Week 20 cont...




Ultrasound of our
baby at 19 Wks!!!
Here is the active little one. In one shot it is waving at us and the other one looks as if something is floating between its legs...umbilical cord maybe??

Although there was nothing going on in my belly Friday night, Jordan put his big warm hand over my bump and within a few moments I felt a commotion and sure enough the little one became active and gave a few big kicks (or high fives??) into his hand. The two finally made some serious contact!

Fairly busy weekend with charity auction for the Quadra Childrens' Centre and then spent Sunday in CR with inlawts - Jordan helped Case (his mother, Janet's, partner) put in some house windows while us ladies went to a baby shower party/exhibit put on by local businesses. Gained some info, got some free goodies and saw lots of pregant women - 3 out of about 20 were carrying twins! Then browsed around at some of the baby stores. There is just so much 'stuff' out there to buy for baby, half of which don't even really seem to be that useful for very long. So far, we have been given a ton of stuff and haven't really spent a cent - well except for the bassinette I bought at the recent Quadra - Philippines Connection garage sale. Also, I am sure that once the little one is born, there will be many gifts, there are 3 sets of grandparents afterall (lucky baby!). Not to mention 6 1st cousins, an auntie and 3 uncles and lots of extended family. 2 of the cousins will be only 11 months old when baby is born! Theres a whole lot of people out there who are excited for our March arrival.

Week 20

Met with my midwife, Gaelyn, this week. All results from the ultrasound appeared normal and I am a B+ blood type. I have a slightly above average amount of amniotic fluid, but I am told that its still perfectly normal. Gaelyn said that all growth with our baby has been like clockwork and that its development is the same as every baby out there that is normal and healthy. From this point on, no two babies are the same. For instance, although the fundal height of my baby is as it should be, 20 cms (the measurement from pubic bone to top of uterus), the top rests at my ribcage rather than navel like alot of babies. I do have a rather short trunk...but I am still in awe as to how high it is. Also, the belly is sticking out more and I have finally gained weight. The kicking and rolling and whatever else is going on inside the belly is as strong as ever. Last night I laid on my bed for a few minutes after work and stared at my belly and all of the sudden it was as if there was some kind of party down there, I could actually see my belly rippling and protruding. It was amazing. Then I realized I had just sucked on three toffee candies and I am sure it was a sugar rush to 'Guido'. Jordan missed the party as he was in the shower. Next time.

My weight gain, I am sure, was helped along with two turkey dinners for Thanksgiving. First one at my father in laws (Jerry) house. Huge scrumptius turkey and tons of food with enough room for his wife's (Jill) fresh pumpkin pie (one piece for me, one for Guido). It was a wonderful feast in the mid afternoon autumn sunlight with lots of family to celebrate with. Afterwards the guys checked out Jerry's new crossbow and did some target practice. The deer have been all over our gardens this summer and eaten nearly everything they can get to!
Dinner number two was at my mother in laws house (Janet) where we enjoyed more turkey with all the delicious dishes and some pumpkin pie and, of course, the infamous cheesecake 101 bites yum yum yum. Am I a totally spoiled pregnant lady or what? Oh, and we are still eating turkey!

Today I am not quite as tired as I had been for the past couple of weeks. Although I haven't been to the gym or done any yoga in a week, I am still going on alot of walks. This incredible stretch of sunshine will be gone for the weekend, and I think that the rains are just around the corner. Jill and I took the dogs to the spit this morning and it felt really nice to be in the cool crisp sunshine. The walk goes so quickly when you talk the entire time - I could have walked for hours! It was nice.

Everytime I visit Gaelyn, I borrow several books from the clinic library. I will list a couple of them on here soon which I thought were really good. I was disappointed in one though. I grabbed Naomi Wolfe's 'Misconception', thinking that it would be stimulating like her other books, including 'The Beauty Myth'. It was stimulating, but not in the way I had anticipated. ALthough I have not read it from cover to cover, I started at the beginning and then read quickly through a few chapters. I found it very negative and almost pathetic. She sounded like such a victim in (so far) what I have read through her prenancy and the women she interviewed. All these women with terrible experiences and c-sections etc... No real empowerment. I could not relate to this book in the least, its totally foreign. I have felt completely knowledgable and in control of all decisions within this pregnancy. Information is everywhere and it comes from many directions. Its up to me, my baby and Jordan. Ultimately me and baby, but Jordan plays a very big role in the decdision making.

Our bodies were made to have babies. We just need to make sure our bodies are properly tuned up and taken care of. We have such power within our bodies. When something abnormal occurs, or there is a serious emergency, the doctors and specialists are needed. These people aren't needed for a natural function. I know there is pain but I also know that our minds are strong enough to counter that pain and deal with it. Its so simple, its all about being in touch with all aspects of your self.

Maybe I will look through the book a little more, but I don't think I will be able to relate as I did as an adolescent to Wolfe's book, 'The Beauty Myth'. Which was such a different time in my life when I felt so intensely the growing pains of my adult emergence.

Week 19

We had our first ultrasound on Thurs at Campbell River General. Wow! The baby was so much higher than I ever thought! When the technician started pushing her wand up around my ribs, we could see the head. I was totally surprised. How could it be that high up already and how could it be that big when I had barely looked pregnant two weeks ago? My belly is growing so quickly now and its finally feeling more real now. Really real! The entire area from my pubic bone to my rib cage is sticking out and things already feel really tight! My poor organs, stomach and intestines have fled towards my back and its now all baby up front.

Another new strange feeling is that I get sooo full so easily now. It feels like I have barely eaten enough to properly fill me up and around that point I feel like I have eaten for hours! A small amount of food really stuffs me up good. This means that I am eating more frequently with smaller portion sizes and anytime I forget and eat too much, I suffer!

My next midwife appointment is on Tuesday, so we should have the results of the ultrasound at that point. I wonder if Gaelyn will be surprised at the growth of the baby since my last visit? Or maybe this kind of quick growth is typical amongst first time moms?

Jordan is anxious to feel the little one's kicks, especially now since I feel them so much and so frequently. I think its just a matter of days when he will be able to finally feel movement with his own hands. We have had alot of fun in this pregnancy together - Jordan is so involved with everything and its so nice to be able to share everything with each other as time goes on. He has so much interest in every aspect of pregnancy - he brought up the topic of the perineum the other day and how he read that its not always so good to cut it and that in most water births, the perineum never tears because of how elastic it becomes from the bathwater. At this point, as long as the baby and I are strong and healthy, we will be having a home birth. Maybe some of it will include laboring in water, it would be very soothing and I love baths...

It's Thanksgiving weekend and I am glad to have some days to relax. I have felt tired the last few days and I think I am battling a cold. I am really stuffed up and abit achy all over. I'm sure it'll pass quickly.

FLASHBACK...

An extra surprise for our July 15, 2006 wedding....

6 wks pregnant!!!

Feeling little **"Guido"** moving around more than ever. Jordan can't wait to feel the movements himself. I imagine that within the next couple of weeks he will be able to put his hand over my belly and feel the little one in action! Speaking of belly, my uterus has grown and moved up so quickly over the past two weeks; its almost at my belly button. Exciting times!

Spent a nice weekend relaxing, going for walks and enjoying these beautiful autumn days. It seems that since I became pregnant, I always want to walk along Rebecca Spit, which is an incredibly scenic walk. I go at least once during the week alone and then on the weekend with Jordan. I feel such goodness and closeness towards the life inside me and at the same time I am totally immersed in nature...the ocean, the mnts, the trees. Its almost as if the mix brings me to this really spiritual place, a place of total awareness, inside and out. When Jordan and I go, its the same way, just with alot of talking. We talk about the present, our future, our baby and our dreams. I am feeling so great in this pregnancy, its amazing...probably alot of crazy hormones.

These same hormones have made me feel alittle loopy at times as well. Absentmindedness and forgetful and then the newer states of total hyperness. The hyperness has added an element of such silliness recently. Jordan and I go crazy at times like we are children, running around, play fighting, laughing and just being rediclous! I am wondering what the little one is thinking as he hears his parents laughing and shreiking and all the crazy movements...
But then there are times when I am so tired! So far its been a whole array of emotions and moods, but all of it good.

**for some reason, since we found out about the pregnancy, we always call the little one Guido...don't know why, but its kind of funny and we figure its better than "it"**