Our son could be here in 7 weeks

7?

Seven?

SEVEN?!?!

I can't even think with that right now. Tomorrow I'm 30 weeks along, and if the c-section continues to be imminent, then it could be only another 7 weeks.

7?

7 weeks...

Our little guy kicks up a storm what feels like all the time. Right now he's quiet, but often he's rolling and kicking and punching until 1:30 a.m... I think we can feel much more than we did with Lily because my muscles and everything aren't strong and toned like they were before I had her. Everything's kinda loose. Stretched.

I'm happy to say that I have no water retention yet and I don't think I've ballooned out the way I did with Lily, when I gained 40 lbs. I think I've only gained 20 so far. I know I'll lose it so I'm not agonizing over it or hopping on the scale every day.

So all in all, things are well. Can't believe the little guy could be here so soon...

Preggo foods

A friend of mine recently got married and she took a lot of photos of this onion soup she had... you know, the kind with the melty cheese on top? Mmmmmmmm....

Cheese has been my #1 craving this pregnancy, along with sugar (sigh). But I also seem to crave well-rounded meals--chicken, veggies and rice for example. Lately it's been this wicked omelette that Tomek made us for lunch on Sunday. He put chopped up green pepper and onion in boiling water to soften, then added them and honey maple ham and cheddar cheese to the cooked egg. It was too much to make into a whole omelette, so it ended up being a scrambled omelette... but SO much cheese, with sour cream on top... it was beyond delicious. I've had 1 a day since. But now we are out of green pepper. Pout. And it just tastes better when he makes it for me. Even better than KFC poutine. I never would have believed I'd find something better for preggo cravings than poutine. But it finally happened. Oh, and smartfood popcorn (you know, with the white cheddar flavour) is super good too. Not to be had late at night I don't think. The Little Guy had me up till after 3:30 this morning with his rolling and kicking. Or maybe it was the glass of gingerale I had with the popcorn. Yum.

These moments make parenting AMAZING

This morning I was getting dressed and was sitting on the bed. Lily was standing in front of me, watching, as usual. She touched my bare belly and said baby. :) I told her yes, there's a baby in there, and then she stroked my belly and said cacy (tsa-tsi, in Polish, means nice, or gentle... which is what she says when she strokes anyone's hair or any of her stuffed animals).

She's starting to understand that a little brother is on his way!

Naming

I never imagined that choosing names for my children would be so difficult. We didn't choose Lily's name till the final days... but we did have a name for her before she was born.

We are having NO luck with agreeing on a boy name. A name which ideally won't be TOO common (like Bob or Joe), and not too odd, be pronounceable in English AND Polish (the tough part) or at least have a Polish version.

Before Lily was born, we had Lukasz chosen for a boy. Lucas, but spelled the Polish way. (And in Polish it sounds like WOO-cash.) Now I'm leaning towards James because it's always been my favourite boy name, but that would mean that Lily's name and his name would be the same as Harry Potter's parents. Jakob is also a possibility... it's the closest name to James in Polish. But the short-form of it is Kuba... which to me is something you'd name a dog.

These are some names we've already nixed:

• Ezekiel
• Zenon
• Zachary
• Helmut
• Heinrich
• Oswald
• Casper
• Boris
• Bernard

It's a...

foot!
Not what you were waiting for? Oh.

Side view: head with hands in front of face

We're having a boy! :)

Most likely by c-section because of my placenta, but I'm not going to think about that right now. I'm going to have a son. And he's growing well, developing well. Everything looks great. :)

I can't take the suspense!

Today at 2:30 is my ultrasound. The purpose of the u/s is to see if my pesky placenta has moved up at all. I may or may not find out the gender of the baby. But I'm hoping I have a nice tech who will check if I ask. And who will let Tomek in to see the baby on the screen.

24 1/2 weeks

Nice and round.

The baby kicks!

Once this video starts (it's only 22 seconds long) start counting. Between 11 and 13 you should see a distinct "kick" to the right of my belly button.

In a nutshell

I have placenta previa. They aren't sure if it's partially or completely covering my cervix. I'll have another ultrasound when I'm around 24 weeks to see if the placenta has moved at all.

Pesky placenta

they say no news is good news

The walk-in clinic I originally went to got my ultrasound results and called me because the doctor there wanted to go over the results with me. I told them I was with the maternity centre, so the clinic told me to call the centre and see if they had the results. The centre didn't, but the got the results faxed to me and called me back.

The baby is fine. Growth is good, no abnormalities.

My placenta is not fine. They aren't 100% sure (for reasons I don't know since my ultrasound was an hour long), but it looks like my placenta is covering my cervix. That's nothing dangerous in itself... it just means that I have to have another ultrasound between 28-32 weeks and if the placenta hasn't moved, I'll be having a c-section.

There is a chance the placenta is beside my cervix, but in order to safely have a natural delivery, it has to be at least 2cm completely away from the cervix.

So tomorrow we're going to the doctor tomorrow at 2:30 to go over the results in more detail and to see if she wants to refer me to an obstetrician now or after the ultrasound in 10 weeks.

The countdown begins

So I had my very thorough ultrasound today. I got to see the heart beating, the little chambers in it going whump whump, a doppler view of blood pulsing down the umbilical cord from me to the baby, the face (skull), spine, feet, hands, fingers, legs... all looks well! The only thing that could have made it better was if Tomek had been there with me.

The technician figured the baby weighs about 9oz and that I'm 18 weeks and 2 days along. That gives me a due date of March 1, 2008.

I didn't find out the gender, even though the technician seemed to be trying really hard a couple of times. Baby was opening their legs for NOBODY. :)

Here's baby's face and the part under the "Hi Family" (grr) is the forearm. Baby is lying on his/her side resting their head on their hand.

Full view of the spine and head. This was toward the end of the ultrasound, baby is finally resting again, after thoroughly attacking the ultrasound wand. Face down, curled up in a little ball.

boom boom goes your little heart

I finally had my first prenatal appointment today. After nearly an hour wait and a fire drill, I was granted my 3.78 minute long appointment (which begs the question why are the waits so long when the appointments are so short?).

A strong heartbeat came over the monitor, at 155 beats/minute. That's about as fast as Lily's heart was.

The doctor also measured my uterus and said she wouldn't be surprised if I was farther along than the other doctor said I was because my uterus is now up to my belly button.

But I'm still sitting at my normal weight: 120 lbs. Hmm.

First kicks!

On Friday night Tomek and I felt the first pokes and kicks of our new little one. It was just as amazing as the first times I felt Lily move inside me.

guessing game

Guessing game

I had a bit of a surprise waiting for me when I showered this morning. I looked down and... !!!

My first ultrasound is in 10 days. Last Sunday, the craptastic walk-in clinic doctor estimated I'm at about 15 weeks. He measured my uterus and it was at 15 cm. That's where he got his guesstimate from.

pondering gender

I just did the ring test with my wedding ring and it definitely moved in circles. That means a boy.

Here's another test I took earlier with Lily. I think it's more for later on but there are some things I can answer. Bold means yes.

It's a boy if:

• You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy
• Your baby's heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute
• You are carrying the extra weight out front
• Your belly looks like a basketball
• Your areolas have darkened considerably
• You are carrying low
• You are craving salty or sour foods
• You are craving protein -- meats and cheese
• Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy
• The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy
• Your hands are very dry
• Your pillow faces north when you sleep
• Dad-to-be is gaining weight, right along with you
• Pregnancy has you looking better than ever
• Your urine is bright yellow in color
• Your nose is spreading
• You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves in circles
• You are having headaches
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number

It's a girl if:

• You had morning sickness early in pregnancy
• Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute
• You are carrying the weight in your hips and rear
• Your left breast is larger than your right breast
• Your hair develops red highlights
• You are carrying high
• Your belly looks like a watermelon
• You are craving sweets
• You are craving fruit
• You crave orange juice
• You don't look quite as good as normal during pregnancy
• You are moodier than usual during pregnancy
• Your face breaks out more than usual
• You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread
• Your breasts have really blossomed!
• Your pillow faces south when you sleep
• Your urine is a dull yellow color
• You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves from side to side
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number