24 Weeks

24 Week belly update:

23 Weeks, 6 days

I am currently typing this entry on my brand new LAPTOP! Wheee! Bought and paid for via my own future wealth - ie financial aid. The desktop computer I have is running at about 45 in human years (10 computer years = 1 human year) - still pretty decent but not as quick as them young 'uns. Initially I thought....ooh Macbook would be lovely for school, etc. But it comes at too a lovely price (starts at $1200). So I did my research via consumer reports and amazon.com customer reviews. And then I found a great deal on a smart little laptop on a random run to Office Depot. It was the very last of it's group- the display copy at a nice comfy price. The memory and ram was even better than the one I was looking at online and the total price was lower with the added softwear (anti-virus and Microsoft Office 2007). Thus I pranced home happily with my new trusty laptop (or actually waited in the rain for an hour because the buses are late and on snow routes still with a bag full of books) and tested it out. I had also run over to the PSU bookstore and loaded up on my books and a few supplies earlier in the day so I am set and ready to go. GRAD SCHOOL, HERE I COME...with baby in tow.

I had a grumpy boy on my hands this week when we got so snowed in that all of the flights were getting canceled. Dave had airline tickets to Cali to visit his family for Christmas. He moped until the moment he was boarded on that plane and was assured he could go. And I'm so glad he was able to. His flight was practically the first Cali-bound flight with Southwest Airlines that actually left the airport since the snow began dumping on Sunday. His family was also pretty thrilled he made it, since I'm sure they were also glued to the airline and weather updates.

Speaking of snow though. Boy howdy did it snow. We're still just barely digging ourselves out of it days later. For a few days, my car was nestled under a good foot+ of snow. The 15-25 degree temps held for over a week. Only now have we surfaced above freezing at a nice and warm 35. I only wore one layer under my thick coat today instead of two and skipped the leg warmers :).

I barely made it to my Dad's for Christmas. I had invited Cory to have Christmas with my family this year since all of hers is in Iowa and she was not leaving town this year. We were afraid we were stuck in Portland, however. Not a single bus was running into Tualatin and my Dad was not about to drive in the foot+ of snow to Portland to come get us. Luckily, the snow began to clear in the afternoon and I hitched a ride from a co-worker. My Dad was able to at least pick Cory up from her work in Tigard. With seemingly infinite cable television, fondu, cheesecake, stockings, and snow, we all had a jolly time.

It feels like a whirlwind is finally over. Dave and I are just sitting quietly listening to records (and playing with new laptop technologies) tonight. I think we're both digesting all of the food and activities over the whole week. I feel like I can finally sigh and relax.

Baby is thumping away and I start school in less than two weeks. Life is all pretty exciting right now.

23 Weeks

I had a dream a few weeks ago that I gave birth to our son but had to return to work so soon after, I never got a chance to meet him. Dave had to take the responsibility of caring for him, naming him, and taking him home from the hospital. All day at work, I was so anxious to leave so that I could go home and meet my son. After some aggravatingly slow hours of work, I finally got to return home. However, when I returned, I found out then that Dave had opted to name him Bounten Bendge Miner. What the hell kind of name is that?!! I asked him. I told him I thought we'd already decided to name him Benson (not sure where this came from either). Dave said he couldn't remember what it was and had to name him in order to leave the hospital. I was furious!
I woke up still a little furious but managed to calm down before telling Dave the dream. For a few days afterwards, he continued to refer to our little man as 'Bounten' and thus received a few glares from me.
Well little "Bounten" seems to be growing quite a bit these days. I swear I got bigger just in the last couple days or so. I got that pregnant pouch thing going on, instead of the big round belly I have been carrying. According to literature, he'll be doubling his weight (already a pound) in the next four weeks-- packing on about 6 ounces a week! Now I know the math here is not quite right. 6 ounces times 4 weeks is actually 24 ounces (about a pound and a half). But that's what the prego literature says and I am choosing to ignore this discrepancy. I imagine I'll be looking pretty large as I hit third tri.

Here's 23 weeks:




















And my prego-friz hair. Good times.

22 Weeks, 2 days

Baby's first snow day:

22 Weeks

This boy is getting strong! I was cranky last night so I took a bath (warm, not hot, don't worry). Of course, I feel a bit like a whale these days with a growing-by-the-day belly looming well over the bathwater crest. I was reading one of my prego books at the time and I started to feel the baby move around. I looked down at my belly and, sure enough, he was breaking through. I could feel and see each kick! I hollered to Dave to come see the kicking himself. However, as soon as Dave showed up and was glued to every move of my belly, all became quiet on the home front. About 10 minutes after Dave gave up and left, the little guy started moving around again. I hollered to Dave again, who came running but to no avail---a stubborn one, our son.

However, early this morning the little one started getting active on the left side of my belly. I grabbed Dave's hand and plastered it to where the kicking was taking place. At first, all was quiet, and I was afraid the little one was being stubborn again. Soon enough though, he started up kicking on my left side and Dave felt it all!

Dave took these photos last night. I feel all stretched out already! Sorry for the picture and hair quality. This is pre-relaxation bath. My belly button's shrinking.

21 Weeks, 6 days

I feel huge, like my belly's going to explode! It's big and round and hard. I am pretty sure it's not intestinal back-up, since I "moved" about 2-3 times yesterday and already this morning! I think I may just finally "feel" pregnant. How the hell is it going to stretch out enough to contain a 7-8 pound (I hope) baby??!!!

21 Weeks, 3 Days

"It is not uncommon to experience leg cramps during pregnancy, particularly in the third trimester."

Third trimester??!! I just had my first bout of leg cramps last night. Oh I've read about them before in a "ho hum" sort of way but now, after experiencing them, they've taken on an entirely new meaning. Holy pain! I couldn't lie still without my leg radiating pain so severe that I was in tears. I finally got up, stumbled on my aching leg to the kitchen and downed two calcium pills. The pain started to lessen after about 30 minutes and I finally fell back to sleep. In the morning, it felt like I had twisted my ankle or something, my leg was so sore. It didn't wear off until about mid-day. Going forward, I'm taking calcium before I go to bed and eating bananas every morning. I never want to experience that again.

Another prego side effect I've noticed in increasing increments lately is my continuous forgetfulness and clumsiness. At one of my doctor appointments, I forgot and had to retrieve my water bottle at least four times (from the examination room, the ultrasound appointment desk, the flu shot sign-in desk, and the flu shot station). I keep mixing words up, saying things like "I'm halking wome right now" or "I'm heally rungry" and once I even said "where are the peanuts?"-- incert a similar sounding yet much less appropriate word for "peanuts" here. The worse was when I couldn't find the plastic wrap anywhere. I accused Dave of putting it back in the wrong spot. We ransacked the kitchen for it to no avail. The next day, I found it in the bottom of the fridge. I'm pretty sure that was my doing. I admitted my mistake to Dave but reminded him that at least I hadn't yet put the milk in the cupboard. We can deal with chilled plastic wrap but I'm not a big fan of rancid milk.

21 Weeks

Each week seems to go faster than the last. 1st trimester dragged by and the 2nd trimester feels like a whirlwind. I had my first "there's something different about you.." this week too! I guess I thought all my co-workers knew by now but supposedly there are still some that were not aware. She didn't want to approach the subject directly in case I was just laying on too many nacho supremes but she was hinting at my belly. I filled her in and told her that I was thrilled that I actually 'look' pregnant and she assured me that it was a definite prego-belly. I guess I'm finally getting to the point where it's much more an obvious baby belly than a nacho belly. And luckily, I have yet to start laying on the water-weight and get all puffy. So I guess overall, I'm feeling pretty good, even if I have packed on 14-15 pounds.

Here's 21 weeks:





















I did think that the moodiness and cravings were starting to dissipate but I guess I was wrong. The other night I needed a fast food gardenburger and fries from Wendy's. Nothing else was going to satisfy this. Dave and I had a 20 minute interval in which we could go achieve said food goals and be back in time for the ONE tv show I watch religiously (while eating)- The Biggest Loser. I was not going to miss that show and I was not going to watch it without the fast food garden burger and fries. Keep in mind, I hardly ever eat fast food. There's the occasional taco bell run but I haven't been to a Wendy's for a gardenburger in probably a year. What I didn't know was that gardenburger (the company) ceased selling their patties to fast food joints. As I stood salivating at the register, ordering my gardenburger, I had no idea that Wendy's had not only discontinued the gardenburger but never replaced it with any other veggie alternative!

Now I have to remind you that I was hungry. PREGNANT WOMAN hungry. I also had a PREGNANT WOMAN craving. And finding out that Wendy's no longer provided a gardenburger was the worst news to hit me since..oh boy...probably 911. I kid you not. I felt like I finally understood the uncontrollable rage of the Hulk when he gets big and green. Only I didn't get big and green, I just got red and mean! The poor cashier probably didn't know what to think. I ended up ordering a cheeseburger meal without the meat. I continued raging until I got home and stomped all the way into the apartment. It was then I realized the Sprite I ordered had no syrup and was thus a club soda. On the plus, I actually like club soda and when I finished devouring the food, I was actually ok. I started to even feel some remorse over my actions. I turned to Dave and told him to never let me get that hungry again or the Hulk will come out once more...