Deuce-Deuce!

Tail and I had our 22 week check up today! I got to hear the heartbeat again, which is always so exciting! This time instead of the doctor having to move the probe all over my stomach to find it, it was just there when she put the probe down! I guess the baby is getting big and has a nice strong heart! I found out today that there is something called fundal height, which is a measure of the uterus indicative of how big the baby is. The doctor was definitely not shy about finding the top and bottom of my uterus and it was quite uncomfortable! I measured at 22 cm! 22 weeks, 22 cm! I found a fundal height chart online which showed that I'm in between the 50th and 75th percentile. Eli loves reminding me that I'm having a polish baby and that means some serious mass! German and Polish! Ouch!

I may have to get this onesie!

IG (Row 1) is how far along you are in weeks.
P5 (and onwards) is the percentiles your belly fits into! (5th to 95th, 50th being average)

I also got my pre-admission papers for the hospital, which is very exciting! It means we're getting close to baby time! Here are some 22 week pics taken after my appointment!

22 weeks!

Belly!

 I love watching the show "Up All Night". Not because it's the best show ever, actually it's quite far from it, but it's very relevant to our situation right now. Here's a clip from the show depicting one of my biggest baby fears.

"I think we all know what I'm talking about"

Is someone going to have to tell me this in 5 months?

http://www.hark.com/clips/ykmjgspcty-your-baby-is-boring

Not so spoiled afterall...

So Tail isn't that spoiled....aka I got what I want. I've been feeling Tail kicking around quite a bit these days. It's pretty magical. I can't really fathom how close I am to the baby really. It was kicking near K's pelvis and then I started talking at him(her?) up on her belly, and Tail kicked at my mouth! It knew something was going on there! It's pretty incredible. It's one of those things that like before 3 months ago I thought it was cool but it's something you can't really wrap your head around until something you've created kicks at your voice through a tummy. I'm becoming one of those people who only gabs and gabs about their boring kid. It's the only thing to do though really. I feel like i'm really peripheral to the whole process. I kind of just have to sit here and watch the whole thing go on right next to me. So what else is there to do but talk/write about it and try to vicariously imagine what's going on?

Baby Registries are AWESOME!!!1!1!

Okay, so I made another registry. I was finding that Babies "R" Us didn't have everything I wanted/ needed for the baby, especially when it came to organic/low impact baby paraphernalia. So I decided that Amazon.com was a good compliment to the Babies "R" Us registry! Who doesn't love Amazon?

I have mixed feelings about the registry in general. As the registry maker it's sort of presumptuous to make a list of things you want/need in the event that someone will buy you a present. It feels tacky. To the point that we almost didn't make one for our wedding. As the present buyer, I LOVE registries. It takes the guess work out of it, and you can always throw in a small personalized gift as a show of thoughtfulness.

That being said, a wedding registry is nice, but they usually don't contain anything you can't live without. It's usually just a list of "nice to have's" and "this would make my life easier" -s. On the other hand, I have found that the baby registry is an irreplaceable tool. It's an awesome way to neatly keep track of everything you need to foster a new life, and I'm obsessed with it. I have spent hours browsing through the suggested "must haves", making sure I've listed every essential (and some really cute non-essentials too!). Whether or not one item is gifted to tail, I now have a compact list of everything we need for the baby and it puts my mind at ease to be so organized! Thank you corporate America!

Not even out of the womb yet...

And Tail is such a brat. Tail WILL NOT kick. We have positioned Kier every which way and nothing. It kicks when she leans forward to type on the computer but if she leans back so I can get a taste...nothing. Nothing if she's on the bed. So, pretty much we have to make Tail as uncomfortable as possible to get it to squirm around, which is never a position where I can feel. I guess this is the beginning of it. Tail is going to do whatever it wants, and I'm just along for the ride. But I like it so much!

Half Baked!

 20 weeks down, 20 more to go! I figure now would be a good time to do a little recap!

• I'm currently in the fifth month of pregnancy, 20 weeks and 5 days pregnant! I have 135 more days to go!
• According to the books/websites, Tail is between 6.5-7 inches long and weighs about 11 ounces (cantaloupe sized)! 
• I walk/yoga about 3-4 times a week. I'm not very proud of those numbers....but it's been rainy :P
• I've gained about 12-13 pounds, depending on the day. Not very proud of those numbers either! 
• I've gotten a lot of morning sickness but I haven't totally lost it at all yet!  I say yet, because even though I rarely get sick anymore, when I do it's pretty intense! 
• I think Eli and I have completed the baby registry! Which was a huge task because we really didn't know what we needed! I'm sure there will be some tweaking but the bulk of it is there! Feel free to suggest missing items! 
• We have a total of 6 onsies, 1 sleepbag, 1 towel set and 1 moses basket for Tail, we definitely need to pick it up on the baby preparedness front. 
• Number of friends who have also caught the baby bug: 3 (so far....)
• 35 days until our first baby shower! And our first trip back to Buffalo! AND Tail's first Sabres game! Woohoo!
• 1 week and 3 days until my next baby appointment! During which I will get my flu shot! The decision has finally been made! Thanks for all the input from everyone, it was incredibly helpful! 
• 27 days until Steve Wilson and 41 days until Puscifer! Thank god for seated venues!

We have some baby projects in the works right now:

• Refurbishing/ repainting or staining a rocking chair.
• Refurbishing my dresser, to become baby's dresser/ changing table.
• Building a top for the dresser which will be the actual changing part of the changing table.
• Sewing a cushion and pillows for the rocking chair.
• Sewing a liner for the moses basket.
• Choosing a nursery theme and creating wall art for the baby area/ room. So far we're leaning towards a not too childish, but still super cute rainforest theme. Our indecisiveness on this topic is also why you won't see bedding on the registry, if you check that out. 

Some goals for the remaining months:

• Complete at least 3/6 projects listed above! 
• Step it up with the exercise! 
• Eat better, although I feel like I've been doing a really good job maintaining a healthy vegetarian diet (and I think the pregnancy has actually made me a better vegetarian), I tend to eat a LOT of sweets, so I'm hoping to tone that down. Swedish fish is my candy of choice at the moment, which is oh so bad, for so many reasons! I resisted the urge to buy a bag for almost 2.5 weeks, but I caved in yesterday. 
• Pin down some solid name choices! 

Here are some pictures of the progression so far!
4 Weeks:

 

20 Weeks:

I'm adding 'take better pictures' to my list of goals! 

I'm eighteen (weeks) and I like it!

Last week Tail and I had our 18 week check-up! Eli took the morning off to go with us and what a lovely morning it was! Our appointment started off with a sonogram (yay!) during which they checked Tail's anatomy to make sure everything was growing properly. We were able to see the baby's heart and brain, which was super cool and well formed! We also saw the baby's fingers and leg bones and most importantly the baby's little face! Had we been so inclined, we could have found out the baby's sex at this sonogram, but we were able to say no and keep the surprise! The whole sonogram took under 10 minutes, but it was definitely the best part of the last few weeks. Eli and I were trying to keep the technician talking to draw out the sonogram, which worked for a few minutes, but eventually she cut us off. Here's one of the shots we were able to take home! Supposedly Tail is about 6 inches long (the size of a sweet potato) and weighs almost 1/2 a pound!

After the sonogram we talked to the doctor for a few minutes and he confirmed what the tech had said, Tail was growing properly and appeared to be very healthy! We also found out that Eli has type O+ blood. Boooo! Since I'm O- I'll have to be tested for antibodies and eventually get gamma globulin shots, just in case Tail inherited Eli's blood type. Oh well! A few shots are well worth it for a healthy baby!

In other news, I can now feel the baby kick! In fact, as I'm typing this the baby is kicking away! And Eli thought he was able to feel the baby the other night too! It's such an awesome feeling! Eli and I often prod at my stomach to get some reactions. I'm sure Tail isn't too happy with Mom and Dad, never letting the baby rest, but Tail will get revenge soon enough!

Apparently Eli and I forgot to take an 18 week belly picture, so here's a 19 week picture! 

Getting Big!