Week 18

So here we are at week 18. I may end up changing the numbering again as I have another hospital ultrasound on Tuesday. The last one put the due date at October 25, which would technically make this Week 18, Day 4. If that date is again confirmed, I'll still do Saturday pictures just with updated titling.

I'm not the only thing growing in our home. Last Saturday I bought and planted basil seeds in our seed sprouter apparatus. The packets said 7-14 days to sprout but they started peaking up a couple of days ago. We get direct sunlight only in the living room and all other attempts at non-houseplants have failed (and the houseplants are clinging on for dear life), still, I thought I'd be optimistic and try some herbs again this year. It would be nice to have some fresh things that I've grown. I may try sneaking them out onto the little ledge thing outside our bedroom window where the buildings connect (hard to describe but I'll take a picture if I do it.) They could then be outside, even though there's not a ton of direct light, yet still easily accessible for eating.

And speaking of eating!

My darling Spouse dashed out this morning while I was making breakfast and came home with this lovely thing from our local bakery, Sweet Tooth. On Thursday he'd asked me not to buy cheesecake if I was going shopping on Friday, a rather random request, but one I took to mean he would be coming home with a nice big slice from Sweet Tooth for me on Friday. Well Friday comes and I decide not to go grocery shopping but to just come home and relax. He follows close behind with a pink bag from next door what does not have any cheese cake in it! Horrors! Yet little did I know...

And custom made too!

He had ordered this I think two weeks ago. Having never special ordered anything form them before, he thought it would be nice to try it out and get something for me. That is one HUGE cheesecake! The thing must weigh over five pounds! Fortunately I'm saved from eating the whole thing myself, not that I wouldn't make a valiant effort and try, but hosting our co-op dinner group tomorrow. I think even that ravenous bunch won't make too much of a dent in it though. But we'll have fun trying!

Thank you, my lovely husband.

Belly Power!

I FINALLY got a seat on the T today due to the Power of the Belly! Nobody offered me their seat (of course) but when one opened up another woman and I both went for it. Her eyes darted down to my midriff and she conceded the seat to me. To be polite I offered it back (she had been closer) but she declined and moved down the car in search of another seat. BELLY POWER!

Week 17

Someday I'll learn how to take a mirror shot that isn't blurry. This is not that day.

I've been enjoying how round my belly has been getting lately. My weight hasn't gone up much (nine pounds since conception) but I'm really starting to fill out. I've been warned that in five months I'll just be sick of it, but for now I'm going to enjoy every curve.

The Quickening (not the 'Highlander' sequel) has not occurred yet. I am starting to get some indigestion (not full-on "heartburn" which I've only had once in my life) so I may end up mistaking first movement with gas, which I hear is common. I can actually feel my uterus now when I press down on my belly. So while much of this roundness is all me (thanks to my new found obsession with cheesecake) I do have evidence of something else in there!

Spouse's Centidiemversary post the other day was very sweet. We have found new ways to be in love with each other since this pregnancy. It has brought us closer together and has somehow made our relationship feel more "real." I don't mean that it takes children to complete a marriage as I simply don't believe that's true. A childless (or child-free if you prefer) life can be wonderful. It's one I envisioned for myself :) But this has, for us, been a very good thing. Spouse was meant to be a father. While people tell me I'll be a great mother, I feel a bit like I'm going along for the ride. I'd like to be a great pregnant lady for now and hopefully that will translate into fair to middling motherhood down the line. But with parents as full of love as we are, I think the kid has a good chance.

I love xkcd

Romantic Deimversery 1600

It's been 1600 days since we got married in this apartment. A fantastic amount of time, but what does this have to do with sprog?

Well I believe it's important that we can continue to be romantically involved throughout the pregnancy and while bringing up our new child. This is important to not only remind each other why we stay together and reinforce our love for each other, but I think it will provide a good example to sprog as they grow up.

So here is to our 1600 days celebration!

Week 16

Pin curls today. Keeping them in while I tidy. Spouse should be back from the Great White North today too! Hooray! (and yes, that's why I set my hair)

Routine Appointment Today

This morning I went for my monthly OB appointment. I finally got the results of the First Look test too which was odds of 1:2300 of abnormality. Very good odds indeed! I'm inclined to not risk an amnio with results like that. There's another hospital ultrasound I need in three weeks though so we've scheduled that as well. No in-room ultrasound at today's appointment, but I did get to hear the heart beat! I teared up, of course, but I've been crying about everything lately so that's no news.

Yesterday I left work early with a headache. The headache itself wasn't so bad but I got extremely light-sensitive and a bit nauseous. I checked with the doctor today on what I can take and Tylenol is okay in that it won't harm the baby. Apparently this is normal as my cardiovascular system is trying to adjust to new demands and headaches can be a side effect (I imagine that's where fainting comes in too.) I felt better after lying down with my eyes covered with a scarf for an hour (and 2 pills, swallowed, not covering my eyes) and then a little nap. I was still a little out of sorts last evening though. This morning, in spite of all the sleep I felt hung over and was glad I gave myself plenty of time to get ready.

So, that's all the news for today. I'm missing spouse terribly and now have to send him pictures of me since there are none of the sprog to send out.

Happy (American) Mother's Day

Since people are telling me that gestation counts, today is my first Mother's Day. Happy day to all the other mothers out there (and mothers of fur babies always count to me.) Spouse would rather we celebrate the UK Mother's Day which is the fourth Sunday in Lent, but in my head I'm sure I'll be counting this one to. Besides, I call my mother on this day so I'm bound to get at least one "Happy Mother's Day" in May.

I took the opportunity to celebrate today by sleeping in while I still can, eating leftover curry for breakfast and not planning a thing until I'd finished the book I was reading. O! sloth! But now I'm really up and at 'em, as it were. Dressed in my finest gigantic maternity shirt, hair set, barefoot and pregnant. I am ready to tackle the dishes!

This week promises to be a cleaning week. I ordered our new bed yesterday, the floating platform bed with bookcase headboard from Bedworks, and need to really clean the bedroom before it arrives. I'd hoped to get it before Spouse returned from the Libre Graphics Meeting in Montreal, but apparently the bed is made t order so may take two weeks if they haven't got the parts prepped in the warehouse. This gives me more time to procrastinate which is NOT what I need!

Speaking of procrastination, this was just meant to be a very quick update. There's a sink full of dishes calling out to me so I'd better get cracking!

Since I did take the picture but neglected to post it yesterday, here is the 15 week picture, complete with bow tie.

Hard to top that last post

Spouse's post made me weep. Right now I feel more pregnant when he is around rubbing my belly. I'm in that lull stage of the second trimester. Morning sickness has gone, I'm feeling much less tired (not actually falling asleep at my desk!), but the second trimester ardor increase hasn't quite gotten there yet and I can't yet feel the sprog moving. The only way I know I'm pregnant is to see my increasing size and through others' reactions.

Seeing my love's reaction every time he sees my growing belly, by breasts, my tears at nothing brings an unfathomable amount of joy to my heart. Every smile from him convinces me I made the right decision — in becoming pregnant, in marrying him, in taking the chance to start our relationship at all. And I know he'll be a wonderful father. He has too much love in him not to be.

That Warm Feeling

Do other fathers-to-be get that feeling when looking at the mother-to-be which makes you just want to put your arms around them? It's like some involuntary action that whilst I'm gawping at the absolutely amazing idea of your child growing inside someone, I'm also feeling many new ways to be in love with the mother.

My wife.

It's not a bad feeling either, I don't resist it or care to. I just feel really good when I'm near and being attentive. I'm also getting larger pleasure rewards from doing things, almost everything I do just feels better. It's probably all biological, but it's interesting experiencing it instead of trying to understand the rather simplistic typical advice:

"Everything changes when you have a child"

Yes, I'm sure it does. Now how about some actual explaining words? Hopefully my above explanation is enough to document my own experiences thus far.