20 Weeks - HALFWAY DONE!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

I thought this day would never come!  As of tomorrow, I am 20 weeks.  That means I'm exactly halfway through my pregnancy!  And I'm SOOOO excited that this time tomorrow night I can say, "I'm over halfway there!" 

I had my monthly checkup today and everything seems great!  His heartbeat is at 164, which is the fastest it's been so far.  He's usually in the 150s, so he's excited about something!  Maybe he feels my excitement of him making his appearance to the world in just 4 1/2 months!  Of course I have been able to feel him move for about a month now, but I can't ever get Kyle to feel him yet.  She put her hand on my belly and said something that was apparently funny to me, because I laughed and she said, "Oh!  There he is!  He just kicked me!"  And I said, "WHAT?!?!?!  Seriously?!?!?!"  And she did it again and said, "Yep!  There he is again!"  Kyle was so frustrated because he hasn't been able to feel him yet.  She called him over and told him where to put his hand.  Then she told me to laugh again (which still just cracks me up) and she said, "Awww...he's not kicking now!"  Kyle's frustration grew, haha.  So when we got home I made him try again and right away he said, "Oh, there he is!"  So cool.  :)  I'm so happy for Kyle.  I know it makes it so much more real for him.  :)

Anyways, she prescribed me some meds to help ease the naseua.  I also got sea bands yesterday and those actually seemed to help quite a bit.  So hopefully I will be back to feeling halfway normal again!  The most exciting news is that she cleared me to go to visit my friends in Mississippi in April!  I was soooo relieved.  My sweet friends always meet up the last weekend of April to reconnect and reunite and I've gone every year but 1, so I was so thankful she told me I could go.  And word has it they are planning a little shower for me, so I'm excited!  I'm just so happy to see them because I only get to see them once a year as it is.  Any less and I think I would be devastated.  I KNOW I would be devastated!  HOWEVER, she said I'm not allowed to fly...so that means Kyle is coming with me and we are roadtripping it up!  She LOVED finding out he's an EMT and then proceeded to ENCOURAGE me to go!  I do have to have an appointment the day before I go so I can get the once-over to double check I'm good to go.  So excited!

Ok, so 20 weeks....let's see....he's the size of a CANTALOUPE!!!!  Length-wise...crown to rump.  So that means he's like 6.5 inches long and around 10-11 ounces.  Crazy how big he is!  This is the gross part...his digestive system is starting to make what will appear in his first diaper!  Ewwwww....that grosses me out so much, lol.  His genitals are fully formed now!  I love hearing when things are fully formed...it lets me know he's that much closer to being ready to come out!

2 more weeks and I get another ultrasound.  This one is for diagnostic stuff and to make sure everything is forming properly and growing like it should.  It's always so exciting to see him on a screen, but the thing that has me most excited is they do a 3-D image of his FACE.  That means we get to see what he's gonna kinda look like!  A lot of people I know (including my sister) ended up having a kid that looked SOOOO similar to the 3D face image.  It's crazy!  As soon as I get the pics I will post them!  Can't wait to see what he looks like!  A bit nervous, too...hoping nothing is wrong or weird.

See ya in 2 weeks!!!

19 Weeks

I hope nobody minds, but I'm going to vent.  I'm SO frustrated.  I'm about halfway through my pregnancy and all this nausea should've started disappearing over a month ago.  And it's still holding on strong.  All I ever heard was how fun pregnancy is and how people just love it.  I've heard people say it gets uncomfortable.  But oh my goodness, this is the worst I've consistently felt in my whole life.  I kinda muddled through it my first trimester and dealt with it, but now I'm just overwhelmed and frustrated by it.  It's headaches, feeling sick to my stomach, and back aches (horrible ones at that...to where I can't move).  Everyone keeps saying it will be worth it.  But when it's my first time going through this, it's hard to believe and it doesn't help me now.  I'm sure it is worth it and I'm more than ready to meet this little guy.  But I just want to enjoy life and feel better.  The only time I feel good is when I'm working out.  But I can't work out 24/7.  Believe me, I would if I could!  The last week has just been so emotional because I've just let loose with all these feelings that have built up.  And it's not like I haven't tried - I've taken the pills (which made me feel worse), stretched (which only provides very temporary relief, if I'm lucky), tried to get more sleep, tried drinking more water, tried mints...but all this stuff just helps me while I'm doing it/taking it.  Then it's right back to throwing up or screaming in pain.  I'm sure I will get over it pretty soon here.  I don't tend to linger on negatives for very long.  I just need to get all my frustrations out and it'll be good.  :)  Thank you ALL for putting up with me during this time.  And I'm sorry.  I wish I were different.  I absolutely hate the way I am right now.

Ok, time for some positives.  I've been feeling him kick like crazy tonight!  Now THAT brough a smile to my face! :)  This week baby is the size of a mango.  And he gets that gross stuff all over his skin now.  Most, if not all, of it will disappear by time he's born, though.  His bones are beginning to harden and his muscles are getting strong.  Which means he'll probably be punching the crap out of me now!  :P 

Ok, time to get some sleep...

18 Weeks!

Well I tried to update this last week, but it wouldn't let me type anything.  Now we're back in business!

I'm actually home sick from school today.  :(  Kyle had the flu yesterday, so I slept on the couch last night.  I didn't fall asleep until almost 11 and then I woke up at 3:30 because my stomach was hurting and never did go back to sleep.  So my stomach is hurting on and off, I can't breathe, I'm coughing, my back hurts, and I have a headache.  I feel pretty crappy, to say the least.  It's a good thing that normally baby doesn't even know I'm sick and it doesn't impact him, otherwise I'd be freaking out!

At my last appointment on Monday, December 27th, his heart rate was the same as the last 2 times - 158!  She said, "Ok, I'm just going to feel your belly to see where your uterus is..." and then she BARELY touched near my belly button and said, "Oh there it is!  That was really easy!"  I was like, wow, what are you feeling cause I don't feel a thing....glad she knows what she's doing!

She also asked if I had felt him move yet and I told her no, but how funny is it that AS SOON AS I got home I felt him start moving!  He's actually moving right now as I type, haha!  It's the COOLEST thing ever, although slightly annoying right now because it tickles  a lot.  Especially the last week he's been kicking harder.  It just feels like muscle twitches or spasms pretty much.  But it's definitely getting more defined.  Because he's still so low, when he kicks it makes me laugh and jump a lot of times because it just tickles so much!  I guess where he's kicking me is just a sensitive spot. :P  Looking forward to when Kyle can start feeling him!

I haven't had a chance to upload a picture yet, but my former roomate Lindsay's parents got our little one an Ole Miss hat!  Omg, it's so tiny and precious!  Even Kyle said, "I think he might just come home from the hospital in this!"  Yessssss.... :P

I have another regular monthly appointment 2 weeks from today, then 4 weeks from today we go back for our next ultrasound.  They'll do all the measurements and see how the baby is progressing and developing.  We should get a more accurate due date out of that appointment.  I'm sure it will be close to what it is now, but I'm always hoping it'll be earlier! ;)

Oh, and this is cool....our baby has his own personal fingerprints this week!  AND he's the size of a sweet potato (about 5.6 inches from crown to rump...if you stretched him out he'd be a couple inches longer!) this week!  He's now hiccuping and yawning!  That's just so cute to me, haha...