Ultrasound update and more

'Ello there! Just wanted to stop in and tell you about our ultrasound we had on Friday.

First up, I only gained 1 pound since my last visit. Grand total: 11 pounds. The baby is measuring right where she should be. She weighs 15 ounces. I'm not sure on the length. Her heartbeat was 124 bpm. We saw the four-chamber heart pumping, the stomach, the kidneys, the spine, and all sorts of other cool stuff. It was amazing to see her in there moving around. At that moment, she was head down with her legs up and around my belly button. The doctor seemed to deem everything as normal and working beautifully. We didn't get to see Raina's face because she was facing towards my back, but that's okay.

My favorite part was when we saw her little hand waving at us.

The latest baby dream went a little something like this: It was our first day home with the baby, who was a boy (again). He needed his diaper changed, and it was the first poopy one, so I called Kevin over to come and help me so he could learn. I set the baby on the floor in this tiny, wood-paneled room, and looked up to see if Kevin was coming. When I looked down, the baby was a white piece of paper cut out like a gingerbread man. He had brownish yellow stains on him, which was the poop. We got him all cleaned up (at least I assume, because I don't remember this part of the dream), and put him down for a nap. Then the next thing I remember about the dream is sitting around a table talking to people, and all of a sudden thinking, "Oh my gosh! I have a baby! I can't just sit here! I need to go make sure he's okay!"

My parents came up on Friday night and stayed until just about an hour ago. My mom and I spent almost all of yesterday baking cookies (and this is after reducing our numbers from last year). Meanwhile, Kev and my dad worked on the baby's room. They tore the carpet out, and tried to find a way to put an overhead light in the ceiling. The ugliness and uselessness of the room in its present state is more than enough to motivate us to get the new trim and carpet installed ASAP. Maybe (just maybe) over Christmas break I'll spend some time painting the trim, since it should arrive by then. Then all we need is some carpet, a closet organization system of some sort, and we're ready to move in!

Today, my brother, Kathy, and Zach came up to celebrate my dad's and my birthday. We had quite the feast (ribs, mashed potatoes, corn, broccoli, fruit salad, bread), and now we have quite the leftovers! 'Twas grand times.

Fo reals?

A parent of one of my students told me today that I've popped. I have noticed that my stomach is noticeably hard. Every week my belly button gets shallower and shallower, rounder and rounder. I had a dream a few nights ago that my belly button popped out and looked like a mushroom. Scary thought.

Update

I had my 18 week OB appointment today. Short 'n sweet. My BP's good, I've gained 3 pounds since the last appointment which makes a grand total of 10 pounds thus far. Right on track, thankyouverymuch. Rain's heartbeat was 152. What was once a noise barely above a whisper has now grown into a talking volume. The nurse commented on how active he is. Once again, he was moving and kicking around. I reassured her that this is his active time, and also forewarned my midwife when it was her turn to listen to his heartbeat. Once the doppler was on my belly, she said I was right and thanked me for the warning. I made an appointment for a 21 week ultrasound on Dec. 12, which is the same day I go to the MN Zoo for a field trip (oy). You see, I like to schedule appointments on field trip days so I have something FUN to look forward to. Although I truly hope the zoo trip will be fun. I just can't guarantee it.

Car accident update: My chiropractor wants to see me twice a week for awhile. He did a scan on my back, and my spine from my shoulder blades up was definitely misaligned. The very lowest vertebra was also out of line. I have two appointments with him next week, and we're going to discuss a chiro closer to home that I can visit for my second appointments of the week. There's no way I'm driving one hour one way twice a week after working for 8 hours. The good news is that I don't have to pay for these appointments. We're still working it out through the insurance companies to hopefully bypass the part where I have to hand over money to my chiro. Hopefully we can work it out where it'll be submitted directly to whatever insurance (hers, my car insurance, my health insurance) will do it. Whatever.

Kev and I both had baby dreams in the past few nights. My latest dream was that I looked at my belly and could see a clear outline of a foot pressing against my belly. Next thing I knew, I was holding a 3-6 month old baby BOY (again). I can't remember what Kev's was about. He usually doesn't remember many details.

17 weeks: P.U.! (updated)

Baby Rain is now the size of an onion. That makes him 5.1 inches and 5.9 ounces. His skeleton is hardening, changing from cartilage to bone, and fat is accumulating around it. His fingerprints are in place. Hopefully we won't need to be putting ink on them too many times in his life.

I think I can feel him move. It's mostly in the evening, when I am no longer up and about constantly. The light flutters I feel are always in the same spot on the right. It's also easier to feel him if my legs are closer to my chest so that I "squish" him. I know it's mean, but it's too cool to NOT do when I haven't felt him for awhile.

I had my first baby dream last night. Rain (not Raina) was born at 17 weeks (yikes), but he was healthy and so cute. I was going to my 6 week appointment after the birth, and put Rain in the backseat of the car, in his infant carrier, but that was on the floor, not in the base that's attached to the car. When I realized this, I was obviously flustered that I didn't think of putting it in the base. My mom was with me, and as we walked into the hospital for the appointment, I told her that I didn't remember anything about the birth. I remember walking into the hospital, and the next thing I remembered was being at home. So maybe that's my subconscious' way of telling me, "It doesn't hurt that bad! You won't even remember the pain!"

Here are the pictures of the week. The fogged-up look is due to the fact I had just taken the camera out of Kev's truck, which had been sitting in the cold garage all night. Cold camera + warm house = foggy lens. One of these weeks, I'll take a decent picture.