Monday, September 27, 2010

Bullying Your Fetus - 17 Weeks

 Look at this honker! That is a substantially sized object. You would think once your baby is this size you'd be like 'there it is' when you pushed on your stomach. Not me. Nugget is bunkered down deep towards my spine.

According to books I've read and this machine that information comes out of, feeling movement occurs anywhere from around 16-20 weeks. They say experienced moms can feel it much sooner because they know what they are looking for. I have been laying on the carpet every night and poking around on my stomach to see if I can inspire some feelings that are similar to those reported by mom's feeling movement. Flutters, swimming fish, popping bubbles, somethin'. Up until our appointment on Friday with the midwife, I wasn't sure that I had felt anything. I know I was feeling the stretching out of the ligaments that surround my uterus. It is basically stretching pangs you get. Probably a few times a day. Not too unbearable, a few of them I have had to bend over forward to relieve the pull a little. My response is to say 'ooo stretchy stretchy' bend forward and then rub where the pain is. What a PG-rated nerd I've become.
So I knew that wasn't the baby. Or at least I hoped Nugget wasn't inflicting pain this early on, otherwise this kid is certain to be a terror. When I got to my appointment the midwife asked if I had felt anything. I said I wasn't entirely sure. She said that I will probably get a few flutters over the next few weeks, but to let her know when I feel a distinct kick. This is called the quickening and midwives like to look at when it occurs because there is some correlation between how long a pregnancy you will have depending on when it happens. I'll be sure to ask her what it means when I report the first distinctive kick.

Anyhoodles. I laid down for her to examine my tummy tum and she said I still have good muscle tone. I told her I never considered my stomach very muscular. She then laughed and said 'you have no idea what lack of muscle tone is until after you've had a baby'. Awesome! This is reminiscent of the shoe salesman who told me after I had a few kids and gained 30 lbs my size 8 foot would flatten out into a 9 or 10. I'll show you shoe salesman! These bitches are staying an 8. You and your black and white striped "ref" shirt can suck it! Obviously I would never tell my midwife to suck it. Something about losing my sad excuse for muscle tone for Nugget doesn't bother me at all. It does make me laugh though the things that come out of people's mouths sometimes.
For example, Andy's dad gave us tickets to the Broncos v. Colts game yesterday (the Broncos apparently couldn't remember how to play the game). As we were hiking up the ramps to the top of the stadium, Andy said something like 'we should get you a jersey. They are made for fat people'. I just looked at him and started laughing and he was like 'what?'. 'So it would be good for me because I am fat?'. 'No I was saying because you're going to get big and pregnant so you could continue to wear it'. I knew what he was getting at when he said it, it was just the way it came out of his mouth that made me laugh.
Back to my appointment, so after she inspected my stomach, she pulled out the doppler. Last visit Nugget was too deep down in my pelvis for us to find the heartbeat. We had heard it on the ultrasounds, but I had my fingers crossed there would be no issue this month. She put it to my stomach and right away there were these loud pops. Her eyes got big and she said 'and that's the baby kicking you!'. We'd hear the heartbeat and then  Pop! Pop!. Hearing the sound helped me to focus in on what I could feel. Sure enough there were some light little feelings with each sound. Ah Ha! That is what I was looking for.
I can see why women spend weeks playing the 'baby or gas' game though. The movements aren't that distinguishable on their own. So since our appointment I have been pushing more and more on my stomach, bullying the crap out of Nugget to feel him/her. Each night I do it, I feel a little bit more. And today, without even pushing him/her around, I felt a "popping bubble" sensation. Not the distinguishable "quickening"  but something!
The date is officially set for our "Discovering Nugget's Sex" appointment. On October 22nd we will know, unless Nugget doesn't cooperate or something. This will be the "count all the fingers and toes" ultrasound. So I am looking forward to spending lots of time looking at Nugget up on the screen. I am not looking forward to the 32 ounces of water I have to drink an hour before and keep in my body through the ultrasound. Do you think anyone has ever peed on the table? They push on your stomach quite a bit. I wouldn't be surprised if someone lost it, if ya know what I mean.
I took new pictures of my "belly" on Friday, but forgot to upload them. So those will be coming soon. I reorganized my closet so that my pre-pregnancy clothes, aka the stuff that makes me look like a chubby sausage to wear, is down on the bottom rack out of the way and my maternity stuff is up front and center. I have retired most of my pants. One pair of jeans are hanging in there, and a few pairs of pants are doable with the rubber band technique. I am enjoying rocking the maternity shirts. They are so roomy and comfy. I may look funny with so much extra, unnecessary material around me, but it feels nice. Alright littl chillens, I should get going. Hope your day is bright and shiny.

3 comments:

  1. How fun that you're starting to feel him/her already!! Awesome Nat! Can't wait to see pics. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay for baby kicks!! That is super exciting!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. So exciting! I don't feel anything yet but I'm a few weeks behind you (and I probably wouldn't know what it was either!). I did get to hear the heartbeat last Monday and that was really neat! We're finding out what we're having on Oct 21st so we'll know basically at the same time! I can't wait to find out! Everybody has their guesses just by looking at me - it's funny how many different opinions there are! Anyway...yay!!

    ReplyDelete