The Pic

Introducing Baby Moon, 20 weeks 4 days
For those who need a little extra help, Moon's head is to the left, profile of the head with nose and mouth visible at the top, the spine along the bottom curving upward to the right and the white line top right in the space is his femur. This is not the full plow pose but one he spent half the time in, when he wasn't wiggling and moving around. :)

And the award goes to....

those who guessed * boy *.

Went for our 20-week ultrasound this afternoon. Active little fella, he was. :)
But unless our eyes decieve us, it surely looked like little boy parts on the screen.

Everything else looks good, he has a nice long spine with lots of vertebrae, a big head,
a beating heart, two arms complete with elbows and hands and two legs with knees and feet. He has a nose and mouth, two eyes, a stomach, bladder, kidneys, etc. He's pretty flexible too. At one point he had his legs all the way over his head (looked just like "plow" pose for those who know yoga)

Got some okay photos, we were over in the XRay dept as the Ultrasound area was full and our tech, who was great, was having problems with the printer printing too dark. Ah well. It was lots of fun to see him moving around in there.

And yes, we are still thinking Cael sound good for a name. I'm sure I'll spend the rest of my life explaining that k-a-l-e is a green, leafy vegetable and C-a-e-l is an Irish variation of Nicholas that means "mighty warrior". Matt likes River as a middle name. I'm still looking but have nothing better at this time. :) Still taking suggestions for first or middle names. :)

And currently I'm at my parents so the pics will be in the next post when I'm back at my own computer and scanner. Til then, be well.


P.S. T-minus 5 days til the Oscars! and 5 more films to see! Oy!

Things I crave

The ultrasound is in two days. Will we find out? Yes, if baby is cooperative. Do we have a preference? Not in the slightest. We've never had a boy but we have the clothes for a girl and Teagan having a sister is a nice prospect.

I am going to call the chiropractor tomorrow to see about this sciatic/piriformis pain that keeps recurring. Stretches seem to help, but only marginally and I can't help but feel as if some assistance in getting the pelvis aligned better will be beneficial. I know I've been off a long time, but we'll just go and see what she has to say.

Cravings as of late: Well, I can not consume enough pizza or cheeseburgers, but what I really can not get enough of is maple iced cream-filled doughnuts. (and those tasty tasty cupcakes from Giant Eagle) With Teagan I had a serious constant craving of Hostess Ho-Hos. I had one the other day and it just doesn't please me like the doughnut. Ah well. One doughnut does the trick and I'm only indulging every few days. :)
Why can't I crave steamed vegetables? I cannot drink enough water. That's gotta count for something? Right? :)

Misheard

Disturbing things I've heard Teagan say (or thought I heard her say)

She really likes to ask people if they like to "eat bunnies"

...if you inquire further, you'll find out that she really means chocolate bunnies as she is obsessed with Easter coming. :)

The other day she was talking about "slitting wrists"

....actually what she said was ........something about lists

Today she was running the massager over me saying she was "going to skin you, Mama"

...when what she was really saying was "scan you"


So, who's morbid and deranged? Teagan or me? :) Good thing I know Teagan and am quick to reassess what she's meaning to say....and decode the articulation substitutions. :)

A Tea Party

Well, unfortunately, no belly pictures were taken at the party, but here are some nice pics of Teagan and her friends. :) Not all of these are from the Valentine's Tea Party as I didn't get a lot of good pictures, honestly.

Grandpa Bruce (above) was not in attendance at the party. He's having health issues and slept the entire afternoon, but I liked this picture from XMas.

Grandpa Carl

Nana (who co-hosted the party) has been grooming Teagan as a hostess and lover of everything holiday. :)

Matt (Daddy) -photo from not from party- showed up after lunch as he had to wait for furnace guy to come an hour late and tell us, after another hour, that he can't fix the furnace afterall.

Our friend, Tom.

Angela and Jeff

Grammy and Grandpa

And of course, me

The party went well. We had super yummy food, as always, which included scones & tea, little sandwiches, choice of chicken bowtie or baked potato soup, jello-pretzel salad, and three desserts: sugar cookies, mini cheesecakes and heart-shaped jello. :) Everyone had a great time, we ate and laughed a lot and played a round of FindIt before heading home for naps. :)

Mini Update

If I can find the camera, I'll take pictures of Teagan's Valentine's Tea Party today. Also, a new belly picture to be had as I've been a-growing.

Just a quick update though as I had my appointment with Colleen (midwife) and first prenatal with Rae (doula) on Wednesday.

Colleen's appt: All is well.
* My blood pressure was a lovely 112/73.

* I've gained 5 more pounds putting me up to 166.5 - I'm making bets with myself to NOT get to 207 lbs this time. (granted I think 40 lbs of that was A LOT of swelling...total weight gain with T = 66lbs).

* Heard and recorded the baby's heartbeat, but have no way of posting that. It sounds like a heartbeat in uterus at 150 beats/minute. Played it back for Teagan, took a few times for her to hear it but now she reports to people that it's her baby you can hear. Yes, HER baby is in MY belly, according to her. :)

*Colleen and I talked about my reflux and reviewed ways to manage it (all of which I knew already and am implementing, most of the time) as well as plans for hospital location. She is now at Lakewood and as long as I make it to 35 weeks, I'll deliver there. 37 weeks or more and I can have the water birth. :) Both Colleen and I think I'll go over 40 weeks this time, don't know why, just do. I was thinking 7-7 would be nice (Teagan's is 10-7) or 7-10-08 would also be nice. I like play on numbers. If I deliver at any time up to and including 34 weeks, 6 days, I have to go to Fairview Hospital as they have the NICU. Apparently St John's does not anymore. Alas.
Fairview would be alright. Nice birthing suites, but then they move you upstairs for recovery. Ah well. Hopefully not an issue.

*Got requisite for the 20-week ultrasound and it is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb 19th at 1:00pm. Expect another update following. :)

Meeting with Rae:

* It was really nice to see her again, but I think she forgot how much Matt HATES the male stereotypes of husband with pregnant wife. He is kind, sensitive and involved completely.

*She gave us a lot of good resources including a birthing class workbook. We'll read through it and decide if we still want to go to Jill's Bradley Method class. Can never be TOO prepared. :) Also a name of a good chiropractor who I'm going to check to see if she is on our health insurance plan as I'm already having sciatic/piriformis pain.

*We went over our birth plan which was informative and I'm still glad to hear from Rae, what Colleen's practices are and they are very much in line with what I'd like. For example, you can eat during labor (knowing you will probably vomit midlabor, but better to have sustenance), no IV port unless you are Strep B positive in which case there is a need for IV antibiotics, laboring is various positions is supported, and pretty much okay with refusal of any extra medical procedures unless she feels they are necessary for the health and safety of the baby/mama. She even has some nice options to the typical western medicine procedures. Like say for instance, the baby is big and having trouble coming out....they'll do perineal massage and warm compresses to help rather than go right to episiotomy. I like these options and plan to help prep as much for labor as possible

*Rae reminded us, which is always good to hear, that when we go to the hospital it is to labor. Labor is hard work, it hurts and we can do it! :) She has a lot of good techniques in her bag of tricks and has been doing this for almost 10 years now! I'm so glad to have her on our team.

So now I'm in yoga Tuesday nights, Fridays we are taking Teagan to the warm water pool for Family Swim Night (which is a great place for me to workout without the pressure of weightbearing in sitting or standing) and I have the schedule for the aquatic classes. I'm thinking a warm water class once a week might be a nice addition. Need to be prepared for the marathon of birth :)

And did I mention that I can feel Baby Moon once in a while moving in his little womb? It's not real strong yet, but reassuring and odd at the same time.

And there you have it, my maybe-not-so-mini update. :) Pictures soon!