Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Week 20 of the JellyBean Progression

Look! A Bump!

Week 20
So first off…officially, IT’S A GIRL! Yayyayyay! Pink frilly things! Pigtails! Sugar and spice and everything nice! Time to start thinking of names that aren’t Wilma.

We had our 20 week anatomy survey on Tuesday. Everything looks great; all the pieces parts are where they should be. Additionally, all my blood work and tests have come back with good numbers, so as with Fletch we will not be doing any more testing (like amnio, etc.) unless it becomes necessary. Despite my ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE of 37 (not enough rolleyes in the world) all is well and JellyBean progresses apace.

JellyBean is finally stretching out and should now measure about 10 inches long from head to toe, and weighs about 10 ½ ounces. You may compare her to a banana if you like. We are now halfway through the pregnancy – very hard to believe! It seems like July is zooming up on us quickly. I’ve gained about 8 pounds and can expect to gain another pound a week from here out. However, with Fletch, I only ended up gaining about 15 overall, so that’s more like what I’m expecting this time around. It is recommended I eat plenty of steak to keep up my iron – I can get on board with that! (Never mind that I take an iron supplement and eat plenty of spinach and soy…I will happily take some extra steak! Pass the filet.)

Interesting (for me alone, no doubt!) to note that by this time with Fletch, I had already started experiencing the low back pain that plagued me throughout the pregnancy, and which ultimately turned out to be a sign that he was “sunny side up” – or in the less-desirable for birth occiput posterior (OP) position. Basically, he came out face up instead of face down like most babies do. The back pain (and resultant back labor, which OMG DO NOT WANT AGAIN) comes from the back of the baby's skull putting pressure on your lower back and pelvis.

Despite all the measures we took during the last trimester to turn him, Fletch stayed stubbornly face up and made for a long, ouchy labor (much of which I spent eating popsicles in the bathtub) until it was finally time for the epidural. (Bless!)

All this to say, my back is fine so far, yay! Near the end, I was living on the heating pad and spending as many 10 minute intervals in the hot tub as Mr. Fantastic would allow (and accepting as many backrubs as Mr. F could give before his hands gave out) in an effort to relieve the back pain. Hopefully this lack of back pain now is a good indicator that JellyBean will not be as obstinate as her big brother and behave in there.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Week 19 of the JellyBean Progression


Week 19
Not a lot new going on. Just eating a ton and trying to keep up with little JellyBean – who is not so little anymore! I’m finally definitely showing, and the baby is about 8 ½ oz and 6 inches long – bigger than a bell pepper.

Been feeling some little flutters in there the last couple weeks, and the last day or two I’ve really been feeling it. Also feeling pretty good, aside from hungry all the time. Just a little tired and thankfully haven’t been sick again. I think Mr. Fantastic and Fletch may be coming down with something, though. Let’s hope it’s not too awful like last time! At least Mr. F escaped the strep-plague we had back over New Year's.

We’ve had tons of snow lately and it’s been super cold – below 0 during the day. So we haven’t gotten out a whole lot but we have been trying to spend time with Heidi and Brody, either at our house or theirs just to get the boys some play time. Poor Fletch keeps asking to go to the park. We feel so bad when we have to say no but it’s hard to do when there’s a foot of snow!

Looking forward to next week’s appointment for the anatomy scan. Keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll see for sure if JellyBean is a boy or girl – and then we can start thinking about names! (God love you, Mr. F, I’m sure your grandma was a fabulous woman. But we are not naming our baby Wilma. Much as I loved my gram, I am not naming any kid Juanita either.)

Last night Fletch fell asleep across my belly and I guess JellyBean could feel the weight or the warmth or something because s/he was going crazy in there, bumping against him. It was kinda sweet. I forgot how amazing it feels when you really start to notice that you have a living person growing inside you. I sure hope my little ones are always two peas in a pod.