Tuesday, October 27, 2009

20 Weeks: Half Way Today!

Yea I have made it half way through the pregnancy! Wow I can honestly say these past 4 1/2 months have... absolutely dragged by! (bet you thought I was going to say "flew by"-unless of course you have had a baby then you are probably not that surprised) I stop and think, "wow, it has only been 4 1/2 months? It feels like freaking forever!" And when I think about it even more I realize that I have only known I was pregnant for 3 1/2 months, now that makes looking ahead to the next 4 1/2 more months that much more daunting.

Oh well. I haven't been too miserable for the most part. I got sick about 3 weeks ago and realized that all doctors want pregnant women to be miserable because they don't want lawsuits. Every single cough syrup said to see a doctor before taking- and of course no doctor wants to tell you its okay. Actually my nurse did recommended a few that were okay to take, but said to only take the smallest dose before bed to try and limit the amount I took, and to just take a few Tylenol throughout the day. Needless to say I was downright miserable for a week- no NyQuil! But I recovered, I am resilient, imagine that.

Also I have discovered that nobody wants you to have fun when you are pregnant. We went on a cruise last week (that will be my next post... stay tuned for more on that later) and almost every activity was "no pregnant women" allowed. No para-sailing, horseback riding, scooter riding, hot tub, water slide, bobsled roller coaster, or pretty much anything exciting. (By the way the hot tub was only luke warm so I got in for a little bit, and I did the water slide 4 or 5 times just to show that sign next to the slide telling me- the pregnant lady- to keep off, that I don't give a rat's furry tush about it or it's lame warning). All the other stuff we really couldn't do, there were people involved and they could all tell that I was clearly pregnant and so they said, "no way." Whatever. Everyone tells you the fun stops when you have a kid, apparently it stops before the kid even gets here. But really- we did other things, and we still had a ton of fun!

Anyway for those of you out there who may have secretly longed for the day I would truly look fat, you are in luck, that day has come. For your viewing pleasure I give you: I think I have now officially reached that point where people stop wondering, "Is she? or isn't she?" As you know I am a substitute teacher in high school and you can always count on teenagers to tell you what they think. About 4 weeks ago I got a tentative question or two beating around the bush to ask if I was pregnant. Now kids I have never seen before come up to me and ask, "how far along are you?" or my favorite as I'm passing out papers, "oh! Your belly is so cute!" And both of these statements are posed before anyone has asked to make sure I am actually pregnant. However the best is when a 10th grader asks me how far along I am, then tells me she is 6 months, and asks if I know what I am having yet. So far this year I have seen at least 5 pregnant girls all in 10th grade and all 5 months or further along. All I can say is, "Wow."
Anyway, I have put on about 7 pounds which means I no longer fit into any of my pants. Yippee! So I have now gone up a bra size as well as a pant size. Fun! The doctor said normal weight gain should be about a pound a month for the first 20 weeks then a pound a week for the next 20, which would put you at about the recommended 25 pounds. Well at 7 I guess that puts me 3 pounds over what I should be at, but I'm going to say that's still normal so I don't damage my self esteem too much.
Well enough of me and my fat self, here are some pictures of the baby:
The head is off to the right, and in the middle that is either a hand or a foot, I personally think it looks more like a foot, but its where the hand should be, so take your pick. By the way our baby does have all the normal parts and they are all in their proper place, I assure you this is just an odd picture. By the way, that is the leg on the left. I think the baby looks pretty squished in this picture, but the ultra sound tech said there should still be plenty of room in there. Next, for those of you who have not heard the news yet, and are still wondering as to the gender of our baby; this picture has a handy little arrow pointing right between the legs from the bottom up, and if you look very closely you will probably see... nothing. So yes after a few very good looks, with the baby was cooperating perfectly, the ultrasound tech was fairly convinced by the lack of any obvious male genitalia to pronounce with confidence (although he refused to assign an actual % number to his confidence) that we are having a girl. We are both happy and excited- although we had mostly boy names picked out if that gives you any indication as to what we were originally hoping for. However, as Zac points out to me on occasion (more so when we were first dating) that I know nothing about boys and how they work because I don't have any brothers. And I won't lie, that is absolutely true, I won't dispute it, I would have absolutely no idea what to do with a boy. I am the Sunbeams teacher and I have one little boy in my class, and he needed to go to the bathroom one day, and I will have to say I was very little help, I have no idea what to do. Alas, I would probably tell our little boy (if we ever have one) to wipe after he pees, which Zac tells me is a big, NO. Guys just don't do that! Well for now we are happy to have a girl and hopefully someday we will have a boy and I will learn the full extent of my ignorance when it comes to the male gender.

This picture is actually somewhat creepy (and yes I do feel guilty saying my daughter looks creepy) but it is just due to the nature of ultra sounds obviously that this picture looks more like an alien than a human being. That is her head on the right hand side and I believe she is facing the camera (again what a cooperative baby! she obviously takes after me :) ) Also if you look carefully on the left side you can see her very healthy little heart. The doctors have never had a problem finding her heartbeat, even from 8 weeks old, and they say it sounds very healthy.

The next question we get after, "do you know what you are having?" is, "do you have a name picked out?" Short answer, no. We have some names that we are considering, but we aren't completely sold on any name we have found yet. Here is our list so far of names we are considering. We would love input or suggestions- not that we will honor all advice or suggestions :) -but we would love it none the less- seriously!

Addison
Boston
Brooklyn
Chloe
Isabel/ Isabella
Kennedy
Kenley/ Makenley
Kinley/ Mckinley
London
Mackenzie
Madison
Mckenna
Siena
Vienna


So that's the update. If you skipped all the other writing and just looked at the pictures, here it is in a nutshell. I am fat, I now look pregnant, we are having a girl, she appears to be very healthy and we don't have a name picked out yet.

7 comments:

  1. I have to say that I wish I had looked half as good as you at 20 weeks! Keep enjoying your pregnancy and congrats on your healthy baby!! As for the boy--you'll figure it out when it's time. I still don't know what I'm doing!

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  2. Since I can appreciate naming one's daughter after a European city, here are a few other alternatives I've come up with


    Rugby
    Cork
    The Hague

    The first one is a nod to Zac's Norwegian heritage. I randomly found it on the map looking for something short and sweet and featuring a funky character. You could, however, just apply funky characters Motley Crue style to any of the other names, though, such as Böstön.

    My personal favorite is The Hague, because I think we should have more first names featuring definite articles. Had my parents named me "The Quentin", it would have made it much easier to differentiate me from an elementary school class full of Quentins, in the unlikely event of that happening.

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  3. Yay! Congrats to you! Honestly- I was hoping for a boy too when I found out I was preggers. But then I got Ellie and now that I have a little girl, I can't imagine having a boy. You will love having a little doll, er, daughter to dress up and play with. They are so incredibly sweet! And good luck with the names! We thought we had one picked out and then our poor little one didn't have a name for her first 2 days on earth! Good luck and congrats to you both again!! And be prepared for the longest 4 1/2 months ever...it just gets worse... If you thought the first 4 were long...wait till the last week. It will never end. ;)

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  4. haha! dacia is so mean!! that is not at all how i felt!! I might have had a couple weeks here and there that dragged on...but for the most part i felt like the last half flew by! so i'll cross my fingers for you!
    congrats on the little girl! i think that is very exciting! i also wanted a boy, but little girls are so much more fun! not only do they have fun spunky little personalities but they're way funner to dress and shop for. :)
    you look fabulous! so don't get down on yourself! :) I had a much bigger belly by my 5 month ultrasound. MUCH bigger. :)
    congratulations again!

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  5. Hi Mow -
    You still look tiny - So - Daddy's favorite name was Isabelle :)
    We can't wait to see you!
    I still like Sophia - especially if she comes out with Zac's exotic dark hair and eyes :)

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  6. I never thought I'd see the day when you weren't super skinny. It does my heart good.
    Aunt Linda

    One of my grandson's name is Boston. I like Chloe. Congrats on the tummy! You finally look like the rest of us. Love you.
    Aunt bibi

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  7. I love the name Isabel! I'm sorry to say this but the name "Vienna" reminds me of a sausage. I'm not a very cultered gal though, so take it with a grain of salt - haha!

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