Pre-Natal Visit

Uneventful, short, easy. These are words that never described the last pregnancy's prenatal visits, but this time... there's just not a whole lot to say. 10 minutes long, mainly just to chit-chat. I've gained 4 pounds over the last 5 weeks, measuring at 22 weeks, so a little small (surprise!) even though weight-wise, I am very close to what I weighed when I DELIVERED the twins. UGH!!!! I tell myself that 3 months of bedrest last time deteriorated my muscle mass considerably, and muscle is heavy (all of which is true, but, still.....). Another 4 weeks until the next visit, and all is well!

23 Weeks

23 weeks and it finally happened... I can finally feel our little girl moving! What a comforting feeling that is. While we were on vacation, she kicked me hard and woke me up at 5:30 one morning. I've been feeling her ever since. She's finally bigger than that darn ol' placenta! My sources state that I'm in the stage where I'm gaining about a pound a week. I thought that started at conception.... I feel HUGE! But then I see people farther along than me, and I realize that, yes, I have a looonnnng way to go yet. I will be huger. Comparative fruit of the week... a large mango. She's supposed to be about 11 inches and over a pound! Her proportions are fully "baby-like", she just needs to gain fat. I have some to spare for her.... check behind you in your mama's rear-end, little girl! Her sense of movement and hearing is finely developed, so now I need to watch what I say at all times, and not just when 4-year-old ears are around :). Next pre-natal visit... tomorrow!

22 Weeks

I hear the baby's sweat glands develop this week, and they would certainly be put to good use here in south-central Indiana! It is hot and MUGGGGGGGYYYYY. Our little girl is now likened to a spaghetti squash in size. I feel her move on rare occasions now.... maybe once every other day or so, if I'm sitting just right. Soon she'll be bigger than that darn ol' placenta that keeps blocking her kicks. Next prenatal visit -- when I get home from vacation.

Minor Little Scare

So, I'm at work today, and I start getting crampy and achy. It doesn't go away. I am at about the same point in the pregnancy where I went into pre-term labor with the boys, so this has me very worried. And I am leaving on vacation at 7am tomorrow morning, going to Who-Knows-Where Indiana, with Who-Knows-What kind of medical facilities nearby. Additional nervousness. I call the doctor's office. OF COURSE my doctor is gone for the day. These things always happen late Friday afternoon. The nurse suggests I go check myself into the OB department for monitoring, and, sure enough.... the baby is fine, no contractions. The culprit? My bladder. According to the on-call doc. I can handle bladder issues. It's those contraction thingys that I don't like. So all is well, and I'm going on vacation tomorrow!

21 Weeks

This is another "milestone week" in that the youngest babies ever born to survive happened at 21 weeks! Amazing. So, since I couldn't find ANY pictures on the internet of a 21-weeker in the womb, I'm posting a 21 week old baby OUT of the womb. I think there's only been two to survive at this age - one boy and one girl. But still. Amazing. Our baby is now the length of a carrot, according to my sources. In my experience, carrots come in all sizes (baby carrots to humongo-size) so this, to me, is not a good vegetable for reference. Oh well. She's growing, and that's what's important. I know this, because I am growing. Large.

Thanks alot

Yesterday, my father-in-law noted how much bigger I am this time around, as compared to the twins' pregnancy. THANKS. Rob, ever his father's son, had no idea why I would even remotely take offense to that observation. "It's just a fact. " THANKS again.

Our Little Girl

Well, the prophecy was right. It's a GIRL! She's got all of her major parts - all fingers, toes, and major organs accounted for! She's a mover and a shaker, which is why the 3-D ultrasound looks like an alien. Rob was a little scared when he saw that picture. "Does she REALLY look like that?" No. I don't think so. Heart rate - 147 bpm. Weight - 10 ounces. Height - 12 cm crown to rump, not counting legs which were folded up near her head half the time. She flip-flopped several times during the "visitation". And kicked me repeatedly - of which I felt nothing. I asked the ultrasound tech why that was, and she said that my placenta was anterior, and the baby was really kicking THAT more than me. OOOOOOHHHHHH. So THAT'S why I haven't felt her.

Tiny baby feet -- see them? Her legs are crossed, so the left foot is on top, right foot on bottom (a little blurry), toes pointed towards the left of the picture.

There she is, smiling for the camera, arms up over her head. Colby used to sleep like that. She's already taking after her big brother!

The creature from the Black Lagoon

The boys were pretty excited to see a picture of the baby in Mommy's belly. At least, excited for approximately 30 seconds before Colby asked "Can I have a ball? Get it, MOM!" But Quinn, at dinner, noted that babies LOVE to eat mushrooms, so he generously gave me all of his. In other pregnancy-related news, I have been a TOTAL klutz lately, and sprained my ankle today while at work. Yesterday, I spilled orange juice all over the fridge, dropped chocolate milk all over the kitchen floor, hit my hand really hard on the coffee table. Today, I was running with a little boy outside when I twisted my ankle and fell to the ground. I've been limping around, looking ridiculous. I cancelled my last two kids at work, as I knew I would NOT be able to keep up with them. STUPID.

20 Weeks

TAAAAADAAAAAAA! HALF WAY! I have to admit, this first half went pretty quickly. When I have little boys to chase around rather than stewing and dreaming about HAVING little boys (as I did in the first pregnancy), things do seem to go quicker. Baby weighs about 10.5 ounces now on average, and is the size of... insert fruit of the week here.... a banana! Bananas are starting to seem baby-sized, right? And, note to my husband -- I just read on babycenter.com that it is the increased ESTROGEN produced during pregnancy that makes me snore. So, we get to blame THAT on the baby, too! Isn't life wonderful???? Newsflash for tomorrow's blog.... pictures of OUR baby, not miscellaneous babies I find on the internet.

A prophecy?

OK. I'm going to make a guess here, and I could very well be proven wrong (likely to be proven wrong, but just in case I'm RIGHT, it'll be dated and documented here). I had an experience 2 years ago that was rather freaky, and at the time I thought it applied to what was happening THEN, but it occurred to me as I was sleeping last night that maybe it applies to NOW. So here's what happened.... don't think I'm insane.
I was working with a little autistic boy two years ago, doing our physical therapy (sit ups, I believe) in the back hallway at work. He looks at me funny, and says out of the blue "Monica, who's going to be my therapist when you're taking care of the baby?" Weird. "What baby?" I asked. "The baby. You're having a baby". No, I told him. I definitely WASN'T. Biologically, things had recently occurred (if you know what I mean) that told me I definitely was NOT having a baby. "Yes you are, and it's a girl. Monica Jr. She'll be born in November". I tried desperately to convince him I was NOT having a baby, but he was having none of it, and was very insistent. He kept saying that Monica Jr. looked like me, and SEE! There she was, waving at him! He was concerned as to who would be his therapist when I was at home with the baby, and it was very upsetting to him. Well, that incident stuck with me the rest of the day, and later that night. He was just so SURE, it was weird. So, early next morning, I took a pregnancy test, and YUP. Pregnant. Crazy. So I assumed we were having a girl, just like Matthew said, and hoped he was just being silly about the November thing. In October I miscarried. Matthew hadn't brought up the baby thing at all since that initial time, but his first visit after my miscarriage he just looked at me, and asked matter-of-factly "where's the baby? Is she born?" I told him no, that the baby was in heaven. "Hmmm. " he said. "She was supposed to be born in November". And he never mentioned anything even remotely unusual ever again, and eventually moved away with his family. Well, that pregnancy turned out to be a molar pregnancy -- neither girl nor boy because it was just kind of an empty gestational sac. So it occurred to me, that if God was talking through this little autistic boy, maybe he was meaning THIS baby (I know, it's a stretch). THIS baby is due in November. Will it be a girl???? Monica Jr.? HMMMMM. So, even though by the "timing method of sex-selection" that both my sisters swear by, this baby is bound to be a boy -- I'm going on record as guessing it's a GIRL. Because Matthew said we'd have a girl born in November. Time will tell if I'm being silly or not :) Thanks for bearing with me. See, I can say crazy things like this, because I can always blame it on the pregnancy if I'm whacky.