Alive and Kickin'

I've been getting lots of baby questions, so I figured it was about time to post some info. So, here's everything you wanted to know (and probably more) about how my pregnancy is currently going.

The biggest news is that I can feel the little guy. I'm not really sure when I first felt him. There were a couple of questionable occurrences that started happening before we went to Puerto Rico, but it was really on the flight back that I was pretty sure that I was feeling the baby. Since then (that makes it two weeks), I've definitely felt those "quickening" movements daily. I don't think you can feel the baby on the outside yet, but it's hard to tell. The movements don't happen for long periods so I haven't been able to get a hand on the belly in the right place at the right time yet to check it out.

I am definitely looking like a pregnant lady now. I suppose there are likely still folks out there who might just think I have a beer gut, but my "filling out" has happened just about everywhere and is heading outward. I only have a few "normal" shirts and sweaters (from the older, heavier days) that I can wear and the rest of my wardrobe is elasticized maternity wear. I don't have much winter stuff so I'm definitely having to be pretty creative in rotating essentially 3 shirts and 3 pairs of pants. The weather's been warm and has been teasing of spring, so I was hoping to quickly have more options in less warm clothes, but we're getting snow this weekend (and likely more throughout March) so looks like I'm stuck with a small winter wardrobe for a bit yet.

Me at 21 Weeks

Everyone seems to want to know how I'm feeling. Well, I feel pregnant. I'm never sure how to answer past that. Do I feel like I'm having a good pregnancy? Well yes. But there are so many changes going on with my body that it's inevitable that some things just aren't comfortable. I've finally gotten that 2nd trimester energy but I still am definitely not to pre-pregnancy energy levels. I need a lot more sleep than I ever did in my "former life" and some days I'm able to do more than work all day, eat dinner and sleep, but not every day and the "more" is usually not more than a task or two. However, the renewed energy at least allows for more productive weekend days. The belly is causing me to adjust positions in my workouts (especially in the weight lifting class I take) and "gets in the way" on simple tasks like bending and leaning over. Also, I've started to experience the belly itch, big time, over this last week. That would be the skin not being thrilled about getting stretch beyond a reasonable amount. Oh, and some days I just can't seem to get enough food in me! I'm really trying to stick to my healthy eating ways, but it's definitely a challenge when the bambino turns me into a ravenous beast. I'm really not stating these things to complain, just to give a full picture of my new little daily challenges in this time in my life.

Having a due date out there is definitely making us feel like we've got a huge deadline looming. There are a LOT of things we'd like to get done before then so we've really been busy little bees. I really have too many projects to list, but I'm sure I'll post about them as we (hopefully) get them done.

I also wanted to briefly mention that we did have a little scare just after getting back from our vacation. Our 18 week ultrasound, done before our trip, showed a small bright spot on the heart called an echogenic intracardiac focus. It's a calcium deposit on the heart, similar to what you can get on your fingernails, that sometimes can be a sign of a chromosomal abnormality. However, we went back for genetic counseling and further ultrasounds to check for signs of risk. Since we have none, everything is good. Of course there are no 100% guarantees but our risk is very low and we feel confident that all is well. We've had time to process the information and now feel ready to share. The upside to all of this is that we got to see the baby again on an ultrasound. Here's a picture of the little guy....I think he's starting to look like a pretty darned cute baby!

Note: I just took a look at this post and realized that my official pregnancy photo outfit doesn't show well....light blue shirt against a gray background. I'll have to revise for photos going forward.