21 weeks

Here we are at 21 weeks. I feel like I popped overnight. I swear, yesterday I didn't look as pregnant as I do today. I couldn't sleep last night, so maybe the baby was growing a lot (???).

Dress my mom got me- very cute. Also, getting better at looking normal in self photos. 

 I am not sure if it's real, but I do feel that I have baby brain. I completely forgot where I parked the car at the hospital this morning. So, that was a fun 25 minutes of directionless wandering.

Tummy sticking out! 

This is one of the cute sweaters that our friend Emily sent along for  maternity wear. I get so many compliments on her clothes when I wear them... I think when I go back to non maternity, I might need to get her to help me shop. 

I swear, I could see my toes much more easily yesterday. 

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the baby's room. I think we have a few good ideas, but no dedicated color scheme yet. We'll get there. I want to be deliberate about this, and not let it get away with me like most of my decorating does. I think the main thing we have agreed on is that there will be one wall entirely dedicated to books. Because we'll still be renting, we can't paint, so we will get some plate rails normally used to display plates, but will put books on them. So they are simultaneously providing color and variation, but also very functional. Mike and I are so excited about reading to our little girl, this is the perfect combination of decorative and functional. We are already starting a wonderful collection of books thanks to our friends Chad and Jen, my mom, and Mike's aunt Margaret (she's a children's librarian, so she's our hook up- book hook up? book up?). 

The Big Announcement!

Mike and I are absolutely over the moon to let everyone know, the apple of our eyes is an amazing little

  GIRL!!!!!!

The Blueberry was cooperative today. All it took was a little orange juice and a calm mommy. We both absolutely loved this picture.

You can see her little ribs through her thin skin and her ear looks so sweet.  In the one below, you can see the her umbilical cord. It was great to see her heart with all four chambers and little valves opening and closing. Her nose is so wee! 

I went to the cardiologist, and all is good. I think I was dehydrated and my own diagnosis is that perhaps I wasn't eating right. I was eating a lot of fruit and had been eating a lot of junk food, because is what I've wanted to eat. So, I've reupped my veggie intake, and am drinking at least 2x the water I was drinking. Fear not, I am still eating my m&ms, but I am just complimenting it with more veggies.

Week 19-20

No pictures yet this week.

We were hoping to have a massive announcement last week- the gender of the Blueberry. Unfortunately, the child already has a mind of its own and decided that it would rather nap than give mom and dad the satisfaction of starting to "nest" in earnest.  A dear friend told me, that kid is already giving you a taste of what the rest of your life will be like, you no longer have control. This is true, I am trying to not freak out whenever it happens.

We went for our anatomy scan last Thursday. It wasn't the greatest experience- the tech was very focused and had a rough (at best) bedside manner. The picture that she printed out for us was... creepy. I actually made a joke that she was giving it to us as a halloween present. Maybe it's because the last ultrasound tech was so good and so efficient, and printed out four beautiful photos, or maybe it's because I am completely emotionally vulnerable right now, but the picture she gave us looked like a skeleton, not our precious child, and I can't look at it. It's buried in my bag.

And this is why we have no pictures this week.

Mike has been a hero through everything. He is going to be an amazing dad. Our child is so incredibly lucky.

I have gained 11 pounds so far- 10 in the first trimester and 1 since. I am working on it, and it's not for lack of eating, that's for sure.

I had to go to the cardiologist today because I have been continuing to have bouts of tachycardia, or elevated heart rate. My blood pressure this morning was 84/46. I generally have low blood pressure, but this is low, even for me. The cardiologist seemed more concerned about my current BP than about the elevated heart rate. He told me to drink more water, that I was probably getting dehydrated and that I could wear a 24 hour monitor if it's still bothering me in a couple of weeks. I have to get back to him to schedule the monitor pick up, so we'll see what happens.

We have our repeat anatomy scan on Friday morning. There were multiple pictures that they weren't able to get because the baby was so intent on sleeping. We did see the heart beat and the brain has 2 lobes, and I think everything else looked healthy. We just didn't see all four heart chambers and a few other key anatomical structures, beyond the gender.

As of tomorrow, we're halfway there. I absolutely can't believe it. I feel like we are still navigating realizing we're pregnant.

I am starting to have little cramps and pains here and there in my abdomen, and feel little flutters, which I can now identify as the baby moving. Pregnancy clothes are great, though given the option, I would prefer to be in my pj pants all day. I think they might frown on that at the hospital.

Hopefully we'll have some amazing pictures to share on Friday!!!!!