20w2d: Developments

The biggest news is that I have felt BabyGirl move a bit. (I've been thinking of her more as BabyGirl now, instead of Blueberry, now that we know her gender). I think I first really knew last Friday night (19w3d) and then again a few times over the next few days. I'm not sure if it's the anterior placenta or what, but these movements are kinda subtle flip-flops rather than true jabs. The other weird thing it that I can only feel them when I am lying down flat, and when I have my hand on my belly. I feel like I am feeling it from both the inside and the outside. I know that you're "supposed" to feel it inside, first, but to me it is easier to feel them both together. S has tried on several occasions, but he only has the patience to hold his hand still there for about a minute. And again, I don't feel "sure" that I'm feeling movement unless my hand is there. So, I imagine that it will be another week or more before he gets to feel it from the outside.

And now, let the whine-fest begin... after a very harmonious first trimester after the OHSS fiasco, I now have some various complaints to share!

Last Saturday, around mid-day, I started feeling a pain in my chest, on both sides, whenever I took a deep breath. A bit later, my entire throat felt "gripped" by pain. It wasn't a burning sensation, but at that point I figured out that I was dealing with heartburn. I can't figure out what triggered it; I hadn't eaten anything unusual before it started. I know that heartburn is common in the third trimester, but 19w4d seemed a bit early. It got a tiny bit better, but didn't resolve with Tums, Maalox, or Pepcid. To be honest, the stupid pain lasted all day and I went to sleep that night propped up on 3 pillows and fearful that I would be spending the enitre next several months in this kind of discomfort. It was almost gone by morning, though, and went away entirely soon thereafter. It hasn't been back since. :)

On Sunday, I think I was feeling pretty good. In the heat of the day, S & I climbed a local mountain (site of our first meeting and our engagement) with our friend J. It's only 3 miles round trip, but pretty steep, so I was initially a bit wary of doing it given the heat. However, we took a rather moderate pace and I did just fine.

On Monday (Labor Day), we went over to my parents' for a little family get-together. My aunt proceeded to start talking about names. Every name she suggested sounded like it came from the 1950s, 60s, or 70s, and she came up with a lot of others that were purposely dumb or sound ridiculous with our last name. It was truly aggravating. Honestly, my sister (age 9.5) has taste much closer to ours. I think I'll probably end up talking to my mom and a few friends about possible names, but definitely not everyone else.

By Monday night and Tuesday morning (20w0d), I started having my usual GI issue (ahem...constipation) and developed what I believe is round ligament pain in my left lower quadrant. I'm saying round ligament pain because sometimes I stand up suddenly and it definitely hurts in that exact spot. However, on Monday/Tuesday this pain hit me every few minutes, lasting only a few seconds each time, and was there regardless of whether I was moving or perfectly still. Fortunately, it is gone now, but that sort of thing creeps me out. It does seem strange that round ligament pain would be so perfectly correlated with episodes of constipation. Sometimes I wonder whether if I should be paranoid and demand a scan and/or colonoscopy after BabyGirl is born... I don't want to be a hypochondriac, though, so I'll probably only do that if it persists or gets worse. I was also sorta freaking out on Tuesday during the day that I wasn't feeling much movement, but when I finally got home and had a chance to lay flat for a few minutes, I felt some reassuring flip-flops from BabyGirl.

I think another source of general discomfort this week is that my old pants are fitting worse and worse, but I only have one pair of maternity pants that I like. The maternity jean-capris with a lycra band around the top are actually less comfy that a lot of my regular pants. I did a pretty exhaustive search of Target, Old Navy, and a Pea in the Pod last Saturday and came up empty handed. It is hard to find pants that are not designed for women who are 5'10". It bothers me to be 5'5" (perfectly average, I think) and I always have to buy short or petite lengths. What about the people who are 5'1" or so? They have to buy short length and then get those hemmed. It really annoys me. Men's pants make much more sense in this regard. I guess I will have to go to an online site and buy some pants because in another week or two, I'm sure that nothing else will fit. I also have pants from my pre-weight loss days, but those don't fit either (too big in the hips/butt).

I've been debating about posting a belly shot, but I still feel a bit shy about showing my entire face online. I probably will someday, but I'll at least wait for a photo that I like better than this one. In the meantime, I will go ahead and crop it to give you some idea. Here I am at 19w6d:

Definitely a rounded belly, but not 100% obvious to a casual observer who doesn't know me. This is a maternity shirt and non-maternity shorts (old shorts in a size above my now-usual size.) I'm still up 7-8 lbs, but feel increasingly awkward when standing up from a chair, grabbing something off the floor, etc etc.

In other interesting/TMI news, my breasts remain much larger than usual, but they are now back to a medium firmness. In contrast, a few weeks ago, they felt like mega-firm bad implants ready to burst through my skin. :) No hint of colostrum yet, though...

I know that this post has been pretty whiny, but please believe me when I say that I am absolutely 100% grateful to be pregnant! I am thankful every single day!!