Baby in my Belly

22 weeks tomorrow and wouldn't you believe that this belly of mine has come a long way. Chris has taken a picture of me almost every week since we found out we were expecting and for the sake of time and possible boredom I picked out the ones that showed progression. I just looked at another girl's pictures from her pregnancy and it's left me feeling... uh... well... rather big large. I'm chalking it up to my baby having a big brain. As I blame all weirdness on that.


Week 6. I had actually lost some weight at this point due to my severe nausea (no barfing yet). It started on Christmas day and lasted through December. Joy. Just look at my face, I'm totally stoked (those jeans are Levis 501 with a 30" waist). And skinny. Skoked if you will.

Week 12. Most of you were still in the dark at this point, but my little secret was just starting to make it's appearance. By this point I was at the end of barf fest 2010. I felt bloated most of the time which left me wondering if my little bump was really baby or just gas. My husband likes to spray paint the walls in the shop.

Week 14. This is my 'coming out of the closet' week. The beginning of the second trimester marked a pivotal point in my pregnancy. No more barfy barf. And, the cat was out of the bag. That might be the last picture of what use to be stomach muscle and as you can see I've made up for any weight I didn't put on in the first trimester. Welcome puffy face. It is at this point that I admit to myself that I use to have a flat stomach, as I never knew that till I didn't have one anymore. We went on a business trip to Vegas this week and all my cute and sexy clothes were no longer an option as I wasn't willing to risk looking like a girl who wished she was that size. A friend of mine gave me some dress-like tops. They were flattering and comfy ~ two things that don't usually occur at the same time in women's clothes... well... not cute ones.

                            

Week 18. I was introduced to these amazing things called maternity pants. OMG. They are like wearing sweatpants that LOOK like jeans. If everybody else knew what they felt like we'd all be wearing them. Trust me here. What a relief! I was so proud to be done wondering 'is that gas' and knowing 'oh yeah, that's a baby'. I started thinking that everyone would know I was pregnant at this point. My husband informed me that to an average onlooker who had never met me it looked like a fat belly. My friends in college and I use to joke about the front gut. I coined it a 'joey' as it looked like a kanga with a roo... I officially had a 'joey'. 

                             

Week 21. We took this picture last night. Last week we found out that we are having a baby girl. Shortly after she started her karate lessons inside my womb. She is so active I can barely believe it every time it happens. It's crazy to watch as your stomach tries to jump off your body. I love her. 

Diapers and Strollers and Cribs OH MY!

"Are you registered yet???" This was a question I hadn't anticipated would come so early in my 40 week adventure. As soon as we found out that "it" was actually a "her" it seemed to be the quickest question to fly out of people's mouths. And then I realized. I gotta get a bunch of stuff for this baby. Well, I suppose 'bunch' is relative but seeing as Chris and I aren't exactly what you would call 'big spenders' shopping for many new items is a bit out of our repertoire. Don't get me wrong here, I know all about the joys of second hand but there are a few items that just shouldn't be reused. As I started perusing the baby isle on the wide, wonderful world of the internet I found that there is a lot too many options out there. It left my head spinning! A frenzy of text messages and e-mails ensued. This overwhelming, primal surge came over me. I became consumed by the 'things' that my baby would need upon her arrival. Like which ones were most cost effective, longest lasting, highest quality and most of all SAFEST (hormonal nesting anyone?). I was asking every mommy I knew what she bought and why, not to mention 'honey come look at this' (he handled this phenomenally and was a lot of help in researching the bigger items). After a few weeks of looking, searching, calling, analyzing and looking some more I feel confident that I have chosen items that I REALLY want. 


While talking with a brand-new-mommy friend of mine it was brought to my attention that most people want to buy you clothes. I factored in that my first born is also of the female gender which equals boat loads of cute clothes that are just screaming to be bought and worn... However. There are enough new baby friends right now that we shouldn't have a problem getting enough hand-me-downs to clothe her twice over. Another possible hazard is that each person has their own distinct taste in clothing and it is a lot easier to let the momma do the picking. I was also recalling a few of the baby showers I went to when I was younger where I didn't have the cash to get an expensive item or know enough of the other attendees to go in on a gift yet felt it was only proper to show up with a nicely wrapped gift. As I'm writing this I am praying that I am not the only one who has found myself in this position. Unfortunately, I also didn't realize that by buying something I 'thought' she might like I was possibly creating a situation where little momma-to-be would have to exchange/take back the 'gift'. This requires one to expend more time and energy, which seem to be two of the things you lack during pregnancy.  I should have given a thoughtful card or a $5 gift certificate to the store she was registered at... but hey... you live, you learn and then you have a baby (not always in that order). 

The first item that consumed my mind was what every baby needs. and needs a lot of (no not love, that's a given) DIAPERS. Yep, the big D. I will be using disposables while her umbilical chord is still attached and for ease while traveling but cloth is our diaper of choice. A friend of mine had introduced me to the bumGenius brand a few years ago and I just couldn't believe that those were cloth diapers. I remember my mom using the white cloth diapers with the safety pins and those completely unfashionable (and bulky) clear plastic covers (bleh). These cloth diapers were less bulky, snugger fit and cute to boot! Naturally I looked into them. After talking to Chris, other mommies, a baby store and non stop internet investigation I decided that I want to get the organic bumGenius one size diapers. They are somewhat steep in price ($24.95) but Chris and I felt that the organic cloth is very important to us and they are only $7 more than the non-organic ones. Rumor has it that the snaps aren't as effortless to put on a squirmy babe as the non-organic velcro ones but they've gotta be an improvement from the safety pin right? There are lots of adorable colors to chose from and if anyone is planning on buying them as a gift I am requesting that we stick to gender neutral colors as we would like to use them for more kids later down the road (all colors are great minus pink and blue). These are not included in my registry, as they did not offer the organic ones on that site but here's a link for them http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=98&products_id=1825. 

After I had the diaper situation under control I moved onto cribs and found that I had an affinity for the modern style. The first one I fell in love with was the Argington Sahara. Much to my dismay this crib is $685... boo. So I started searching for modern style cribs with friendlier price tags. I found the Babyletto Mercer 3-in-1 for $399 which was a more manageable price to justify.  The versatility that is afforded by purchasing a convertible crib ensures that our little girl will get her use out of the furniture and the quality will allow us to hand it down to future children . This crib is offered via the site I used for my registry but they are currently out of the espresso color that I want. I will be anxiously waiting for them to have more in stock so I can register for it. 


Then I was on my way to car seats, strollers, swings, playpens and all the other 'stuff' I could imagine I needed for our little girl. And to tell you the truth, I feel a little bit of relief having this whole registry thing under way. OH! I am registered at http://www.diapers.com/. These very same items may be out there in some far off corner of the galaxy that I left undiscovered so just let me know if you find better deals!!!!!

Drum roll please.....

And here my friends, is your very first look at our lil' baby GIRL! We couldn't be more excited. She is measuring a few days ahead of the expected due date which means she is growing healthy and strong! She's just a few days past 20 weeks which means half cooked! Not to my surprise she was busy doing gymnastics while the technician was trying to get the appropriate footage of her, looks like this one is going to keep us on our toes! I couldn't have asked for a better technician but she was killing me with the suspense. I wanted to be polite and allow her to do her job. I let her know at the beginning of the appointment that we wanted to know the gender and she definitely savored the power of suspense. Right before we ended she said "oh yeah, you were interested in the gender" as if it had slipped her mind... We weren't hoping for one over the other but we are so glad to know that we are going to be the proud parents of a perfect little girl.

I barely slept last night, the anticipation was killing me. The appointment was at 8:30 and I was up by 6:45. I followed the 'pre ultrasound instructions' and then took a shower and got ready to go to the doctor. I thought I'd be ready to go with time to spare (as is usually the case for me) but found that it was a quarter after 8 by the time I was ready. ACK! I believe this 'where did the time go' phenomena has only just begun. My first glimpse of her was indescribable. This was the first, and most likely the only, ultra sound of the pregnancy and it was such a joy to see our little baby in there. When I finally stopped crying I was able to just lay back and take in the moment.

I had a feeling from the get-go that it was a girl, but that was prior to the barrage of stories as to how "I was sure I was having this or that and ended up with the opposite every time". My earliest dreams were of a baby girl but recently I had a dream of a little boy so I threw dreams out as a reliable source. I thought I was carrying low so that also tipped the scale towards boy. In fact, I always thought I would have sons... I think this was due in part to the fact that girls were always a challenge for me growing up. I never really understood them and consistently ended up in situations where I just felt like I could never get it right. I had three brothers... I knew boys. But this. This is going to be the best thing I ever did (and will do) in my entire little existence. I can't wait to meet her. I can't even put into words the excitement, joy and hope I feel about her future... our future.