19 Weeks

Week 19... I feel like if I blink I'll open my eyes and it'll actually be week 29 or something. The weeks are whizzing by. This week you're about the size of an heirloom tomato. Sometimes I look down at my belly, and wonder how something so big (and getting bigger every day) is fitting inside there...

heirloom tomatoes

And then I look at how big my belly is getting, and realize you're certainly not shy about making room! I'm definitely showing now -- no question about it. I can still hide it under a baggy sweatshirt, but in most clothes there's a nicely defined bump that says "baby" and not "just came back from an all-you-can-eat buffet". My work pants are hitting the point where I can't zip them up anymore (thank God for belly bands, which have allowed me to hold my unbuttoned/unzipped pants up so far). Even the one, loose pair of jeans I had that I was still able to button for quite awhile is at the point where it's uncomfortable to button (unless I plan to only stand, and not eat anything). Guess it's time to go buy some maternity pants... yikes!

You've been quite the wiggle worm lately. I notice it mostly when I'm sitting, like at my desk at work. Yesterday, for instance, I was snacking on some pineapple and strawberries in the afternoon, and you started kicking up a storm! I keep trying to feel my belly when you're flopping around a bunch, to see if I can feel anything externally. I can't wait until your daddy can start experiencing that too. He keeps joking that he can't wait until he sees an elbow stretch across my stomach!

We had another doctor's appointment last night, with Laura Ahn. It was short and sweet, and pretty routine. We heard your heartbeat again, although as soon as she found it you moved away, and she had to chase you down. We kept hearing these other *thuds* coming through, and she told us that was you kicking the doppler. I was laying on my back, but couldn't feel any of the kicks -- so you're probably doing lots more wiggling than I'm even aware of.

Let's hope you can hold still enough on Monday though... We have our anatomy scan scheduled for Monday morning, and with any luck we'll be able to find out if you're a boy or a girl that day! It'll be nice to be able to be able to call you a "he" or a "she" (instead of an "it"), and start the dirty work of planning your nursery, picking out your name, and all that other fun stuff. Then the following weekend we'll be hosting a party for our closest family and friends to announce your sex to them too. I've got a whole, fun little theme planned. Stay tuned for all the details!

On another note, I had to laugh at myself this morning, because clearly pregnancy is making me lose my mind. At one point -- either last night or this morning, although either way I know I was laying in bed -- I suddenly had about 2 seconds of panic where I thought I had forgotten to give my coworker, Liz, the salad I had picked up for her while I was out to lunch. Of course, as soon as the thought passed through my head, I realized how absurd it was, because Liz would have hunted me down had I not! And what a silly thing to randomly worry about anyway. Then, this morning, I was running a couple of minutes ahead of schedule (which has definitely not been the norm lately) and kept feeling like I must have forgotten something. As I was walking from my car into the BART station, I suddenly thought "oh no, did I forget my belly?!" To which I immediately shook my head at myself, and realized I had officially lost it. And since we're only halfway through, I shudder to think at what other kinds of irrational stupidity and craziness I'm in store for!