22 Weeks

A happy belated Valentines to all!  Kerry and I renewed our vows for V-Day with several other couples.  Towards the end of Kerry repeating his vows, I got a neck cramp from looking up for so long and then my jaws started charley horsing from smiling so big.  I kept rubbing my jaw which got us giggling.  Then it was my turn to repeat my vows and I butchered them!  My first line was "Today I renew my vows..." with which I said "Today I remove my vows...".  I didn't even realize I messed up until Kerry exclaimed "what do you mean you remove your vows??"... so then we ended up belly laughing through the rest of the vows.  Never a dull moment.  We'll be married 8 yrs next month!

Our little Seven has has been working out.  No more wimpy little flutters, but instead full out kick boxing.  It all started last week when I went 2 days without feeling any movement.  I was getting a little nervous and got the doppler out to make sure he was still alive.  As soon as I put the doppler on my belly and found the HB, he kicked it several times.  I don't think he likes the doppler!

He's now kicking up a storm daily.  He seems to really love our church band, especially when the bass is booming.  I think he'll be a drummer like his daddy.  Yesterday I saw a couple kicks externally and again today.  It was the coolest thing ever.  Kerry still hasn't been able to feel him move, most likely because he stops every time Kerry puts his hand on my belly.  Hopefully soon.

I've had several strange episodes where out of the blue I get an incredible urge to pee that lasts about 1 second.  It took me awhile to figure it out, but I now know it's Seven kicking my bladder. I just know he's going to have me in Depends before this is all over with.

Introducing Sponge Bob Jill Square Pants!  What is up with my square belly???  I noticed this in the beginning but assumed it would round out as my uterus grew above my belly button.  It's like my belly button is stuck to something internally and is refusing to poke out.  Maybe my organs have run out of room and are scattering any which direction they can fit?  Maybe it's because the baby is always sideways?  I don't know!

For those of you that knows what it means to "pop", have I popped yet?  If it just means showing, I definitely have, but I was under the impression that you pop when your uterus grows high and heavy enough to drop over the pubic bone and that it happens overnight.  I haven't noticed an overnight change or a drop.

Lastly, please stop by O Baby: Where Art Thou? and send Amy your love and support.  She just lost her baby at 16 wks due to incompetent cervix.  My heart broke into a million pieces when I read her post.  It really hit home as this is exactly what I'm at risk for.  I think I might just have to ask for another cervix check as I've discovered that I'm not quite out of the woods yet.  After revisiting the topic a little further so that I could watch out for signs (which there usually are none), I found that many women with incompetent cervix lose their babies around 20-25 weeks.  Yikes!

21 Weeks

We had an u/s a couple of days ago at 20w5d. This was to check my cervix one last time. All was good, cervix is holding up well and there was no funneling. My ob/gyn said that I'm now out of the incompetent cervix risk phase and believes that I no longer need cervix checks.

Here's all my measurements:

6w1d: 30mm
7w6d: 31mm
11w6d: 35mm
15w6d: 33mm
18w6d: 43mm (measured trans-ab, all others trans-vag)
20w5d: 34mm

I think 40mm is normal, but anything above 25mm is good. Considering I've had part of my cervix removed, I wouldn't expect my normal to be 40mm. The good news here is that the length is pretty consistent and not shortening with each check. Whew! I feel very blessed that the leep I had in 2004 has not affected my ability to carry a baby.

I had prepared myself to not get to see the baby at this u/s as it was just a cervix check. But to our delight, the tech spent some time viewing the baby as well without us even asking. Seven is doing wonderful. Here's the stats from the u/s report:

HB: 148 bpm
Presentation: traverse (head on the right, feet on the left)
Fetal Movement: visible
Amniotic Fluid: normal, 13.4cm
Placenta: posterior
Cord: normal, 3 vessel cord

Placenta Cord Insertion Site: normal

At our 18w6d u/s, we were diagnosed with placental marginal cord insertion. This is where the cord inserts into the edge of the placenta instead of the center. Many times this has no negative implication, but it does carry some risk with it that the baby may not get the nutrients and oxygen that it needs in the 3rd trimester when the demands for nutrients are higher. This can result in intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), possibly having to take the baby early and worst case scenario, still birth. We intentionally didn't tell anyone as we wanted to pray about it and were believing that the placenta would not cause any problems. We were thrilled when we learned that our diagnosis was reversed at our latest u/s and the cord was found at the center of the placenta!!!

Here's a few u/s photos:

A video of Seven yawning:

Thank God for long maternity tops...

... that hide the Oh soooo sexy maternity pants.

Thank God for the Oh soooo sexy maternity pants that have allowed me to actually fit into a pair of jeans.

How big is this thing going to get?  ;-)

An "MC Hammer Kerry - Baby Time" video for our dear friend Tarryn, who's finally going into labor after 42+ weeks:

Yes, we are complete dorks.

Up next... a gestational diabetes test in 4 weeks.

20 Weeks

Half way there, I can not even believe it!  I didn't even realize I was out of the 4th month and now I'm already half way through the 5th.

It was a rare week here in TN. We were snowed in for 3 days. (Mom#2, Dad, Aunt Carol... did you send us this weather?) Since we don't get much snow here, they don't plow or salt residential areas. We live on top of a hill and there were only two ways out...

1. Down a steep hill of ice (straight ahead)

2. Down a steep hill of ice

Our entire neighborhood turned into a sledding park, which Kerry happily took part in. I on the other hand was stuck just watching, but I definitely can't complain on the why.

While snowed in, we ordered our nursery furniture by phone.  We went with a convertible crib that transforms from crib to toddler bed to day bed to full size bed.  Our hope is that this furniture lasts 18 yrs. 

Here's the crib:

The flutters I've been feeling are definitely the baby moving, though still quite subtle.  He has developed a pattern.  I really don't feel much during the day, but within 10 mins of laying down for bed, he wakes up and starts running a marathon.  I believe we have a night owl on our hands!

Baby is the size of a cantaloupe this week.  My belly size concurs with this.

A little rounder!

Oh boy!

Whoa mama!

Holy Cow!

A comparison:

Kerry notified me today that my "milk jugs" are getting bigger.  I figured so as I'm growing out of all my bras. Some day I'll break down and buy a few new ones, but for now, I'm finding free-style to be quite comfortable and a lot cheaper. I think I got this trait from my mom. Anytime I tell her we're coming over, she always asks if she has to put on a bra, lol!