The Joys of Pregnancy: #2 - You mean there is somebody in there?

I thought it was about time for another Nigel update as the last few weeks have been exciting. This baby has decided to really make his presence known. The day before Thanksgiving was our last appointment and we heard the heartbeat for the first time. It was later than most because we had skipped a couple ultrasounds but it was worth it! It was up around 160, which is fast but normal for a fetus.

The next day we went to visit family for Thanksgiving. After a full day of family, food and fun I was relaxing on the couch and felt a weird feeling. From what friends and books had said, (basically that it feels like a stomach bubble, butterflies, or my personal favorite, a "fart up in your intestines") I thought it might be baby kicks but didn't want to say anything in case it turned out to just be that second piece of pumpkin pie I ate. That would have been embarrassing! Fast forward 6 days and nothing else has happened so I thought I was wrong but then, I felt it again. A few more days of nothing and then boom, Nigel must have had a growth spurt because ever since then I have felt them all the time.

In fact, last week they were all in my lower right side and although the flutters themselves didn't bother me, I was quite uncomfortable in that area. I tried to tell Craig it felt like a tumor but he said I wouldn't be able to feel a tumor so that was a silly description. So I switched to saying it felt like a baby was in my hip. I kept trying to shift Nigel by flipping over quickly from one side to the other or massaging the area towards my middle but nothing worked. But about 36 hours later I was walking around and he/she must have moved because all of a sudden the discomfort was gone and I started feeling the flutters somewhere else. It still feels more like fluttering than kicking but I'm okay with that for now :-)

Nigel's also growing. "They" say he/she should be about 5 ounces by now but all that means to me is that I finally had to indulge in maternity pants. And it must be all baby growth because I've only had a net gain of 3 pounds so far (despite my best efforts at eating a lot).

This picture is actually from last weekend but we only take one on even weeks so it will have to do. I've been using the bella band for the last 5 weeks or so and it worked well but this last week I reached the breaking point, literally (at least for my zipper). I normally hate shopping especially for jeans but after a failed attempt at target, we went to Motherhood Maternity and it was great. They brought me 4 pairs of jeans to try on, I liked 3 of them and picked my favorite two. Taking only 30 minutes, it was my easiest jean shopping experience ever! Maybe I should wear elastic waist pants all the time.

I would say something here about how I am still suffering from morning sickness 1-2 times a week and how that isn't really fair as I am already in my 18th week and I'm trying very hard not to be bitter about it but only succeeding some of the time. But as this is a happy post, I won't.