Back from Georgia, Land of Snow

After a long and very exhausting day of traveling (through which I learned to always pack more snacks than you think and always buy food at unexpected, unplanned stops at airports on what should have been a direct flight) on Saturday, Pete and I made it home from our lovely Christmas trip to Georgia. I can't even remember the last time I was able to see so many of my cousins all within the same week. Having my parents now living closer to the rest of their extended families than before (when they were in Pennsylvania) makes a big difference.

Spending time with so much family--both immediate and extended--was absolutely wonderful, and the theme of the year seemed to be happy endings. I have two cousins who are "older" (as in, over 30) and have been wanting to be married for a while, and one just got married to an amazing woman just a couple of weeks ago, and the other just got engaged. The cousin I've always been closest to is also engaged and getting married two weeks before my due date (which sadly means I won't be able to be there, of course). And the cousin I mentioned in my last post who had a miscarriage last May announced that she's twelve weeks pregnant!

And, finally, the two inches of snow in Atlanta on Christmas and ten inches up in North Georgia were quite unexpected and fun!

There was so much snow around my aunt's house in North Georgia that we had to park a ways up the road from her and walk to her house carrying our stuff (and not prepared with great shoes, I might add). The four children of cousins (first cousins once removed?), two of whom are from Florida, thought they had died and gone to heaven to have so much snow to play in with so many adults around to play with. Though I think my dad spent about 10 times longer playing with them than any other adult. Did I mention that he loves kids?

Here's my 25-week picture from Christmas Day. The blue ribbon pinned to my shirt was from the little surprise shower my aunt threw for me after we had all opened presents. It was nothing huge--just a delicious chocolate cake and gift cards various family members contributed--but very sweet and unexpected nonetheless. I also think my belly grew quite a bit over the week we were there. It's definitely bigger now, and even my grandmother remarked when we left that it seemed bigger than when we had arrived.

Pete and I did manage to squeeze in a quick trip to Buy Buy Baby while we were there. He absolutely hates shopping, and trips--when he's away from his work and forced to do nothing--are one of the few times he can get in the mood. The only thing we wanted to look at was strollers, and not to buy but just to figure out what we wanted. We have pretty specific criteria with our trip to China in mind--we want something very light  and compact to travel with and fit in taxis, that also reclines fully to work for newborns. I also thought we'd appreciate a stroller that you can set a carseat on for when we're back here. We went in thinking we'd go with a Maclaren Techno but then decided on a Baby Jogger City Mini. Pete convinced me that I would really appreciate the added stability and flexibility of jogging wheels, and it's much easier to fold. Unfortunately, there aren't as many used Baby Joggers out there as there are Maclarens, so we might end up having to get a new one. I keep complaining about the cost (though it's cheaper than the Maclaren), but Pete reminds me that one night in the hospital is going to cost us more than buying the stroller brand new. Point made.

Still Here, Still Pregnant

Like many other formerly infertile bloggers who become pregnant, I think I'm going through a blogger identity crisis. Though there's plenty going on in my life and uterus that I could probably make sound at least marginally interesting, I simply haven't felt much motivation to post regularly. I also feel like I should change the title of this blog, but since I'm doubtful that I'll be continuing it after my baby arrives, I'm not sure if it's worth it.

But, for the time being, I will try to continue blogging. I feel that I at least owe it to you, my readers, and to this blog to continue semi-regularly until there are baby pictures to post, and perhaps a birth story. Anything beyond that will depend on my level of sanity as I deal with a newborn, packing, parents and in-laws visiting, and traveling to China. And given China's current displeasure with Google (and vice versa), who knows how easily I'll even be able to access Blogger from there!

Anywho, since a uterus update is a bit overdue, I'll give a pregnancy notes.

• I'm currently 24 weeks, 2 days pregnant according to me, and 24 weeks, 4 days according to my OB, who did end up moving my due date up by 2 days (at least she didn't go with the 5 recommended by the perinatologist). I just had my 24-week appointment yesterday, and my fundal height is perfectly 24cm, with a strong fetal heartbeat. 
• I've gained about 14 pounds so far, which actually surprises me, because I thought I would have trouble gaining the weight. But my body/baby seems happy to put on a steady pound per week these days.
• The kicking is...well, strong! I sometimes even feel it up in my ribs, even though the uterus isn't that high yet. But I guess that's part of being a long-legged, short-torsoed 5'4". I feel like I'm peeing out about twice as much liquid as I'm consuming, but I think the little guy is just using my bladder as a punching bag on occasion--or a pillow when he's sleeping.
• My biggest pregnancy discomfort is still the various digestive issues--gas, bloating, heartburn, etc. It seemed like they were just getting worse and worse, so I finally went to acupuncture on Friday to see if anything could be done. And I've felt quite a bit better since then--I've had my appetite back in full force, and the gas seems to be...ahem...moving through a bit faster rather than getting stuck for days. Since I feel like I can't keep paying for it but would need it semi-regularly to keep the ole' GI system regulated, I think I'm going to check out a group acupuncture clinic nearby that charges on a sliding scale ($25-40 per session). That's much more affordable, and even though it doesn't sound as attractive to get my treatments while in a room with 4-5 other people, this is supposedly how acupuncture is done in China, and it's supposed to be just as effective, even though they have to focus more on arm and lower leg points so you can keep your clothes on. I'll let you know how it goes. And if you are one of the many people who has wanted to do acupuncture but hasn't wanted to pay for it, you should check out the Community Acupuncture Network and see if there's a group clinic near you.
• Pete and I have started reading baby books, and especially about different sleep/feeding methods. He really doesn't want me to get sucked into a particular sleep philosophy and think it will be the magic solution, so he's making sure we both do our research on what's out there. I'm just happy that he's so excited about doing the research and reading the books! And in case you're wondering, the one thing we are sure of is that co-sleeping (in the same bed) is not going to be an option for us. If you really want to do it without risk of suffocating your baby, you have to sleep with no pillows and no blankets on your bed. No thank you!

In other news, we're headed to the Southeast on Friday to be with my family (including both sides of extended family) for Christmas and the week after. My thoughts are with all of you who are enduring the holidays and still in the throes of trying to get pregnant. I know how hard it is. I actually have one cousin who had a miscarriage this past May and hasn't gotten pregnant since (unless there's an announcement coming soon), so it will definitely be on my mind when I'm with her on Christmas day and everyone's asking me about my pregnancy.

The Cherry on Top

I just wanted to send a huge thank-you-shout-out to Oak for giving me this very cute cherry on top award. Oak's new Acorn Chronicles is looking super cute these days. As you read it, you are being watched by two huge peep-like baby chicks. They make me laugh, and they also make me want to actually click over to the blog whenever a new post shows up in my reader, rather than just reading from the reader.

Thanks Oak!

Does anyone out there in the blogging world know where these awards come from? Have any of you ever designed one on your own and just decided to start passing it around? This one didn't come with any specific instructions about what I'm supposed to write about--or if it did originally, those have been lost in all the passing around.

The Latest Bump

It's growing! I think belly and boobs are about even right now in how far they stick out. I guess that's good. I'm amazed at how I keep gaining a pound a week, without fail, even when I feel like I haven't been eating much. And the extra pound always seems to show up on Tuesday mornings, even though I weigh myself every morning. Very strange.

We also had a very lovely Thanksgiving, five days ago now, I guess. We had 18 people there, and only 4 were Americans (well, 6 if you count the one-year-old and 10-year-old who were born here to foreign parents). The rest were Australian, Colombian, Mexican, and Thai. Quite the mix. And 4 of them were unexpected due to a slight failure to rsvp, though we were thrilled they were able to join us. I had actually been a bit upset when I went to pick up the turkey I had ordered and discovered it was 16.5 pounds! I had ordered one in the 12-16 pound range but was very much hoping for a 12-13-pounder, which makes for pretty easy brining and turning and carrying. But I guess God must have known we were going to have a few surprise guests, because the 16-pounder turned out to be just about right (with the right amount of leftovers--I would have been upset if I hadn't had any leftovers). I'm just thankful I had some strong men around to help me carry it and pull it out of the oven.

We spent the rest of the weekend busy with a bunch of other social events--a birthday party, watching Harry Potter, watching college football games with friends, having friends over for dinner, Christmas shopping (I think I'm mostly done!), etc.

I was also asked to be one of three women who lit the Hope candle (the first Advent candle) during church on Sunday. Two of us are expecting our first child and the third had just had her first, so we were supposed to have special insight into waiting and hoping, and Mary's experience being pregnant and waiting for Jesus to be born, etc. I felt a bit conflicted about it, knowing how this one element would probably ruin a few people's days who were attending the service. But Pete keeps challenging me that I need to let go of this reticence to let others know that I'm joyful (or, in this case, hopeful) about being pregnant. Sensitivity is good, but at a certain point it becomes about me--protecting my image, or trying to get back at fertile people, or whatever--and not about others and the pain they're going through. So I'm working on that.

On Beginning a Registry

I just set up and started a Target baby registry yesterday. I know I'm probably doing this way earlier than most women, but I know myself, and I know it will take me a long time to get a registry I'm happy with. I spent months and months on our wedding registry. I tend to agonize a bit in making sure I'm making the most efficient use of money, and getting exactly the products I want, and making sure there's no overlap in the products, etc.

Adding to my frustration is the fact that you still can't really do this all from home if you have people who will go to stores and shop. I chose to register at Target because they have a lot of stores around us (and probably everywhere else in the country), and I want to make buying me a gift off my registry as convenient as possible for anyone attending my shower (which I'm guessing will be thrown for me sometime in the February time frame). I know that if people can't find something off my registry at their local Target easily, they'll probably just pick something else cute and get it. So, the frustration comes in with the fact that most of Target's online merchandise is not sold in stores. If I want what's available in stores, I have to go filtering through all the possibilities to find the one that is carried in stores...and then what if I don't want that one? Ugh. I expect I'll be doing lots of returning and exchanging in the months after my shower. I am also a little obsessive about not holding onto things that I don't really need or won't use, or simply don't have the space for (we are working with very limited space here--and lots of traveling).

I know, I really can't complain, and I'm really not complaining. I'm so blessed to have friends who will throw me a shower and buy me gifts, really. And it's way more fun to open real gifts at a shower than gift cards!

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In other news, this Thursday is Thanksgiving, in case you didn't know. We're celebrating Thanksgiving with some of the same friends as last year. We'll have 10 of us around the table, and 6 of those are Aussies, some of whom will be experiencing their first American Thanksgiving (and pumpkin pie). Because none of the others have any experience or confidence in turkey roasting, I have become the turkey lady. I'm excited about it this year--I'm going to branch out from the traditional gravy (I've done it four times already--it's getting boring) and do an apple-maple glaze and sauce. I also went back and forth on dry brining vs. wet brining and have decided to stick with my wet brining. From what I can tell, the people who came up with dry brining did it out of a desire for convenience. I don't find wet brining that inconvenient when it's only a 12-14 pound turkey, so I'll stick with it. I'm also doing the stuffing (which will actually be dressing because I don't like actually stuffing the bird), a roasted pear salad, and a pumpkin pecan-praline pie (if you couldn't tell, I tend not to like to make the same dish in the same way twice, so I had to spice up the pumpkin pie somehow).

Last year, as we went around and shared what we were thankful for, I was unable to share the one thing that came to mind first--the fact that I had just ovulated naturally for the first time in over six years. Not something most people needed to know :). This year, I have a very active little boy in my belly, for whom I am overwhelmingly, astoundingly grateful. However, one of the other couples joining us has been struggling to get pregnant for two years, so I will definitely be toning down my emphasis on that aspect, for their sakes.

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A final note. Thanks to those of you who suggested on my last post that I keep my due date where it is. I haven't heard from my OB yet on whether she wants to change it, but I am going to push to keep it on April 10, the official 40-week mark. Like Nico said, I don't want to be pushed into inducing earlier than I need to. And I also know how hard every day becomes psychologically once you go past your due date! Now my parents are just left with the dilemma of how to purchase plane tickets for coming to visit. They'd like to be here for the actual delivery, but they also don't want to risk spending half their trip with us before I go into labor. We'll see what they decide.

Can You Guess? (Beware Ultrasound Shots)

I've been waiting to update my blog, knowing I would have news to share this week. We had our big anatomy scan on Monday and discovered two very important pieces of information about our baby. First, the baby seems to have all major organs, all chambers of the heart, all brain hemispheres, etc, etc, that can be detected by ultrasound. Really, I had no idea how much they could see on these things, especially since we didn't get the NT scan.

Secondly...

There's the flagrant butt/private parts shot, which makes it pretty obvious that we're having a boy!

Of course we would have been thrilled to no end at a girl--of course. But we're super excited about a boy. I've had three reasons for wanting a boy, which I've been trying not to think about too much until now. First, I had a younger brother, and I always wished he was older. I think older brothers tend to be nicer to younger sisters because they have some innate desire to protect them (younger brothers...not so much). Second, my in-laws already have a granddaughter, so it's fun to at least have the first of something on that side. And third, we hope to adopt a kid or two in China down the road, and I hear that girls are much easier to come by over there for adoptive parents. So I'm not too concerned that we won't end up with any girls.

A couple more...

We did get the ever-popular thumb-sucking shot:

Though, you may be interested to know that, according to our very experienced and knowledgeable ultrasound tech (who was like a very chatty textbook on fetuses), fetuses are never really sucking their thumbs. It just looks like that. They may be trying to figure out how to get mouths over their hands, but I guess they don't succeed.

If you're extremely experienced in ultrasound interpretation, you may also be able to tell that my placenta is very much on the top wall of my uterus and nowhere near the cervix. It's that smooth, long, gray blob hovering over Peebs's body. The tech said there was no way I ever had a low-lying placenta with it being so high up now, and she was very confused about what my OB was seeing when she said that. So that's good news, though it leaves the bleeding/spotting I had from week 14 to about week 16 unexplained.

One more tidbit. Apparently, our little Peebs is measuring about 5 days ahead. The u/s tech recommended that my due date be changed from April 10 to April 5. I'm waiting to hear from OB to see if she wants to make that official. I'm totally happy to have it moved up, but it seems a bit odd how it all works. What if the baby were measuring ahead at 30 weeks--would they adjust it again? They can't keep adjusting based on measurements. And, more than that, I do know with very little doubt when I ovulated. So April 10 will technically be 40 weeks from, well, two weeks before I ovulated (which was not the first day of my last period). Not that the due date means a whole lot, but my parents will be purchasing plane tickets based loosely around the day, and it would be nice to know whether I should consider myself 19w3d or 20w1d....

16 Weeks On My Birthday

My parents were out visiting this past week from the Southeast. It was the first time I'd seen them in about a year, since they've been out of the country this past year some. So it was very lovely to spend some relaxed time together. They stayed 10 days, but they are very easy guests. They brought lots of their own stuff to do, so Pete and I could go to work as usual and they could take care of themselves.

I also celebrated my birthday last Sunday with them. We realized it was the first time we've been together for my birthday since I turned 18! For some reason the symmetry of being exactly 16 weeks pregnant on the 24th, my birthday, made me happy. I'm not into math at all, but it's hard to ignore such perfectly even numbers :).

My mom made dinner, Pete baked the lovely cake you see in the picture below, and my dad washed the dishes. Pete also gave me 3 very cute handpainted pictures from Etsy that will go in the baby's room once we can find suitable frames.

This picture makes me laugh. My mom was trying to take it with the self-timer on her camera but had lots of trouble getting it to work. So she ended up running back just in time to peep her face in, but it looks a little silly hiding back there.

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In other news, I'm posting my first belly shot where I actually look a bit pregnant below. This was taken this weekend, at 17 weeks. I know it's still not much, but there's at least a little something there!

Please ignore my crazy hair. I'd been wearing a hat in the shape of a cherry all day to go along with my ice cream sundae costume. Also ignore the huge boobs. They're humongous. I'm missing my 32Cs very, very much these days. Pete says he thinks I'll really look obviously pregnant once my belly protrudes farther than my boobs, but I think it's got a ways to go to get there.