Note to Self

Self: just because a pair of shorts were fairly loose pre-pregnancy does not, I repeat does not, mean they will fit everywhere else but the waist mid-pregnancy. Unless you want to feel like a hippo, never ever try on pre-pregnancy clothes mid-pregnancy. It's not just your belly that has to expand. Other areas have to expand to accommodate growing a gorilla baby.

Ankles and Freckles

23 Weeks - Today is the first day I noticed that I now have cankles. I thought I was going to be able to longer without getting swollen, but no such luck. They don't hurt, but they look like they should. I've been good about propping my feet on a footrest while at work but maybe it's not high enough. I'll have to be sure to put my feet up when I'm at home, too. Hmm ... relegated to sitting on the couch with my feet propped up on pillows ... that sounds pretty great right about now!

This pregnancy has shown me that I have a freckle that has, until now, been hidden. Now that my belly button is getting shallower (by the minute, it seems), I'm able to see it in a whole new light. And just yesterday I discovered that I have a freckle smack dab in the middle of my belly button. I never would have known that had I not gotten pregnant.

My freckle total is now 12,001.

Color Scheme

I think we've decided on a color scheme for Gorilla Baby's room! The big green square will be the wall color and the dark green and pink will be accents throughout the room. (The wall color is a little more springy and a little less pea soupy in person)

I don't think I could have handled a pink room, but I definitely want there to be some pink accents - I want someone to know that it's a girl's room but I don't want to make them nauseous with pink-overload. This scheme seems like a good balance ...

First Kicks?

21 weeks, 4 days - I think I'm convinced that I've felt her kick! I haven't ever felt the 'flutters' that everyone talks about. These are more of a combination between bubbles and light pokes. I've felt them before but haven't been 100% sure that it's her and not something I ate.

But after lunch today, I felt it about 6 or 7 times within a few minutes. And even now, I'm not 100% sure ... but I'm like 90% sure. And that'll work for me!

Kick away, baby girl. I don't mind one bit!

GB at 19 Weeks

We'll scan some more in soon, but here's her 19 week picture. This is obviously not the shot where she's flashing her girl parts, but it's a pretty neat profile shot.

She's so pretty.

Trip to the ER

Lee took me to the ER early yesterday morning. Nothing baby related, thank goodness. But it was my arms. Something was seriously wrong with my arms.

At our OB appointment on Thursday, I noticed that my left forearm hurt. It was throbbing, like it had been punched. I'm a super-klutz, so I didn't even bother to mention it to my OB - I figured I had run into something or strained it somehow.

But later that night, the pain was in both forearms, and creeping up towards my shoulders. It was horrible. I'm too young to have a stroke or a heart attack, but it still had me worried. My tendons felt like they were being pinched all the way up both arms. I wrapped a heating pad around both arms and tried to get some sleep.

Around 3am on Friday morning, I woke Lee up. The throbbing was almost unbearable and my grip strength felt weaker in both hands. He made me an ice pack, suggesting that alternating between heat and cold might help. I fell back asleep and woke up at 5am to more throbbing and aching.

(How wussy does "My arms hurt" sound?! If it didn't happen to me, I would have a hard time believing that arm pain could be that bad.)

We were wondering whether I should just wait until Urgent Care opened at 8am or to head on the ER. After about 20 minutes, I decided that I couldn't wait until 8 - I had to do something. So off we went to the ER at Baptist Hospital.

They drew blood, checked my vitals, and even called my OB to ask her some questions. They checked the baby's heart rate to make sure everything was fine (it was). Final verdict: unknown. How frustrating.

They said they weren't sure what was causing it. They didn't think it was a blood clot, since I didn't have any swelling or redness in my arms, and I didn't have a fever. They said it could be carpal tunnel, but weren't 100% positive. One nurse suggested that the baby might just be sitting on whatever nerve in my back that connects to my arms. I got a prescription for Darvocet and was told to make an appointment with my OB next week.

So no known cause and I made Lee miss a half a day of work. I felt like a world-class schmuck.

Thankfully, when I woke up this morning, my arms felt better. They still ached a bit, but nothing close to how bad they hurt on Friday. Maybe the nurse was right - mabye GB was just sitting pretty on a nerve.

She's totally grounded if she does this again.

Ready or Not

So I thought I had it all planned out. In my mind, everything was set and it was just a matter of confirmation. And then things change. Three little words have changed our lives.

It's a girl.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

The first thing Lee said when we found out: "I'm so DONE." The second thing: "Well, I guess I just have to get ready to go to jail in about 14 or 15 years when the first boys start coming by the house."

(The ultrasound tech was kind enough to check about 5 or 6 times to make sure that the baby was a girl - Lee wanted absolute certainty!)

In addition to the baby being incredibly un-modest and flashing her girl bits for the world to see, we also got to see two healthy kidneys, a nicely-forming brain, the four chambers if her wonderful heart, and two spindly arms and legs (that look perfect to make jump shots with).

We're biased, but she's totally beautiful. (There's two ultrasound pictures where she does look look a little, um, scary ... but I'm hoping that just wasn't her best side ...)

She is measuring at 19 weeks, 3 days, which is just two days shy of how far along I actually am, so my due date remains the same - December 26th. Lee and I were also thrilled to hear that her head is actually measuring smaller than everything else, at 18 weeks, 5 days. Maybe our fears of having an abnormally large-headed baby are unnecessary now!

She was moving around like a champ during the whole ultrasound, but I still don't think I'm 100% convinced that I've felt anything yet. It's just a matter of time now.

Our plan was to have both set of parents over for dinner that night, and tell them all at the same time. So after our appointment, Lee swung by his parents' place to pick them up and I went to Party City to buy some pink bowls, pink napkins, and pink silverware (pinkware?). My parents met us at our house, and we told them all the news by surprising them with dinner served in the pink bowls. And my super-cute mom brought over Thin Mint Pie (which tastes as good as it sounds) for dessert, and right before she served it, she put a few drops of red food coloring into the Cool Whip to turn it pink. So, so cute.

Bring on the pink, the pigtails, the dresses, and the tea parties ... and also, the fishing, the golfing, and the basketball. :)

(by the way, if anyone listens to country music, the song "All-American Girl" by Carrie Underwood fits perfectly right about now ...)

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Weight gain: +10 lbs