Week 18.

So Wee Pea's bones are growing stronger, and she weighs almost half a pound now. WOW! She packs a punch too. Christmas Eve she got me good right in the diaphragm. It was very rude. Her little intestines are working, and she squirms a lot. The biggest thing is that she's putting on weight like a good little baby.

As am I. Four whole pounds. Woohoo!

As you've probably read, we had an ultrasound and will need to have another at week 30. If previa's still an issue, we'll have another at week 36. And if it's still there then, well, they might keep checking, but probl'y snippity-snip-snip.

I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to push this baby out like I did last time. Come on little placenta. MOVE!

Ultrasound Details, etc.

Yes we'd done the ultrasound thing before, but it was still very special to spend almost an hour watching our little baby (girl!) frolic about.

She was (is!) so amazing! Her perfect little spine. Her little feet and hands. She moves around pretty often, and proved no exception during the ultrasound. (Unlike her older brother, who acted virtually comatose.) Naturally, when the tech wanted to see if she was boy or girl, she promptly crossed her legs. What-EVER! There was no getting past the radiologist tho, who with one swift move of the 'mouse' uncovered the truth. It was wonderful watching her move around and squirm and be a happy little baby. I'm just dying for the coming months to pass so I can hold her and smoosh her and call her Snugglebutt!

Aside from meeting our daughter, we learned that we still have some placenta previa. I had to brow-beat the tech to get her to take notice of the placenta position. She blew me off about it, but did take the picture, and I was vindicated when the doctor came in and confirmed that the lower portion of the placenta is still laying across the cervix. It's just a partial covering, and it will very likely resolve before delivery time. We go back for another ultrasound at 30 weeks to check the progress there.

I also had blood drawn, and my weight taken. I've gained four pounds. Yay me!

It was a very nice afternoon. Healthy body, healthy baby and a little girl to call our own. We're tickled pink.

It's...

A girl!!!

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Butt kicker.

Today Wee Pea kicked Wilson in the butt! TWICE! It was so rude. Wilson and I were laying on the couch before daycare time, he on my chest and tummy drinking a bottle. His little rump rested on my belly-button. After a few minutes (and completely out of nowhere) little Wee Pea stuck out his/her foot and *thump thump* kicked him right in the tuckus. It was awesome. Wilson didn't notice of course, because Wee Pea's leg is about the size of a toothpick, but I sure did.

I'd like to say "bad baby" but I can't because it was pretty funny. :D

Christmas Ham

Last week we went to Wilson's first school Christmas pageant (no "Happy Holidays" at Fairview Christian School, thank you very much; in fact, the program was called "Jesus Loves You Snow Much" for reasons that were unclear from the event's content).

You're probably wondering how a Baby Man who barely knows eight words--and three at any one time--was able to participate in a Christmas pageant; we were too. In fact, I suspect that curiosity was one of the main reasons for our attendance. But we dutifully dressed him up in a wintery sweater and took him over at 7PM.

As it turned out, they didn't really expect the one year olds to do much singing. They did herd (and I do mean herd) them all out to the stage and sat them on bleachers and sang a cute song to them. Some of the kids were crying and some were squirming, but Wilson sat still in his spot and smiled and clapped and waved at the people in the front row. What a ham!

Week 17.

Apparently Wee Pea is the size of a pomegranate. Which I believe, considering how active s/he is. Both Josh and I have felt him/her kick about, and s/he moves around consistently and actively throughout the day. It's really nice. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed and missed this feeling until I had it back again.

This is week 2 of a huge growth spurt. I am more hungry now than I've been before, which is good because I don't have to worry anymore about the fact I wasn't gaining weight. Wee Pea is building body fat now like a good little baby. And so is Mommy. Good Mommy.

Only 7.5 more days until we learn the sex.....

Call The Boys!!

So last night I had to call in the paramedics. It was nothing about the baby or Wilson, so take a deep breath; it was about me. This time, the dishwasher got me.

I was putting the dishes away, trying to be a good little homemaker, and as I put Wilson's high chair tray away on top of the cabinet, a big drop flew out and hit me straight in the eye.

It burned like the devil. It felt like someone stuck a lit cigar in my eye. (Dishwasher soap has lye in it, nasty stuff.) Happily Wilson was already asleep so I didn't have him biting my ankles and crying (he's teething several molars). After about 5 minutes of flushing my eye in the bathroom sink, I called my dad. Grampa Fire Chief to the rescue!

Poor guy. I woke him out of a dead sleep (it was 11:15) whimpering about dishwashers and high chair trays and rinse agents. He told me to keep doing what I was doing, and that if Josh wasn't going to be home from hockey within a few minutes (he wasn't) to "call The Boys". So I did.

It's funny the things that go through your mind in a situation like this. My eye burned like hell, but now I knew there were firefighters coming to my house. Firefighters are yummy. So now I'm worrying about not only my poor eye, but whether or not I still have makeup on the other eye, and maybe I should do my hair? Did I have time to whip up a batch of cookies and charm them with warm baked goods?

And then they were here, and I almost cried because the first guy in the door looked like an ugly Super Mario Brother. (Nooooo!) Luckily three very tall, good-looking men followed him. While none of them were necessarily worthy of the 2008 Washington State Firefighters Calendar, they were huge and manly and there to rescue me. *swoon*

However. They didn't have an eyewash kit with them, so you know what they did? Stuck my eyeball under the spray nozzle in the kitchen sink. They suddenly became much less good-looking. There I was, four months pregnant, in my pinecone pajama pants and Halo tee-shirt, sticking my round rump into three of their faces while the fourth hosed my eyeball down like it was catching afire. Hardly the rescue I had envisioned.

Once the crisis was over, my eyeball sufficiently rinsed and numb from the icy water bath, they noticed my Halo tee-shirt. I gathered that the rookie was being soundly beaten by one of the veterans in their matches. (He has three teenage sons; he cheats.) Ho-hum.

Anyway, crisis managed and all okay. Dr. Chris checked me out and said I will live. Word to the wise: don't put dishwasher soap in your eye. Unless you just can't come up with a better excuse to get The Boys to pay you a visit.

In other news...

...we may not have placenta previa after all?

Yeah, I know, we're confused too. The radiologist said we did, but her report to Dr. Chris didn't mention anything about it. It just said that there was a little blood clot where the placenta had attached to the uterine wall. Hmmmm. So, one more thing for the tech to investigate when we have the 2nd ultrasound on 12/26.

It'd be really nice if I could push this baby out instead of going under the knife. My poor tummy has enough scars already. (Although miraculously, still no stretch marks! I WILL wear a bikini again!!)

Boxing Day.

So our ultrasound has been scheduled for the afternoon of Wednesday, December 26th. I really did try to find something right before Christmas, but it wasn't going to work. I could have done something like today, but we didn't want to risk it being too early and not being able to see what we want to see!!

So, Boxing Day we shall (hopefully) learn whether it's a little girl or a little boy. Please check back here that evening to find out!

16 Weeks.

Wee pea is growing nicely. People don't even bother to ask me if I'm pregnant, they just assume, especially when I'm pushing the button for the cafeteria floor (over and over and over) saying "food food food!!!!" I've only had a tuna emergency once this week. A tuna emergency is when I absolutely positively must have a tuna salad sandwich, and the only place near my job that makes them is...Josh's job. So I have to haul my growing ass and belly to the south end of the city to get me some tuna. But oh, is it ever worth it.

Anyway, Wee Pea is growing nicely. I saw Dr. Chris yesterday, and we heard the heartbeat, which was pleasantly strong. I tried to get us an ultrasound before Christmas, but it just could not be done, so we're aiming for the week between Christmas and New Years. Still promise to keep you posted there.

Some other Wee Pea developments of late:

• Patterning on his/her scalp has begun, although there's probably not much hair
• Over the next three weeks s/he will double in size!
• Toenails are present
• Baby is about 4 inches long

In other interesting news, I not only haven't gained any weight, I've lost it. 8 pounds since the beginning of the pregnancy. I started out almost 20 pounds above my best body weight, so I had a little 'breathing room', shall we say. I assure you I am not dieting or doing anything stupid like that. Just eating sensibly, and not exercising (bad Mommy). My metabolism is speeding up, I guess. Do not worry; things will all even out as the pregnancy progresses and Dr. Chris is keeping an eye on things. (Anyone else remember how huge I got last time?)

Hello Again!

Gosh, it's been almost two weeks since we've written. Sorry about that. We got to fighting colds and finishing grad school apps, and the next thing you know we're 16 weeks along and it's almost Christmas. Updates to follow.

I must be really showing,

because several strangers asked me today how I was feeling and when the baby was due. Which is interesting. People didn't ask me these questions the first time until much later in my pregnancy. (People who knew I was pregnant did, but not strangers!) I figure my walk may have changed. Or perhaps I rub my belly. Josh says he would never in a million years say something to someone who's my current size, but he also said, very diplomatically, that the rest of me is "relatively lean", so it was likely a proportion thing. Good Josh. :D

It was actually really sweet having people notice and ask. It reminded me of always feeling welcomed and smiled upon the last time around. Everyone loves a pregnant person; they represent hope and joy and happy things...babies! Speaking of babies, we saw a little 2-month old at Josh's work today. Jacob. And he was really small and really cute and had that breathy little baby wail. It made me feel nostalgic for Wilson's early days, and thrilled for the days still ahead with little Wee Pea. Just six long months left to go.