Joe finally felt the little munchkin move inside for the first time on Saturday night! I have been attempting for weeks to have him feel her move. Apparantly, the placenta is sitting on my front side, making it harder to feel her movements from the outside. So after weeks of grabbing his hand and placing it where I felt her moving, he finally felt her. It was pretty exciting actually. You could see the look of wonder and amazement spread over his face, and I was so happy he was finally able to experience it.
I have been feeling her so much more in the last week or so. All day long she is moving around and kicking and punching. Since she is breech right now (standing upright, feet first), all of her big movements feel like she is kicking me directly in my vajayjay. Sometimes I am sure that I will look down and see a little foot sticking out between my legs.
Although all of this has been absolutely wonderful and I wouldn't give it up for anything, that isn't to say, it hasn't come with some not-so-great stuff as well.
Once I hit about 15 to 16 weeks, I really started to get my energy back. I was able to accomplish lots of things around the house. I cleaned and organized my entire basement, computer room and all of my closets. I have all of the nursery furniture set up and ready to go (aside from the changing table and a night stand which are in route with the delivery service). I finished registering everything for our baby showers and I even have a tentative plan of action in place for once the little munchkin is here (this is the biggest weight off my shoulders of all). I was feeling great and getting everything done, hoping that this level of energy would hold out at least throughout the 2nd trimester, which depending on your source, ends at 27 or 28 weeks. Maybe its a temporary set back, but at 23 weeks, I started to feel things changing.
The size of the baby doubles between 20 and 24 weeks. My doctor warned me that I would probably have a jump in weight gain during this time period. I had an appointment yesterday and I about fell off the scale when I realized just how much weight I had gained. In a matter of only 4 weeks, I had packed on a little over 11 pounds. Holy f*ing crap! Now I am not completely innocent. I do not claim to not have contributed to this somewhat by over indulging and giving in to my cravings here and there, but good grief! I have not been doing anything that out of the ordinary, and I am just not sure how I managed to achieve this. Last night, I went to the grocery store and bought only healthy, low calorie items. Joe was disappointed when he started looking through what I had brought home and realized there weren't any of his favorite yummy snacks. Sorry buddy, but unless you want to see your wife turn into a whale, you're just gonna have to deal with it.
It doesn't help that I have been starting to feel extremely tired here in the last week or two. I have started taking naps again after work. And I am sure that with the extra sleeping and less moving around and getting things done, I am burning alot less calories. On my usual walks at the park, my right hip has started to hurt pretty badly after only going a couple miles. Once this happens I begin limping and struggling along. Yesterday, I stopped short the last 1/4 mile or so, while Joe went on ahead and came back to pick me up in the car. I went to the grocery store shortly after our walk and without letting myself recoup first, my hip started bothering me in the grocery store as well. I am sure this is due to the extra weight I am carrying around, and long walks are only going to agitate it, but giving up the walks will only make me gain more weight then necessary, and I am really not wanting to do that either.
I have been wearing my wedding ring on a necklace full time now. As soon as even the slightest amount of humidity becomes present, my ankles disappear under puffy skin and my fingers swell up. I am so scared of getting my ring stuck on my finger, I just decided to start wearing it around my neck and quit worrying about it.
I have also been wearing panty liners full time. One false move (e.g. unexpected cough or burst of laughter), can lead to the little munchkin squishing down on my bladder just a little too much. After asking around, this is apparently pretty common.
I am starting to realize there are so many uncomfortable side affects and things that happen that no one really talks openly about (e.g. the horrible gas, constipation, pee leakage, etc.). I wish they would. It would be nice to be more prepared for these things. I don't see why not. We're pregnant... we can't help all this strange crap happening to us. Why be embarrassed about it?! Screw that. I'm not going to be embarrassed about things I can't help. And if reading about it happening to me embarrasses you, you probably shouldn't read my blog.
I would also like to take a moment to thank the Beast. For without him, I would not be getting much sleep. He has been a saving grace through all of this. I can't even imagine how sore I would be each morning when I wake up if I didn't have him in my life. I am not sure I will be able to give him up after the baby is here. I guess we'll just wait to worry about that.
I am currently 24.5 weeks pregnant. I still have 15.5 more to go! I can't wait to see what strange things my body is going to start doing next.
7 comments:
Thank you for posting this! You're right! You shouldn't be ashamed! You can't help it! And it's helpful to know all this for the rest of us who will be in your shoes too!
Hee hee, I remember posting a similar pregnancy blog near the end of my pregnancy. Hopefully I will get to see you and that big ol' belly soon! It's been a while!
I gained 11 pounds right around that time in one month too, so don't worry you are not alone!! It stops and tapers off I promise!! I haven't had that pee problem at all I have other leakage issues but not pee:) The stuff we endure during pregnancy is disgusting!! Oh well we will have a babies at the end so it is all worth it!! And sleep burns calories!!
I also gained between 10 and 12 pounds around this time too. There is often a big weight gain around the same time she has a big growth spurt. Look at your belly pictures and see how much your belly has grown too! It's not just you. Seriously.
Your body definitely does some nasty things when you are pregnant. Perhaps I should warn you about AFTER the baby comes too. That is equally, if not more nasty. I'd be happy to give you more details, but then again, you will find out soon enough. But you know what, I almost don't even remember those things now. And I gained 50 pounds with BBZ and have lost all of it and then some thanks to breastfeeding and watching what I eat.
It's nice you have a place to vent about all of this! Pregnancy is a wonderful thing, but not ALL of the time :)
My older sister is due to give birth this week. She wore her rings on a necklace pretty much the entire time.
It is an interesting experience, reading about it.
Feeling the baby move was my favorite part of being pregnant! Enjoy it, cause you miss it after she comes out!
The peeing thing is totally normal... I had a really bad cold (that involved a lot of coughing a sneezing) for 2 weeks before I had Hannah, I got some of those things they lay under you at the hospital after you have the baby because my bladder couldn't handle the pressure + the sneezing/coughing.... a trick my dr told me to help your bladder- when you go to the restroom, lean forward that helps empty your bladder more, also lift up on the lower part of your belly when you lean forward, that will help you sleep longer at night and feel more comfortable that you won't have to go again right away! p.s. buy some breast pads, before too long they might start trickling too! :)
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