Totally Worth It

The wait that is. This long overdue post and the coming of the newest Chew are both very much worth the wait!  I realized its been 5 busy weeks since I last posted a summary update and I'm going to use the pregnancy/parent card here as I apologize for being such a slacker. I'm sure this won't be the last baby related adventure that I launch into with strong determination only to find that fatigue has once again gotten the best of me!

         Baby Chew waving hello at 13 Weeks!

Estimated Due Date: January 6, 2013

Pregnancy: 17weeks 2 days- Second Trimester

The baby is as big as: A sweet potato

Weight gain: Well, I stopped checking when I started seeing numbers on the scale that I've never seen there before but let's just assume I'm right around the recommended 10 lbs!

Baby bump: Yes! It has emerged and is undeniable!

 

What am I craving? As boring as it is, I haven't had any wild cravings like in the movies. No pickles dipped in chocolate frosting or frosted flakes saturated in orange juice for this gal. I have however, been enjoying an old favorite more than usual. Around week 14, I ate Indian food 4 glorious days in a row. I forced  Thomas (not really, he loves his pregnant wife's appetite!) to take me out to several different Indian buffets so I could critique and rate each of their variations of Chicken Tikka Masala and Chana Masala. Thomas, being the attentive husband that he is, even took a stab at making my two favorite Indian dishes at home! Despite being a tad spicier than I usually enjoy, they were delicious! The Best Indian food in Rochester study is still being conducted and I'm thinking it probably won't be over until somewhere around January 6th.

How am I feeling?  I still feel good!  I have almost as much energy as I had before pregnancy and my bedtime has even creeped back up to 10:00pm! It seems I bypassed pretty much all nausea associated with the first trimester which I will forever be thankful for!

Interesting/Noteworthy events of the week: I felt baby movement! The first movement I experienced felt like a golf ball rolling around in my stomach and it was honestly quite petrifying at first! Not knowing what to expect and having never felt anything like it before, the first few squirms totally freaked me out! At first I only felt movement periodically, maybe once every few days but now, at 17 weeks, I feel movement several times a day. I recently started feeling tiny little kicks through out the day that instantly bring a smile to my face. Whenever I feel the tiny little poke, I picture the tiniest, most fragile little arm or leg attempting to beat me up from the inside and it makes me laugh to myself. Its just such an adorable thought! I'm sure I won't be saying the same thing in 10 weeks when the baby's bones are totally formed though. Those real punches to the ribs will probably be significantly less precious!

Interesting thoughts: Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I expected pregnancy to be like and how it has actually been for me and I must say, I had a pretty unrealistic interpretation of how I thought it would go. I realize that physically, I've been blessed by the pregnancy gods. I've had a very uncomplicated pregnancy, the baby is growing like a champ, I dodged the nausea bullet and my bump has been kindly slow to take off. What I never gave much thought before pregnancy is the emotional and mental toll that growing a baby can take on a mother to be. When I envisioned myself as a pregnant women, I pictured the bump, the nursery, the list of names, and my husband constantly rubbing cocoa butter on my belly (he doesn't do it nearly enough!). What I left out, what I never pictured, was me worrying constantly about my tiny baby or the way that every single decision I make during the day is effected by that tiny baby. For some reason, I never thought about the connection between my pregnant mind and pregnant body and the influence that that connection would have on every single aspect of my life. Probably the toughest part of pregnancy for me has been making the adjustment from "I" to "we" when thinking and making decisions that I was so used to making for myself, all alone. I'm slowly learning to be the most unselfish version of me ever to exist. Its not easy, but then again, no one said pregnancy or childbirth or parenting or life in general is. But its all so worth it and I'm so thankful for all of it.

P.S- Our anatomic scan is scheduled for August 17 (the day after our 4 year wedding anniversary- yay!) and we are BEYOND excited! We plan on asking the ultrasound tech to keep the sex a secret while we're in our ultrasound and to write down and seal it for us once its determined. We decided that, with something so special we want to learn the news with just us two together so that we can really share the excitement. We haven't decided when or where we're going to open the envelope yet but when we do I'm sure there will be plenty of tears and jumping up and down. As far as sharing the news with others, we decided to keep it to ourselves as our own secret for a few days and we'll be making an announcing later the following week!