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Belly shot!
I took this picture today. I stood on our bed and took the picture in the mirror. I've had requests (from Amerly!) for 'tummy shots' and here's the best I could muster. Moi, at 19 weeks:
Strange things are happening...
On Sunday, I received a phonecall from my closest girlfriend, Cynthia. She lives in Canada. She was calling to relay some news she'd heard concerning my ex-boyfriend, Brian.
Brian and I started dating when I was 16 and we remained together until I was 20. For that age, it was a very long and serious relationship. Things didn't work out between us for various reasons and we broke up. For a few years after that, I'd hear from him occasionally by phone and, despite my repeatedly telling him that there was no chance of us getting back together, he'd sometimes come back to Montreal (he'd moved to Vancouver) to profess his undying love to me.
I'm 31 now and it must have been at least 5 or 6 years since I last spoke to him. About a year and a half ago though, he spoke to another friend of mine in Canada and she told him that I was now living in England and that I was happily married. He joked, "Well, I guess that ends my chances with her!"
Back to the phonecall from Cyn on Sunday: She tells me that she's run into our friend Chris and he tells her that Brian died 2 years ago. He doesn't know what killed him though. Cyn is shocked and she calls to tell me. I called Christina, another friend. Then I call my Mum, then my Dad, etc. (News spreads fast!)
We were a bit sceptical about everything though as Chris couldn't remember how Brian died or who told him about it. Oh well, we thought, sad news.
Then, just this morning, not even 2 days after hearing the sad news, Brian signs the guestbook on one of my websites! He says that he's now married to a girl named Hollie, he's still living in Vancouver, and his brother John is living in Glasgow. He says that he's looked at my personal website and he's happy to hear that I'm doing well. He doesn't seem to know anything about the Brian-is-dead rumour.
I'm floored! I wrote back to him this morning and told him that I thought he was dead! Weird, isn't it? I go a year and a half without hardly ever hearing his name mentioned, only to hear about him twice in as many days. Once to tell me he's dead and once to tell me he's alive.
Up or down?
My tummy's really tight today. The little one must be growing... again!
I have an appointment with my midwife on the 10th, so I'll ask when I see her but... does anyone know what position the baby would probably be in at this stage? I'm 19 weeks, 2 days. I'm assuming that the baby would be in the upright position, head at the top. When I look online, some diagrams show an upright baby, some show a head-down baby, and some even show a baby laying lengthwise.
It's not important and it really doesn't matter; I'm just curious.
Momentus Occasion
Baby and I have reached a real landmark today: the halfway point. Today, this pregnancy hits 20 weeks. I can hear you cheer as you read this - thank you.
My clothes are tighter now, but I still haven't felt any movements from within that are very obviously baby movements. I say this because last night it felt like a bubble popped in my tummy. Was that baby rolling over? Stretching its arms and legs? I can't be sure and that's driving me crazy!
I have another appointment with my midwife on Wednesday and I'm really glad about that. I get to hear the hearbeat again. The appointments are a month apart at the moment and I feel like I start the month feeling confident and happy that I've recently heard the baby's heartbeat and that I know that it's still alive in the there. I end the month feeling a bit unsure and nervous. This will obviously change once I'm feeling definite movements from this little one.
I've read that most first-time Mums feel movements between 18 and 22 weeks. I'm at 20.
Come on, little one! Gimme a good kick!
Cravings
Soon after I found out I was pregnant, I wondered what types of cravings I'd have, if any. You hear about some women craving all kinds of weird combinations of food and I didn't really want that to be me. I had a friend who craved onions. She'd eat them like they were apples, taking bites out of whole onions! Yuck!
The only things I've craved so far are things I can't have: beer and peanuts. Damn.
I've never been much of a drinker and neither has Stephen. He gets given bottles of wine from people at work for Christmas and we now have a huge collection, amassed over the last 3 years that we've been together. Before pregnancy, I'd have the occasional beer or glass of wine, but I've never been one to over-indulge.
Peanuts? Well, that goes pretty much the same way. I like peanuts, especially roasted peanuts, but I could go years without them and not even think about it.
But it's human nature, right? We want what we can't have.
(My midwife warned me off peanuts because, she said, a woman eating peanuts during pregnancy could cause a peanut allergy in the child. It's just another one of those things, like tuna and hotdogs, that could cause a problem and it's better to be safe than sorry.)
Heartbeat
I went to my 10:20 appointment with my midwife today and I recorded the baby's heartbeat! How exciting is that?!! It beat at a rate of 148 beats per minutes.
In case anyone's interested, it can be heard here. It's a 79kb download (should take about a minute on dial-up) and it lasts 49 seconds. Near the end, you can hear my voice asking the midwife if what we were hearing was indeed the baby's heartbeat. She replies that it is and I comment that it sounds louder than it did last time. The charming women just looked at me like I was nuts and went about her business!
This is my first time as a Mum! Gimme a break!
I've been working from home today on a website. I love it. I have to do this more often!
Thump, thump, thump
Further to yesterday's entry, the midwife checked my blood pressure (it was good), my urine (no problems) and she also measured my tummy. She said that I was the right size for 20 weeks, which was reassuring, as I've felt like I'm not showing enough. What I was basing that on I have no idea!
I enquired about the position of the baby at this stage. As JoJo said in a comment to one of my recent entries, the midwife confirmed that the baby is in whatever position it wants to be at this stage. It has plenty of room in there to move around and have a ball.
She asked if I'd felt any movement yet. My answer was that I didn't know. Sure, it's possible that the sensation of a popping bubble was actually my little one, but I haven't felt anything that made me certain that it was the baby. The midwife seemed a bit surprised that I wasn't more sure than that, but my pregnancy book says that most first-time Mums feel it between 18 and 22 weeks. By those standards, I've got another week and a half before that time's up. And really, every women is different. Or, I could just be thick and not recognizing the feelings for what they are.
Either way, I'm not worried about it. I've heard the heart again - I've even recorded it! My midwife seemed a bit dismissive of my wanting to do that, by the way. Then again, she seems a bit glum and dismissive of pretty much everything. She's not the most charming person I've ever met. But I wasn't put off by her frown! I pulled out my PDA and hit record. 148 beats a minute. Amazing!
13 days before my 22-week scan. Will it be a boy or a girl?? Any guesses? My colleagues pointed out that I'm showing a bit at the front, but that I haven't lost my waist at the sides. The Old Wive's Tale suggests that that means a boy! Another Old Wive's Tale suggests that a heartbeart of over 144 beats a minutes is a girl. I'll just have to wait and see...
Feeling it!
I've been feeling movement!! Yipee! Right after lunch today, Stephen and I were sat in the living room watching music videos on some classics channel when I got this fluttering, tickling feeling in my stomach. It sort of made my tummy itch on the inside. Really weird, and quite strong. This continued for a few minutes and I've felt it on and off throughout the day.
I'm sure that I've been feeling similar but softer feelings recently but, until they got a bit stronger, it was so hard to identify them as baby movements. Now that I have though, I'm thrilled by it.
It makes me think of the line that goes something like "...that wringled and jiggled and tickled inside her" or something to that effect from the song that goes "there was an old lady who swallowed a fly, I don't know why she swallowed a fly, I guess she'll die!" Remember that one?
On the bladder, off the bladder...
I'll be starting my 21st week of pregnancy tomorrow and, amazingly, I've only gained 5lbs! Admittedly, I started out a bit heavier than I would have liked so I'm truly thankful that I haven't gained more. And it's certainly not like I'm trying to diet or anything. Quite the opposite is true; I'm eating what I fancy, along with the suggested intake of fruit & veg. I have to confess to still drinking some Coke (not much, but some) and to having the occasional chocolate.
But my meals have become tiny in the last two or three weeks. I find that I'm full after eating about half of my norma meal size. Of course, that leads to a snack or two between meals. I go from feeling stuffed to feeling completely empty and starved.
At the moment, I'm starved. But then, dinner's right around the corner!
And I feel like I need to pee constantly! It's driving me crazy! Strangely, I have good times and frustrating times. For instance, I'll go about a few hours where I'm up to the toilet every 15 minutes, only to leave about 3 drops! Then, it relaxes and I get to wait a more normal amount of time before heading back there. I can only imagine that the position of the little one is causing the changes.
I tell ya, he or she is just playing with me! On the bladder, off the bladder, on the bladder, off the bladder...
