20 Weeks, Half Way There!

Okay, so I haven't been keeping up with the blog like I had wanted, but my schedule has been crazy busy with school, and research and all.

Between 16 and 17 weeks I finally began to feel fetal movement. The movements are starting to become significantly more noticeable with each week that passes. Sometimes when John puts his hand on my belly the baby will respond. At first, I was only feeling movements in the evening and during the night, but with each week that passes I notice more periods of activity during the day. I notice that if I'm excited or anxious about something that there will be increased movement from the baby as well. One of the more amusing things that I've noticed is that every time I drink hot chocolate the baby goes crazy! I assume the baby really likes it when I drink hot chocolate? Either way, the baby definitely has an opinion.

We had our first ultrasound this past Wednesday. I didn't realize that there were different types of ultrasounds. There is the old school ultrasound, and then there is something called and anatomy scan which is a more detailed scan where they can tell if the brain and heart are developing like they should. We just had the regular scan this week, and we are scheduled for the anatomy scan next week. It was so exciting seeing our baby for the first time. Everything looks good; two hands, two feet, ten fingers, ten toes. John and I were surprised at how much the baby was moving around in there! Apparently, I can't always feel when the baby is moving around, but he/she is quite a wiggle worm! Unfortunately, the jury is still out on the gender of the baby. At first the doctor thought it might be a boy, but then she noticed that the cord was between the baby's legs. After taking a closer look she thought that maybe it was a girl because she saw what she thought were labia and a vagina developing, but she wouldn't say for sure. They must go through so much training to be able to tell, because I definitely can't tell all that by looking at the ultrasound image! Hopefully when we get the anatomy ultrasound next week we will know for sure. John and I keep thinking it might be a boy, but I think Lilly is hoping for a new little sister. No matter the sex of the baby, we're just psyched if the baby is healthy and developing as he/she should be!

As excited as we are it's now starting to sink in that we have a ton of planning to do. We need to find a house and get moved before the baby gets here. I've just barely started thinking about baby things, but we haven't started buying yet. There are so many options from diapers to nursing. What baby items do I really need? What products are good? Do I want to use regular diapers or cloth diapers? There's a million different types of cloth diapers! Anything having to do with "baby" is insanely expensive so not only do I have to find out which products are good, but then I need to try and find a cheaper way to get them because if I pay full price for everything I'll go broke. It requires a lot of time and effort which is something I don't have a lot of since I have school, taxes, and scholarship applications going on at the moment. The most daunting thing I've realized is what to do as far as child care goes in the fall. They have an excellent program at my university, but the waiting list is so insane that by the time I got my baby in there we'll have graduated and moved away. There are not a lot of infant care options in my area and I don't have any family living in town. Not to mention I'm not wild about the idea of putting my new born in day care. John and I might just have to work out some sort of alternating schedule. Maybe there are some web courses I can take, though I'm done with most of my basics. It's a lot to think about. I realize that I have an insane amount of planning to do, but I want to be with my baby as much as possible and I don't like the idea of leaving my new born with strangers.

Other than all that being pregnant is great! I usually feel good with the exception of getting tired easier. I can't stop imagining what my baby might look like, or how he or she will act. It's such an exciting experience and I can't believe I'm already half way there. Only 20 more weeks until we meet our newest edition!