Time to Catch Up

Once again, I've fallen seriously behind. So here's my half-assed attempt to catch up.

December 20th: We had our Level II ultrasound, The Big One. Everything looked healthy and robust. The baby tossed and turned and kicked and waved so that we got a good look at every inch of that little body. Then when the tech needed to get a good shot of the spine, the baby very uncooperatively curled up and fell asleep. No amount of poking, prodding, jumping, walking up and down the hallway or drinking cold water would wake it up. "Yep," said Eric, "that's YOUR baby." And the big news: it's a boy! I was shocked when the tech told us, because I was sure it was a boy, so sure that I was convinced I must be wrong. I've never been so surprised to be right. Maybe there is something to this "mother's intuition" stuff after all. Or maybe I had a 50% chance of being right no matter what.

December 21st: We flew to Utah to visit my family for the holidays. It was an amazing trip. My parents wouldn't let me lift a finger. The best Christmas gift I got was that my morning/all day sickness magically subsided a few days before we left. I found myself suddenly having an appetite again, just in time for mom's cooking. She made roast beef with mashed potatoes, lemon chicken, clam chowder, steaks on the grill, all of my favorites, and man oh man did I eat! I made up for lost time. At Christmas Eve dinner we announced that we're having a boy by giving my parents a wrapped picture framed with a card inside that said "Congratulations Grandma and Grandpa...You're having a grandson." Mom and Dad both cried, and the siblings all screamed and jumped up and down, even my 10 year old sister Tanne who was hoping for a girl. The best part of the trip was being with my whole family. It was the first time we had all been together for Christmas in a long time. Tanne said it best: "Gathering our family together is my favorite thing in the world."

January 9: I had my first monitoring appointment with our perinatologist. She did an ultrasound of the placenta and major blood vessels to make sure the blood flow to the baby is adequate. Everything looked fine, and she reassured me by saying that after carefully reviewing my history she has every reason to believe that this baby will be born full term and healthy. I will still be monitored carefully because of my Factor V Leiden/MTHFR issues, but she expects a good outcome.

Today: I can't believe how big I am getting. Eric gapes at me when I'm getting dressed and I don't recognize my own body anymore. The baby is very active, and his kicks and punches are getting stronger. Last night while I was in the bathtub he kicked me and my whole belly moved. It startled me and I squealed, then laughed. I'm feeling wonderful, tired most of the time, but so good compared to my first 19 weeks that I'm like a different person. And I have an appetite! I'm starving an hour after I've had a big meal. My focus has to change from trying to get the scales to move up, to making sure they don't move up too far.

OK, now I'm caught up and can post like a normal person. Ultrasound pictures and shots of my ginormous belly coming soon!