Tristan And Baby

I asked Tristan if he wanted the baby in my belly to be a boy or a girl. He said he wanted it to be a boy like him. I said, "Oh, so you want a brother, not a sister?" He said, "I want a brother AND a sister AND a baby". So apparently, he doesn't quite understand that the baby will be his brother or sister and that he can not have both nor all three!

Yesterday, I felt the baby move for about a minute or two straight. I hadn't felt that much activity with this little one before. It was when Tristan came to see why I wasn't out of bed yet and he was talking a lot. Today I noticed that when Tristan came and started talking to me the baby started moving too. The baby must already like his big brother. :)

I thought the baby-o-meter at the top of each post would be fun to see progress, but it automatically updates everyday... so anytime you look at the blog, they'll all say the same thing and they'll be current for the day you're looking at them instead of all being different.

Appointments, Appointments

We had a doctor's appointment this week. Eric and Tristan accompanied me to the visit. Eric distracted Tristan while my blood was being drawn (for the last time). We all smiled as we listened to our baby's heartbeat. Tristan told the doctor that his little sister is in his mama's belly. She said that boys usually want brothers. I explained to her that he has lots of friends that are boys and they always want to play with his toys, but girls always want to play with dolls. He's got that much figured out! Tristan also told our doctor that he doesn't ride in a car seat sometimes. She got an alarmed look on her face. We assured her that he's never ridden in a car without his car seat. Three-year-olds and the stories they make up!

Tristan likes to tell me that my belly is "out to here!" while he stretches one arm out and pats an invisible HUGE belly in front of himself. I keep telling him it is NOT, but that it will be. Yesterday, our friend Jennifer who is only 23 days away from her due date, came down to see us. When Eric got home from work he asked Tristan what Jennifer's belly looked like. He stretched out two arms and patted an invisible HUGE belly in front of himself and said, "Out to here!" Then Eric asked him if she walked funny (she didn't). And Tristan said "Yeah!" and he started walking around the room normally with both of his arms 'out to here'. It was pretty cute.

And yes, I have a round belly now. But it kind of looks like I've eaten too many doughnuts at this point. Or like a little boy belly that pushes the shirt out.

Something new that is happening during this pregnancy that didn't happen with Tristan... I'm waking up hungry in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep until I eat. Me want food!

We got our slip to make the ultrasound appointment sometime between May 8th and May 19th. I haven't made the appointment yet because I want Eric to be there and I'm not sure what day will work best for his work schedule right now. I don't want to have to call him up at work to tell him if it will be a boy or a girl though... I think that would be lame. I'll keep you posted... literally.

Bump, Bump, Bump, Did You Ever Ride A Wump?

Monday night sitting quietly at the Kingdom Hall, I felt a bump-bump. Then Tuesday night sitting quietly on the couch, I felt a bump-bump. Then Friday laying in bed, I felt a bump-bump.

People describe quickening in lots of different ways: fluttering, popcorn popping, bubbles, etc.

For me, it feels like there's a little goldfish trapped inside, just swimming around and occasionally bump-bumping into the glass. A very light tap of something very tiny swimming in fluid almost weightlessly.

It will probably be another month and a half before the movements will be strong enough to be felt externally by a hand on the belly.

Hello in There

Today is the first day of week 15. And according to BabyCenter dot com our baby can hear us now. (Although, I'm sure s/he could hear Tristan before now with all his super-loudness). :)

Baby is the size of a lemon now and by next week at this time will be the size of an apple. (See picture). Here are some other interesting facts about baby:

• Baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb!
  
• Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another.
  
• From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.
  
• His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck.
  
• His arms have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.)
  
• Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

And by the end of the 15th week s/he will be doing these other things:

• Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces.
  
• She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop.
  
• Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs.
• There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds.

I can't feel the baby's movements but should be able to start feeling them in the next couple of weeks. They say 16-20 weeks is when most start feeling it; later for new moms, earlier for multipara moms.
We saw a good movie recently that made me wish we'd adopted instead of getting pregnant again. However, Eric and I weighed the pros and cons of adoption for 5 or 6 months before making the very researched/educated decision that it would be better in our situation to have one from scratch. We fully support anyone else who decides to adopt! There are lots of needy kids out there. We can even point you to some informative websites.

No More Secrets

Well, folks, we made it through the first trimester. Only 6 months (give or take 2 weeks) to go! So, our pregnancy is not a secret any longer.

Tristan told me that when the baby gets bigger it will be able to chase him and when it's a big boy like him it will be his friend. I smiled and told him that I hope that they will be friends.

We probably won't find out if it is a boy or a girl until mid-May... about 6 more weeks.

We got an exersaucer from some friends of ours yesterday. Having it in the living room makes the eventual arrival of our little one more real. Tristan loves playing with it... I hope he doesn't break it before Baby gets a chance to use it. :)

My belly is starting to get round. Tristan likes to lift up my shirt and kiss the baby. Yesterday he told me that I was getting fat. :) Wait until he sees where it's going to be in a few months!

If You're Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands

There was an ultrasound and doctor's appointment, both on Tuesday this week. Tristan and April came with me. Tristan did NOT like them putting jelly on my belly and rubbing the instrument around on it. However, when he saw the baby on the screen, he said, "Aww, look it's a sweet, cute little baby in my mom's belly!" Then after a few more minutes, it started looking like an alien because they were looking from the top view, and he started crying. So, April took him back to the waiting room where there were toys and books and they enjoyed themselves until I came out.

The ultrasound appointment was an hour long. The main purpose was to measure the fat on the back of the neck. That along with some blood tests are good indicators whether or not the baby has Down Syndrome. (The measurement looked normal). At the beginning of the appointment the baby was awake and was kicking its feet and clapping its hands and playing with its nose and mouth. We saw that s/he has all its fingers and toes and can be very active. (For any of you doubting that the baby was clapping - I know Tristan took a long time after he was born to be coordinated enough to actually clap his hands. What I meant was that the baby was waving its arms back and forth in front of itself and on the ultrasound screen of uber-fuzziness it looked like s/he was clapping).

After awhile the baby fell asleep, which made it easier for the tech to take measurements. S/he fell asleep with the legs frogged out, feet crossed at the ankles and one arm across the face. It was very, very cute.

They gave us some pictures, but none as cute or as clear as what was on the screen, so I'm not even going to post one. The ultrasound measurements said the due date should be Oct 9 instead of Oct 8, but how often does anyone have a baby on their "due date" really anyway? As long as it's not born on the 11th, I'll be happy. (Palmers know why).

I threw up twice this week, but seeing the little happy baby on that ultrasound screen makes it all worthwhile. :) So, we're done with 12 weeks, almost done with 3 months... it's going by really fast. Before we know it we'll have a crying, peeing, spitting up, adorable, soft, wonderment in our arms.

Differences - Everybody's different

People always say, "Every pregnancy is different just like every person is different". Until now, I had only ever been pregnant once, and I couldn't understand how that could possibly be true. I mean there are billions of people... and all pregnancies consist of growing a baby in the womb until it's ready to come out. How different could they be?!

Here are some differences between my pregnancy now and the one I had 4 years ago:
First of all, with Tristan, I was sick and throwing up at least 3 times a week from week 5 until week 18. This time I didn't feel sick at all until week 7 and have only thrown up once, in week 11. The sickness is milder this time, and I'm grateful.
Secondly, when I was pregnant with Tristan, eating made me feel sick and nothing made the sickness go away, believe me I tried any and everything anyone suggested. This time, NOT eating makes me feel sick, so if I start feeling sick, I just eat and it goes away until I get hungry again.
Thirdly, with Tristan, I never had any food cravings. None. This time I have craved all sorts of things. I even sent Eric to the store in the snow to buy me a watermelon (just like the couple in Lady and the Tramp)! I've craved green olives, oranges, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, Taco Bell tacos, Cafe Bella's panini, asparagus, mayonaise, egg sandwiches, BLT's, Reuben Sandwiches, Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, yams... and these are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head! Cravings are strange. It's not like when you're not pregnant and you're in the mood for pizza or something like that. No, it's more like all of the sudden being obsessed with a certain kind of food and nothing else will satisfy you and it makes you feel agitated until you get what you want. I haven't been able to satisfy all of them, unfortunately, but they fade with time.

Otherwise, the differences are in lifestyle situation. I'm not working full time outside the home this time. But my full time inside the home jobs are falling behind. Similar to last time, work suffers in the first trimester. Also similar to last time, the first trimester is full of naps and going to bed early.

Today is the first day of week 12. We're almost done with the first trimester! It's going by a lot faster this time. Although the older you get the faster time flies. An old friend of mine says he's up to eating breakfast every 15 minutes. :) By the end of this week, our LK will be as big as a lime! Growing and growing in there.

Oh, I thought of another difference! By this time in our pregnancy with Tristan we had his name picked out. Tristan Pascal for a boy and Madeline Amalie for a girl, and they never changed. This time we still have a super long list for boys names. We have a girl's name picked out, but have a list of middle names to go with it. We'll probably wait until we find out the sex this time to bother narrowing it down.

The next doctor's appointment is on Tuesday and we'll have an ultrasound, so maybe I'll be able to post some pictures of LK next time.