Growing, Growing, Gone!

Here's today's pic at 24 weeks, 5 days. The other day I told someone we only have 16 weeks left (even less!), and suddenly, slightly panicked, I realized, "WE ONLY HAVE 16 WEEKS LEFT!" Thus far I haven't really been too eager to buy stuff or really get moving on the baby's room, but we are running out of time!

Wednesday night we saw a friend of Fred's from Austin who's baby is due in June - two months before us. I have a lot of growing to do if I am going to get as big as she is now! Her belly is about twice the size of mine.

I'm trying to think if there is anything else interesting that has happened this week that I haven't yet posted about, but I don't really think so. Have a great week!

What is it about Pregnant Bellies?

The Pregnant Belly?

I ask the age old question…What is it about the pregnant belly? Why does it get so much attention? We all know that everyone loves to touch them. Even a lady at church that I’ve never met gave my belly a pat. Actually, it seems that the less I know someone, the more likely he or she will reach for the belly. At first I wasn’t quite sure what to think of this new invasion of personal space, but I don’t really notice anymore. Sometimes I actually look for someone’s hand to grab and place right over that spot where it feels like my little angel is turning my insides black and blue!

I, of course, can’t ignore the growing bulge in my middle - from the moment we saw the first bit of bump, I haven’t been able to keep my hands off of it! If I’m walking down the hall at work, I’ll often slide my arm under it and hold it almost like I’m cradling a baby. When the baby starts tumbling around my hand goes without thinking to the spot where he’s kicking – just so I can feel it from the outside. In moments of idle chatter or TV watching I feel my belly for funny lumps and wonder what that lump might be when I find one (a foot? an elbow? the butt? the head? ). I suppose that is a mothers right – but somehow it always struck me as odd to see how pregnant women never cease to touch their own bellies. A friend of mine seemed to have made such a habit of it that she was still rubbing her belly when the baby was 6 weeks old!

Fred can’t escape it either, these days – he kisses me hello or goodbye and rubs the belly as he does it. Sometimes he just rubs it or places his hand to feel the kicks. Even Miss Maddie can’t let us have all of the fun, except she is more likely to think that my growing belly is a great place to rest half of her body or prop her self up against when curling up on the couch. I guess I am just going to have to get used to my center being the center of attention until August – and then of course I’ll let our baby bean have all of that glory.

Birthing videos - The reverse-snuff film

Elizabeth wants me to watch videos of women giving birth so that I know what to expect when Baby Sanchez is born. My reaction to that is running out of the room screaming like a little girl. It's like watching a reverse-snuff film. The polar opposite between a snuff film and a birthing video is that a snuff film a shows a person being taken out of the world and the other shows somebody coming into it. My reaction is the same for both.

Of course I'll be with Elizabeth in the delivery room, but it's our baby being born and my wife. That's something that I wouldn't miss for the world. I guess when it comes down to a month before the due date, I'll watch those birthing videos so I can build up my tolerance.

23 weeks, 5 days

Belly gets bigger and bigger every day it seems! Today a lady at church waved me in front of her as we were walking through the door saying, "moms first!" Believe it or not, this weekend is the first time I've had someone I don't know reference my belly. The lady at church though, was much nicer than the lady on Friday who asked me how much longer I had and when I replied August commented "oh you still have a long time." I'm really tired of hearing that! I don't think that I'm unusually huge or anything!

Fred and I spent this week taking hospital tours to pick the hospital where we'll deliver this little munchkin. Both St. Luke's and Methodist Hospitals in the Medical Center are very nice, but we are going to go with St. Luke's. Among all of THOSE pregnant ladies, however, I was definitely one of the smallest, but many of them are due early this summer. I thought Fred and I were behind on these kinds of things, but turns out that we are on the ball.

The tours were pretty cool, but also made my heart pound a little as I realized what I've gotten myself into. Labor and delivery all happen in the same room at both hospitals. The nurse was eager to show us how quickly the bed converts into a delivery table! WHOA, hello! Talk about making a moment that was somewhat abstract seem very real!

Have you gotten any weird cravings?

This is one of the questions that Elizabeth and I are frequently asked. I guess people expect something like pickles and ice cream or fish and peanut butter, but both of our taste buds love so many different types of food that there is nothing weird to crave. We'll almost try anything. The only strong craving that Elizabeth had was Vietnamese egg rolls, but that only lasted a couple of weeks.

One of the cool things about having a pregnant wife is that you have somebody who can be the dominant decision maker when it comes to food. I usually lay down the "I'm not pregnant"-excuse so I don't have to decide. Sometimes it's easy to come up with a place to go. But, there are many times when we get frustrated with each other because we want the other person to make a decision on where to eat. We have frequent conversation that go like this:

Elizabeth: So where would you like to eat?
Me: I dunno. You decide.
Elizabeth: No, I asked you first.
Me: Well, I want your opinion. What do you feel like eating?
Elizabeth: I don't feel like making the decision, besides you're hungrier than me.
Me: Well, there's Mexican food, burgers, Chinese, Vietnamese, Greek food........
Elizabeth: Nah, I don't feel like eating at any of those places. I want something healthy and light.

The discussion usually ends with me picking a place where I know Elizabeth will not want to go or suggesting that we eat PB&J at home so that I don't have to make the decision. I guess I should be nicer to my pregnant wife.

More Ultrasound Fun!

So Friday I went in for another ultrasound and my regular apointment. Since baby was so uncooperative last time and wouldn't give us a look at his face, just one ultrasound wasn't going to be enough! Our baby wasn't entirely hiding his sweet face this time, and you can see it in the pic I've posted! We never sawa more than that at one time though, because this one likes to bury his head into the placenta, making it hard to get a clear shot! She focused on the lips, checking for any kind of clef lip. The best picture of the baby's lips are in my file at the doctor's office, but I wish I could share - the baby has Fred's lips! They are big full lips, so lucky for her if Baby Sanchez is a girl! The tech did other measurements too, to make sure that Baby Sanchez is still growing just fine. She checked for the baby's gender too (I turned my head away), but the baby just wasn't going to give up that kind of information! He had his legs crossed to keep her from getting a peak in between them - maybe that means he is a modest she! So that means that not even my doctor will know if we are having a boy or a girl until the big day comes. :-)

On top of it being just so darn fun to see those little body parts on the screen, Baby Sanchez sure was moving around a lot. He kept kicking the tech's ultrasound wand, which I could both feel and see on the sonogram screen. Very cool! And the baby flipped into breech position during the ultrasound, which is fine, so long as baby realizes which way is down sometime before August.

5 months!

So, my computer/internet explorer/blogger sucks! I had a post almost ready to post and the whole thing crapped out on me and its all gone. No saved versions or anything. Bitter Bitter Bitter, I'm bitter...

Anyway, here are my 22 weeks, 5 days pictures. Our baby is due to arrive exactly 4 months from today! Time is flying - I just hope we get everything taken care of in time. The belly is really growing by leaps and bounds at this point & I am packing on about a pound a week - not that I would really know because at this point I am pretty much avoiding the scale unless absolutely necessary & eating really healthy the week before any Dr. office weigh in. In addition to the growth spurt, I feel like I'm standing more like a pregnant woman, which just makes the belly look even bigger!

We finally made a treck out to BabiesRUs this week (there isn't one really close to us), just to get an idea of what we might need/want for the baby. I like the convertible cribs, but don't think they are as practical as they sound - and, without moving rails, they are harder to put a sleeping baby into as he gets bigger.

It was also a great opportunity to really think about bedding too - I think we've narrowed it down to either "Patchwork Pooh" or "Dream Teddy." Pooh is a classic! But I think the bears are so cute, too. We're going green - obviously since we don't know if this little booger is a boy or a girl. Plus, green will be good for all future babies.

Anway, more growing to do, so I need to get some sleep!

21 weeks, 5 days.

First of all, Happy Easter! We are pretty exhausted from all of our Easter happenings, but I wanted to make sure I got my pictures up! The belly sure is getting bigger. The last three weeks I have really just POPPED out!

I finally got myself into a maternity clothing store and actually found some affordable things that I like. Motherhood actually had stuff at decent prices, so I bought some stuff for going out and for going to work. Jill and her friend Elena were with me and helped by bringing me stuff to try on. Jill brought me a simple green shirt - turns out it was a nursing shirt! Whoa - it had some easy access holes for baby's dinner! I decided I don't really need one of those till baby gets here, so we put that one back ;-).

In other big news, our baby has finally broken the one-pound mark! It is hard to believe I've gained so much weight and the baby is only 1 lb! This week, our baby is developing the sense of touch. In fact, his grip is quite developed by now — and since there's nothing else to grab in utero, he may sometimes hold on tight to that umbilical cord (don't worry — it's tough enough to handle it). The sense of sight is also getting more developed. The baby can now perceive light and dark much better than before (even with those fused eyelids). Moving up from the eyes, the eyelashes and eyebrows are well formed now — and even more hair is sprouting atop that cute little head. His hair doesn't have any pigment yet and is bright white, but somehow I don't think we will have any blond-headed children ;-).

The Belly - It grows AND moves!

So I officially think I will be as big as a cow before this is all over. I saw a neighbor yesterday that wanted to know how much longer I had - when I said four-and-a-half months, she said, "oh, you still have a while." Does this mean that I am growing super fast, or what? I'm just going to chalk it up to the fact that I was wearing a size small, non-maternity shirt, which I'm sure I looked like I was about to pop out of. All the same, I actually enjoy having a pregnant belly to show off :-). Just for reference, to the right I've posted my 11-week picture. I think I'm even wearing the same pants; gotta love stretchy jeans!

Long ago in the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder, or rather the days when I read books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (over and over again), I read about the slaughter of a pig, and how the children filled the pig's bladder with air and used it as a ball. Apparently that is the origin of the air-filled balls of today. It seems that Baby Sanchez has also come up with the same idea concerning bladders and balls and now gets a great thrill out of kicking my bladder! I had heard of such things, but now I really understand. Generally, I can't feel Baby Sanchez kicking my stomach or my intestines, but when he kicks my bladder, I get a sudden and immediate urge to find a restroom. Not only is it fun to kick, but it must also be a pleasant place to rest. I make the potty run only to release about as much as a hamster could manage - every half hour until Baby Sanchez decides to flip over and kick something else. The whole thing is enough to make me want to stand on my head and let gravity pull the baby away from my bladder. Somehow, I don't think my doctor would approve of such gymnastics...

The coolest thing about his kicks, when more comfortably directed, is that now I can actually SEE them from the outside! A good martial arts kick from the inside now creates a little ripple on my belly that looks a lot like a muscle spasm. It is pretty amazing to see our baby move. There are still quite a few things to get done before the baby comes, but I am really looking forward to holding our little buddle in my arms :-).