Twiddling Thumbs: Waiting For Some Moments of Excitement.

Years before I even dreamed of getting preggo, I started eating this horrific concoction of angle hair pasta, butter, corn, mozzarella cheese, and Italian salad dressing. Someone dubbed it "pregnancy food" because it was a weird miss-mash of whatever I could fine in the cupboard (ah, my college years) that would only appeal to a certain crowd. I am eating it today for the first time while pregnant. Delicious as ever!

I've made it to 15 weeks and I'm growing myself a navel orange.

This week, my monster is REALLY moving. I haven't felt the little fish tail swish they say early movement feels like, but allegedly, it's possible. I'm in tune with every movement in my body right now, let me tell you, waiting to know it's REALLY in there! And because of all the movement and developing sweat glands, my baby could possibly be sweating!! If he/she is like me, it's sweat free. I can run a marathon, stink to high Heaven, and never lose a drop. If he/she is like their daddy, they're already a wet mop!!

Every little thing is special. Even if it's gross.

This is kind of a boring part of pregnancy, to be honest. But the boring part of pregnancy makes it easier to live life! I'm not a prisoner of my bed! I'm feeling so great, in fact, thagt we've planned a "Babymoon" to New York City during Easter. My mom took me to see "Grease" in utero and I'm taking my little monster to see the sights! It'll be a nice last adventure (for awhile) for Todd and I and we'll be in great company! I can't wait.

I also can't wait for our appointment this Friday. We get to hear the thumping heartbeat again AND we get our paperwork to schedule our ultrasound! If the monster is behaving, we'll know if it's a boy or a girl! In about 3 weeks, I'll know if I've been reading gossip magazines to my son or my daughter. THAT is going to be amazing. I'm smiling just thinking about it.

But for the moment...nothing too exciting going on in the baby department.

Except, perhaps, the round ligament pain I've been experiencing the week.

About Round Ligament Pain, per WedMD:

Round ligament pain refers to a type of pelvic pain caused by stretching of the round ligaments. This occurs more commonly on the right side of the pelvis.

Your uterus is normally the size of a pear. Thick ligaments, one of which is called the round ligament, hold your uterus in suspension within your abdomen. As the uterus grows in size and weight, these ligaments become very long and thin, stressing and tensing like rubber bands.


The ligaments pull and tug on nearby nerve fibers and sensitive structures, causing pain. The severity of pain can worry you. Although round ligament pain is uncomfortable, it is also very normal.

A ligament spasm, an involuntary contraction or cramp, usually triggers a sharp pain. These spasms are found more frequently on the right side than the left because of the normal tendency of the uterus to turn to the right.

You might awaken at night with pain after having suddenly rolled over in your sleep.

The pain may also be brought on by exercise.

So far, it only happens when I sneeze, cough, or stretch too hard. Weird, but I can handle it. I'm tough!

Funny Friends: A Little Hilarity To Remember.

We were invited to Geneva-On-the-Lake this summer to rent a bunch of cabins with friends. I've done it before with the same friends and it was boatloads of fun. I recall Carol and Lisa doing Neil Diamond karaoke and an impromptu jam session where I played the bongos and drank Jager with Ben. Memories. But this time around, the Geneva dates revolved around Lords of the Highway playing at a bar there on August 19th...THE DAY BEFORE THE BABY IS DUE!

Needless to say, we had to decline the invitation. Sugar's e-mail response follows:

oh goodness, no, please don't come.  we do not know how to birth a baby.  although they DO have a pool.....  are you interested in a water birth?!  I bet you we could pull that off, that would be so exciting for everyone!!

My friends are awesome and ridiculous.

Second Trimester: The Most Fun I'm Going To Have While Harvesting a Human Being.

Important tid-bits regarding the little monster:

1. I've been pregnant for 100 days as of today. Mini-milestone!
2. Aunt Phoebe brought the baby it's first shark! With safety eyes to avoid choking!
3. We've agreed on a boy's name...FINALLY!

I'm just getting over some weird 24-hour bug/food poisoning debacle so don't fret, week 14 pictures will be on their way. There's something about exploding from every angle and whimpering that doesn't really make you want to pose in front of the mirror in your underpants.

So here we are, week 14, the beginning of the second trimester!! I've got to say, I feel fan-effing-tastic, not that I felt totally horrific during the first trimester or anything. I was just very zombie-rific. Now? I'm symptom free, chock full of energy, I don't want to claw any innocent bystander's eyes out, etc. I'm embracing the second trimester. I might even hug it if it were tangible/feasible.

And this week I've got me a lemon! I'm as obsessed with lemons as I am with limes.

Monster is kicking but I can't feel it. Can't wait until I can!

This weekend, I started taking advantage of my sweet rec membership with Sharon and Tessa. We started out slowly and walked a mile against the current. Not so easy but not so awful. Then I took to the track where I walked a few laps and even jogged one. Yep. ONE. Cause if you know me, you know I HATE jogging and joggers and running and runners. Regardless, I have to suck it up and do everything possible to be in the best health for my lemon (and let's be honest, I want my body to bounce back quickly afterwards because I'm slightly vane). Despite itchy unused muscles, I felt great and slept great when all was said and done.

Tonight is round 2. I promised to try and run 2 laps this time.

And here's some cuteness I'd like to remember: while watching the race last night, Todd was typing some notes on the computer. and when I asked what it was he tried to hide it but I'm relentless and obnoxious. It turns out he's been keeping notes about the pregnancy. Early in the 1st trimester he noted I was exhausted and bloated and couldn't stand how things smells, etc. Later in the 1st trimester he noted that I wanted peanut butter sandwiches but that it only lasted a few days, that I bought some more comfortable t-shirts, and that I was having some belly vs. buttoning my pants issues.

And on 2/20, he noted that while we slept, he felt my belly on his back for the first time

: )

Lucky 13: Bringing The First Trimester To A Welcome Close

I've decided not to post pictures of the fetus at corresponding weeks anymore. I just see far too many things that I don't want to see. The more I get attached to this monster I'm harvesting, the less able I am to fathom anything bad happening to it. But I will continue posting the pictures that compare the baby to food. That amuses me to no end!

Last week Todd called the baby his "plum bum". This week, his "Georgia peach". So cute.

I've been very lucky so far with this pregnancy. A few bouts of nausea, a few weeks of mind-numbing exhaustion, and a short period of having no appetite. Besides that, it's been smooooth sailing. And at this point in my pregnancy, the chance of miscarriage is started to fade into the distance. That doesn't mean I'm still not in a state of panic. That's just how I roll. I'm a maniac, especially about my uterus.

When I was nauseated and exhausted and anti-food, I KNEW I was pregnant. Now? There aren't so many signs. Even the burgeoning bump I have/had has sort of decreased in size. But I'm going to embrace the trimester that is coming our way because according to my doctor, this is the part that women love. I'm starting to feel a little bit more domestic and the nesting is starting to set it. It's pretty awesome.

I went to my mom's on Friday where she taught me how to crochet and we shot the breeze. She's going to buy the baby a crib which is reallllly exciting for me. I can't wait to get into that spare room and turn it into a nursery. But we're waiting until we know the gender to get any paint on those walls (we have a check-up on March 4th and will find out 3 weeks after that). No pink and blue for us. This kid is going to have the coolest room ever.

IN FACT...I'm going to ask all my artistic (and even my non-artistic) friends to donate a painting, drawing, photograph, whatever...something that they've made or just think is awesome...to the baby's nursery I want him/her to be surrounded in awesomeness. I love my friends and want out baby to know how truly unbelievable their "aunts and uncles" are.

Enough babble...as for the medical, biological, physiological aspects of the 13th week, the baby's big head is starting to be more proportionate to it's body, bones are forming in the arms in legs, and the monster is continuing to make weird movements which will eventually lead to being able to get their thumb in the their mouth. It's good to have goals! And the vocal cords are trucking along. I wonder if he/she will have my obnoxious laugh...hmmmmm.

The teeth are also forming and the ears are in place and no longer on the neck. That really weirded me out. Ears on the neck, eyes on the side of the heads. intestines in the umbilical cord and then they all move...like a Rubik's cube!!!

Things are good and we're really happy right now. Happy Valentine's Day, y'all.

Goodbye Tight Shirts: Introducing The Bump To The World.

Like I mentioned last week, doctor's are blood hungry. This is the aftermath.

Alright! We're allllmost at the 1st trimester finish line and I've been feeling GREAT. I'm back to being productive, eating well, and feeling alive. The little monster now has all of it's systems in place (the intestines have been squeezed into the body through the umbilical cord like a pastry piping bag) and now they just need to grow!

Monster can also make facial expressions which I am the queen of. AND he/she is taking gulps of amniotic fluid, learning how to swallow and digest. The pituitary gland is producing hormones that will allow my little one to make little ones...YEARS AND YEARS FROM NOW, when they're married and stable. Cause in the words of Chris Rock's mom, "I ain't raisin' no babies!".

The little monster is getting not so little anymore.

And I'M not so little anymore. During a little bit of husband and wife romance, Todd told me, "Oooh, I can really feel your belly now!" I, of course, was repulsed (when it really as kind of cute) and told him not to look at it. He replied, "Why??? it's beautiful!".  Swoon. Well, I don't know if it's beautiful, but there's for sure something growing inside my grapefruit sized uterus and it no longer wants to hide out. It wants to make itself known!!!

When I was getting ready for my family birthday party this weekend (today is my big 3-2), a bump was slightly noticeable through my clothes. Even more so if I pushed my shirt down under my ribs. I sent this blurry pic to Todd via text to show him that his son or daughter wants the world to acknowledge him or her.

I look pretty happy, don't I? Well, I'll be damned.



Seeing and Hearing: The Events Of Our Second Pre-Natal Appointment.

Doctors are BLOOD HUNGRY!!

11 vials of my blood are gone. 11!!! They're looking at the thyroid, the blood type, birth defect markers, the Cystic Fibrosis gene (which we know Todd does not carry so we're in the clear), and whatever else 11 vials of blood can tell them. I felt emptied out. But everyone at the lab from the receptionist to the insurance lady to the lady who drew my blood were SO NICE. Loved them all.

I thought we had an ultrasound yesterday but it's not for a few more weeks. It was a major let down. In 4 weeks we go back in for another routine check up. And a few weeks after THAT we get to find out what kind of junk we're harvesting in there. But it was a let down that Todd still hasn't seen the baby...and that I only saw it for a split-second. Major bummer.

Until we heard the heartbeat. 164 strong beats.

It was probably the BEST sounds I've ever heard. Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah .

: )

Keep On Truckin': Hitting Another Mini-Milestone On Our Road To Parenthood.

200 DAYS TO GO!!!

That's right, damas y caballeros, I've got 200 days left until I meet the little monster that makes me crave chocolate and orange juice, sometimes simultaneously!! Maybe 200 days sounds like a long time, but if you think about it, I've already got 80 days behind me. I have a feeling that things are just going to keep on trucking along.

And in other awesome news...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Vincent William Christopher Ignizio (1/31/11)!!! You have the cutest, smoochable little face and I can't wait to meet you. Also, I'm really glad that you decided to come out on our own (after 24 hours of labor) so your mom didn't have to have a C-section. I get it, everyone does things at their own pace. We're all just glad you're here!

Jen said my odds of having a cute baby straight out of the womb have increased because Evan, Olivia, and now Vincent, were uber-cute right off the bat. I'm not shy to say...a lot of newborns are not-so adorable for the first few days. But those three? The definition of cute. I'm taking the fact that it went boy, girl, boy to mean that our monster is a girl, adding that to the fact that I'm carrying high and the Chinese Gender Chart said so. I'm such a goon.

Phoebe bought us this and it's both awesome AND matches our room. We love it and her.

The monster will be born in the year of the rabbit. Maybe her name should be Bunny!