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Week 19 Milestones: Baby is now 15cm CRL and about 20cm stretched out. Baby has also now reached a half pound in weight and will double in size to reach 1 lb by the end of this month. At this stage, baby's ears can not only hear what's going on, baby's brain can interpret the sounds to some level, although high-pitched noises are still undetectable. My Journal: Since I know how big this baby is getting, I should not be shocked that I feel those kicks getting stronger and stronger... And yet somehow I still feel really amazed and surprised when I feel especially strong kicks! This little one continues to be very active and is getting stronger daily. I feel at least a half dozen "periods" of movement (maybe 5 minutes where I'll feel a series of kicks, etc.) a day, and sometimes feel the baby a dozen times in a day! I love that the baby is active, although at the same time, I get a little worried about how strong this baby will get in the 4 months or more I have to go! Apparently DH was quite the little kicker in utero, and his nickname was "Thumper", so I will have to ask my MIL if I should be prepared for some bruised ribs in a few months. One exciting development was finding out that the baby can hear us now, especially lower frequencies and especially my own voice since it reverberates inside and outside. I noticed this firsthand while reading Harmony a bedtime story and getting lots of kicks from baby during the parts where I was reading. She/he is starting to react to external stimuli a little, which is so exciting! In fact, when he's active and kicking, a hand on my belly (mine or Harmony's or Paul's) seems to calm him down. Which is a shame since it means we haven't been able to feel any movements from the outside yet. But Harmony has been happy just starting to talk to the baby in there - she was starting to do it before, but was really happy when I told her "You know, the baby can probably hear you now!" and has been doing it more often. It's very cute to see her cup her little hands around her mouth to say goodnight or hello to the baby in there. All those physical symptoms I was talking about last week have calmed down a little, thank goodness! Maybe it was just all the extra activity of painting that aggravated my muscles and ligaments a little too much. I'll have to make sure to take it easier when we are painting the baby's room next month but at least we have a lot less painting work to do in here than we did with Harmony's totally room (there, we totally repainted, but in here I am just adding an effect to the blue walls with a darker blue and repainting some areas that need it). The one big physical frustration that continues though is the difficulty sleeping! One night, I was half-asleep and tangled up in blankets, struggling to turn over and I just felt stuck. It was really upsetting and I was just in tears trying to turn the right way. Paul helped me flip over and get comfortable again, but of course then I was upset and emotional about waking him up and feeling so awkward already with that belly. He was so sweet though, and also reminded me it was good practice for when we'll be up at night with a baby. True! Which is why I want to try to get as much decent sleep while I still can. Hopefully I'm just a little off-balance because of the huge growth spurt baby's been having and I'll get more used to the weight of my belly asleep and awake soon. Which reminds me, with his or her recent growth spurt, the baby is now the exact same size as one of Harmony's toy dolls (her "baby cheetah"). Right down to the difference between CRL and stretched out size. It freaks me out so much to place this little doll next to my belly and know that inside my belly there is a really little baby in there that is really that big! I love thinking abuot all the tiny details that are already so perfect - little fingers and toes and even finger nails and everything. No matter what is going on with anything physical, I'd never trade this for the world - I love the amazement and magic feeling of being pregnant and knowing that that little person is in there and becoming so big and so real! Test Results/Ultrasounds/Appointments: Only one more week (and a bit) to go before our big ultrasound and also my next OB appt. Physical: Well, as I've said, most of those physical annoyances have calmed down except for being uncomfortable sleeping. As for body changes, I've noticed my belly becoming pretty hard, but it hasn't seemed to "stretch" out too much yet. I still have only a couple little stretch marks near the top of my belly. One new and strange physical change I have noticed though is that I've lost some of my vocal range (as in, when singing). I remember being frustrated by this when I was pregnant by Harmony, but at least I remember getting my range back after she was born, so I'm sure this is a temporary change as well. It just feels weird to sing in the shower as usual but not be able to hit those low notes or very high notes now! I'm sure baby doesn't mind... Weight Gain/Food: Still going between 5-10lbs gain depending on time of day, etc., but my morning weight (when I usually weigh myself) was still around 5 lbs this week! I'm staring to wonder if maybe I could possibly make it to the 2nd trimester with only these 5 lbs and save the other "no more than 15" more that I am hoping to gain for just the last 3 months. It will get harder I'm sure with baby putting on more and more weight of his or her own! Also, I notice lately that when I'm hungry, I'm really really hungry, like stomach-growling level hungry! Even after it's only been a few hours since I've eaten, I'll be ravenously starving! I'm just making sure that I eat snack along with Harmony at our usual snack-times (10am and 2:30pm) and then often will have a snack at night, so I'm eating every few hours. Might be time to up the portions a little bit though, since I've still only been eating what I would normally eat before being pregnant. I did increase my fluids right from the start (especially milk), but I know you are supposed to increase your actual food intake as well. Emotional: Still feeling "okay" in this department, even though I'm more sensitive than usual and more teary-eyed than usual too. I've been a real "space case" this week, as usual, and one time I tried to leave the house three times before I got it right (the first two times, I forgot something!). At least I haven't forgotten anything serious, like locking the house or anything! I find my emotions are swaying really passionately though. If I'm upset, I will really get upset and just get really frustrated (and feel like stomping my feet the way Harmony does!). If I'm excited, I'll really get very very excited about whatever it is and (apparently) start talking much too loudly - a few times Paul has told me not to yell (like, be so loud) about things I'm excited about, and meanwhile, I won't even notice my voice had gotten louder at all! I guess just more "intense" would be a good way to describe this, and I'm coping okay with it (at least I'm aware of it, even though I can't control it as much as I'd like to).
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