Well, I feel adequately large enough to share my first pregnant belly picture here. I just took this today at 19 weeks, 2 days. This is kind of a funny one because I attempted to put on a nonmaternity shirt, and this is how well it covered my growing belly. I still don’t think I look very pregnant to strangers when I’m fully clothed and don’t have my belly halfway out, but I bet I’ll pop out a lot more in the next couple of weeks. Anyway, here it is!
We had our ultrasound today, and it went great! Everything looked good and the baby looked normal and healthy. Best of all, we got to find out that we are having a little boy! We got a really good view of his business end, so the ultrasound tech was able to tell us with 100% certainty. We are thrilled!
After the ultrasound we went to a yummy diner for lunch and then went to buy some boy clothes. As it turns out, a lot of the boy clothes aren’t that cute. At least 75% of the stuff is sports themed, which really isn’t our style. We did pick up a couple of sleepers and a little navy hoodie that is too cute.
We’re not going to tell a soul the name of the baby before he is born, but that is easy at this point because we don’t have a name picked out yet. We are having a much harder time with a boy name than a girl name, but I’m sure we’ll find something great.
Matt hates it when people tell about their dreams, so I’m thinking as I write this that he will think this is a boring post. I have been dreaming a lot about the ultrasound though and thought I should document it while I can still remember. Friday night I was thinking a lot about the ultrasound and realized that I had only been thinking about the gender and hadn’t even considered the possibility that they could find a problem. I truly think our baby is fine, but it did get me worried a little. That night, I first dreamed that we had to do some kind of group ultrasound in a pool. We went into a big room with an indoor pool, and all the women getting ultrasounds had to get naked and get into the pool. I don’t think my dream actually got any farther than just being mortified about getting naked in front of all those strangers. Then it jumped to getting a letter that said we had to come back in for a follow up ultrasound to recheck a blood clot that was found on the first one. Hopefully that was just my nerves making me dream that.
Last night, I dreamed about the ultrasound again. This time the baby wouldn’t cooperate and get into a position where we could see the gender (my current worry). At the very end, the baby finally moved so that we could see, and it was a boy. I remember very distinctly seeing the testicles and being told it was a boy. We’ll have to see if that comes true!
On another note, this morning I was pretty uncomfortable when I woke up. My belly felt so tight like it would pop. I have been sleeping OK, but I’m trying to sleep on my side, which is best for the baby but which I do not find to be very comfortable. I’m sure that as my belly grows sleeping is going to become more and more of a challenge. I’m so eager for that big pregnant belly though that it will be worth it 
Well, in the last week I have started feeling even more pregnant. I feel the baby move a lot now, multiple times a day, and I love it. I tried to see if Matt could feel it last night, but he wasn’t able to. We’ve only tried that one time though, and I think he’ll be able to feel it soon. It’s tricky because a lot of times by the time you get your hand to the belly to feel it, the little bugger quiets down and stops moving.
Also, my uterus feels so much bigger now that starting Tuesday I feel like I really can’t roll over onto my stomach. It feels like trying to roll onto a beach ball or something. You would think this would translate into me looking pregnant by now, but still no luck there.
We only have three days left until the big ultrasound. I am beyond excited to find out what we are having. I will probably start sobbing with disappointment if our baby doesn’t cooperate and the ultrasound tech says she can’t tell the gender. Hopefully this baby won’t be shy and will give up the info.
I just felt the baby move for the third day in a row! Monday night I ate a bunch of watermelon and afterwards felt several taps in my belly that I thought were the baby, but I just wasn’t sure. Yesterday morning I felt the same thing after eating some chocolate pudding (this baby gets hyper after sweets apparently). Just now, I felt the biggest thump so far. I hadn’t even eaten anything recently. This is so fun and exciting! Now I sit quietly and concentrate each time after I eat to see if I can feel anything.
My appointment with the midwife yesterday was fine and uneventful. She listened to the heart beat with the Doppler, and while she was listening we heard the baby kick. That was very cute and was really the biggest excitement of the appointment. Other than that, I just had to get weighed and have my blood pressure and urine checked, all of which were fine. I go back for my next visit in 5 weeks. More importantly, our big ultrasound is only 11 days away!
I didn’t actually mention that I was going away, but I went to Vegas this week with my mom. We got there Monday, and I got home Thursday night. It was a fun trip, and I think we saw every casino and every store in town. I feel like we walked at least 5 miles each day, and my feet were killing me by the evenings. My energy level has been really good lately though, and I don’t have any more nausea at all, so the timing was really good for this trip. I didn’t have any trouble keeping up.
While I was away, I could start to feel like there was something in my abdomen when I bent over, which was kind of a weird feeling. Today I can feel what feels like a round, hard mass in my belly. Although I’ve felt a few questionable twinges, I haven’t felt anything yet that I can definitely call fetal movement. I can definitely tell the baby is growing in there though, so hopefully that will happen soon.
I have an appointment with the midwife on Tuesday, although I think it will be pretty uneventful. This will be my first appointment with her in 6 weeks, and I think I will start going every 4 weeks after this. As I have mentioned, we have the big ultrasound on the 26th, so I’m pretty much counting down the days until we know if we’re having a son or daughter. I probably won’t be able to sleep at all the night before that because I will be so excited!
I stay home with the boy and blog about motherhood, San Francisco, cooking, video games, and anything else going on in my (exciting) life.
