24 weeks

Sunday morning, I was sitting down when I noticed my stomach jumping.  It looked like there was a little frog inside trying to hop out! I got so excited to see the baby from the outside.  It was such a neat thing. :) I tried to get it on camera, but he wouldn't do it for the camera! Since then, he seems to have turned to face my back. I've been getting some good strong movements that I can feel in my back.  So, I think that's why I haven't seen anything from the front any more this week.  It was still such a great thing to experience, though.


Tomorrow, I'll be 24 weeks pregnant (according to the baby's size based on ultrasounds), and that is when they consider the pregnancy viable meaning the baby has a chance of surviving outside of the womb. HOWEVER, we want him to cook for quite awhile longer.  As much as I'd love to meet him, he needs to stay in there until at least 37 weeks.


My original due date was July 14th, but I've had 4 ultrasounds and each one has given me the same due date of July 22nd.  If I go by my first due date, I'm officially 25 weeks pregnant today.  If I go by the 2nd one, I'll be 24 weeks tomorrow.  For now, I'm going by the 2nd one.  I'd rather expect the baby later and not be surprised if he isn't here by July 14th than expect him then and wonder if he's ever going to come.  I don't know if that makes sense to anybody else, but it does to me!


I had a doctor appointment today.  I was originally going to have an ultrasound, but things were kind of crazy when I got there.  They considered me a walk-in patient even though I scheduled my appointment a week ago.  This is the crazy part of the army healthcare here.  Doctors rotate, so it wasn't my doctor's day to be in the office.  Yet, she scheduled an appointment with me anyway because it was time for my 24 week appointment.  So, since she wasn't scheduled to be on the hall, that made me a walk-in patient.  That's probably why they didn't have the ultrasound equipment ready.


But it didn't really matter that much.  I didn't NEED an ultrasound.  We were just going to do one because I hadn't been feeling regular movements.  That has all changed in just one week! Little Gordon Lee must have had a growth spurt! I still did hear his sweet heart beating away at between 145-150 bpm! I did measure 25 weeks pregnant according to my fundal height.  So, everything looks good.


I can feel the baby all the time now.  It's like any time he moves I can feel him.  The doctor said she could feel for the position of the baby, and she said he is diagonal.  She isn't sure where his head and feet are because he is so small, but she can tell he is diagonal going from the top left of my uterus to the bottom right.


My uterus is now the size of a soccer ball! The baby is still a papaya! lol We won't change fruit for one more week! Growth in length does seem to slow quite a bit from now until the end of the pregnancy.  But he still has pounds to pack on in fat.


That's really all for now! Here's an (almost) 24 week belly picture.  I cut my head off because I don't like how my face looks from this angle.

Check out my Crib

Last weekend, my parents came down for a visit.  With them, they brought the crib that I slept in when I was a baby.  I wanted to use this crib for the baby, and I was glad they were willing to bring it down.  It is nothing fancy and brand new, of course.  But I don't care about that.  I wanted my child to have something that I had, and I thought the crib would be perfect.  It's still in great condition.  We only need to replace 3 springs, which can be purchased at Lowe's.  

As you can see, it has drop sides.  And somebody mentioned about how drop sides can be dangerous because baby could get caught on it and end up dropping a side.  Well, I am 100% positive that if my baby figures out how to get these sides down, I'll have more to worry about than the crib.  I even struggle to get them down! I'm pretty sure I won't be dropping the sides too often.  There isn't anything for the baby to get caught on anyway.  Please ignore the desk next to the bed.  That's going to be moved before the baby starts sleeping in the crib.  Anyway, I'm very excited to pass something of mine on to my child.  No, I don't have the mattress or crib set yet, but we've been told by certain people that they are buying those for us. ;) So, we'll wait to get those.  

But what was even more special and interesting to me than receiving the crib to pass on to my child, happened to be something that came with it! :)

Hand-written assembly instructions including illustrations by my father! :) Ha! These are great! First, I just love the pictures he drew! He had been very careful to try to make his images look as much like the actual parts as possible.  And he actually did a very good job! Another thing that's just wonderful is the 1980s printer feed paper complete with perforated edges with the holes! That line at the very bottom of the picture is the part where the two pages were joined and you had to separate them yourself! 

Lee and my dad worked together to assemble the crib.  While they were doing this, they came downstairs and my father showed me the most interesting part of the instructions!

As you can see it underlined in this picture, the date that these instructions were written was March 18, 1989.   Now, that might initially seem like nothing.  However, my parents just so happened to come with the crib on March 18, 2011! I just think that is the coolest thing ever! The crib was assembled on March 19th.  So, it has been exactly 22 years since those instructions were written until they were passed on for the next generation! My dad says he is sure he wrote them for my sister or myself to use in the future.  It is great that we actually are!

In other news, I'm now 23 weeks pregnant (as of Friday).  I feel the baby every now and then, but for me it is still often the butterfly feelings.  I think he has to be moving around A LOT or kicking/punching pretty hard for me to feel things.  I talked to my doctor about this and she said we can arrange an ultrasound for my 24 week visit (this coming Thursday) so we can see how the baby is moving and how much of it I'm feeling.  Of course, I'm elated to be able to see him again!

Oh my a Papaya!

I am now 22 weeks and 2 days pregnant, and baby is the size of a papaya! :) At this point, however, we will not be getting a new fruit every week.  Instead, baby will be the size of a papaya for 2 weeks.  I suppose growth in length slows down as baby starts adding things like fat now.  

Papayas are rather large.  Baby is supposedly 11-11 1/2 inches long and weighing in at about a pound! Some places say 15 ounces and some say 1 pound.  Honestly, there is only one ounce difference! So, he's close to a pound if he's not there already.

Being that he is at the size he is now, I have just reached the next milestone.  I felt him from the outside for the first time last night! My parents were visiting, and my mother felt my belly when I told her he was moving and she said she could feel him.  But I really couldn't tell.  Well, last night he was moving around up near my left side and I definitely felt him moving.  It was so exciting and I do hope to feel it again soon.  It depends on where he is moving as to whether I can feel him or not.

Anyway, that's all I have for now! :) 

Tiny Feet; Big Impact!

It's amazing what those little feet can do! I went to the doctor today because I had started getting a sore throat yesterday.  I wasn't sure if it was anything really bad, but I wanted to take extra precautions.  Anyway, the doctor asked me if the baby is moving regularly.  And I answered him honestly saying I don't really know! With my placenta being in the front, I can't always feel him moving.  

However, I did tell the doctor I have been feeling a jabbing feeling up above my belly button to the left (towards my rib cage).  It's awfully high for me to think it's the baby.  But I didn't want to rule anything out.   The other day I was standing in front of class subconsciously pushing down on my left side when one of my students called out "You're poking the baby!" lol At which point, I responded, "Well, the baby is poking me!" It was so funny because I hadn't even realized it but I was pushing down in that area.

The doctor did confirm that that could be the baby.  To be on the safe side, though, he took out the fetal doppler to hear the heartbeat.  Well, based on where he found the heartbeat, it appears that baby is diagonal in there...with his head facing down and, yes, you guessed it...his little feet facing up towards my left rib cage!  So that jabbing feeling I've been getting has been his little feet pounding away.

Who knew such tiny feet could make such a huge impact?

Banana Baby

I am now 21 weeks and 2 days pregnant.  Right now, baby is the length of a large banana! :) I find myself eating more of whatever fruit I get for the week.  I've had quite a few bananas in the past couple of days.  

As far as movements go, I haven't gotten into a pattern of when I know he will move.  It's just random.  My books say that the baby will have wake/sleep cycles now.  But either my baby moves even in his sleep or he's just not on a regular cycle yet! 

The funniest thing happened on Friday.  I had a meeting after school at 3:30.  Halfway through the meeting at around 4:00, he decided it was time to kick.  I got three little jabs! I guess he's not a fan of staying after school. ;) Other than that, I really haven't felt him kick.  I may have felt one every once in a while but it hasn't been like it was on Friday.  The one time he decides to full-on kick I'm in a meeting. Thanks!

I'm not going to lie that I do get nervous at the fact that I don't feel regular movements, but i just have to remind myself that everything is probably fine.  This all has been (and is) in God's hands.  And there's no point in being nervous.

Let's see, other than that, there's not much else that's new.  One thing people have been asking me is if I have registered anywhere OR where I have registered.  So, I'm going to answer that here now.  I don't know how many people read this blog.  But hopefully this can answer a lot of people at once. :)

I'm registered at Target

I did make this registry online, and I have noticed it will often say that most of my items are only available online and not in stores.  But that is NOT true.  I have been through our Target store myself and seen the things on my registry in the store.

I'm also registered a Babies R Us

I don't know why I feel the need to put a picture for each one! lol I just like visuals.  I did make this one in the store.

Finally, I have asked for most of the the larger items from amazon.com on a wishlist

This is because these items are a lot cheaper from amazon than I have seen elsewhere.  But my mom did find one of them cheaper somewhere else.  She shopped around!  We also found one thing much cheaper at Sears than it was on amazon.  Still, I find the the items I put on there are cheaper than at Target or Babies R Us even though they are still available at the other places.

All registres are under my first and last name and I'm the only one for all of them except Amazon.  But the other person on Amazon isn't requesting a list of baby items. ;) So, it's a little obvious.

Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great Sunday.  That's all I have for now!

Do I Really Need That?

It has been longer than usual since I've written something.  However, there wasn't much to report recently.  The one thing I've been wanting to write about is a topic that I'm a little afraid to write about.  I'm worried I'm going to end up having to go back and take back everything I said.


The thing is that I feel very strongly about this, and I really want to share what I've experienced when it comes to pregnancy and staying healthy.  I don't mean eating right (which is also important).  I mean actual health as in not getting sick.  


Now, at the beginning of my pregnancy I was told, "YOU NEED TO GET A FLU SHOT."  This is, of course, due to the fact that pregnant women are among the groups of people who are told they should get a flu shot. (and here's where my blog is going to get very passionate...I do apologize in advance if my views offend anyone) BUT WHY? I do not know what is in that injection, and I see no reason whatsoever to get it! I have never had a flu shot ever.  I have managed to stay away from the flu because of it.  In fact, most people I know who have gotten the flu shot have come down with some strain of the flu from it.  Granted, it may be more mild than usual.  Still, if the flu shot could somehow give me the flu, why would I want to get it?


So, I called a friend during the early stages of my first trimester to talk about the flu shot.  She was against it and informed me that the H1N1 shot had actually not even been tested on pregnant women.  There are also reports of pregnancies that ended abruptly soon after a woman got the shot.  That left me feeling very sure that I did not want to get it.  The question that remained, though, was WHAT SHOULD I DO?


I certainly don't want to put my unborn child at risk.  That means that #1 I don't want the shot because I don't want to take those chances BUT #2 I don't want to stay vulnerable because I don't want to come down with the flu.


So, here's what I did.  I  consumed A LOT of water and orange juice.  I took probiotics for intestinal health as well as vitamins to promote immune system strength. I rested whenever I felt tired.  I washed my hands all the time.  With that, despite being around students and other staff members who came down with the flu, I avoided it.  I made it through all of the flu season months without any flu symptoms whatsoever.


Here's where I feel nervous.  I hate saying I made it out without the flu at this point in case I find out I somehow catch it in March.  Yet, with the weather here being as warm as it is, I do feel safer about it.  Plus, there haven't been any students getting sick with it anymore at school.  


So, basically, all I want to say is that I don't think I want to do something just because somebody on the news says I should.  If there is no research to back up the benefits, I see no purpose in it.  I knew that taking the natural approach could not hurt my child.  I had never done it before; yet, it worked very well for me.  I have felt very healthy.  


The only time I've gotten sick this pregnancy was back in November.  This was before I took any probiotics or extra vitamins.  I had actually had allergies.  Yet, we got those under control.  My allergies may come back again with the start of April/May (they usually do).  But, even then, those are allergies that simply make me feel uncomfortable and don't hurt my child.


I didn't get the flu shot and I'm happy about that.

Halfway!

Wave the baby flag! This pregnancy race is now halfway done for me! I am 20 weeks pregnant today, which works out to be halfway from 40 weeks.  Granted, this would make me 5 months meaning there are 4 months to go.

Also, part of these 20 weeks consists of time when I didn't even know I was pregnant.  So the next "half" might feel quite a bit longer than this one. :) But, still, it feels good to be able to say I'm halfway there.  

Right now, little Gordon Lee has grown exponentially from the time when we began.  Back at the beginning, he was the size of an appleseed and now here we are.  And you will not believe what fruit he has been compared to this week.

A cantaloupe! Here we are at 20 weeks, and he is the size of a cantaloupe. He may be a small cantaloupe right now until the end of this week (because I think the fruit sizes on my ticker represent the end of the week).  He has still grown a lot and should be at least 10 inches from head to toe! 

The miracle of life does not cease to amaze me.  I don't do very much except try to be careful of what I eat and drink for his health.  But my body is the perfect incubator for him! This experience reminds me of just how much God is in control; he created this life from the beginning and has sustained it thus far.  Here I am not really knowing exactly what is going on in there.  Yet, God knows! He knows exactly what those tiny fingers and toes are doing right now.  He knows just how to form this life in every way, and it is remarkable. :)