28 weeks - Like mother, like daughter.

My baby girl does not like to hold still. I can't prove it, but I strongly suspect she either doesn't sleep, or sleeps like I do - by constantly moving, of course.

She, like her mother, does not like - at all - to be even slightly uncomfortable. If I wear a pair of pants with an elastic band that cramps her style, she kicks at the band until I change clothes. If I stand up, she repositions herself. If I sit down, she repositions herself. If I change which side I'm lying on, she does too. Her kicks are becoming more and more forceful, and if I'm sleeping with my stomach against Tim's back, he usually ends up saying, "Why is my baby kicking me again?"

I usually sing songs in the morning while I'm getting ready, and sometimes if I stop, she kicks until I start singing again. I'm told (by books and/or the interwebs) that she weighs about 2.25 pounds, is 15 inches long, and has five intact senses at this point. If she were born today, she would have over a 90% chance of survival (with medical intervention).

I've dreamed twice now that she has golden-blond, troll-style crazy hair with really tan skin. I've also dreamed that she's Asian, so I don't put a lot of stock into my dreams. :) I have a recurring dream that she's born prematurely, and that I need to put her back inside. But in these dreams, I always really like her and want to keep holding her.

About 3 months left! We have some basics like onsies and a couple blankets (thanks, Mom and Tim!), but no crib, no carseat, no stroller, etc. Yikes! Hopefully we'll get ourselves together soon. Tim and I are both so excited for the day we get to see her.

26 weeks

So Tim and I are now legally and lawfully wed, which means Baby Girl won't be illegitimate. We got hitched December 29, 2009, and the baby kicked through the whole wedding and dinner. Miraculously, I started feeling much, much better a few days before the wedding, so I was able to enjoy everything.

The baby kicks me night and day, and Tim has been kicked so hard a couple times that he finally believes me when I say she's got some serious quad muscles. A new exciting development: we can see her moving / kicking / shifting when my belly moves. It's fun to watch.

I've been getting really big, really fast the last week or so. The lunch lady asked me today if I was sure I wasn't having twins, and after coming back from a 2 week break, several people commented on the size of my belly.

Sleeping is a joke these days. Poor Tim usually ends up on the far end of the bed because I toss and turn and ask him for "just a couple more inches" continually through the night. He continues to be a really good sport about it all, and seems happy that I'm not a big, vomiting sloth on his couch anymore.

23 weeks, and she's going to play soccer. I can feel it. Literally.

I'm starting to feel a lot more movement.  She used to have two or three kicking episodes a day (morning, evening, and at about 4:00 am), but now she seems to be doing somersaults, backflips, twirls, and 45-yard punt attempts - nonstop.  Last night she was kicking so hard that I dreamed she kicked a hole through my stomach and accidentally delivered herself.  In my dream I was worried sick because I knew her chances of survival were very slim so early, but also I really liked her so I didn't want to put her back inside (which seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to do in my dream).  She had black hair and big blue eyes (like Tim's) in my dream.  I think feeling her for the last few days, though at times uncomfortable, has also made me really excited to meet her in the flesh.

I've also started having Braxton Hicks contractions.  The intertubes tell me that these are "usually" painless, but I think they feel like moderately painful menstrual cramps.  When I told this to the midwife who examined me at my last appointment, she reassured me that I wasn't actually feeling any discomfort... hmmm.   They happen five to ten times a day, usually when I'm quite tired or dehydrated.  I'm not worried about them... I think.

In happy news, I haven't given any food back to the good earth for three days in a row.  This is a record for me, and I hope a trend that will keep on trending.  Tim and I are planning to drive across the country Friday, and it would be nice if it could be free of unpleasant episodes.

22 weeks... and today has been okay.

Three things:

1) I felt good today. Really good. Almost like the old days.

2) Tim is not exactly an effusive person, which isn't to say that he doesn't get excited; it's only to say that he usually shows enthusiasm with a barely perceptible smile, or by slightly raising his eyebrows. He's very quiet about experiencing joy. I did, however, catch him smiling broadly during our ultrasound, and when the doctor told us we'd be expecting a girl. The other day, he wrapped his arms around me and said, "How's my girl?" I said, "I'm okay, a little tired..." and he said, "I didn't mean you... how's my other girl?"

The other day he went to Target to fetch a birthday present for his nephew. He came home with said presents, as well as a stuffed elephant that plays a lullaby and matching blanket for "his girl." I thought it was really cute that he picked out some gifts for her, completely independently from me.

3. I've been begging Tim to let Cami and/or Erin and/or Joanne take a couple pictures of us that we could send out in announcements or frame for the reception. He has been, really, truly, exceesively, adamantly opposed to this idea. He really hates having his photo taken. Today I begged one more time, and he agreed to sit through a ten-minute shoot at... wait for it... Sears (since we had to go to the mall anyway). I think he thought it would be shorter that way... but it was pure and undiluted agony. The waiting room was full of 50-60 screaming children dressed as angels and elves and such. Furthermore, the gal who took our photos seemed to think we were 14 years old and posing for our first prom dates. We finally had to request some conservative poses. She insisted on taking a couple "maternity" shots... which I didn't know existed. We were laughing in 100% of the photos she took, mostly due to the silliness of it all. This is the least silly of the maternity poses (Tim would kill me, really, if I posted the others):

20 weeks, and really? Only half-way done?

In some ways I thought the 20-week mark would never come. But in other ways, I feel like I've been pregnant for about 3 years. I'm ready to have the baby now, as in today.

Her movements have gone from faintly perceptible flutters to sleep-preventing uterus poundings. Tim can finally feel her kicking (or punching, or maybe biting) from the outside, which is exciting (for him). I have lost my ability to sleep through the night, and getting up from a reclined position is painful (round ligaments, I'm told). The baby (which Tim has started referring to as Little Emma Hanley) kicked me all through a faculty meeting today, and distracted me from paying proper attention. As though I don't have trouble enough.

So we (the parental units) have been throwing around names.

Tim's favorites: Emma, Emma Leigh, Emily, Emmaline.
My favorites: Clara, Jane, Lillian, Penny.

We've no earthly idea how to resolve this conflict, so it will probably come down to an arm wrestle. In which I get to use both hands and a pulley system.

18 weeks and the verdict is in:

This week we finally got to find out a bit more about the wee one that keeps me awake at night. We went in for our 18-week ultrasound and got to see the baby hanging out. It was lying at the bottom of my uterus sucking its thumb with its feet raised and crossed. The technician needed to get several shots of various organs from various angles, but the baby wouldn't budge - even after I rolled from side to side and did downward facing dog. The technician said she thought the baby was "probably not a boy" but couldn't get a good view of much. We had to go back two days later (to get better views of the spine and heart).

This time (Thursday, November 12) we had a much more aggressive sonogram technician who jabbed my uterus (yeah... didn't feel that good) until the baby was in the needed positions. She showed us three lines that formed the labia and vaginal opening, so it's 90% official: the baby will now be refered to in the feminine tense. :)

The ultrasound was actually really stressful for me. I started crying when the technician was measuring various body parts to see if they were okay and was really worried that there would be problems. But everything was in normal ranges, and I teared up a couple times watching the cute little baby sitting there sucking its thumb. During the second ultrasound, we watched the baby tapping her foot against the placenta wall - it also was cute, as though she was just biding her time in the womb.

Tim didn't care if the baby was a boy or a girl, but was very happy when we saw the baby. I was secretly (well.. not that secretly) wanting a girl, but I would have been happy either way. Knowing the gender of the baby has made me more excited, and seeing her in the womb again was really neat.

Tim and I went out to dinner the other night, and we were talking about a time when we went to a museum with Erin. He had been really sad that day, and we talked about it a bit. He then said, "But... I'm much happier now." I asked him if he was happier than he was at the museum or if he was happier than he was during that time in general. He said, "Well... I'm happier than I've ever been in my life." We're both so excited for this baby girl!

17.5 weeks - Baby likes music!

November 6th, 2009

Tim and I went out for the first time in what seems like ages. First we went to the macaroni grill to celebrate Bryn's birthday. I thought it was so funny that the Macaroni Grill is her favorite restaurant - it's so adult.

After cake at Cami and Peter's, we went to a Patti Griffin / John Prine concert. Patty was good, but John Prine was awesome. He played some very raucous songs, and the baby moved all over the place. Since then, I've been playing the guitar while it rests on my belly, and without fail, the baby starts kicking and wiggling. Apparently it likes music! Today a Modest Mouse song came on the radio, and it seemed to enjoy (or hate... hard to say) that as well.