Sunday, March 24, 2013

Weeks 17 - 20 : Much Has Happened, and We Know Who's Growing In There Now

I haven't updated this blog in almost a month.  I really am sorry.  Between fatigue, work, and just general life, by the time I get around to coming on here, I was too tired to write.

A lot has been going on.  Instead of breaking this down by the separate weeks, I'll just kind of mash it all together.

I'm no longer seeing my OB anymore.  I switched, and it's been a decision I couldn't be happier with.  I had my first appointment just the other day (at 20.5 weeks).  I've gone over to the birthing center and am now being attended to by midwives!  I'm already so in love with the care I've received with them at just my first appointment, and this little one is turning out to be quite stubborn.  Just like momma and daddy.

I've been feeling movements more and more.  The little flutters are starting to turn into kicks.  Little punches.  Little "Hey, mom, I'm in here!  Practicing my dance moves!"

But the best news of all is we finally found out WHO is growing in there.  On the 22nd, at exactly 19 weeks, I got to see our son at his anatomy scan.  A boy.  We're having a boy!

My intuition was so wrong!  He is absolutely perfect.  Growth is right on track, everything looks perfect and beautiful.  He's quite active, as well.  I look back at old posts where I felt sure we were having a girl, and I laugh at the idea now.  I couldn't imagine having a girl.  I couldn't imagine getting to bond with anyone other than our son.

And he has a name.

Elijah Michael.

Our little Eli.  He's such a fighter, such an active little person.  And he seems to be nocturnal, just like us.  I feel him later in the mornings, somewhat in the afternoon, and most definitely at night.  He's most active at night.





I'm so in love already.  Even more so now that I know who is growing in my belly, not just the fact it's a person.

I did have a moment of my heart sinking when we first saw he was, in fact, a boy.  S and I had become so convinced we were having a girl, that's what we had set ourselves up for.  But fate had another plan for us, and as soon as I saw him wiggling and moving after finding out we were having a boy, I fell in love, HARD, with this precious little munchkin wiggling around in my tummy.  That momentary disappointment lasted only a second, because in the same flash of finding out what we were having, he moved, and that's when I felt my heart swell with love and pride.

Our little Eli, a perfect gift.

I get to see him again in a couple of days.  He was a bit TOO active at the anatomy scan, and the tech couldn't get good views of his heart, so I'm going back for his cardiac views.  My SIL is going with so she can see her nephew.

He has decided he hates dopplers.  At my appointment, he kept moving away from it before he finally stopped, but then proceeded to roll around and kick at it.  The midwife laughed at how much he was moving and how big the movements were.  When I was playing around with an at-home doppler, he kept kicking and punching the probe, at one point, hard enough I watched the probe jolt off my stomach.

I've also felt him kick with my hand.  He was moving around something wicked, so I put my hand on my tummy.  This tends to settle him down, but not this time!  This time he kicked at my hand, and I felt it!  I felt HIM!  He did it again the following morning, when I was relaxing with my hand on my belly.  He's getting to be so strong!  And ornery!

I can't believe it's already been a month since my last update.  I can't believe how fast this journey is flying.  It amazes me that in another five months I'll be holding our son.  Snuggling with him, nursing him, and getting to know this small person who has turned our lives upside down and into something so much greater than what it already is.

I'm also getting much more visibly pregnant.  My stomach is getting firmer and rounder.  I've, of course, gotten a few rude comments.  About how I'm "barely showing" and that I'm "so small for five months."  But I've also gotten the people who smile and tell me it's starting to become obvious I'm pregnant (which makes me smile, since most days I just feel like I look fat, not pregnant).  And S likes to tell me how pregnant I look everyday, haha.

Now that we know we're having a son (and watching S read to him has to absolutely be one of the best moments ever), this journey is really setting in, everything's moving forward, and I couldn't be happier with where it's going.




To think, I'll be 21 weeks in just another couple of days!