Daddy wants to know.

Ok, all you mothers out there. Anthony wants to know about how long he has to wait until he can feel the baby's movements with his hand on my belly...i told him it would be "a while" yet, but couldn't be any more specific than that. Do any of you remember about when your husband/partner could feel the baby moving?

Prenatal appointment 3 (if i haven't lost count)

Monday was our 4mo checkup, everything is good. Growth and weight gain right on track; i gained the "suggested" 4 lbs this past month, and that was with Christmas in the middle, as well as 3 1/2 weeks off work where i wasn't getting in my daily walking commute.

Dr. tried to measure baby's heartrate, but every time she got the doppler in place and started counting, baby would let out a few big kicks and would move away from the mic. She tried 3 times but couldn't get the kid to stay still enough. It's funny, though, the kicks sounded really huge and loud on the doppler, but i couldn't feel them at all. Makes me wonder what kind of karate or boxercise this kid is doing when i CAN feel the movements.

My ultrasound is booked for Feb 28, that's the earliest i could get that Anthony could attend. So i'll be 22 1/2 weeks at the time. I guess they will need an hour, as i'll be past the 20-21 week point (they said if it's before then, it's only a 30 minute appointment - does anyone have any insight into why this is the case?).

On another note, i told my new supervisor that I'm expecting, and she was VERY excited for me and gave me a big hug. She even started asking about if i'd want to come back after my mat leave - i said i don't expect there to be a position for me, as i'm only on term now, and she said if i want to come back, they can probably arrange for it, as the study will still be running at the time. So that's cool to have that option.

I think that's about it for now, it was a terribly busy week last week, hence the lack of posts. Hopefully things have calmed down enough now that i can get some sort of routine back into my life. I sure am glad for the 2nd trimester energy-levels-return-to-almost-normal-and-nausea-disappears!

flutters

So, i mentioned a few posts back how i think i felt the baby move ... i am pretty sure now that's what it was. I have felt it a few more times, it's pretty cool.

Feeling much better than before, only take the meds on days when things are stressful or ick. And eating is much better now too, i can basically eat anything (except fast food), and don't have to stop to think whether or not i will feel sick eating it.

Still going to aquacise, 3 times a week, even though only one is a prenatal one. It still feels SOOOOOOOO good to be in the water...often times my hips or back will pop half way through the class while we're doing some manouver, and it will be the joint that has been bothering me that day. (I have had some minor lower back and hip discomfort for about a month now). And floating feels amazing.

Next prenatal visit is on Monday, and i also have to figure out when to tell my job...

Definitely am getting the belly now, but for those who have just recently met me (like my boss and coworkers), it probably just seems like i'm flabby around the middle. Was feeling pretty pudgy and boxy there for a while, it comes and goes depending on the day. Now i'm just tired because of all the early mornings, i've been SO used to sleeping in!

16 1/2 weeks and all is well.

opinions wanted...

ok, so i figure in the next couple months we'll start buying some diapers, wipes, etc. so that we have a stockpile when baby comes and are able to spread some of those initial expenses over a few months instead of having to buy everything all at once.

So, what do you experienced ones recommend in terms of diapers? Huggies vs. pampers? store brand? What have you found to be the best value and "uesability"?

Any difference in baby wipes?

Anything else i should be thinking about in terms of stocking up on basic supplies?

a new record

12 days without puking! yay! (but the streak ended this morning, sigh)

prenatal aquacise

At my request, my parents got me a civic centre pass for my christmas gift. Tonight, i went to my first prenatal aquacise class.

It was a good class, good instructor, and i met a few more people who will be bringing babies into this world in the next bit. One girl, Jen, works at the U, i've seen her around there before, she's due in April. And another (I didn't get her name) is due June 9....she and I were the "earliest on" pregos there....one woman is due in 5 weeks!

It was the first class for about 8 of us, and also the first baby for most of those same 8, so it was neat to see the potential for some friendships to develop over the next few months if we all continue to attend.

Due to my schedule, i can only get to the thursday night classes, but there are some aquacise 1 classes at lakewood (the centre closest to my house) that i will probably attend on other days - I have been to them before and they are about the same intensity as tonight's class was.

However, i don't think they'll have the "suntan-superman" move at the non-prenatal class, and let me tell you, that move feels GOOOOOOOOOOOD. With a pool noodle around your back and under your armpits (ends held in each hand), you first stretch flat out on the water on your back, then you curl your knees in until you are in a tuck position, then you roll forward and stretch out your legs until you are doing the typical superman-flying pose....

And yeah, i still LOVE the smell of chlorine and swimming pools these days, so it's a double treat to go. But man, are my abs ever sore now! "Keep those abs tight, ladies! Even though there's a baby in there, you still have abs!" (to quote the instructor).

Definitely will be going again. If anyone is interested in coming with me to either the thurs nite prenatal classes (you can come even if you're not prego), or the aquacise 1 class, let me know!

a letter to baby (ok, i know you can't read yet)

Dear baby,

Please come late. Mommy just got a new job, and she's signing a contract until July 15. I know that's 15 days after you're "supposed" to come, and i don't expect you to wait that long, but maybe you could wait a few days, maybe until the 6th or 7th or so....i can always take some holidays at the end.

And don't worry, mommy will take good care of you, and she knows that you'll come when you come. And the neat thing is, mommy's new job is in the hospital, in the same building that she'll have to go to when she finds out you're ready to come into the world. In fact, she will be working one floor right below the wing she needs to go to to have you, so even if she works right until you're ready to come, she'll be very close and will for sure make it to the hospital on time (if you decide to come while she's at work).

We love you, can't wait to meet you in 6 months, but feel free to stay nestled in there a bit past June 30 if you want.

(ps - i may change my mind about this at the end, but remember, you should listen to and obey your mommy, so if, at the end, i decide i want you out on the 30th, or even earlier, anything i've said to you here is irrelevant).

Love mommy

ugh

not feeling too hot at ALL. Actually feel probably the worse i've felt in about 3 weeks or so, no clue why. Very nauseous tonight, and very achey. Muscles/tendons in my belly are definitely stretching, and i just wanna sleep for a very long time. Thank goodness tomorrow is a day off for me...

a 4-post day!

(can you tell i'm on holidays and am sitting at home on the computer?)
Here's a cute cartoon i got in my pregnancy update email this week....it basically sums up why there haven't been belly pics yet....

i think i can see a difference in my belly, but i look at the pics and they pretty much all look the same. And that's 8wk, 10wk, 12wk pics...the 14 wk haven't been taken yet...maybe this time there will be a difference. I have one pair of pants that no longer fit, so just maybe....

royal treatment

Another baby-related wedding story:

I'm pretty sensitive to eating times, when i need to eat, i need to eat NOW. If i don't eat NOW, i often start feeling pretty sick and then the rest of the day is shot.

So we're sitting at the banquet hall between the ceremony and reception, as we're supposed to be in some of the pictures that are taking place on-site, and about 30-40 mins before the reception is scheduled to start, i have to eat. Being prepared for situations such as this, i had a bag of trail mix in my purse, so i took it out and had a bit of a snack.

The bride's stepdad (who we had met on a previous trip down there - imagine Paul Sr. from Orange County Choppers and you have him cased) saw me eating and was like "What's this? Cheater!" I said "Look, it's for the baby, i can't help it that baby needs it right now....!" (in friendly banter).

I finished my snack, and didn't notice, but Shayla's stepdad had left and come back - he had bought Harvey's french fries for all of Shayla's nieces and nephews to snack on before the reception, and then he came over to our table and gave Ang and I a bag of fries each, for the babies!!! So we had a pretty sweet pre-wedding snack (even though fast food doesn't sit well on my tummy these days, if i'm hungry enough i'll eat it!). The dads-to-be tried to convince us that somehow by proxy they should get some of the fries too.....we were nice and actually shared with them.

(and for those of you who are clamoring for pictures, here ya go! - belly shots to come as soon as i notice a change in them that doesn't just look like pudge).

Baby names

One of the fun things about the 10 hour drive each way was having time with Anthony to go through the book of 55,000 baby names loaned to us by a friend. No, we didn't get through all of them, but we did do enough that we now have 2 tentative names picked out for each gender.

The girls' names we've actually had in mind since before we were pregnant - when we were naming our dog in summer, we came across a couple girls' names that we both really liked and decided were more baby-worthy than dog-worthy. So that part was easy. First and middle names for each, and they'd work great for twin girls as well.

As for the boys, we couldn't think of any names that both of us liked, so it was on to the baby name book for ideas. We had talked about a few things being important to us in a name, such as sounding good with our last name (of course - but this eliminates 99.9% of one-syllable first names), not sounding too old-mennonite-ish (i.e., i do NOT want a little Jake Epp or John Epp or Cornelius Epp running around, not like any of those names were an option - but it does limit the Biblical names a lot, as that's so common in the mennonite tradition). But we did like the idea of somehow working our heritage into the name - between the two of us we have Swedish, German/Russian mennonite, Ukranian and English, so names with their roots in those traditions are good. We also liked the idea of honoring past relatives (i.e., great grandparents and back) if one of their names somehow fit into the picture.

Anyways, after a bit of time with the boys' section of the baby book, we now have 2 boys' names that we really like that fit some of the above criteria. Unlike the girls, they both contain the same middle name, one that we had thought of and decided on long before coming up with a first name for the boys' names.

Of course, our ideas might change in the next 6 months - maybe someone we know will have thought of a similar name for their new baby, maybe we'll look back and say "What were we thinking when we picked that?" (hopefully before we name the kid if that's the case), or we may meet the kid and decide that the names we had considered simply don't fit.

But it's nice having some options lined up already at this point. Of course, each of us likes a different name of the two for each gender better at this point, but at least both of us are happy with the 4 options as they stand now.

A new "cousin" has arrived

So, my best friend Lynnette and her husband Brian had their baby this morning - a boy, Lincoln, at 5:20am - 8lb 10 oz.... (and she's about 5'2" and 120 pounds....yeah.)

She was supposed to get induced yesterday morning, but when they got to the hospital she was 2cm dilated and baby had dropped, so they sent her to the mall to walk around until after supper. When they went back, she was 4cm, so they said they'd keep her in, they went walking around some more and at 10pm her water broke, and things went quite quickly after that.

Baby and mom and dad are all doing fine....

montana was good to us, baby

So, just came back from Great Falls Montana, and i'm pretty excited about the purchases we found there for me and baby.

They have an Old Navy maternity there, and we were there the very first evening in town - anthony's sister Ang had to find something to wear to the wedding the next day as her tummy popped since Christmas and what she planned to wear no longer fit. So we raided the mat section together, and came away with some super deals.

I got a couple pairs of mat pants - khakis and olive green ones for $17 and $10, a couple really nice shirts (one long sleeved, one tank), a couple maternity camisole tanks, and a pair of mat shorts - they were only 10 cents!!!! Also got a cute striped onesie.

JC penny had a pair of mat jeans for $25, and target had a really nice button shirt.

2 cute onesies at walmart - one says "50% mommy, 50% daddy, 100% cute", the other says "Seriously, i know i'm the favorite!"... and some cheap baby stuff from the target discount rack - 24mo jeans for $3, a pink striped onesie for $1.24 (hey, if mine's not a girl, someone else's will be!), and a cute outfit for Lynne's baby (my best friend is getting induced today) - a pair of flare bottom black cotton pants and a pink onesie that says "sweet" on the front. NO, they don't know what they're having, but i bought pink. Hey, it's a 50-50 chance! And nursing bras - $9 each, can't beat that!

Oh, and i think i felt baby moving a bit - i know it's super early for that (14 weeks), so i may just be imagining things. But it was down in the region i usually felt my pms cramps in, and it just felt like a light pattering. It was different than gas or stomach feelings, so i dunno.