19 weeks- sort of

First all the good news: My 18 week appointment went great. My uterus is right around my belly button despite the books saying it should be 2 inches below it. Yeah, I don't really have 2 inches between my hips and belly button, lol! Previously the little bean was always hanging out really low and it took awhile to find the heartbeat but on Tuesday it was right below my belly button and she found in about 10 seconds. Nice and strong. And I got to schedule my gender ultrasound for next Thursday at 10 am. It could have been as early as yesterday but....

Now the bad news: Since I kept getting different dates on my ultrasounds and didn't get a positive read on my ovulation tests for the week of Feb. 25th and I'm moving they've decided to change my due date. My earliest ultrasound said 11/28 as the due date. Since they don't want me induced too early, they're going by that one now. What that means is the standard procedure for a midwife care is to induce between 41-42 weeks, whereas with some doctors they'll do it in less than half a week "over due." So if they stick a 11/18 button on my file then I'd be induced probably after Thanksgiving, sometime around the 11/26-12/1. But if the later date is right, or closer to right, then I'd really only be 4 days over due. The less medical procedures and interruption the better for everyone. That being said, I would have had to had insanely high HCG levels in my blood to get a positive on a home pregnancy test on 3/12 if the 11/28 date is right. The levels that are usually only found in multiple pregnancies and there is no reason to believe that I have or ever had 2 in the oven. Also, that would have been only a few days after ovulation. You hear advertisements about finding out maybe 5 days before your expected period, well I would have found out nearly 2 weeks early. Also, the earlier ultrasounds are better at dating than the later ones. For example, at 4 weeks the embryo looks very different than at 5 weeks. Whereas 19 weeks developmentally doesn't look so different than 21 weeks. They also can't really go by the size at this point. Some babies measure smaller or larger and it doesn't mean the due date is wrong. Usually women will measure a few days ahead or behind at their mid-pregnancy scan, though 10 days is a bit extreme. All that being said at my second ultrasound I was only measuring 3 days behind. So I think I'm much closer to 11/18 than 11/28.

So in my mind I'm sticking with 11/18 but medically they've decided to choose 11/28. I've contacted the midwife I'll be using in Harrisonburg and she agrees on the need for the later date, though would induce me closer to 1 week instead of 2 due to the liklihood of that being the better date. But, here's hoping that it's all a moot point and I won't need to be induced at all! I just hope it's not in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner! But since I'm of the mindset to make this a bit more old fashioned of a birth (but with modern knowledge like sterilization) I'm ok with not having a perfectly set due date that there's not questions about. At least I've got a better idea than women in the 1800s did when they simply expected a baby sometime in a given month, or worse in a season.

And on that note of being in touch with my VA midwife, her link is at the bottom if anyone would like to take a look. I actually know her, she went to EMU and we had a class together. That puts my mind even more at ease.

So if I'm closer to 19 weeks the baby's brain is really developing senses now. Some research shows that it can hear my voice, so once I get to know the gender I can talk to it more! It's about 8.5 inches long and weighs around 6 ounces, around the size of a mango in length. And it's coated in vermix caseosa which protects it from getting all pruned up for the next 5 months.

I can't wait to see him or her next week and finally be able to call it by name!

http://brookhavenbirth.com/index.html

18 weeks

So baby is almost half baked! I can not believe how fast the last few weeks have flown by. We're leaving for VA in 5 weeks, and arriving in 7 and I'm sure that will go by in the blink of an eye. In fact, I'll be just a few days from entering my 3rd trimester when we arrive. Honestly, I'm feeling a little detached from it all. I haven't felt the baby move yet, which is entirely normal. So I don't feel pregnant very often. Nearly all of my symptoms could be attributed to something else. I of course feel like I haven't bonded with the baby yet, or gotten to know it's personality. I'm scared that I won't feel it move until after our big ultrasound and that will make it seem even more surreal. At quite a few points in the first trimester it seemed like this point would never get here. It just seemed so far away. Each day felt like it lasted a century, and now whole weeks go by without me barely noticing! And so all of a sudden 18 weeks/20 weeks seems so early still! It seems weird that I can find out the gender of the baby before feeling it and really knowing it. But at the same time, I know that means so much more to look forward to in the second half of the pregnancy, until I get really uncomfortable and just want it out, lol.



I wish I could feel the baby move, and I wish I had a feeling about the baby. Everyone asks what I "think" I'm having. Um, I"m pretty sure it's a human baby. If it's not, then I guess I'll have some 'splainin to do to Doug! Other than that, I don't think it's a boy or a girl. Maybe I'm just still beside myself with the fact that I'm pregnant after all these years. When it comes down to it, that's the last thing I worry about. I am dying to see it again, I want to be told it's healthy. Honestly, if I weren't such a planner and the fact that my mom is dying to know, I could probably wait to be surprised until the delivery. I think the next time around I'll have more of an opinion, but for now I don't.



Sigh, and names. The boy name has been picked for years: Theodore Robert. Girl names, well that's a different story. When Doug and I first started talking about names we liked, when we were engaged, he was very appeasing (as was I to him). That changes after a few years of marriage! He's so random with what he likes, but he thinks I'm the bad one- it's not true! Early on he wanted Ann, after his mother. It took awhile but it grew on me. I liked Ann Elizabeth and so did he, then he changed his mind. Then we decided on Annabelle Hope. Then he changed his mind. I actually really like the nick name Annie now, but he's decided against it. I think he just thought everyone wanted him to use the name, even though he didn't really like it. So for now, no Ann's are on the table. Then we thought Shenandoah, but that seems silly since we'll be living there. So my favorite girl name, Grace, got elevated to first place. We were thinking Grace Elizabeth or Grace Virginia. Then Doug realized how popular it was and totally decided against it. I'm heartbroken. It took him years to agree to put it on the list, and then another one to put it on the number 1 spot. But I know he's right, I wouldn't want her to be 1 of 20. Unfortunately, all of the names we have liked for years and agreed on are popular now! Abigail, Isabella, Grace Lillian and Sophia have all been crossed off the list for first names. I also nixed Rebekah as that's so popular in the churches that we associate with. We like old fashioned, traditional and classic names. It was between Margaret and Josephine for a while, but we've finally decided on Margaret. Then we couldn't decide on a middle name. Doug wanted Rebekah, but I didn't like how the meaning flowed: pearl, bound." So now it's Margaret Virginia as the girl name. And I really, truly hope we're done for now! In fact, unless one of the names we've chosen get used by someone we're close to, or gets insanely popular, or we have more than 4 girls and 3 boys- I think we're set altogether.

Boys

• Theodore Robert- Teddy
• William Thomas- Will
• Peter Samuel- Peter

Girls

• Margaret Virginia- Maggie
• Josephine Samantha- Josie
• Charlotte Isabel- Charlotte
• Grace Rebekah- Gracie (in case its popularity goes down).

Lol, I have it written in the blog as sort of a binding agreement between Doug and I. That way, next time around if one of us is thinking differently we can recall how hard it was to pick them out! But actually, I love our list now. I think it is more timeless, than the other ones we liked. I'm a huge fan of Little Women so I'm so glad to use Margaret, Josephine and Theodore! I don't think we'll end up having a Beth or Amy though.

So baby is starting to gain weight now. It's about the length of a sweet potato, which sounds really good for some reason even though I usually hate them. It's about 5.9 inches and 6.7 ounces. At the end of this month (just entered month 5) it will weigh a whole pound! That's alot of weight gain in just 4 weeks compared to the last 4 weeks! Supposedly it's really mobile and is dancing around all over the place. I really can't wrap my head around the fact that something as long as a sweet potato is twisting and turning inside me and I can't feel it. Guess the doctors are all right and there is a lot of cushion in there for the baby! It's got it's own set of fingerprints too now, baby is officially a unique person. I must say I'll be happy when I won't have to say and write "it" anymore! Well, I better go do homework and work on packing too, even though all I want to do is work on nursery things! No picture as of right now, Doug had to leave for work before I was up and at it.

17 weeks!

I'm getting so jealous of all the girls on thebump.com who can feel their babies already! I know it's entirely normal not to feel the baby yet, but gosh I wish I could. And a bunch of them already know the gender. I wish I could at least schedule an ultrasound, just a little longer though. I just told a friend that right now I just feel like a fat lady who has to pee all the time, is hungry all the time, has a back ache, and is exhausted. I think it will feel so much more real when I can feel the baby move!

It's been a hectic week. Classes were supposed to start for me on Monday but there was a paperwork snafu that we've been trying to fix all wek. No worries, homework isn't due until Sunday, so once I can log in tomorrow all should be well. The move is also really starting to settle in. We've sold some furniture. So far a loveseat, my casio keyboard, our TV and Doug's gun that he bought here is up for sale. There's plenty more things on the list. Oh, crap, I was supposed to repost them today. Hahaha, guess the pregnancy brain is starting to really set in!

I think Doug and I have found our girl name, finally. My very first post was about names. I know that would seem super early to some, but I've been obsessed with baby names since I was about 14 and Doug and I have been talking about them for nearly 7 years. In fact, tomorrow is 7 years from our first date! But we didn't talk about baby names then, lol. Anyway, the boy name has been set: Theodore Robert. And for the girl: Grace Virginia. I really love the name Grace, always have and while there were other contenders for a different name for our first girl for family reasons, we've decided to use the name we love first and work in family later. Though Virginia is a bit of a family name on Doug's side, and also works in Virginia the state. We were interested in Shenandoah for a while. And I do still like it, we were just torn on calling her that. And so we figure if we still like it the next time around then we can think about it then. The only downside to the name Grace is that it's pretty popular. I don't care too much if there are other Grace's at school with her (though I plan to homeschool for elementary school at least so that wouldn't happen). But I'll admit I'm worried about a pregnant friend who is having twin girls and is due in August. I know, it's silly and selfish. And since I don't live in VA right now and we're not close I can't just call her up and ask what names she's thinking! And a lot of people don't tell anyway. I just wish I could read her mind or something, and then I'd know if we needed to start thinking about other names again. Well, at least we're set for now, pending arrivals in August, lol.

So enough about me. What's going on with baby? He or She is around 5.9 ounces and is 5.1 inches long, roughly the size of an onion. Though another site says turnip and I like that better. Well, I don't like turnips at all, but I'd rather have my baby compared to one than an onion- which oddly I do like! Baby's bones are beginning to harden, move joints and sweat glands are developing. So, baby Bowman, move those joints and use those hardening bones and kick your Mama!

Pic of the crib bedding my Mom found at Once Upon a Child for $30 and looks brand new, and also me this morning.