Jazzercise, anyone??

The title seems highly inappropriate as I sit here eating ice cream straight out of the carton... eh, who cares? In case anyone cares, it's chocolate chip cookie dough, only the best there is.

I'm 22 weeks now, but quickly enough knocking on 23's door. Just last night Rusty asked me if I feel like it's going by quickly or slowly. My answer to him was neither. The first half seemed to be over before I knew it, but we had so much going on in that time frame - anniversary, holidays, etc. I never found myself thinking, "This is going by too quickly!" though. Even now, time is just sort of going.

I know Rylan will be here before we know it, but I think we will have a mix of, "It's going too quickly!" when it comes to taking care of pre-baby business and, "Oh my gosh, will this ever end?" when it comes to the last few miserable weeks and what I'm assuming will only be an everlasting labor. Oh well...

Over the past week or two, Rylan has started moving SO MUCH! I seriously feel like he's hosting an aerobics class in my uterus, at least 3 times a day. And MAN! When he gets going, he means business. I think with every move, I'm 10 times more excited than the last time I felt him move. It's nothing that can be described to someone who has never been pregnant. I'd have never imagined it was this... cool.

I'll admit though - my favorite part isn't feeling Rylan move internally. It's being able to feel him move from both the inside and out. I love putting my hand where ever he's kicking/aquirming and getting both perspectives. Feeling the movement from the outside makes me realize it's NOT my imagination and that this really is happening. Another favorite part has been watching others' reactions when they feel him move for their first time. It's fun to see how differently everyone reacts initially.

Just today, I had my first wave of "blues" hit me about being pregnant. Let me hedge the following statement by saying I really do enjoy being pregnant, and I cherish each day that I get to wake up and experience the miracle growing inside of me. There are little things I'm starting to miss about not being pregnant, though. Mostly, I miss being a little more active than I am right now. Pregnancy has definitely slowed me down, and that's just not something I expected, at least not to the magnitude it has affected me. (The devil on one shoulder is telling me to get over it and enjoy the "excuse" I have for the next 4 months...)

The "fun" events we've experienced lately include cleaning out bedrooms and closets, and registering. I'll let you guess which one was more fun! :) I will say that both are equally exhausting. We spent about 2 and a half hours at one store, going through every little thing... By the end, I thought Rusty was going to have to pick me up and carry me out, I was so whipped. (By the way... I sure hope once we start buying these things there is a hidden set of instructions somewhere on how and why to use the item. I'm so absolutely clueless.)

We do have kind of a funny story from registering... We were going down a "recommended" list provided to us upon setting up the registry. We did so good and studied lots of important things before actually going to the store. When we got to the store, we didn't bother with the list. Instead, we just walked from area to area making decisions on how we felt about any given item. We got towards the receiving blanket area, and registered for a couple of cute sets. Rusty asked what a receiving blanket is for, and why it's different from a regular blanket. [Insert blank stare here.] I said, "I don't know, you swaddle the kid and then he gets received." There was an employee standing near by and we started chatting with her about just random things. She asked if we were first time parents, to which we said, "Yes, is it that obvious?" She laughed, politely said no and told us that if we have any questions just to ask - she was once as clueless as we are now, and that's why she's there. So Rusty asked, "How many receiving blankets do we need?" (This question was a lot safer than, "What exactly is a receiving blanket?") She said, "Oh, probably 2 to 4." We both looked at her very straight-faced and Rusty went on to say, "So the 16 we just registered for is too many, then?" I said, "I guess we'll be editing THAT when we get home..." She looked at us hesitantly for a few seconds, laughed nervously and then just kept on with some other conversation. **Sigh** There really should be classes to teach you these things.

Anyway, enough rambling for now. Below are two pictures, for your entertainment. :)

This is at 19 weeks:



This is at 22 weeks:

20 weeks

It's crazy to think this bun in my oven only has 20 weeks left to bake! 20 weeks doesn't sound like that much, but I know it will fly by. Time always does, regardless of whether you want it to or not.

The past week has been super fun and exciting - Rusty got to feel Rylan kick for the first time, which he loved. It was fun for me to feel Rylan move and watch Rusty's facial expressions. I was laying on the couch with my legs across his lap, and we happened to be watching TV so his attention was turned away from me. His hand, though, was in prime position to feel a kick. When I felt the kick, I looked at Rusty's face and just saw his mouth kind of drop and his eyes cut in my general direction. Those were the only moves he made until little man kicked again then Rusty turned to me asking if that was him. He was so excited to feel him, and I was so happy that he was finally able to.

Well we had our big 20 week sonogram this morning... and it's still a boy. Might I add that he seemed very proud of his "manhood" as he wasn't afraid to show it. Oh dear. Other than that, everything looked wonderful. (Thanks for all of your prayers!!) In one of our pictures, his little hand was up on his chin and in the next both hands were up right over his chest. Can you hear my heart melting?? We also got to hear his heart beat, which was fantastic.

One of the neat things from the sonogram (aside from all of the good news) was I got to figure out how he is situated in my belly - or at least how he was as of this morning. Every morning I can feel this really hard spot just to the left and under my belly button. Turns out to be Rylan's little bum. His feet are down closer to my right hip and his little head is up towards the top of my stomach, just below my ribcage. It's fun to at least sort of know where everything is.

One thing that I was NOT aware of, until yesterday when I got my reminder phone call, was that I had to drink 24 ounces of water 30 minutes prior to my appointment. Umm - they do realize I'm pregnant right? I run to the bathroom nearly every hour for what seems like 2 ounces of liquid to dribble out... I swear - you'd expect for me to have the world's longest bathroom breaks, for as bad as I feel like I always need to go. Anyway, so this morning was torture having to not pee until permission was granted. She's lucky I didn't go right there on the examination bed while she was pushing the thingy all around my stomach looking at Rylan.

According to my weekly emails and the book I'm currently reading, he should be about 10 inches long, head to heel (roughly the length of a banana). The books also say that he should be about 10-11 ounces, but my sonographer this morning measured him a little bit larger, at about 12 ounces. She also said based on the measurements, she shows me to be with in 24 hours of my original due date of May 30th. I already have a few people thinking I'll come early. I guess only time will tell.

Everything seems to be going fine. I need to drink more water, but that's about it. I can handle that. I need to be doing it anyway. One thing that is on the horizon... a shot. BOOOO!!! I don't like shots. I'm alright with all of the blood draws that they do now - I've learned to accept those and know what to expect. Shots, though. Not so much. At 28 weeks, I have to get a RHogam (I think that is how it's spelled...) shot since I'm a "negative" blood type. From the sounds of it, that day will just be filled with fun, as that's the day I get to do my glucose testing as well. Oh well... At least it's still 8 weeks away. As I sit here and count the weeks, I realize that is right around my birthday. Happy birthday to me.

Anyway, no new picture this week. (Actually, I'm doing this at work during lunch, so I don't have access to anything.) I'll be sure to post a couple next week though!

TTFN!

Tomato, Tomato

First of all, I'd like to apologize to anyone who has been checking in only to find nothing. We were without internet at home for almost at week, and it's too difficult to concentrate and write from work...

Second of all, Happy New Year to everyone! But more on that later...

I'm right about 19 weeks along now. HOLY COW! To think that next week is the unoffical half way point. (I say unofficial because so many things can happen between now and then. We could have an early arrival, or a stubborn little booger that decides to make my tummy his cozy home for longer than necessary.)

This week I learned that I have something about the size of an heirloom tomato growing within. He's about 6 inches from head to bottom, and weighs around 8 to 9 ounces. (I'll tell you when I read how much they approximately weigh, it sure dampens the day for how much I've gained. I know, I know, it's all part of it, and so much of it is for his protection and nutrition and all. But still...)

I still feel great. I'm starting to slow down a little bit, and I find it harder to bend down and do things like put on shoes and socks, or pick something up. I still manage for now though. I joke with Rusty about when will be the last time I'm able to tie my own shoes. He recommended I buy some slip ons for when I can't reach anymore. So sweet. :) Maybe it will be warm enough for flip flops by then.

We go back to the doctor next Tuesday for our big 20 week appointment. I'm excited, albeit a little anxious, about the sonogram. This is the one where they check that all of the vital organs are accounted for, functioning properly and healthy. I'm sure everything will be just fine, but I feel like we should always be prepared for something to not be okay. (Keep us in your prayers in the mean time.)

The weeks sure seem to be going by faster now. Maybe it was just the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but it seems like we were just in for our 16 week appointment like a week ago. I'm sure this second half will go by faster than the first, as we're really starting to plan and make things happen, like the nursery. We've picked out our furniture, and we know our colors and theme now. Lucky Rusty gets to start painting sometime soon. He's SOO thrilled. Little by little, things are falling into place.

That's about it for now... We'll be sure to post an update after next week's appointment. Below are a couple of pictures of my progress over the last 3 weeks. The first is my picture from when I was 16 weeks. The latter is my picture from 19 weeks. I can tell a difference... can you??