February, 2010

Second Trimester — 4 Comments
26
Feb 10

April’s Pregnancy Dreams

April’s been having some pretty vivid and strange dreams lately. This morning’s was a doozy: The ultrasound at 20 weeks (coming up on March 22!) revealed a zaftig, curly-haired female baby named Margot. (I’m not sure if the wee one was wearing a name tag…).

(This virtually guarantees we will be having a bald svelte boy, says April.)

Evidently, I’m also a huge jerk because I taunt chipmunks and make them bite her. (In her dream, of course. I do not taunt small woodland creatures in real life.) Set your dream-decoders to “parse”, people! Any ideas?

Belly Shots / Second Trimester — 4 Comments
22
Feb 10

The Belly at 14 Weeks

In recent weeks, some of you have asked for pictures of my belly. Since we haven’t had any real baby news lately (no doc appointments in the past couple of weeks), I thought I’d oblige and share some snapshots of my growing frame. It was either that or a detailed account of all my symptoms. I figured this was a much kinder topic for my friends who haven’t yet been pregnant. The less you know about the details, the better.

However, I’m still at the stage where it’s very hard to distinguish between “bloated and pudgy” to “maybe she’s pregnant,” so depending on my posture and outfit photographic results will vary. So far, I look like this:

Happy Pregnant Lady

14 Weeks. This is only the beginning!

And when Eric mocks my belly-happy self-portrait session, causing me to give him my “Hey, this is serious business!” look, I look like this:

Annoyed Pregnant Lady

Don't make fun of me! Where's your revealing personal blog post, buddy? Huh? That's what I thought.

And from the front, half-smiling awkwardly (because, after all, it’s a little awkward to stand around taking photos of your fat belly), I look like this:

Self-Concious Pregnant Lady

There used to be a distinguishable waist in there somewhere. Ah, the good old days.

For the gender-predicting types among you: that’s the most evidence you’re going to get. Place your bets now, because we find out for sure on March 22nd. SO excited for that appointment!

First Trimester / Second Trimester — 2 Comments
8
Feb 10

It has a FACE!!

Today the baby is officially at 12 weeks, which is quite a milestone. At this point, many of the really serious risks a normal pregnancy faces are downgraded from up-all-night-worrying to almost negligible. We are also entering the second trimester, where my symptoms are predicted to shift from nausea and vomiting to dizziness and headaches. According to everything I’ve read, that’s an upgrade.

According to this headache I’ve had for two days, I might prefer the occasional vomiting. The jury is still out.

But the very best part of being at 12 weeks is that this morning I got to have a nuchal translucency screening. This was great news because the doctor was able to confirm that the baby does not have any significiant risk for Down syndrome, based solely on a single measurement they take via external ultrasound. Easiest baby test ever.

That diagnostic ultrasound also meant I got to see the baby today, and it looks like a real human baby now! I couldn’t believe it — there was a little nose and chin, and flailing arms and kicking legs. It was just like you see on TV, except this one is REAL AND INSIDE MY UTERUS. I teared up a little. I may never stop being amazed at how purely bizarre and wonderful it is to be carrying a new life inside me. I may also be a person who speaks about motherhood in hyperbolic and clichéd terms. For now, I blame that on the hormones.

I’ve also had my first “was that the baby or just a muscle spasm?” moments this week. Now, every time I sneeze, I get this weird feeling in my lower abdomen that is, well … weird. If I didn’t know there was a fetus floating around in amniotic fluid down there, I’d say it felt like a school of very tiny goldfish fighting over some food. In my bladder. But I think it might be the baby freaking out and thrashing because it is very concerned about the body-convulsing sneeze it just endured.

Or maybe it’s just gas.

Anyway, here’s a nice profile shot from our latest ultrasound photos. Look at that FACE!!

12 Week Ultrasound Image

Snapshot of Baby Harding at 12 weeks. Looking good, little one!