21 weeks... Flashlights and Fetoscopes
So... we passed the halfway mark without a hitch, without any blood and without a barfing episode. (well at least for a week!) All is progressing well and the belly continues to grow and move. I feel good 99% of the time. I still have occasional nausea, but am lucky not to have any of the other crap that lots of pregnant women have to deal with.... no heartburn, no constipation, no (regular) headaches, not much physical discomfort at all. I'm truly loving being pregnant. It's fun, it's exciting and I'm so happy to finally be here.

Thankfully, since the most recent bleeding incident, all has been well. Lots of movment, which leads to reassurance. Did you know that at this point the fetus can sense light? So if you shine a flashlight on your belly it will respond? Yep! quite fun.... We play scrabble often in bed at night (on a travel scrabble board) and I rest the letters/board on my belly. The first night we played the flashlight game, the little goonlet was kicking so hard the letters were jumping around. We got a quite a laugh out of that.... Of course Ryan freaked out and thought we were going to blind the little goon with the light. Dork.

After the last bleeding episode, I was considering renting a doppler, but in the end I decided to buy a cheap fetoscope. I figured we wouldn't hear anything for a few weeks, but then could listen any time we wanted without worry. The first few nights, we could only hear my stomach gurgling and the occasional kick or punch. The ear pieces were hard and uncomfortable, so I decided to bring home one ofmy expensive stethescopes from the office and trade out the top halves.... and there it was. Took-a took-a took-a took-a took-a. I actually like the took-a took-a better than the swoosh swoosh swoosh.. cause I can hear it ANY TIME I WANT. (well almost, the little bugger likes to roll over a lot) So now our nightly routine involves significant time listening to the belly, then watching the kicks and rolls, then we fall asleep with Ryan's hand on my belly till I desperately need to roll onto my side.

I honestly can't think of anything better.

And somedays, I actually believe we're going to have a baby.... how bizarre is that?

Not much change from last week, but we'll give you a pix just for fun :)



Next time.... a name!!

20 Weeks - Halfway there!

Well, we'll start with the boring (yet fun!) obilgatory belly pix...
I don't think we can see the tattoo here... but still no change.


And the side shot....


Lets look at the first week we took a pix, side by side with this week.... Little bit of a difference, eh?


And now.... what you've all been waiting for! pix of the Goonie!!!

Here's Goonie's first portrait! yeah, he/she looks a bit like an alien....well, a lot like an alien, but what can you do? A skull underwater looks alien like on just about everyone!


Ah.. Mom's fave pix! The spine!!! Ah, isn't it lovely and perfect! You can even see the ribs!


And the final pix that proves our little goon is an activist in the making! Fist in the air... freedom fighter! Fight the Man, Goonie, FIGHT THE MAN! ;)


Everything on the US looked perfect... No problems with the placenta being in the wrong place, and Goonie is growing right on schedule. We weren't going to find out what we were having, but at the last minute we caved! So... without further ado....

It's......
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A.....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
BABY!!!!

Hahahaha! Sorry, couldn't help it! You'll have to wait till June... cause that's what we're doing!

19 weeks!

Sorry we missed a week or two, but things have been a bit crazy here. New Years was a grand time, we partied all night long! Actually...... goon did more of the partying.... we had a little drama around 17 weeks, when the goonlet whooped it up a bit too much and we had a little episode of bleeding. However, one of the joys of having a midwife, within an hour we were lying on her table, listening to the swoosh swoosh swoosh of the heartbeat. NEVER has there been such a glorious sound! She also pulled out her trusty ultrasound machine and we got to take a peek at the bambino just for reassurance. All was well in there, but still my penance was a few days of bedrest. So... New Years weekend was spent in several different pairs of PJs... and it was a gloriously relaxing (after the stress of the incident finally abated) weekend.

Since then, all has been fine, and the goonie has been kicking up a storm! Ryan got to feel movement for the first time last weekend, but hasn't felt it since then... mainly cause he seems to miss all the action. The first few days after the bleeding, there was a kick or two a day, but since then it's pretty much all day, everyday, at completely random times. It's quite possibly the best feeling EVER. The fluttery sensations from weeks 15-16 were cool, but the thumps, bumps, rolls and kicks bring the house down. Ryan says it's the best smile ever, when he sees me feeling it... and he's right. it's the best.

So today was our 19 week appointment with the midwife, Ellie. All is well. I've gained 4 lbs this month which is right on track, and we heard the little heartbeat right away. We were able to listen for a minute, but then the goon apparently had enough, and kicked the doppler and swam away. Yeah, that's our kid, alright!
We have the 'big' ultrasound next tuesday, but before you ask... no we aren't going to find out the sex of the baby! We'll find that out in June when the goonie decides to make it's formal appearance. This ultrasound will be to measure all organs and what not and to just show that all is fine. Of course there will be some pictures to show also!

So... Here's the bump that is the goon...


Please ignore the dorky look on my face. What can I say? I'm a dork?



And finally, the front pix.. still no change in the Om tattoo... we'll see what happens next, as I'm pretty sure there's bound to be some big growth in the next few weeks!


And here is an inside view of what Goonie may be doing when he/she isn't Riverdancing....