We opened the envelope...

24 weeks

Chris is out of town this weekend and after a brief evening of feeling sorry for myself and actually just feeling sick, I've had a great time.  I think he has too.  It's good to reacquaint yourself with yourself from time to time, especially now.

As I think about how my life with change and all the new responsibilities I will have, it was great to have the time to indulge in doing exactly what I wanted to do for a few days.  I had lunch with some friends, dinner and a movie with another, did a little shopping and just sat around and read.  Now Sunday evening is looming and I'm dreading the thought of having to go back to work tomorrow.  But I'll try to put that aside and pretend I'm a lady of leisure for a few more hours.  At least I'll get a few minutes at the airport to catch up with Chris as he returns and I head out of town for the week.  So that is something to look forward to on Monday.

Since I'm solo this week, I'll give you my view of the growing bump:

The bump continues to grow, but at least I can still see my toes...

...and Skeeter.  She has a way of sneaking up on you.

Getting back to that illness business.  I've had my first experience with unbearable indigestion.  After 2 days of feeling like my lunch is in my throat, I am feeling better.  I'm armed with papaya/peppermint lozenges, ginger tea and the thought that maybe I should show a little more restraint the next time I go to the Indian buffet (in all fairness, it started before the trip to the Indian buffet, but I'm sure it didn't help.  It was, however, tasty).

big night out

Chris and I went to La Condesa last night for dinner.  The food was great and we enjoyed a fabulous baby free night out.  I also noted a couple complete with baby in a stroller on the other side of the room, so I have some hope for our future. (and then we ran home to watch True Blood on DVD and eat popsicles)

carefree, kid-free couple

But I wanted to take a minute to acknowledge the awesome people who have sent early gifts for SM. So Cute!

Thank you Auntie Claire, Auntie Brenda, Aunt Katie and Tori

good morning sunshine

I was woken up with kicks/punches from all 4 appendages at the same time.   So SM is either practicing some Eastern European dancing or he's trying to turn around.  I was still and let him finish in case is was the latter.  I definitely want to encourage any urge to flip.  But we've still got plenty of time for that.

On another note, I am starving today.  Not "hmm, I'm a little peckish, maybe I'll get a snack" hungry, but more like "Get out the way or I may eat you", pregnant lady coming through at Golden Corral hungry.  I had a decent breakfast and 3 hours later (which happened to be 10:30)  I realized I was really hungry again.  

I'm trying hard to reign it in because I had a bit too much of a gain showing at my appointment yesterday.  Before you get all high horsey, "you're pregnant, you need to eat" on me, this isn't my own "I'm only going to gain 10 pounds" crazy self.  The midwife also commented that perhaps it was a little much and I try to keep a food log for a week.  

I tried to eat some pretzels, but that just didn't cut it.  I had to break down and eat lunch.  Then at lunch time I followed up with an apple and salad.

Now I few hours later I'm at it again.  Short on snacks in the house, I whipped up a little bean dip.  Calling it bean dip is being nice, since it's just a can of refried beans, some salsa and a little bit of Greek yogurt.  I certainly won't be bringing this concoction to your house for a party, but for a pregnant woman trying to find healthy snacks to fill her hole it will work just fine.

But not too much bean dip, cuz Chris and I are going out to dinner later and I want to make sure I'm equally hungry then.

Say what?  You're going out on a Tuesday?

That's right, bitches because we don't have a baby yet (and we have a Groupon that is about to expire or really we'd be at home watching True Blood on DVD and eating ice cream out of the carton).

23 weeks

Chris finished painting the walls in the baby's room.  They are a light purplish grey and it looks great.  When I walk in there I just take a big deep breath and relax.  It makes the room feel light and cool and bigger and calm, which is exactly what I wanted.  It is definitely a far cry from the mustard.  Anyone of you who has seen it before knows it was truly hideous.

The next step is carpeting, but for now we are going to do what all first time expecting parents should do as much as possible.  Go to the movies!

So here is our 23 week bump shoot. Skeeter got involved.

Things are still going well.  My legs and feet have started to ache by the end of the day, but the up side is that I'm enjoying new easy access to my belly button.

22 weeks

Today we started moving stuff around to make space for the nursery.  After moving the bookcase from the office into the guest room and the couch from the nursery to the office and the chair from the office into the nursery and an amp and more guitars... you get the picture, we realized we may need to rethink the luxury of a dedicated guest room.

But since we are happily expecting many guests in the winter and spring (hint: we want to you visit.  Stay as long as you like. Hold a baby while I try to regain control of my life) we are going to put off that decision for a while.  So you can still expect 2 star B&B service - you may just be sharing your room with a few more guitars and books.

Chris got most of the painting prep work done this week so hopefully next week we can get the painting done and the new ceiling fan up.  And one of these days we will get around to replacing the custom switch plate that says "morgan" left over from the previous tot sized tenant of that space.

The bump at 22 weeks

21 Weeks

Tonight we had two couples over for dinner who both have a 2 year old girl.  We saw a glimpse of our future and are now terrified.

Just kidding.  It was great to have them over.  Both of them are adorable and fun to be around.  The added benefit of inviting these 2 couples at the same time is that the girls can play together and everyone can enjoy their evening.

Things wrapped up early enough that we were able to commemorate the start of week 21 with a picture of me, our bump and my mumu.

I love that being pregnant has freed me from asking, "Does this mumu makes me look fat?".

UPDATE:  Does anyone else think my bump has bloomed this week?  About Wednesday last week, I felt like it grew overnight.

How are you feeling?

It's a perfectly polite question, which I don't mind, and to which I give a perfectly polite answer in response.  Because I am fine.  

But since you asked, let me tell you about all of the odd and annoying things I am experiencing.

Swollen Nasal Passages:  

My nose gets so closed up and stuffy at night I can barely breathe.  Chris insists I haven't started snoring yet.  Probably because I've started breathing through my mouth resulting in horribly chapped lips.  It's worth it to not get kicked out of bed at night.

Weird textured brown spots: 

What is that spot?  I don't know, but I just scratched it off because it bothered me. 

Abdominal pain/round ligament pain/ braxton-hicks/cramps:

Whatever you want to call it, it hurts when your uterus goes from size of a child's fist to the size a basketball.  That just makes sense, but nobody mentioned it to me.  Not to mention that it is constantly contracting whether I'm aware of it or not (and sometimes I am).  Practice makes perfect.

Leg cramps:  

I have a vivid memory of my sister having frequent calf cramps as a teenager.  She said she only had one so it must have been really painful if it features so prominently in my mind.  I've only had a couple so far.  I think they become more frequent later in pregnancy.  Something to look forward to.

Varicose veins:

Yep, they have started to form.  Exercise is suppose to help minimize this heinous problem, but I don't think I can overcome my genetics.  I have Vein Solutions on speed dial just in case.

TMJ:  

In my early 20's I was a control subject in a TMJ study.  After my MRI, one of the researchers asked me if my TMJ was worse on the right than the left.   Huh?  I'm a control subject.  We exchanged confused looks and I left.  Now that my body has all sorts of new hormones running through it, lo and behold, intense jaw pain on the right side.  Thanks relaxin.

and while we are talking about relaxin...

...dropped a dozen eggs... oh, relaxin. I don't know if I'm clumsier or not, but it's nice to have a scape goat.

With all of that relaxin loosening up ligaments, I should be as bendy as Gumby.  From what I've read some people get more flexible.  I have also heard that leg muscles shorten during pregnancy.  I guess it just depends on the person.  I happen to have tightened up.  When I try to sit in butterfly my knees are practically pointing at the sky.

So now that that's out of the way, I feel fine.  Thank you for asking.

and it is...

.... a baby.

Chris and I don't know the sex.  We have a picture none of us could decipher with "boy" or "girl" typed on it in an envelope.  That envelope is on the dining room table and we haven't decided to open it or burn it yet.

But we do have a couple more ultrasound pictures to share.  Enjoy them because after this there are no more sneak peaks.  You are stuck with pictures of me and my growing bump.

This is the head.  You can see a little ear and then the profile with a hand waving at you from the background.
Hello people!

and here we have the entire SM, from tip to toes.  All curled up.   It's kinda cute if you ignore the spine featuring prominently at the bottom.

This set is unfortunately blurry, but the exam was fun.  We got a tour of all the organs working as they should.   Some of the images were a lot clearer on the screen and I got a bit weepy looking at our baby's face straight on.

Only about 20 weeks until we meet her/him.