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FRIDAY JUNE 24
I had a great appointment today. Not too much poking and prodding, which i consider to be a very wonderful thing. I had the privilege of meeting the last of the new midwives. She was a little older than the others, but very experienced and very nice. We had fun going though my history together, since to her i was brand new. We listened for a heart beat. It was a speedy heart beat! This baby was dancing! She had a hard time keeping the device centered on the baby. Once she caught Baby we could hear both heart and some weird scratch sounds that came on as frequently as the beating. I thought the device was getting a crappy signal but she explained that those sounds were baby kicks! I couldn't believe how active he/she was!! It was thrilling to get to hear the baby again after all this time.
SATURDAY JUNE 25
Today i felt amazing. No sickness, no sleepiness, no soreness. I spent lots of time with the kids outside and I even used the elliptical machine. My goal is to pick that up again. I've slacked the past few months due to sickness and now that its completely gone I'm ready to be me again.
Later on in the day Kiley and I drove up to the north to attend my sister's surprise birthday party. And boy was she surprised! She couldn't believe we were all there, and all there for her. She came to me first, shocked that I'd made the drive. I wasn't going to miss this celebration. We enjoyed sushi and shared laughs. Kiley stole the show on many occasions just by being her cute charming self. Oh, she started shy as she always does, but eventually she opened up. Didn't let anyone tough or hold her but at least they could look at her, even make her giggle. She was wonderful company and it was so awesome spending that time with my sister and her friends. At one point, while everything was being cleaned up, one of the hostesses took a chance and asked me if i was expecting another. My first thought was "wow that was gutsy!", then i thought "crap, do I look that obvious!?". But then i realized how happy I was to look pregnant because looking pregnant means feeling even more pregnant!
SUNDAY JUNE 26
Hot hot hot! What better way to enjoy HOT than at Valley Fair? We spent about 5 hours there today and it was a blast...but it was tiring! The kids had a lot of fun in the water. What's nice about the water park is even though there are a lot of people there it feels too relaxing to notice. We vegged out on the Lazy River, taking Landon's lead and cycling through it 4 times. That was my favorite part...lounging on a tube, holding my lil' girl, watching Landon spin on his tube while Mike tried splashing him. It was a good family outing that ended with a good family dinner at Olive Garden. Baby ate like a king tonight. :)
MONDAY JUNE 27
I feel full today. Probably because i ate later than i normally would, and more than I normally would, last night. And i had to eat breakfast this morning, get my metabolism moving. But now I feel like i ate too much even though I didn't eat that much. I had wheat cereal, though, and that can be filling. I'll just make sure I walk around a lot today, keep my body in motion. Usually that helps. I'll go for a walk, maybe do an elliptical exercise when I get home while the kids run around the back yard. I'm looking forward to going home and spending the evening with them...but first...work!
Ok so I felt full all day, which is strange because i can list on on 6 fingers what i ate today: whole wheat cereal, 2% milk, Greek yogurt, 3 dark chocolate Hershey's kisses, spinach salad (tomatoes, chicken, oil and vinegar), and veggie stix...oh and water. That's it. Seems like nothing! I think i just didn't feel hungry after going to Olive Garden yesterday and my body is used to eating less after I do that to let my system work on digesting high-carb meal for awhile. But still! I felt like I'd eaten a whale for lunch. I think its just pressure from Baby. So weird how that happens. My stomach will often growl but i'll feel full at the same time. Its a strange sensation!
Landon asked me tonight what the baby's name will be. I told him we didn't know yet but that we'd have to eventually pick one. I'm loving his excitement! He desperately wants a brother, so i hope if its another girl he'll still love her the same. I'm sure if Kiley was a little older and fully understood what "mommy has a baby in her tummy" means, she'd say she wants a sister. One of them will be right.
TUESDAY JUNE 28
I feel hungrier today, but still full. I think i will feel endlessly full until Baby is born. And i'm ok with that because i love every moment of being pregnant. I'm feeling beautiful and full of life and happy and excited and i wouldn't change it for the world.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 29
Today's appointment was great! Mike and the kids got to see the baby again, but this time it wasn't a grain of rice that was hard to see. Today the baby had very visible features. We could see the head, brain, heart, legs, feet, knee bones, spine, arms, nose, mouth!!! Our little baby has grown so much. And he/she was really moving. Amazing, since there didn't seem to be much room in there at all. I couldn't get over the smile on Landon's face. He looked so happy, in love already with this little baby. He said it looked like a boy. Mike said the baby has a girl face. Kiley pointed at the screen and said sweetly "baby". Yes, baby!! I was surprised she said that because i wasn't sure if she'd made the connection between us talking about the baby and the image on the screen. I'm not sure if she understands fully what's going on, but I try often to tell her there is a baby growing in my tummy. She'll touch my stomach and say "baby?" I am loving this!
After the ultrasound, Mike asked the tech if she could tell what the baby was and with a big smile she smile she said "oh yes, i could tell". So now she holds the secret. I told the tech before she started that we were not finding out the sex and she said she would avoid too many looks at those areas that would give it away...not that Mike and I would be able to know what we're looking at, but I thought it best to play it safe. I felt like i was looking at a boy, but sometimes it looked like a girl because the facial features looked so similar to Kiley. We shall see! I can't wait to get up north and show my family the photos we have now. I think my mom will love them to pieces.
I did a workout on the elliptical last night for 30 minutes and it felt amazing! I want to stay active. Its healthy for me, healthy for the baby and frankly makes me feel awesome. I work as hard as it takes to get my heart rate slightly elevated. I can't let it go too high but a little is ok. I'm not trying to loose any weight, so working hard isn't priority...moving is. I've felt more loose, less achy, less tired, less cranky and much more relaxed. Its amazing what exercise will do! Exercise isn't anything new for me so I'm never worried about doing it while pregnant. Its also supposed to help me bounce back after the baby is born, which is something that's important to me. Each baby loosens my body more so it takes more to get into shape after. The more I do now to stay active, the better experience I will have afterwards.
So I've been comparing my size at 15 weeks now to when I was 15 weeks with Kiley and i was quite a bit smaller back then. I am more equal to when i was 21 weeks with her. Amazing how much faster I popped out! What I find interesting is from week 4-15 with Kiley I gained about 6 pounds and with this baby I've only gained about 4.5 pounds. So I the difference I see is literally all baby popping out! I laughed when i realized that truth. All i can say is I'm loving every moment!!
This morning at about 9:10am I felt something while sitting at my desk at work. It was just a single pop. Nothing after, no gas, no movement of that pop, just one and done. Its very possible it was Baby, but whenever I've observed him/her on screen there's so much movement. I would expect to feel more than a single pop. I'm still unsure as to what I felt. I didn't feel anything with Landon or Kiley until 18 weeks, so this would be earlier but close. Although, i thought i felt something at 12 weeks with this one too. The midwife told me that those with diastasis recti can sometimes feel the kicks sooner. So...its possible. :)