19.5 Weeks

We're almost to the halfway point! I can't believe how quickly this first half has gone, yet Christmas (when we found out) seems so far away.

Newbie2 is about the size of a large heirloom tomato, so says my weekly update from BabyCenter. I think he must be sitting lower than Caleb, because I have to go to the bathroom all of the time, which I didn't have to do with Caleb, even at the very end! My belly is definitely growing, and I officially made the switch to maternity clothes yesterday. I've been wearing them for the past few weeks, but mostly just mixing maternity pants with non-maternity shirts. Now I'm all prego, all the time!

One thing I learned about myself during this switch is that I own 33 pairs of pants. What does that say about me? Granted, I've changed pants sizes since I've gotten married--sized up and then back down recently, and I have the pants I wear primarily when early pregnant or after delivery (an extra size larger), and then there's the pants that people have given me, and the pants that I've had since my college years and I love them. I'm a sentimental pants-owner. What can I say? But I do see a need to purge some pants once I've had Newbie2 and settled back to a normal weight. That's another year from now, or so. Maybe I can look at it more objectively by that time.

Newbie2 is still "Newbie2." No name, yet. We've got some good contenders, but I'm just not quite ready to decide, yet.

I guess I forgot to mention on here that we finally made it to our first appointment with our new doctor! Dr. W seems like a nice lady. She reminds me of Dr. K in a way, though without that "you brought my child into the world" bond. Waiting an hour in the waiting room was a little more of a challenge with a wiggly 1-yr-old, but Caleb did okay. Hopefully that wait isn't typical. The doctor didn't do a whole lot, though we did discuss my pregnancy and delivery of Caleb, and any specific thoughts and wishes I had. She seems pretty open to a natural delivery, though she insisted on a hospital gown and an IV. I asked if I could just have a hep lock, and she agreed, though she said she would require fluids once I'd been in the hospital for 12 hours. I'm okay with that. Last time they started my on fluids right off the bat (because of the induction, I think), and I was huge and swollen by the time all the cameras came out to take pictures of the brand new baby. Not that I cared at that moment, but I'd rather just drink a lot of water.

Speaking of drinking, I forgot to ask about eating during labor. Last time my nurse was set against it, but I snuck Gatorade and peanut butter crackers, anyway, something I'm thankful for since I had such a long labor time! So I'll ask about that next time, or rather inform her that I will be bringing sustenance for myself. We'll see how she takes that bit of information. :)

Otherwise, the visit was typical: blood pressure was great, uterus was where is was supposed to be, baby's heart rate was just right, and we set up an appointment for four weeks later (I think the first week of May...can't remember right now).

And that's about all I can think of right now. I've maintained about 10 pounds of total weight gain the last couple of weeks, but I've really noticed my belly growing this week, so that may be about to change! (Truth check: I weighed just now and it said I'd gained 5 pounds, so I'm discounting that one and I'll weigh again later and hopefully give a better report!)