21 week ultrasound and doctor's appointment

As some of you may know, my last ultrasound found a little calcium deposit in Pistachio's heart. The doctor believed this to be harmless; however recommended that we schedule a level 2 ultrasound to confirm. So, just today, Jason and I headed to another doctor's appointment for this ultrasound. The calcium deposit remains in Pistachio's heart for now, but the doctor reassured us that this can be quite common in babies and does not signal any problems with the baby's heart. The doctor confirmed that Pistachio's heart is pumping and operating just as it should. No holes, no leaking, and operating as a fully functioning and beating heart. Apparently, this little calcium deposit can be a marker for down's syndrome when observed with other markers. Hence, why our primary doctor wanted us to get this checked out. Thankfully, Pistachio is not at risk for any of these other markers. My lab work came back low risk, Pistachio's nose and spine are forming quite nicely, and the fluid indicator under the neck remains low risk. The doctor today told us that Pistachio has a 1 in 20,000 chance of having down's syndrome and to not worry. Apparently, Pistachio is a healthy little growing baby, weighing in at 15 ounces, just under a pound. Pistachio is fully active now, causing our ultrasound technician some frustration as Pistachio would not sit still, causing some blurriness in the pictures. Apparently this stopped for the doctor when Pistachio decided to be quite cooperative. So here are the facts of our little baby: Pistachio is active, growing, 15 ounces, currently positioned butt down, and loves to be curled up in a tight ball. Oh, and Pistachio is already quite stubborn (runs in both sides of our families!). As the doctor told us, we are to take 1 of his 3 recommendations. 1) Don't worry, 2) Don't worry, and 3) Don't worry. Apparently, if we forget recommendation number 1, we are to remember recommendation 2 or 3. I'm just glad we don't have to worry about this anymore. So far, we have been blessed with a healthy, low-risk pregnancy, and a healthy growing lil' Pistachio!

Bathroom Break Anyone?

As most women who have been pregnant already know, the further you get along in the process the more frequent you have to pee.  Well, up until this past weekend I hadn't really noticed much of a difference.  We were visiting the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix where one of our friends was getting married.  I wish I had kept an exact count as to how many times she had to go, but my best guess is that she went twice an hour for the 9 hours we were there which makes 18 times!  How one person can go to the bathroom that often in a day let alone 9 hours is beyond me, but whether we were touring the gardens, sitting and talking, or dancing it didn't matter - she had to go.  I think at most we could get through maybe two songs of dancing before she would start warning me that she had to go soon.  I can only imagine what will happen as the baby gets bigger and takes up what little available space is left inside.  I have a feeling I'm going to have to adjust my time estimates for long drives from here on out, I think multiplying the time by 1.5 should probably do the trick.

Us posing at the Botanical Gardens, pre-wedding ceremony. 

Amy at 21 weeks.

Baby's First Plane Flight

Our Baby Pistachio got to experience his/her first flight this weekend. Jason and I took a flight from Boston to Phoenix on a quick weekend trip for a friend's wedding. We typically try to plan a direct flight and on the way to Phoenix were able to do this. Apparently, direct plane flights are not the easiest when you are 21 weeks pregnant. Even though I got up and walked the plane every 2 hours, a direct 6 hour flight was still hard on my tailbone. Jason and I went out to buy a tailbone seat cushion to help with this flight. The cushion definitely helped; however it was still uncomfortable. Baby Pistachio did very well on the flight, but on a few occasions Pistachio gave me a few hard kicks during the arriving and departing flights. The flight back home went a bit better as we landed briefly in Denver to pick up more passengers. This stop gave me several minutes to stretch and move around. From here on out, I think we'll stick to non-direct flights during the pregnancy.

Feeling the Baby Move - Dad's Turn

So I know that Amy just recently posted that she felt the baby move for the first time just a little while ago.  Well, not too long after that I actually got my turn.  We were home watching TV and relaxing for the evening when Amy felt the baby going to town on the inside of her belly.  So she told me to put my hand on her belly and just sit and wait for 15 minutes.  Well, for the first few minutes I kept thinking I felt something but it turned out to be my own pulse.  But then I felt this weird sensation on the bottom of my hand.  The best way I can describe it is if my hand was on the inside of her belly flicking it that's what it felt like.  Over the past few days I've been able to feel it several more times which I have to say is a really surreal experience.  I think it makes it feel that much more real and it makes me realize that we are starting to approach the end.  In just a few short months the baby will be able to kick and poke us without having a bunch of bodily organs in the way!  I think it also helps to put all the discomfort that Amy feels to the side for just a few moments while we sit there feeling the baby move.  I know she likes the look of surprise/happiness on my face when I feel the movement, and I like knowing that for those short instances in time the three of us have a close connection.

Dreams

I've been reading about the increased and vivid dreams that pregnancy can cause and I will definitely attest to that! My dreams have been far more vivid and multiple than before I was pregnant. And the weird thing is being able to remember them. So here's a list of my most interesting dreams:

Early pregnancy dream themes were not being ready and having no control.
* I was in an airplane flying, when we entered a huge thunderstorm. The plane dipped with the thunderstorm, but the pilot was able to bring us out of the storm. However, once this happened, we flew into a tornado that made the plane swirl backwards. I woke up before finding out the end of this dream.

* I was in a dance recital which I had not been to a single practice before. My teammates told me not to worry and just to follow this girl in blue. Right before the dance started, I remembered that I was still holding onto my purse. I dropped my purse on the stairs, but someone told me it wasn't safe to keep it there, so I left the stage to place my purse somewhere safe. When I got back I lost my place in the recital and was directed to follow another girl, who was doing a different movement. The whole recital I was racing around trying to copy someone else's moves and it was very apparent that I did not know what I was doing.

Mid-pregnancy dreams:
* I've had two dreams where it turned out that the baby was a girl.

* In one of my dreams, we thought the baby was a little boy, but it was hard to tell. His butt looked like a raisin (all wrinkly and bumpy) and there was a chance that he was deformed. This is why it was hard to determine if he was a boy or a girl.

*My most recent one is a bit strange. I was running late, I needed to go home and pick up our two cats to take them to vet for a checkup. I ran into the mall real quick to grab a drink. I was looking at the choices in the vending machine and realized that I could only have water as the rest were soft drinks (this was the only pregnancy connection). I ran into some old family friends, although the kids that I grew up with in reality were still young in my dream. I quickly talked to them for a minute before leaving the mall. As I left the mall, I saw three guys enter the mall. One guy had the other guy by the throat with a knife in his hand. I turned and watch him push the one guy into a photo booth while I was leaving the mall, thinking "I wonder if I should call the police." I tried to walk quickly to my car as there were suddenly large groups of people looking menacing all over the parking lot. I woke up before finding out the end to this dream.

To top it off, Jason has even had a pregnancy dream, which he reported to me is rare. So here's his latest dream:
* There is a hatch (like the kind on a submarine) on my belly that opened up and allowed us to see the baby. Apparently, the baby was chilling inside of me, playing, floating, and having a good 'ol time. We thought the baby was a girl, but weren't sure. We were waiting for the doctor to come over to confirm the gender, when the dream ended.

I'll add more to this list as they come. It's definitely interesting to keep track of what's going on in my head during this whole pregnancy!

We've got fetal movement!

So yesterday evening I was laying on the couch in the middle of calling my best friend, Kirsten, when I felt a definite "bubble bursting" sensation right below my belly button (which by the way is  getting dangerously close to flattening out). Unlike the possible movement that I talked about in my last blog, this one was hard to miss. This sensation happened a few more times throughout the evening, although none as noticeable as the first one. It's kinda like baby Pistachio was saying "hi, here I am!" I don't know if kicking me is the best way of doing this, but for the baby, I'll let it slide! :) When I said something, Jason ran over with a smile on his face and placed his hand on my belly. No movement was felt by him, but I think he was pretty excited to hear the news. The movement has definitely made this whole thing seem more real. I've known for awhile that I'm pregnant and have definitely seen the side effects of pregnancy (growing body, tiredness, etc), but before last night, it still kinda felt like I was changing for no real apparent reason. No finished product. But now, it's a little hard to continue that line of thinking. I think I can now start to think about the little baby that will be entering our lives. Part of this concept is scary and overwhelming for me, but there's another part that is really excited to be planning the next chapter of our lives. So, although Pistachio has probably been kicking me for the last several weeks, I'm going to mark week 20 as the first official kick/baby movement!

Half Way Point

Well, today marks the half way point milestone in our pregnancy! Just before he left to check the mail, Jason asked if it feels like it's been 20 weeks. He then said it didn't feel that way to him. I, on the other hand, very quickly said yes with a laugh. These last 20 weeks have definitely been a roller coaster of changes, both fun and emotional. Looking back, our lives really have changed. I've gone through periods of nausea, having to eat every hour, a growing and changing body, decreased energy levels, periods of time where I wasn't okay with my changing body, and periods of time where I felt proud of my pronounced belly. I think I may have even felt the baby move, but I can't confirm that as part of me thinks the feeling is in my head, not by belly! I haven't had the reported "butterfly" feelings, but one night a few days ago, I thought I felt a strange "popping" or "bubble bursting" feeling. I'll keep everyone updated on this, in case it really was the baby moving. Jason has gotten much of the baby room painted and we've started accumulating gifts for the baby. Next month starts our baby classes at the hospital. And then we've seen the changes in our precious little baby. Pistachio went from a tiny little bean like shape to a baby that has a developing spine, leg and arm bones, working bladder, stomach, and kidneys! It's amazing to watch our little one grow at such a rapid pace. 20 weeks just doesn't seem like enough time to have gone through all these changes, but yet here we are at the half way point. I'm still nervous about what the next 20 weeks have in store for us. But I'm sure we'll make it through it somehow. I will say that Jason has been a huge support. Everything from surprising me with a bouquet of beautiful sunflowers (my favorite kind of flowers), to taking on more responsibility around the house (he already did all the cooking before the pregnancy), to constantly saying how beautiful I am becoming, to giving my growing belly a kiss every morning. I have definitely realized that it's the little things that matter. This journey has definitely not been what I expected it to be, but it has been an amazing journey nonetheless (and we still have another 20 weeks left to go).

Each week, we get an update on our baby's changing life from babycenter.com. With this week being such a huge milestone for Pistachio, I figured I would post the link if anyone wanted to read up on what little Pistachio is doing!  
http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-20-weeks_1109.bc?intcmp=timeline

Baby Boy Name Short List

So after some more discussions we have now come up with a shorter list of possible baby boy names.  We've also updated the poll to reflect these changes, so please feel free to vote for your favorite (especially if your first choice name didn't make the cut).  We did add a new name to the list (and by we I mean me) - Silas.  The correct answer to the poll is still Shamus, but Silas is a close second as well if you're trying to get the best possible score:)  It is looking like Elijah is going to be the next one to get cut, but it's way too hard to adjust the poll to reflect this so it's just going to have to stay for now.

--Jason

Awestruck

Over these past few weeks, I've been having some interesting feelings pop up on my radar that I felt I should share.  This post is more on the sappy side, so don't say I didn't warn you ahead of time.  I see Amy growing a little bit each day and it has just hit me how incredible it is what she is doing.  She is growing a human being inside of her while going about her day-to-day tasks.  I have to say that this is pretty amazing considering that I have a hard enough time staying focused on just sitting down and writing my thesis!  I just see how she has to deal with her body going through like a thousand different changes physically and hormonally and I don't know how she does it.  Every so often I just get this feeling of awe that comes over me when I look at her and see what she is doing.  The whole process of bearing a child for 9 months and then giving birth is just incredible to me.  I do my best to support her wherever I can, but let's be honest here, she's the one doing the real work.  I keep trying to find ways to compensate so that I feel like we're splitting this thing in half, but I just don't think that's going to happen.  Even if she just sits for the next 5 months and I do everything else including carrying her to and from all of her destinations, I still won't come close to what she's doing.  I know that dad's are important too, but my hormones and body remain exactly the same before and after the pregnancy (assuming I don't try to copy her and eat for 2).  My big role comes during those final few weeks and then for the rest of my life thereafter.  I just wanted to say how amazed I am with what Amy is doing and I have a feeling that I'll be more amazed and in awe with each passing day.  This whole post might be a bit on the sappy side, but what she is doing is incredible, so I have to at least say a little something.

To go along with this, we decided to take some more artistic shots of her belly.  The hope is that these pictures would help her feel better about it (she's been having some rough times getting used to the fact that she is bigger now).  Here's some of the pictures that I took of her beautiful belly at 19 weeks.

Baby Bump and Ultrasounds

We're now almost to week 20 of the pregnancy.  I keep telling Amy we're now at the halfway point and that after this week it's all downhill!  She doesn't seem to think this is totally accurate for some reason, I can't seem to figure out why...

Last week we took a picture of Amy's baby bump so this picture is technically from week 19 if you're keeping track. 

We also had a doctor's visit this week to examine the anatomy of the baby so we were able to get some more ultrasounds.  The doctor's are really pleased with how both Amy and the baby are progressing. The ultrasound tech predicted the baby's weight to be about 9 ounces.  The weight gain is looking good and all of the tests that Amy's had to take have come out good.  With the ultrasounds this time we were able to clearly see the baby's skeleton, that was a pretty neat experience.  We could see all the little bones in the hands and feet and the spine and ribcage were also visible.  Apparently someone has been busy over the past few weeks.

As you may or may not be able to tell, the baby is in somewhat of a yoga position with its feet pointing toward its head (I have no idea how that's comfortable). All of Amy's nausea is gone which is good, she can finally go back into our pantry to get her own food! No other major issues have come up, mainly just the fact that she is carrying around a sizable belly which is apparently pretty uncomfortable.  We've also decided to take a little "babymoon" trip before Amy enters the third trimester to allow us to spend some time together and give Amy a break from her crazy work (working with a bunch of teenagers can be stressful in case you were wondering).  It took us a bit to figure out where to go because the next 5 months are going to be a bit crazy with the pregnancy, me graduating and hopefully starting a new job shortly thereafter.  So we figured April (before I graduate) would be the best time to travel and that means that if we're looking for a warm place to relax New England really can't help us.  So we decided to head down to Wilmington, NC for a few days to just relax on the beach and enjoy the 70 - 80 degree days.  After the winter like the one we just had, we're definitely looking forward to it!

Getting the Nursery Ready - Part 1

So the time has come to start getting the nursery ready.  We started by figuring out the "theme" for the room (which is going to be animals/jungle for those who are interested) and then we had to run to Home Depot to pick out the paint colors.  The process actually wasn't as difficult as I had expected, choosing the colors only took us maybe 30 minutes, getting to the store when it was actually open though took us a few weekends (we move pretty slow on the weekend it turns out).  We figured out how we wanted to paint the room and then it was time for me to jump into it!  We had thought about having us both paint, but it turns out that paint fumes aren't exactly the best thing for a pregnant lady.  And since I'm not exactly super busy right now with grad school, we figured I could handle this one on my own.  The painting actually went pretty well now that I've had experience painting the rest of the house.  I wasn't technically alone though in doing the painting, Peanut (our cat) decided he wanted to lend a helping hand several times which involved him rubbing all over the newly painted surfaces.  I advised Peanut not to quit his day job (napping) for a career in painting.  So here's how the painting went in stages:

So as you can see the bottom half or so of the wall is chocolate brown and there is a 6 inch green stripe above it.  We're also planning on putting some circles in the corners of the room, we're not totally sure on the pattern or the colors, but more to come on that in "Getting the Nursery Ready - Part 2".  This sequel will also involve us putting up other wall decorations like pictures, shelves, etc.  But then comes "Getting the Nursery Ready - The Final Frontier" which I've heard is going to be a HUGE blockbuster this summer.  Then we get to see this knucklehead guy with one good wrist try to put together some of the world's most difficult furniture.  Should be exciting, so stay tuned!