Baby Kicks

I've been feeling Baby P move for about 4 weeks now...just twitches or a rolling sensation...pretty cool. I almost feel them every day, usually after lunch and again before I go to sleep.

Today after lunch I was sitting at my desk, doing my work. I felt like little bubbles popping and then a sudden "boink" underneath my belly button! I immediately stopped working, and waited to see if it happened again. Boink! They were about 5 seconds apart, and then nothing. I bolted up out of my chair and headed to the ladies room, worried something had "popped" and something was wrong. Somewhere along my trip back from the restroom it dawned on me that my baby had just kicked me!!!

Hopefully next time it won't freak me out!

Guessing the gender...

Everyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I'm pretty good at predicting the sex of babies. Darn good. Like I've been right 9 out of 10 times so far. Sometimes it's just a feeling I get, other times I have a dream...either way, it's a gift.

I've been really hesitant to share my prediction for my own child for a few reasons. The main reason is because I could very well be wrong this time. It would just make sense that I'd be good at predicting every baby EXCEPT my own baby's gender! But so what if I'm wrong? I am going to announce my prediction...

At first, I *thought* (notice there is a distinction between *thinking* and *feeling*) I was having a girl. No good reason other than my cousin just had a boy, and life would just be too perfect if I had a boy too so that she could pass his clothes on to me! Murphy's Law...it just COULDN'T work for me, I'm not that lucky.

It seems everyone else thinks I'm having a boy...my mom, my cousin, my aunt, ALEX. I started to think that I really could be having a boy. Boys mean fishing, sports, dump trucks, and dirt! What's not to love about that? And it'd be really cool for me and my cousin's sons to be so close in age (like we are) and grow up together.

The Old Wives Tales offer no help! I didn't have bad morning sickness, so I must be having a boy. I've been cursed with pregnancy acne, so it's a girl. I'm preferring salty foods, so it's a boy. I'm carrying low and wide, so I'm having a girl. They can't all be right!!! We even tried the ring on a chain above my belly trick. First is swung side to side (boy) and then it swung in circles (girl). All I know is we either have a boy or a girl in there.

Let me make it abundantly clear that I do not PREFER one gender over the other. I am thrilled to have a baby, and would be equally excited with a boy or a girl.

Having said that, I *feel* I'm having a girl. I really can't explain it. I just feel it. I've had baby dreams throughout my pregnancy, and they all involved gender-less babies. Well, I'm sure they were either a boy or a girl, I just didn't know which in my dreams. Last night I had my first gender-specific dream...and it was a doozy. It was as if my baby was telling me, "Hey mom, this is a clue!" I was in the ultrasound room with our doctor (and it really WAS my doctor) and she was looking for "the goods." And then I saw it, very clearly, on the ultrasound monitor. I saw my baby's crotch, and there were girl parts! In my dream, I said, "I'm having a girl!"

So there it is. My prediction is that I'm having a girl. I may be right, I may be wrong...we'll find out on May 12th. Either way, son or daughter, I love my baby.

Strong Heartbeat

Today we had another doctor's appointment.

It was a pretty fast appointment since we were just there last week. Everything looks good...my blood pressure is perfect and I haven't gained any weight!!! After she asked if I had any questions/concerns, she whipped out this little wand-thing and started searching away for the baby's heartbeat. I had been prepared that it could be a few minutes before she found it so I wasn't worried when I didn't hear it right away. She kept finding it and then the baby would move! We have a sneaky little baby!!! : ) Ultimately, we did get to hear the sweet "swoosh swoosh" sound of our baby's heartbeat! It was really cool. The heart rate was 156, and if you believe Old Wives Tales that means it's a girl. I don't believe in them, so we're going to wait 5 weeks until our big ultrasound to find out for sure!

Alex brought our camera to record the sound of the heartbeat, and I was going to upload it here (I still might), but it's really soft and hard to hear.

We go back in 4 weeks, and then the next week we find out if we're Pink or Blue!!!

HELLO, 2nd Trimester!

I've passed a big milestone...I'm in the 2nd Trimester now! Supposedly, this is the most "enjoyable" trimester (we'll see!). I should be getting my energy back any day now. I am definitely showing! My bloated little belly has officially turned into a hard baby belly. So exciting!

We had a scare today. I had some spotting at work, and was told by the nurse when I called that they wanted to see me. So we had to make the trek from downtown to Missouri Baptist Hospital around lunch-time! I was a complete mess, I was so scared that something was wrong. Our doctor is so great!!! She didn't waste any time, she did an ultrasound and found our little Sweet Pea, kicking away! All is well!!! Our baby definitely looks like a baby now. We got some pictures this time. We were definitely relieved to find out that the baby is fine (or as our doctor says, "beautiful!"). She checked my cervix and said it's just as it should be, so the bleeding was just probably because of all the stretching going on to make room for the baby. She still wants to see us next week at our scheduled appointment to hear the heartbeat. We asked, while she was there, if she could tell the sex of the baby. Unfortunately we have to wait until May 12! The ultrasound machine in her office is just too fuzzy for her to make that call. Oh well, it was worth a shot!

We'll have more to report next week after our appointment. For now, we're both extremely thankful that Sweet Pea is doing well! Keep the prayers coming...they're definitely working!