When will I feel the baby???

All of the baby books, my Mommy friends, and the girls online all say that around 16-17 weeks early movement can possibly be felt. So for the last 2 weeks I have been waiting for that first movement. Well, it might have been last Monday night! Or it might not have been, I have no idea! I woke up twice last Monday night by a sharp stinging feel on my lower left abdomen. It was strong enough to wake me up, and it was succession of 3 "stings". Then it happened again Tuesday evening, but nothing since then. I don't know if it was the baby or not, I have certainly never heard of a stinging sensation in anyone's descriptions of the first baby movements. I hear that it feels like gas, or butterflies, or little air bubbles...defiantly not stings! It didn't hurt, it was just odd. But as I am learning EVERYTHING is normal in pregnancy.

Test results came in yesterday from having my blood drawn. I am at a "normal risk" for downs syndrome and spinal bifida, which is good. They will check the baby for signs during the big ultrasound.

As of today I am 18 weeks and 0 days pregnant. The baby is the size of a sweet potato, and I should be feeling the baby's first movements around now. The baby is also able to hiccup and yawn now and is growing hair. Next Thursday is my next doctor's appointment and we will schedule the big ultrasound.

Week 17

Things have been really busy at work, and Garen is out of town on work, so there isn't a hole lot to write about this week. Physical therapy has slowed down to once a week, which is great because I feel like I have been missing a lot of work for doctors appointments and physical therapy.

As of today, I am 17 weeks, and 1 day pregnant. The baby is the size of a large onion. Every time I think of an onion, I here Shrek saying, "I'm like an onion; onion's have layers." I should be able to feel the baby move any day now, but so far - nothing. Hopefully it won't be much longer.

Week 16

This has been a relatively uneventful week, as far as the pregnancy is concerned. In the books I have, they all say the 2nd trimester is the best, and while I had serious doubts for a while, I think things have evened out and are going great. I don't have another doctors appointment until Nov. 1, which is when I will schedule the "big" ultrasound.

My appetite has definitely increased. I usually eat breakfast around 6:30am, by 8am I am starving and have to eat...then again at 10, and by noon, I am SO ready for lunch. People in the office keep teasing me that every time they see me, I have food in my mouth. But I was weighed on Friday (had to have blood drawn) and I have still only gained 3 lbs. Not that I am complaining about only having gained 3 lbs, but I'm ready to "pop" and have an obviously pregnant belly.


Garen came home for the weekend. I showed him the stroller I picked out last week and let him choose the color. Now we just have to wait for the 2008 strollers to come out! I'm looking at crib sets already and saving several I find into my favorites. Once we know if it is a boy or a girl I'll let Garen pick.

As of today, I am 16 weeks, 1 day pregnant. The baby is the size of a pomegranate. Below is an updated belly picture. You should be able to see a little bit of progress, but I still think it just looks like I've been drinking too much beer.

I Feel Good

Finally, I feel good. Physical Therapy really seems to be helping. And to be honest, I love it. I show up first thing in the morning, lay on a table on my side, and a very nice lady gives my lower back and hip area a very nice (yet intense) massage. She works out my knots as she manipulates my hips back to a "normal" position. After 30 minutes of this, she wraps me in a huge heating pad and I drift off to sleep for about 10 minutes. And the best part - insurance pays for it! It's completely legitimate. I have very simple exercises to do at home, and I have been pretty faithful at doing them. I really want to get better, and if these exercises mean I will have a painless (or at least not excruciating) pregnancy..WooHoo!

I'm late posting this week because I was off baby shopping all day Saturday, then watching the LSU Tigers beat the Florida Gators. Sunday I slept all day, I think the baby must be going through a growth spurt. Baby Shopping was fun. I picked out the stroller that I want, but the color choices are ehhh. I saw the 08' colors and I'm going to wait until they come out to get the stroller - MUCH cuter colors. I also caved a bought the cutest little girl dress! I couldn't NOT buy it. And even if it is a baby boy, my sister-in-law Heather is due about a month before me and she is having a little girl, so someone IS going to get to wear this fabulous little dress.

As of today I am 15 weeks, 2 day pregnant. The baby is the size of a naval orange (the sizes go length). I have gained all of 3 lbs, and I have gone up 2 solid pants sizes! I'm officially in maternity clothes, and even though no one else seems to be able to tell that I have a belly, I DO have a belly. In about a month I should know if we will be having a baby girl or a baby boy. At my last doctors appointment I almost begged him to do an ultrasound just to see....as you can tell I was unsuccessful. I did get to listen to the heartbeat again, which was strong at 155 bmp.

Physical Therapy

I went to my first physical therapy session this week to try to relieve the pain on my sciatic nerve. Boy was that interesting, I learned a lot, and by just following my list of restrictions (which are extensive) my back doesn't hurt nearly as much. So here is what I learned -

Why it happens: Apparently the hormones that are released when you are pregnant cause your ligaments to go all "loosy-goosy". That’s why pregnant woman have a lot of restrictions, because they are more susceptible to injury. Anyway, the ligaments that help hold your hips in place get loose too and they slip a bit, exposing the sciatic nerve. Oh yeah, and this loose ligament syndrome lasts the entire pregnancy, throughout breastfeeding, and won't clear up until 3 months AFTER that.

Point of my physical therapy: To strengthen the muscles around my hips to help hold them in place. Exercise before getting pregnant would not have prevented this, some woman are just more susceptible.

Things I am restricted from: Crossing my legs OR my ankles (which I do constantly and unconsciously). This puts more weight on 1 hip. When standing from a seated position, put my knees together, place my hand on them, and push myself up (this includes getting in/out of car). On couch, do NOT put legs underneath me. Only 2 sitting positions allowed on couch; traditional seated, or with my legs straight in front of me. I can lay on the couch w/ pillows between my legs. No "attitude" standing, or putting weight on one side or the other, must distribute weight evenly between both feet. Sleeping - I'm allowed 3 positions; either side w/ pillows between my legs, or on the left side, with a pillow behind my back, I can rotate back onto the pillow (this cannot be done on the right side).

Actually following the restrictions isn't as difficult as I thought, and the results have been immediate. The hardest part is sitting on the couch in a seated position. I have to continue physical therapy 2 times a week, for the next 3 weeks, then the doctor will re-evaluate me.

As of today, I am 14 weeks and 0 days pregnant. The baby is the size of a lemon, and is literally sitting on my last nerve!

Hello and Welcome!

I figured with Garen and I livinig so far away from our families and friends, that we would keep you updated on the status of my pregnancy though the wounderful world wide web. I plan to update this blog weekly throughout my pregnancy, and then use it to show baby pictures and update you on the status of our little one.

As of today, I am 13 weeks and 1 day pregnant. I have successfully made it through the first trimester. The baby is the size of a peach, and is definitely making mommy feel (if not look) fat. There is no longer such as thing as "sucking it in". None of my pants will zip, let alone button. I have been very fortunate though as a lady from work has given me all of her maternity clothes! The shirts all fit great, but she is about 5'3"...so the pants look ridiculously short on me. But the carpi's and shorts, thankfully, work for now. I'm trying to hold out just a little bit longer to buy maternity clothes.

Last weekend Garen and I bought a new car, which may not sound baby related, but I needed something more reliable to be driving a baby around in. We bought a 2007 VW Passat, or as my Uncle Breezy calls it, a "Hitler Hot rod". It is the Wolfsburg edition, which just means it has a bunch of extras without the huge price jump. It is silver with black leather interior and is so nice. I'll include a picture soon.