Saturday, August 25, 2012

19 Weeks and Wiggles

Today we have reached 19 weeks!  I can't believe my little nugget is almost half-cooked!  First the facts, then the fun stuff...

He or she (can't wait to find out so that I can stop having to take time to be gender inclusive about everything!) is supposedly the size of a mango!  That means 6 inches long (really?!) and 8.5 ounces.  That's both half a foot and half a pound of baby in my belly!  I still don't think I look quite big enough.  Andy has even mentioned it.  We will see what the dr. has to say soon enough.  Anyway, his or her brain is developing nerve cells and neurons to make the connections for sensory perception.  It's an exciting time in Wombville!  As baby is becoming more aware of his or her surroundings, it makes sense that he or she is moving around more.  And thanks to the weight he or she is putting on, I should be able to feel those movements any day now.

Speaking of which, I think I may be feeling some wiggles already!  A little over a week ago, I felt a strange sensation in that vicinity of my belly.  It felt like a muscle twitching, but way down deep.  I felt it regularly for a few days and was convinced that it was the baby moving.  Then it stopped.

Now, I don't know if it's hormones or just a mommy reflex kicking in early, but I panic about things a lot more easily than I used to.  For example, Andy was 10 minutes late getting home from work one day last week.  I had asked him to stop and pick up orange juice, but then forgot I had ever asked (stupid pregnancy brain!).  At 5 minutes after his anticipated arrival time, I heard sirens going through town.  Normally, I would have remembered the OJ and not had a second thought about it.  But oh no, not now.  Now, of course, there was a terrible car accident and he was laying in a ditch somewhere.  So I panicked and called him and frantically demanded to know where he was and if he was ok.  This is just one of many examples of my newly discovered penchant for panicking.  I'm awesome at it.  Not that that's a good thing.

So when I stopped feeling these little twitches, I was just certain that something was wrong with the baby.  Did I call the doctor?  Well, no, of course not.  Because then they would have me come in and I'd find out that it was actually true.  I know, not logical, but worrying was better than actually calling and finding out, especially when I know I will be there in less than two weeks anyway.  A few days passed and I had a rough day at work and Andy let me lay on the couch while he rubbed my feet.  (I got a winner, folks!)  And it was back!  More twitches!  The exact same feeling in the exact same place!  I just knew that it HAD to be the baby this time.  And then it stopped and I didn't feel it again for a few more days.  This morning, while sitting at my computer looking at recipes on pinterest, I felt it again.  Same thing, same place, gotta be the baby, right?  I hope so.

Whenever I do feel these wiggles, I have to be sitting or lying perfectly still.  When I'm standing or moving around at all, I get nothing.  And trust me, I've tried.  I've tried poking the area.  I've tried jiggling it.  I've tried asking nicely.  I've tried pulling out my mom voice (that I'm getting pretty good at) and demanding that he or she move right now or else.  Nothing.  So I figure that it just depends on how the baby is positioned at the time.  And hopefully the wiggles will get stronger and more defined soon so that I can say for sure that I can feel him or her moving consistently.  It would go a long way to easing my mind that he or she is ok in there.  It's tough not knowing.  But that's a post for another day.

So I wanted to ask for some advice.  Now that I'm feeling some wiggles, Andy is starting to feel a little left out.  He's bummed that he doesn't get to experience this yet like I do.  I've tried reminding him that he also didn't have to experience any of the other things that I've had to endure, but that didn't really help anything.  So, any advice for how I can cheer him up and help him feel included??

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