Ahhh… The Bliss of Happy Bowels…

With the baby’s growth spurt that’s happening at 16-19 weeks, came the pregnancy evil: constipation. And I mean CONSTIPATION. Like I gained 8 pounds in a week constipation. Yikes! My legs could feel the abruptly gained weight and my belly jumped in size!

Thankfully, my ob-gyn recommended I start my day with prunes, followed with metamucil. 36 hours since I started the new regime, the bowels started to work again. 4 days later – I feel happy and my scale is showing me a normal number – down 4 pounds from the crapped-up-bowels-number. Overall gain since the pregnancy started – 10 pounds, which is right on track for almost 20 weeks. Hurray!

Funny thing: I had to turn my scale. It used to face the wall – but now I can’t see what it shows because of the belly. I need to bend over to see. And with the scale facing the wall, there’s nowhere to bend So weird seeing the scale positioned this way LOL.

 

Kicks. He. Horoscope. Bad Thoughts.

For the past two days, my son is entertaining himself by kicking my cervix. I can tell. The cervix is the part that gets the contractions during orgasm. And that’s exactly the spot where I feel the kicks.

Alternatively, he kicks my colon.

He is still small enough to make me feel this is cute and smile – but I am starting to wonder what it will feel like when he gets bigger.

He.

It is so bizarre to refer to him like that.

My mom looked up the Chinese horoscope. You know how in Chinese horoscope each year has a sign, but then the year end is not Dec. 31st but is a floating date in Jan-Feb? Since our baby will be born on Feb. 5, give or take a week, I needed to know when the Chinese year starts in 2012 and what our baby will be. It turns out that next year the Chinese year will start on Jan. 23 – so we can be pretty sure our son will born in the new Chinese year and will be a Dragon. And an Aquarius, of course.

I keep looking at the sonogram pic. And my heart flutters – this is my baby! My son! He’s not even born yet, and I already love him so much, it’s weird.

But here I need to make a stupid confession. I am ashamed, but I need to share.

I always wanted a boy. But a boy as well as a girl. My husband’s family seems to produce boys almost exclusively (like 95% of kids are boys), so now I simply fear that all of our children will be boys. If the first one were a girl, I wouldn’t worry about the following pregnancies. I would’ve been certain we’ll get a boy. But I am pregnant with a boy now – so I worry that we will never get a daughter.

So stupid that I even think about it when there are thousands of women fighting for a chance to have a baby, one baby, any baby.

But there I am. And getting a few “disappointed’ responds from hubby’s family (they clearly hoped there finally will be a girl) did not help.

Oh well.

Regardless… I love this baby. I love my baby boy. But I know next time I get pregnant, I will be soooo focused on getting a girl. And I am afraid to think what I will feel if the next one will be a boy, too. And I think I won’t have the courage to try for the third baby in that case…

Anatomy Ultrasound

The suspense is over. The gender has been revealed. After an hour-long ultrasound (I didn’t expect it to be THAT long) we were shown the head, the face, the profile, the four chambers of the heart, the stomach, the spine, the hands, the feet, and there, in between the legs… was a small penis

Now we know – it’s a boy! A little soccer player. Or kung-fu master, more likely. Even the u/s tech commented “this one isn’t a quiet one”

Baby was super-active during the ultrasound. The ultrasound machine froze up on us twice – and while she (the u/s tech) was fiddling with it, I saw the baby kicks for the first time – I mean on belly!!! The baby kicked me a few times in a row to the right from my belly button – and I saw the kicks, bump-bump-bump! Very cute

The baby is almost upright. My friends are telling me once it turns head-down and starts kicking my diaphragm, it won’t be quite so cute. Oh well. At least with all this kicking going on I didn’t feel worried before this u/s. I know the baby is alive and kicking. Literally

It yawned and waved and moved a lot. And it’s measuring almost a week ahead at 20w2d (I am 19w4d). Yay!

Now I’ll have to get used to the idea of having a boy. So weird. Most of my friends have girls, so I know very little about baby-boys. Except for my nephew, but I was 12 when he was born. I don’t remember much.

Anyway. The suspense is over. The baby shower is scheduled. Now I’ll have to double-check my registry to make sure I don’t have an occasional pink item there

 

Boy or Girl?

When Artist Mouse was about to have her gender ultrasound, she collected all the gender predicting old wives’ tales and ran her “symptoms” through it. I am going to do the same now (I added a couple to her list) – my ultrasound is tomorrow morning!

Carrying high or low – High = Girl and Low = Boy
It’s hard to tell – I am not far along enough, but lately I notice more thickening right under my rib cage. So I am guessing – high.
GIRL

Craving sweet or savory? If you’re craving sweets, it’s a girl.
In my first trimester, I had zero interest in sweets and ate lots of smoked salmon and salted herring. Then things changed – now I eat nutella and peaches (like 4 a day). So, based on the current symptoms…
GIRL

If the baby’s father puts on weight during pregnancy – it’s a boy
I just called to my hubby downstairs: honey, have you gained any weight since I got pregnant? I got a frustrated “no” from him (he’s trying to gain weight, lucky guy).
GIRL

The Pendant. Swing a pure gold pendant over the pregnant belly. If it swings back and forth, it’s a girl. If it swings around, it’s a boy.
too lazy to experiment.
–PASS–

The Ring Test. Suspend a pure gold ring over the pregnant belly. If it swings left to right, it’s a boy. If it rotates, it’s a girl.
too lazy to experiment.
–PASS–

The Mothers Face. If it’s round, full and rosy, it’s a girl.
I don’t know. As I am gaining weight, it is getting rounder. I am not looking worse – no breakouts, no spots, no nothing. In fact, I rarely even add makeup lately (cannot be bothered). Mmmm. Does this classify as “rosy”?
GIRL

Acne. If you have more acne, it’s a girl.
No. The usual little bit. Although… I had LOTS on my chest. My breasts were all getting itchy. But those are gone now. So, based on current symptoms (no extra acne):
BOY

Interpreting dreams of the pregnant woman. Cigars, trucks, snakes, telescopes = Boys. Tupperware®, keyholes, any fish, almonds, Prada®, Vogue magazine = Girls.
Um… Snake, yes – once. But then I often have nightmares with snakes.
BOY

The Key Test. If the pregnant woman picks up a key from the thin end, then it’s a girl.
I dunno. They’re on a key chain. I usually pick them all by the security card from the office entrance – it’s easiest to find in my purse
–PASS–

Chinese gender calendar
It gives you a prediction based on your age at conception and the month in which you conceived. As far as I am aware, I conceived on my birthday. But maybe just before – or just after. The funny thing is that regardless of the age I enter – both answers are…
GIRL

If you carry in front, it’s a boy; if you’re wide at the middle, it’s a girl.
I think my waist is still in it’s rightful place – does that mean I am carrying in front?
BOY

Hang your wedding ring from a strand of the father’s hair over your belly. If the ring circles, it’s girl; if it swings back and forth, it’s a boy.
My husband doesn’t take his ring off.
–PASS–

Is Baby’s heart beat faster than 140 beats per minute (bpm)? It’s a girl. Less than 130 bpm? It’s a boy.
I can’t remember exactly, but I think the heart has always been in the 150-160 region.
GIRL

If morning sickness lingers all day, it’s a girl.
I didn’t have any.
BOY

Baking Soda test. Take a small cup with baking soda in it, pee on it.  If the baking soda fizzes (I’ve heard women describe it like the fizz on a soda or similar) it means a boy, no fizz means a girl.  They say it is due to the acidity of your urine when you are pregnant with a boy.
Never got around to do this one, lazy me.
–PASS–

Net-net: 6 “girls” to 4 “boys”

This is too close to 50-50… And for Artist Mouse, this didn’t work. She had like 70% boy – and it turned out to be a girl

We shall see tomorrow morning!

Ob-gyn Appointment #2 – 19w2d

Had my monthly ob-gyn appointment yesterday. Something happened there – I had to wait for 1.5 hours past my appointment time. There were so many women that a few were standing and sitting on the floor in the corridor, including me. Sitting on the floor while pregnant isn’t very convenient, as I found out. My legs fell asleep and my lower back started to ache.

The appointment itself went really well. I didn’t feel rushed, she answered all of my questions (that I brought all written out).

My nuchal results are back. The results are 1 in 2,000 and 1 in 15,000. Can’t remember which which (I think one is based on ultrasound, the other based on the blood test? Not sure. The results are really good, regardless. My colleagues wife just had her result as 1 in 69 – so she had to do amnio, which came back negative, thank god!)

She approved of our babymoon plans, recommended sticking with bottled water, being careful with fruits and vegetables that they wash in tap water (eat them whole, after they properly dry up), and choose sea over swimming pool (where people sit, drink cocktails, and pee).

She gave me suggestion for some constipation relief, reassured me that my breasts are fine (I was getting worried that one of the nipples doesn’t seem to have a “hole” like the other – and it doesn’t produce any white stuff like the other one started to do a few weeks ago).

The heartbeat was fast and strong.

And she said she thinks it’s a girl

19 weeks!

Really? 19 weeks already? And the newsletter – for whatever reason – says I’m halfway there. Um, I thought pregnancy is 40 weeks – so I will be halfway there in a week?

Anyway.

So what it feels like to be 19 weeks pregnant?

Belly is getting BIG. Every now and then I would catch a reflection of myself in a shop window and silently gasp. It feels it happened almost overnight, how much it grew.

This morning, I woke up with a feeling that either a part of skin on my belly, or a part of an internal organ fell asleep. It felt dull and slightly tingly. My baby’s getting bigger and heavier.

The belly support belt probably shouldn’t be warn while seated. Every time I leave it on when sitting down, I get dull muscle pains in my belly. Nothing bad, but still – not pleasant. So the belt should be reserved for prolonged walking and standing (like while cooking).

My hubby felt the baby kick for the first time. I had to guide his hand and tell him where the kicking is happening and then I told him “just now – did you feel it?” – he said he did, although he looked doubtful. He said he couldn’t be sure if it was the baby or me. I assured him there was no “me” happening at the time The baby’s growing and kicking!

I am definitely in the pregnancy constipation land. Boo. Maybe that’s why my belly is so big? I eat so many fruits and vegetables, but it doesn’t seem to have any impact on my digestive system. I’ll talk to my ob-gyn about this tomorrow.

Rolling in bed from one side to another is a chore now. For the brief second that belly is on top of me, I feel how heavy it became. Such an odd feeling. And thinking of how much bigger it’s gonna get is even odder.

I get an occasional leg cramp. Climbing stairs is getting harder and talking while walking is becoming tougher and tougher. Headaches plague me much more rarely than they used to in the first trimester.

So far, no swelling. Which is good. No extra acne, no sensitivity to smells. Although I noticed I can eat reheated meat. Meat leftovers. It just doesn’t taste right. So bizarre.

Overall – life’s good. Started a gift registry, out together and invitee list, waiting for my ultrasound on Wednesday (I hope we find out what we’re having).

Oy! Baby just kicked me again