And the (Beat) Goes On: Weeks 16-19

[NOTE: Please do not be alarmed at the switch between gender designations employed in my writing. Until we determine whether our little one is a boy or a girl, I have taken to alternating genders, referring to our baby as "he" one moment and "she" the next. I feel much better about this than calling my baby "it" or "they"--as though there were TWINS in there--and it just seems like less of a mouthful (keyboardful?) than typing "s/he", "he/she", or "he or she". So there.]

And the (Belly) Goes On: Week 16



As I stated in the caption when I posted this picture on Facebook, please ignore the goofy expression on my face in this picture. I wanted to share it because it makes my bump look glorious. Week 16 arrived with the discovery of a new pregnancy miracle: round ligament pain. Very uncomfortable. Especially when non-negotiable obstacles like getting out of bed or enduring a violent sneezing fit come into play. (I might have bewildered the casual observer when I would suddenly drop into a chair and brace my abdomen with both hands in anticipation of every sneeze. I don't usually bother to offer an explanation for my behavior. I think the average bear figures I'm crazy, anyway.)

*****

And the (Heartbeat) Goes on: Week 17

Week 17 was welcomed with my first appointment at Birth & Women's Center, where I'll be delivering my little pumpkin whenever he feels like it's time to say hi. (Due date is February 3rd, but I'm hoping for a late January baby, myself. Too many things happening in February...it's already a very, very eventful month.)

The center employs a staff of three Certified Nurse Midwives who facilitate prenatal appointments as well as the actual birthing process. They arrange your prenatal appointments so that you have the opportunity to develop a relationship with each CNM on staff. Our midwife for the first appointment was Beverly, and she was wonderful. She has five children of her own (three of whom were delivered at home by the birthing center's founder and head CNM, Cherie). She was more than sympathetic to my round ligament woes, offered some very helpful dietary advice (which I promptly followed when grocery shopping the next day), and completely won me over when she beamed at me as she pulled a device out of a cupboard and chirped, "Would you like to hear the heartbeat?"

I was so excited, I yelped a little bit. Daniel was actually able to take the afternoon off to come with me to the appointment, so I quickly thrust my phone into his hand before I stretched out on the table and squeeked, "Take some pictures!"

At first, I only heard my own heartbeat. It didn't sound like anything new...other than the fact that it was faster than usual. But it could've been thrumming out a rhythm to accompany The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow", and I wouldn't have been any more interested in anything other than hearing my baby.

Beverly pressed on my belly with one hand and slid the Doppler wand to a new position with another. And then we heard her...



I was beside myself. Beverly grinned. Daniel took pictures.

"I heard a kick," Beverly announced. A new wash of wonder and glee came over me and my beaming midwife said, "This is why I love my job. It's the look on your face." I self-consciously gave an involuntary chuckle. It created some really awful feedback on the Doppler's speaker. THAT produced a knee-jerk series of giggles with feedback on the monitor so wretched, Daniel covered his ears. This elicited an extended belly laugh. It was a vicious cycle. Mercifully, Beverly removed the wand until I composed myself (so easily amused when I'm emotional. *sigh*).

She had to keep moving the wand to keep up with Baby. Apparently this one takes after her father and can't sit still, even in utero. Beverly played "follow the baby" some more and said, "Did you hear that pop? That was another kick!" Unfortunately--giddy as I was that she was kicking and moving so much--I couldn't discern it from all the other static and tummy gurgles and stuff. But I took her word for it, and it still made me really, really happy.

*****

And the (Heat) Goes On: Week 18

Not much happened last week. Most of the interesting goings-on in my life did NOT revolve around the baby-ness.

I spent the better part of the week nursing a pretty bad sunburn, which I got on Labor Day, not exactly remembering that cooler temperatures do not negate the necessity of sunscreen. Ouch. I also did a lot of housework. Thus, I've taken to smelling like Gold Bond and Lysol since Monday. (My poor, understanding husband...) A sunburn kind of takes all the fun out of beautiful, spring-ish weather. The sun still feels blisteringly hot on my skin. Not cool.

In other news, I'm working on an arrangement of Adele's "Someone Like You"...I'd like to try it as an alto/tenor duet. I've also been working on a top-secret menu for my kitchen's upcoming Iron Chef competition. My brother-in-law, Don, has challenged me to a "battle berry": each of us gets one sous chef, four courses, and all the blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries we can handle. I'm pretty excited about it. I hacked up a picture of Iron Chef America's chairman to make this picture for the Facebook event...



...it's dorky, yes. But I'm pretty proud of it.

*****

And the (Beating) Goes On: Week 19

Yesterday marked the advent of week 19. Thanks to my trusty once-a-week email update from BabyCenter.com, I learned my baby is now the size of a really huge tomato. A really huge tomato that can hear me. And apparently, he has waxy stuff on him to keep him from turning into a pickled tomato-baby between now and February (no, seriously).

A little later in the day, I finally experienced firsthand THE thing I've wondered about ever since I first felt the thumps and rumbles coming from my Mom's often-pregnant belly. I've never been able to shake the curiosity over what that must feel like. I simply couldn't picture it. Since I've been pregnant myself, I've looked forward to feeling "the quickening"--as my baby books call it--more than I've been looking forward to hearing the heartbeat, seeing the sonogram, or even finding out if our little one is a boy or a girl. The thought of a living, feeling, wiggling human being flipping around my midsection just totally trips me out.

Over a 24-hour period beginning Thursday night, I noticed several strange little flutters in my tummy. Not quite strong enough to say, "Yep, that's a baby." It was more like, "Hey honey? I'm feeling a little strange...I'm not sure if it's baby movement. Actually, it might just be tummy rumbles. I can't really tell. It seems a little low for tummy rumbles, though. Whoop, there it went again..."

The somersaults continued intermittently throughout the day, never pronounced enough to be sure, but I suspected I was incubating a little Chuck Norris in there. I wondered how many days I would have to wait before I would be pummeled by a series of solid roundhouse kicks.

And then last night, as I was sitting cross-legged on the floor in Bobby's room, eating dinner and watching a (really awful) remake of Hitchcock's Psycho, I felt a very distinct THUMP! right below my navel. I turned to my brother and said, "I think I just got kicked." A moment later, THUMP! (*gasp!*) There it was again! By then I was bellowing into the next room, "DANIEL, THE BABY KICKED! THE BABY KICKED! TWICE!!" In the next instant, Daniel was at my side with his hand on my belly, stooping low and murmuring into my belly button (which he's taken to calling "the microphone"), "Come on, kiddo...kick again. Kick her hard. Kick for Daddy..." Recognizing after a moment that no other kicks were forthcoming, Daniel switched gears. Leaping to his feet, he was barely containing his excitement as he asked, "Can I go Facebook this first?" (Oh, where would we be without our social media? Reduced to a time-consuming phone tree, I'm sure...) I patiently waited for Daniel's status update to hit the web...then I shoveled him out of the computer chair so I could have my turn. ;)

No more roundhouse kicks or somersaults or helicopter-disabling karate chops have manifested today. However, if they resurface, I may seriously need to consider naming my child Walker.

*****

And so, loved ones, with all the news that's fit to print having now been printed, I must take my leave. I wish you a very happy, peaceful weekend (and coming work week, for that matter). :)

Happily Ever,
~Ashley Michele~

Week 15: News. And Not-News.

News: Fun new developments this week

Week 15 is in full swing. I got an email from BabyCenter.com informing me that my little one has graduated from lemon-size to apple-size. You’d think we’d be approaching cantaloupe-size, given the way my belly is expanding. I’m officially utilizing my BeBand on a daily basis and I maybe have two shirts that still fit me. It might be time to go maternity shopping soon. (Did you hear that, Daniel? It looks like I have to go clothes shopping soon. Shucky-daaarrrnnn…)

What bewilders me is that, with all this visual expansion…I haven’t gained more than maybe half a pound in the ten weeks that I’ve known I was pregnant. Maybe with all the food aversions and morning sickness and such, I’ve been eating even less than I thought I was--losing “Ashley weight” and gaining “baby weight” all the while. Or maybe my scale’s just broken.

This week had a small milestone for me. Small, but lovely. My family is taking an interest in the evidence of my “condition”. Jo Ann gave me a hug followed by an affectionate belly-pat at dinner. And the other day, without a word of transition or warning, my typically undemonstrative brother actually crossed the room for the express purpose of tentatively placing his hand on my belly. It only remained there for a second, and then it promptly returned to its former station behind his back…but the whole gesture kinda made my day. Especially when he followed it with the bewildered observation, “Wow. You’re pregnant. That’s definitely a baby in there.”

Hehe.

In other news, it sounds like Jo Ann has officially settled on a “grandma name” to match Bob’s choice. The current status is “Grandpa and Mama Jo”. Last I checked, Dad was still weighing a few options, Pappy and Pops being top contenders. Mom always said she thought Grammy was a darling name for a grandparent and I’m eager to see what her counterpart will be. Not that there’s any rush, of course. There’s still plenty of time for exciting changes in the grandparents’ circle…plenty of time for changes all across the baby board, actually. Stay tuned for further developments. ;)


Observations: NOT new developments...just persistent reminders of my current condition

I thought some of these "symptoms" were supposed to be gone by now. Let's see, recently, I have...

• Dropped a box of cereal I was holding. I mean, I was just standing there, holding the box, and it fell out of my hand. Corn Pops everywhere.


• COMPLETELY forgotten the code to get into my gated storage facility, the code for the door to my building, AND my storage unit number. I forgot all that stuff when I pulled up to the gate to open it. This was my second trip there in 30 minutes. On the previous trip, I had to turn back because I forgot my key. Nothing was stored that day.


• Cried at a dog food commercial. And a commercial for a community college I'd never heard of ("Oh look, they graduated! They're throwing their caps! Good for them...*sniffle*").


• Stooped down to file something in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet...then I had to give myself a pep talk to get back up. I may have borrowed some lines from the Mighty Ducks movies.

Speaking of pep talks, I received a very good one from Joanna this week. Following a very whiny e-mail soliloquoy about the woes of my pregnancy thus far, she graciously reminded me that any relationship worth having takes effort and sacrifice...that includes the relationship I have with my unborn baby. And that makes all these pesky symptoms and quirks okay (annoying, but okay). It means time and effort that I get to invest in my baby's wellbeing. I'm excited about that. :)

*****
That's pretty much all the news (and not-news) that's fit to print. Until next time, loved ones, I remain...

Happily Ever,
~Ashley Michele~