On the Move!

Baby Bug is making such advancements! I’m 19 weeks, and already a lot has progressed since I last wrote at 16 weeks.

My breast sensitivity FINALLY abated for a few weeks, and now has come back in a different form. They feel muscularly sore and achy, in a way that I can feel with very minimal movement.

I was already having difficulty bending over my abdomen a few weeks ago to put on shoes, pick something up off the floor, etc. That’s improved only because I’ve figured out how to bend in a different way that accommodates my growing belly; I squat slowly with my knees going outward, like a plie. (Tying shoes is still difficult, but I sit down and bring my foot up on the opposite thigh to make it easier, instead of bending down to the floor.)

It’s a rare treat to get a good night’s sleep. Not only am I up every hour or two to pee, but my body is apparently aware that I’m not supposed to be sleeping on my back anymore. I can only fall asleep on my back, but I’ve been turning to my side in my sleep and then waking up out of discomfort at some point afterward. My friend gave me her pregnancy body pillow because she didn’t want to have to store it, and after five nights of trying, I haven’t figured out a way of using it that actually keeps me comfortable enough to fall asleep. I can still get away with being on my back for probably another couple weeks, according to what I’ve read, but I don’t know how I’ll adjust after that. It’s already problematic.

At my 16 week check-up, the doctor said to have plenty of calcium because critical bone development would be happening for the next few weeks. The baby will get enough calcium no matter what, but will take it from my own supply which will hurt my own bones if I don’t get what I need. Also, fat is necessary for helping your body absorb the calcium, so I kept whole milk and full-fat yogurt and cheese around. I craved it like crazy, buying chocolate milk at restaurants and carrying string cheese with me wherever I went. Then that craving faded about a week ago and now I have to remind myself to continue having dairy, though I feel like my body is telling me the critical period has passed. It’s so amazing to me how my body knows what it needs and gives me the cues to get it! I craved steak in the first few weeks of pregnancy when I needed lots of iron and protein, then hated meat and craved simple carbs for the second part of my first trimester when I needed energy, and now I craved dairy for a few weeks while baby’s bones were calcifying. The human body is just incredibly designed.

The best change is that I can feel baby move! I’ve been soooo eager for that day, for that regular awareness that there is really a life growing inside me, and it finally happened last Shabbat after a lunch at the Outback (one of our guilty pleasures that we only indulge in maybe once a year) while we were sitting and chatting. My doctor had said movement is typically felt between 18 and 25 weeks, and I was 17 weeks and 6 days at the time. I had been hoping it wouldn’t take me til almost 25 weeks to feel something! Several people have told me they didn’t feel their baby for a while longer just because the mistook the early flutters for gas or hunger pangs, but to me it felt very distinct, like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I knew immediately what it was. It felt like a goldfish was trapped in my abdomen and had just run up on the wall of its enclosure. I felt it on the lower right side of my abdomen. I didn’t feel anything the next day, but then felt it again on Monday, and then two or three times on Tuesday. On Wednesday or Thursday, it finally shifted to the lower center of my abdomen and became much more frequent.

Up until Friday, I was texting my wife every time I felt it move so she could be included. I would just text “Bug” each time, and she would know. Friday, it was too frequent for me to keep up with doing that anymore. Our baby also developed hearing about a week ago, and at the last Shabbat service, the baby was moving like crazy throughout all the music. At one point, it was so strong and unexpected that I jumped in my seat and my wife was concerned that something was wrong. Then it stilled as soon as we got outside. On Sunday, we played a Debbie Friedman CD loudly in our living room while we were organizing the contents of our desk, and again the baby was moving so much. I know all babies love music, but I also know that we chose a donor who plays jazz piano, and this was a reminder that I want to watch out for and nurture any musical talent or interest that may be there. There are wonderful artists and musicians in my wife’s family, including her own mother, brother, sister, and grandfather, and it’s just not something either of us have so it could go unnoticed by us. I also know that’s something that should be tapped into early or it could be lost. (If there is no interest or talent, it is okay for it to fade out. I am still glad I had five years of piano lessons even though ultimately it wasn’t something I felt inclined to and I lost interest. Same for ballet, bowling, and other activities I dabbled in as a kid. There is so much value in exploration and learning of any sort!)

Though I’ve only gained six or seven pounds (which is good – since I’m overweight already, I should be on the lower end of the healthy amount to gain), I very much look pregnant, and I’m loving that. I love seeing how my belly looks in maternity shirts, and I LOVE how my breasts look in their new C cup bras. I bought three regular and one sleep bra at Destination Maternity, using a sale and a coupon to get them very reasonably. I got nursing bras without underwire so that I can keep using them until I go back to my old bras (sad day that will be). I fill them out pretty well, yet there is still some room for them to grow more since I know that is to be expected. LOVING THEM.

I am so excited for the 20-week sonogram next week. After getting sonograms at 4 weeks (after a bleeding incident, but sac was a tiny dot that couldn’t be confirmed), 5 weeks (to confirm it was not ectopic), 7 weeks (heartbeat at the clinic), 8 weeks (heartbeat at the OB), and 12 weeks, going 8 weeks without one was torture!! I’ve been counting down to December 30^th with ridiculous levels of excitement. The torment has eased, though, since I started feeling Bug move. Feeling the baby gives me so much of the connection and reassurance that I look to sonograms for.