22 Week Updates, Thoughts and More!

"I miss my waist!" I seem to be saying that a lot nowadays. It is getting harder to tie my shoes and even pick stuff up off the floor. Getting into bed and getting comfortable was even a big chore until John gave me a little step to help me up. What a difference about 4 inches makes, but I think the difference is that I can sit down on the bed and be right in position to lay down.

I have definitely gotten my appetite back in the last several weeks. And when I'm really hungry, I'm really hungry. It's funny because after I eat a lot of food it seems like I can actually notice that my belly has gotten bigger.

So, last week at my 21 week doctor's visit I was told that my bloodwork that was retested last week still came back with weird results. I have a persistently positive Coombs antibody screen. If anyone thinks they know what this is please feel free to shed some light. Otherwise I'll just have to wait until I see the blood doctor on the 19th. :/

I have been feeling a lot more movement lately and even starting to notice patterns of movements. I especially feel movements about an hour or 2 before and after lunch and then around 9 at night. I love feeling the kicks when it's during the day and not disturbing my sleep. Monday morning BIB woke me up before 5am with really strong kicks. Until then I had only felt movements very low in my belly. But that morning they were right at the top and so strong I could almost see my stomach moving! I wasn't ever able to get back to a good quality sleep after that and Monday wasn't such a great day at work because of that. It's only going to get worse. On a good note, John is starting to be able to feel the baby move slightly! I'm excited that the kicks are getting strong enough for him to share in a little bit of the fun.

I will be playing bassoon with our church's orchestra on Sunday. I haven't played in awhile and I can tell! I think I only play on about 4 pieces so it shouldn't be too bad even though we have 2 services to play for. I thought it was especially funny that at rehearsal on Wednesday, as soon as the flutes (who were sitting in front of me) started playing, BIB started moving! I couldn't help but think, "that's not ok...our baby cannot like flute music, especially not these flutes!" I guess I'll have to get lots of brass and bassoon music so BIB gets used to those sounds. However, the encouraging part was while I watched the orchestra and choir rehearse "Praise to the Lord" (which I am not playing on), BIB was moving the entire time! I will not object to that :)

I'm not one that likes to call much attention to myself, and I really haven't told that many people openly that I am expecting. I guess I figure they can figure it out on their own after enough time. And that is what one of my little piano students did at his lesson a couple weeks ago. He asked, "What, are you like having a baby or something!" So, I think all of my other families know now (even though most of them kind of saw it coming - who am I to try and trick moms!) and I hope I can dodge the "what are you going to do after the baby's born - we don't want to lose you" questions for a little longer.

I took a look at my November schedule recently and couldn't help but be overwhelmed at everything that's coming up. Church orchestra on the 1st, Angie's Bachelorette party on the 7th, new member Sunday at church on the 8th, Angie & Jim's wedding on the 14th, Kristin's baby will be coming on or around the 13th, playing at the Moravian church on the 22nd, not to mention Thanksgiving and other random family birthdays! Whew!

One of the reasons for not having a post for a while is that I am just so tired when I come home from work. I'll see what I can do to write again sooner, but if you don't hear from me it's because I'm just taking it easy! Have a Happy Halloween, everyone!

It's a...

...Baby!

We had our 20 week ultrasound tonight and everything looks great! I put two of our favorite pictures below, but if you want to see all 6 pictures they gave us you can click here. At the end of the ultrasound I asked our technician if she could tell the gender. She thought she knew early on but then the baby decided to sit down and was pretty camera shy. I guess it's a good thing we didn't really want to know anyways. We'll just have to find out in another 20 weeks!

She did say that based on the measurements she took that the due date was maybe only off a day from the original date we were given at 8 weeks. However, it's always best to use the date given earlier on. She also said that the baby weighs about 13 ounces.

Here is a picture of me from tonight - 20 1/2 weeks!

Halfway There!

I am officially half-way through my pregnancy - yesterday I hit 20 weeks, so 20 more to go. (Hopefully this is the case...I could easily go a few weeks after my due date, but let's be optimistic!) To celebrate the occasion, I officially graduated to maternity clothes and retired my pre-pregnancy jeans and rubber bands. Last weekend my mom was awesome and helped hem up about 8 pair of pants (work and lounge) that I had found at garage sales and on craigslist.

I am definitely noticing myself getting bigger. Yesterday at work I kept finding myself bumping into things with my tummy, for instance, when getting out of the bathroom stalls and opening up the refrigerator door. And it's only going to get worse!

Monday night I have my 20 week ultrasound and John and I are both excited to see BIB again. The last time we saw BIB was at my 8 week ultrasound and you could barely even tell that anything was there. We'll be sure to post a picture as soon as we get home - and maybe even one of me!

19 1/2 weeks - Kicks or Gas

At my last doctor's appointment I was told that I probably wouldn't start to feel the baby's movement until closer to 22 weeks and that gas often times is confused with kicks. However, at the end of last week I started to feel little pokes and twinges real low in my belly. When I kept having the same feelings throughout the weekend I am starting to believe that what I am feeling is really the baby moving around. Right now the kicks are prety short and don't last very long but they're still there. Hopefully within the coming month they will get stronger and a little longer so John has a chance to feel our baby moving around! But for right now he will just continue to rub my belly, kiss it, and say "I love you, BIB"!

Not Me Monday #33

This past weekend was very nice. First, on Saturday we had a birthday party for my Grandma. 75 years! Then yesterday, John and I headed out to St. Paul. Since the weather turned, I started to realize that I had less and less options where clothing was concerned. I found someone on Craig's list who was selling all of her clothes and wanted to see if anything would work for me. She already had several people go through her clothes so not the greatest selection, but I was able to score a few more pieces. Still not anything for too cold of weather but it will get me a little further into the season. I'm pretty good with pants for the time being (especially since I can still wear my old pants with the help of the rubber bands) but may have to purchase a few sweaters or warmer tops as we get closer to winter.

Just two short stories to write about this week for Not Me Monday. They both happened during John and my outing yesterday.

First, since we were in the cities I had to make a quick stop at Schmitt music again to return a book and then buy a few more for another student. Also in the store when I first arrived was an older woman who walked with this really long white stick and almost seemed to have some sort of disability like cerebal palsy, but not quite. Anyways, she talked quite loud and I could overhear her working with the salesman asking for the cheapest type of guitar. When she found out that there was a very basic student accoustic guitar she then proceeded to ask if a banjo or ukelele would be cheaper. Then she needed the cheapest guitar method book and it looked like she was actually going to purchase that. After I had made my method book selections, I thought I would look at some of the wedding books since I am playing for awhile at my friend Angie's wedding. I started looking and the crazy lady was still browsing the store. Since she could only see things about 3 inches from her face it was quite humorous to watch her wander about the store looking at everything that was for sale. It was humorous until she stopped to start looking at the music books the very next section to where I was, that is. She couldn't just browse through the books, she needed to put her whole elbow/arm over my section so I couldn't continue to search or even put back the book that was in my hand. I did not wait patiently for about a minute or so and then finally clear my throat and kind of push her out of the way. I know that wasn't the most polite way to go about it, but seriously, was she really interested in organ music?

Our second incident happened at dinner. Since it is our 3 year dating anniversary tomorrow, we decided to celebrate yesterday with a dinner at Ruby Tuesday's since it was where we had our first date. It was about 5:00 when we sat down and were given our menus bya very unassertive waitress. The food tasted great, but this was not the first time ever that my normally very generous tip leaver husband had ever NOT left a tip. I'll tell you why and you can decide if you would have done any different:

• When she gave us our menus, she didn't go over any of the specials even though they had a big lobster insert that I'm sure would have been very tasty.
• No refills on water. I had to ask for my own.
• John ordered the mini hamburgers which came with fries. Ruby Tuesday's advertises endless fries. I could barely get her to stay at our table long enough for more water. Needless-to-say we didn't get a chance to tell her bring more fries.
• We were only about half done eating when she came and got our coupon and brought our bill. She didn't even ask us if we were interested in dessert.
• After dropping off the bill, we had to sit at our tables for a long time after we were done eating before she came to get the credit card to swipe.
• How could she see that I still had food on my plate and not ask me if I wanted a box to take it home?

There you have it. Have a great week, everyone. Stay warm and stay dry!

More on Dreams...

I guess I'm not the only one having weird dreams lately. This morning while I was getting ready for work, John told me about the dream he just had. I had given birth to a baby boy, but he was locked inside the EP Home Depot for 2 years!!! He finally was allowed out of the store. Poor guy, he knew I had had the baby but didn't know that it was a boy or couldn't even see him until 2 years later.

Anyone else having weird dreams lately?