Pregnancy Photos

Maternity photo shoot. Look, we can be cheesy just like everyone else! It was a rainy day when Hillary came over to take our pictures, but we got a few nice shots around the house.

Third Trimester

Okay predictably, it's been a long time since I've posted. It felt like most of the second trimester didn't have too many big milestones, which was nice and uneventful. But there are a handful of small changes that I've noticed:

• 24 weeks: saw my belly twitch from the outside
• 26ish weeks: starting feeling him move higher up near my ribs, not only down low
• 27 weeks: felt the baby hiccuping in there
• 28 weeks: first round of maternity clothes are too small - seemed impossible a month ago!
• 28ish weeks: started overheating - very weird since I'm normally always cold
• 29 weeks: first real case of cankles (aka Aunt Louisa ankles), due to too much flying

Now I'm officially in the third trimester and I'm definitely having more aches and pains but overall not too bad. My gym membership ended so I stopped doing Zumba and started some prenatal yoga instead. Not so much of a workout but it should be good for me and baby!

Peace Cereal

I haven't had any weird cravings since I've been pregnant. Though I have had a sudden aversion to the smell of garlic and certain people's breath. But for some reason I seem to be eating a whole lot of Raspberry Ginger Peace Cereal. I don't know what it is about this particular cereal, but it always seems to be just what I want to eat. Breakfast, snack, dinner, 2am feeding, it is always the right time of day for cereal! I think this baby is made up of about 50% peace cereal. And Lotus hasn't been complaining either since she gets to drink the extra milk every time.

Move It!

Sometimes people ask what the best thing about being pregnant is. So far, none of it has been too pleasant for me. Nothing has been so terrible, but there are lots of little annoying, uncomfortable things and it hasn't been particularly fun.

Except for when the baby moves! I first felt some faint movement at 19 weeks, and now at 23 weeks it's more often but still not very strong and can't really be felt from the outside. Which means it's a special little feeling that only I get to have! I'm still not that big and don't look so pregnant, so whenever I feel him moving around it's like a little reminder that he really is in there!

A Few Too Many Cookies?

Here's what things look like from my perspective. Sort of. Somehow the photo makes my belly look way bigger than it really is - photos have a funny way of doing that. Though I guess the fact that I can still see my feet tells you it's not as big as it will be...

20 Weeks

As pregnant women do, I've been having LZ take a profile photo of me (almost) every week so at the end we can look back and remember when we thought I was fat but really wasn't yet. And so we can make a cool flipbook animated gif type thing. This is the first week there is really something obvious to see!

Ultrasounds

Highlights from the ultrasound pictures:

 13 weeks: creepy open-skull attack baby

17 weeks: he has a spine and ribs and everything

Catch Up

Since I'm just starting to post and I'm 20 weeks, I better do a catch-up of all the milestones so far. I doubt I'll remember when things happened later on so I want to have it all recorded.

• 4 weeks: got a positive pregnancy test, yay!
• 6 weeks: started feeling like crap - tired and nauseous all the time, though I only actually threw up 4 times.
• 8 weeks: first ultrasound - looks like a blob but they say it's a baby!
• 9 weeks: discovered my genetic mutation (familial dysautonomia) - good thing LZ is not Jewish too.
• 12 weeks: stopped feeling like total crap, upgraded to mediocre!
• 13 weeks: first trimester screening, with a much cooler ultrasound including open-skull attack baby picture.
• 17 weeks: AFP screening came back positive but ultrasound reveals a healthy spine and a baby boy!
• 18 weeks: made the switch to maternity pants.
• 19 weeks: wasn't sure at first but I started to feel the baby moving!
• 20 weeks: I might actually look pregnant now, depending on what I'm wearing and who's looking.

Baby Blog

Since I hadn't posted on this blog in 5 years, I've decided to repurpose it into a baby blog. I'm more likely to post here than make a traditional baby book, and this way friends and family can follow along as much or little as they like. So, if you haven't heard the big news - I'm pregnant!

This was my special announcement photo. I think only one person thought I was telling her Lotus was pregnant.