The picture is from Bean Sprout's 20 week 2 day photoshoot. He was a lot more expressive during this one. The picture above shows him yawning with his hands around his head and the one below shows him smiling. I saw the PA, instead of Dr. Brody, and she took measurements of his head, tummy, leg, and arm, and determined that he is right where he should be. I am feeling him move around often, especially when I get up from sitting. He feels like he is sitting pretty low and he is starting to get kind of heavy...hopefully he won't fall out. In a week's time the official baby bump has debuted. It is seen with clothes on and I can't hide it at all. At work Friday my coworkers were noticing that they could see Bean Sprout. I had an emergency "Oh my gosh, my pants are too tight all of a sudden, and I don't have anything else clean" moment. A little MacGyver action with a rubber band fixed that problem..woohoo!
Last night we grilled out with our neighbors. They are absolutely awesome, and I can't wait to spend more time with both of them. And the icing on the cake--their little daughter is unbelievably adorable. She just may be a good candidate for Bean Sprout's first girlfriend :)
We started to work on BS's room and have put more thought into what we want in there. I knew that I wanted to get a glider/rocker chair of some sort but wanted to want to use it elsewhere in the house after it moved out of his room. For a couple of years, I have been interested in an Ikea chair, then I saw that there was a matching kid chair...it was meant to be. Sunday we made a trip to Ikea to get both chairs and they are both perfect. Although Jack really thinks that the little chair is for him. On other blogs I have seen where monthly pictures are taken of the baby sitting or lying in the same place to see watch him grow. His chair will be perfect for this.
19 weeks 2 days
Actually I lied about the most exciting part of 19 weeks. The most exciting part happened Sunday night while I was lying in bed. For two weeks now I have been concentrating on the movements in my tummy. I haven't really felt anything out of the norm, just the occasional muscle twitch or tummy rumbling. Dave and I have both been poking at my belly (we're already awful parents) trying to get Bean Sprout to play with us, but with no such luck. However, Sunday night Dave had his arm across my tummy and when he moved it I thought I felt something. A few seconds later I felt a little "pop" against my tummy. This was unlike anything I have felt before and it instantly made me grin from ear to ear. Since Sunday I have felt the fluttering that I have been hearing about, but only felt the kick once I am anxious to feel him again. I didn't realize that getting kicked would ever make me so happy.
My emotional state is changing; as much as I didn't want it to, there have been little changes here and there that make me less predictable than before. For example, I RARELY (if ever) cry during movies and I RARELY want to watch "chick flicks," but Sunday night I just had to watch He's Just Not That Into You and I finished it today and ended up crying at the end. WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME?!?! I understand the necessity of the physical changes, but why my emotions too? Hormones...ugh... Sometimes for "fun" I fake cry for stupid reasons, pre-pregnancy it was too obvious that it was fake, but today I made tears fall from my eyes. It was very convincing. I suppose I could use that to my benefit; but then again, I am not that conniving. (Dave says that I should add that he didn't like this very much and also says that I am not allowed to do again ;)
Next Tuesday should be quite an exciting day. In the afternoon I have my 20 week doctor's appointment and like usual I am excited about seeing how much Bean Sprout has grown in the ultrasound. I am very grateful that we have ultrasounds with every visit. Before having an OB I didn't realize the fortuity of getting to see our baby every few weeks, but now it's the most exciting part. I can't get the image of his little fingers out of my head from the last visit, and can't wait to see what new developments he's made. Tuesday evening we are grilling out with some new potential friends. I say potential because they may decide that we're too sarcastic or not funny or terrible cooks or any other possibility. "They" happen to live two houses down from us and we met briefly for the first time on Saturday. "They" also happen to be a young (I'm assuming around our age) couple with a baby daughter who will be one in October. We have seen them out and have meant to go out and introduce ourselves before now, but we're terrible neighbors and didn't ever do it. Our neighborhood is mainly older folks who have lived here for the last 20-40 years, so having a younger couple and built-in playmate for Bean Sprout is quite a blessing. I do hope that they like us.
I apologize for never adding pictures to my 17 week post, my photographer is slacking. I prefer taking the belly shots pre-dinner, so I am not showing off what I had to eat and just showing Bean Sprout. But I always "blog" after dinner while Dave does homework, so we haven't worked out a schedule for this yet. This said, I will make sure to get the picture taken and added tomorrow. UPDATE: I kept my word.
Dave trying out the baby carrier with Lucy, surprisingly she enjoyed it.
Dave and I aren't the only ones expecting right now. Dave's brother Joey and his wife Kim are due just days before us. We just found out that we're getting our first NEPHEW!!! It must be boy season. We are thrilled and can't wait to meet him. I grew up with a cousin close to my age that I was very close with, and I am glad that Bean Sprout will have a little buddy from birth. Side note: Bean Sprout is jealous that his cousin already has a name, and he is still without one .In other news, I was searching through flickr and I found another baby that I want. He's a baby marmoset and he is the cutest thing I have seen all day. 
There is a possibility that our child will look similar to this hairy creature, sans the tail and (hopefully) facial hair. I always joke that Dave and I are going to give birth to a baby caterpillar. We are both moderately hairy people. (This is possibly to much info to share) As a girl, I grew up embarrassed with my hairy arms and I also dealt with a tremendously thick head of hair. Dave is also pretty hairy, although I don't think he was ever shamed by his furry coat. On the bright side I haven't had much heartburn at all, which I hear is tied to the baby making his hair. So maybe will have a normal human looking baby, but that marmoset sure is adorable.
I am accustomed to being pregnant now, for the most part I have figured out how my body is going to act to certain things. I can't eat till it hurts anymore, because it hurts worse. I now eat little meals and then get hungry a couple of hours later. Sometimes I want to eat more than I should, but I know the feeling that follows and know I should avoid it. I rarely want sweets and recently I thought I wanted ice cream sandwiches, but now the idea of ice cream makes me feel slightly sick. Watermelon and apples are the exception to this sweet issue, I always want fruit. I have more energy than in my first trimester but I get tired more quickly than normal. Thankfully being 17 weeks pregnant isn't too out of the norm, there's not many surprises. I still don't really like being pregnant, and I still don't find it cute. I wish I could understand the women that love being pregnant but I just don't. I enjoyed my predictability pre-pregnancy, now it could change on a weekly basis.
My number one complaint about being pregnant is that I get hotter than normal. I knew this would happen, but I didn't know how bad it would be. It's only going to get hotter and I am only going to get bigger. Ugh. But when the weather gets tolerable and the sweaters come out, pregnancy will be over. Oh the irony makes me giggle.
Speaking of sweaters, we bought Bean Sprout his first cute little sweater. I never realized the effect that baby clothes would have on me. I had seen this sweater in Gap Kids prior to finding out the sex of BS, but there was no way I was going to pay the price on the tag for something only to fit for 3 months, but the cuteness of it almost brought tears to my eyes. This Sunday we ran into Gap Kids again, just for fun, and there it was, on the sale rack. The only 0-3 month one there, and to my delight had a much lower price tag. This was a sign that it would indeed be BS's first Thanksgiving sweater. Sunday ended up like Christmas for Bean Sprout, we had no intentions for this. We found our ideal stroller/infant seat set. I had to eat my words, because I said that I wouldn't buy anything from Babies R Us and I didn't want to own a travel system. I really should stop trying to predict my future. We went only to look and while we were looking at the strollers, Dave's eye was caught by a smaller lightweight one with a clearance tag. He pulled it down, we played around with it, and we were very impressed. It wasn't big at all and the seat leaned back further than the others in it's same class, had nice storage, and was easy to open and close. It also had flip up pieces on the side rails that we couldn't figure out a purpose for. I noticed a matching infant car seat on the clearance table and wondered if that had something to do with the unknown pieces. It did! The seat slide right on to those pieces and didn't add much bulk at all. This thing was great, exactly what we both wanted but didn't realize even existed. We hadn't planned on buying a stroller yet, and decided to go home to search the internet to compare prices. Turned out that this was a great deal on both, and the particular color was just being discontinued. It also has great safety ratings and got great user reviews. The deal was too good to let pass, so we now own a "travel system" from Babies R Us.
Our next doctor's visit is on June 23, and we'll be 20 weeks--the half way mark. Woohoo!!
*Pictures coming soon.
Summer is officially here. Normally I am not the biggest fan of Summer, this year is no exception. It has gotten hot already. The other day it was 91 degrees outside and 78 degrees inside my work. I really think my coworkers are secretly trying to kill me. I am trying to wear less and less to work, but a line has to be drawn somewhere. The only time I can really enjoy the heat is when I am near a cool body of water. Oh...I take that back. When I am at home there is a gorgeous pool staring right at me, but this pool belongs to my elderly neighbors and I have never ever seen anyone actually swimming in it. I have only seen Mr. Neighbor cleaning it, sometimes daily, but never swimming. This breaks my heart a little. Sometimes I think I hear the pool calling to me just to come over and feel the refreshment that it would provide, maybe that's just the voices in my head. Dave compares their pool to a formal parlor room in someone's house--the room that is always keep to the nines but that no one is allowed to actually sit or use. The jealousy from their pool makes me really really really want to go swimming. To add salt to my wound, I bought my first and only piece of maternity clothing so far--it was a maternity swim top.
This Sunday is our first wedding anniversary. We planned a last minute trip to leave town to just get away for the weekend. Dave was originally planning our anniversary festivities, but I busted his bubble when I found out that they were taking place at our house. My motivation to leave our house and to stay in a hotel is the pool. I need it to keep my sanity. His plan was really sweet and I felt guilty for ruining them, but we don't know when we'll be able to go out of town for fun next and thought we should take advantage of the opportunity. It will just be a little vacation but as long as there is a pool, Dave, our cake, and a bottle of sparkling grape juice, I think we'll have a great time.
Speaking of our anniversary, I CAN believe a year has gone by and I am surprised that so much has happened in the last 12 months. It has been a long year that has speed along at lightning fast speed. So much has happened this year; so much that I am very grateful for. Immediately following our wedding, we traveled outside of the country for the first time to the Dominican Republic. This was a fabulous trip and we had the best time, and it lit my fire for traveling. The August after our June wedding, we purchased our first home. At the time we had no idea that we were about to become homeowners, but we were both tired of our crappy little duplex with the series of bad neighbors, and I was tired of renting. We still have no regrets over our decision. The plan for our little house was to live here for 5-7 years and then move when we were ready to grow the family. Change of plans! Our first house will now be the home to our first child, and there are no regrets for that either. This year also involved Dave getting a nicer position at his long term job, which opened doors that we didn't realize would need opening. Dave also began working on his Masters degree. This means we don't have much free time together, but this will be such a benefit to carry to the future. The year has been full of blessings and I couldn't be more thankful. Over the past year my heart has been reconfirmed a million times that Dave was made for me, and for that, I am most grateful.
The picture is from Bean Sprout's 20 week 2 day photoshoot. He was a lot more expressive during this one. The picture above shows him yawning with his hands around his head and the one below shows him smiling. I saw the PA, instead of Dr. Brody, and she took measurements of his head, tummy, leg, and arm, and determined that he is right where he should be. I am feeling him move around often, especially when I get up from sitting. He feels like he is sitting pretty low and he is starting to get kind of heavy...hopefully he won't fall out. In a week's time the official baby bump has debuted. It is seen with clothes on and I can't hide it at all. At work Friday my coworkers were noticing that they could see Bean Sprout. I had an emergency "Oh my gosh, my pants are too tight all of a sudden, and I don't have anything else clean" moment. A little MacGyver action with a rubber band fixed that problem..woohoo!
