the perinatologist will be checking our baby's heart) next Monday. And coming up, this weekend we reach our halfway point in the pregnancy!!!

Oh and the craziness of weight gain!! I've gained 6 lbs since my last appointment for a total weight gain of 14 lbs! I'm soooo watching what I eat from now on!!!

19 weeks

We are almost half way there! At 19 weeks (in your 20th week), according to WTE, baby is the size of a small cantelope and my uterus is the size of a melon.

Not much new going on in the way of pregnancy symptoms. My boobies (especially the nipples) are getting sore again. It's quite irratating. I've had a couple pregnancy headaches over the past week, but nothing too severe. I think I've also felt slight pinges of round ligament pain in my left side too. Also, its becoming quite clear to me that my body knock off time is 9:00pm. Anytime after that, and I just start shutting down. It's quite dramatic really. My eyeballs struggle to stay open past the 9:30pm hour.

I have another PNA appointment this coming Tuesday. We'll probably get to hear the little firecracker's heartbeat. Yay! I think I've been feeling him move more often. It's still difficult to tell if it is really movement, but whatever it is I'm feeling, I'm feeling it at different hours of the day. Before, it was generally in the early afternoon, after I'd had lunch. In the past couple of days, I think I'm feeling those same movements in the evening when I'm watching TV on the couch and even at night in bed. Those feelings are reassuring, since I'm sans the doppler. I just wish I knew for certain that it was all baby movements, and not just me being extra gassy. I can't wait till those movements are stronger, so I know for sure if its baby. Some women describe feelings of the baby rolling and I'm envious. I dont feel that at all. I just feel a tap tap, or some other muscle twitch type feeling. I have no idea if that's baby kicking, punching or just his body moving. Shoot, it could just be me being extra gassy too. lol. Though the last one I doubt, because I've never had these feelings before when gassy.

Today I'm on a mission to start buying maternity clothes, or at least more clothes that fit me. As my belly expands, my wardrobe is getting more and more limited. I'm too cheap to go out and buy expensive stuff, even though it will probably be a good investment, since I'm hoping at least one more baby will follw the firecracker. So I'm heading to the discount stores and looking for stuff on sale at the major department stores. And -gulp- the MIL asked what I was doing today and of course, I invited her to come along (how couldn't I without sounding rude?) and so she's coming shopping with me! She's nice, and wont be too commenty or anything like that. It's just that...well...its my MIL. Not quite the same as shopping with mommy, ya' know? Ah well, it had to happen sometime...this "bonding" stuff. yippee.....

19 week belly photo. My belly gained 1/2 an inch and is at 36.5 inches. I'm afraid to step on that scale at the doctor's office. I haven't been the best in eating. I think its time I started watching what I eat and cutting out all those empty calories in sweets, candy bars and pastries. They just taste sooo good while pregnant!!

Felt the little firecracker again

I tend to do this often, I post about one thing, and the very next day, the little firecracker does the exact opposite to prove me wrong. (Hope this isn't a trend growing here. =) On second thought, if he wants to do things to NOT make me worried, then I'm all for it!)

I felt him move today! Yay! I felt a few little kicks or taps just now. I also could be imagining this, but I think I also felt more movement afterwards, like rolling around or swimming or something that made me envision baby was moving. I don't know, I just felt like there was a bit more than a tap. It's all pretty cool and makes me smile because I'm pretty sure it's him. It's all still really light though, almost like a twitch feeling in my ab muscle. It's also a little higher up then the last week or two, but that makes sense because my uterus is growing (signified by my belly which seems to have "popped" within the last few days). A few brave people have even been commenting on my belly and asking whether I'm pregnant. (Lucky for them, and me, I am! Yay!)

All of your comments on my last post were reassuring (Thanks!), especially Jamie's comment about how she would feel movement, then not much, then movement again. Makes me feel less insane to hear about how others have similar concerns and thoughts.

And Nikki, it's a date! (I hope our children dont mind us setting them up on blind dates this soon!)



I received my udder cover in the mail yesterday. It's not very great. It appears kinda small, as if someone may get a free show if they're looking at me from the side while I'm breast feeding. The part that supposed to go around your head or neck to hold up the cover is not very convenient either. The strap is held together by those two half moon ring circles, you know, those belt buckle looking things that I never know how to use. I'm glad this thing was free, but now I'm regretting the $8.95 I had to spend to ship it here. Ah well, you live and you learn, perhaps I'm just not using it right b/c it looks pretty big in the photo.





In other news - the MIL - is here with us. It's not so bad, because I'm rarely home when she is and vise versa. She's really a very nice lady too. One of my little pet peeves though is that she doesn't offer to help clean or do other little things around the house that I would think would be appropriate if you're being someone's house guest for TWO MONTHS. Like last night, DH cooked dinner for him and her - I had dinner away from home with some friends - and when it came time for cleaning up, only DH was in the kitchen putting away food, washing dishes and cleaning up while she watched t.v. I felt bad for him, so I went in to help. She didn't do anything or even offer assistance. Perhaps, she's just trying to stay out of the way? Maybe, as we grow more comfortable with each other, she'll offer to help....or maybe that's just the way it goes with her, where if you cook you clean? (This has happened before when we've invited her over for dinner and she doesn't offer assistance to help clean up.) Hmmm, not quite sure if I want to broach this issue with DH just yet. I'll see how it goes over the course of the next week or two. I plan to do some big house cleaning on Friday when I have the day off and DH is at work. If she's at home, I wonder if she'll offer assistance? I probably would decline it, but it would be nice to be asked.

Ok, enough with the MIL bashing. I feel guilty already, because she really is a nice person.

no more movement.

I know, it's still too early to have consistent movement, or to even really be feeling movement. But I feel like I psyched myself up into thinking and believing that I was feeling baby movement last week. However, over the weekend and past two days, I haven't felt any of those movements.

I know, I know, no reason to panic, but of course, one cannot help but wonder. This is the time where a doppler would come in handy.

Just hoping baby boy starts kicking up a storm so I can feel him. =)