The Turtle Shell-- Part I (Weeks 1-20)

20 weeks: Now we're talking... but a bit exaggerated (taken after a big meal!)

16 weeks-- OK, maybe there's something in there...

8 weeks-- Is she really pregnant?

"The Thinker"

So yesterday was the 20-week ultrasound. Check out the spine on that thing! While the Turtle appears to be taking more after its pensive father in this photo, the doctor said it has a "chubby tummy and long legs." Ed later told someone that meant it was taking after me. . . "right now." I told him he was lucky he added the "right now" to the end of that thought . . .

The ultrasound was exciting, as they always are. We were there for a good 45 minutes while the tech probed around and took what seemed like a hundred pictures of the Turtle's parts from all angles. At one point, as she was trying to get it to move into a certain position, she kept rapidly poking my belly with the probe -- I found myself thinking, "Stop trying to tell my kid what to do! Maybe it doesn't want to be in that position . . ." We heard the glub-glub of its heartbeat, saw it open and close its mouth (very turtle-like, actually), and watched it wriggle around to avoid the treacherous probe. . . Almost like being in its first school play, I'd say-- lots of performance pressure.

But the Turtle took it all in stride-- the doctor says it looks beautiful, is measuring about 5 days bigger than the pregnancy dating does (fingers crossed for a surprise birth in NC over Thanksgiving-- then it can claim to be a real "Tar Heel bred" unlike its imposter mom and pop!), and weighs about 14 oz. so far, which is right on target-- in the 97th percentile . . . go Turtle!

Today I saw my regular OB for my monthly checkup. I was a little concerned because according to my scale, I'd gained about 6 pounds since my last visit-- I wasn't sure if this was too much for only 5 weeks. I've completely stopped paying attention to how much I consume-- quite frankly, these days, I'm happy to get anything larger than a piece of fruit to fit in there comfortably, so I pretty much eat whenever I feel even remotely hungry. Well, now she's got me worried that I still haven't gained ENOUGH weight! She said that I'm halfway through the pregnancy and I've only gained a total of 8 pounds, and she expects me to gain at least 25 over the whole shebang. Of course, I'm thinking, "I gained 6 pounds in one month! At that rate, I'm going to gain another 30 before this thing is over!" But she didn't seem to notice that part.

Anyway, I think I'll just stay the course-- eat when I'm hungry. I hardly have the time or energy to count every calorie (for the first time in my life, in order to make sure I'm eating enough, not too much!). I really do need to eat more nutritious foods, though. We've both had some really busy months, so quick and easy has become our staple. This often means very few vegetables (although I'm pretty good about fruit). Poor Turtle. According to "the books," it is now swallowing amniotic fluid, so it can taste what I'm eating. Ed, of course, is using this as new leverage to get me to eat spicy foods, bless him. A losing campaign, I'm afraid. But I will try harder to eat better these next few months.

We'll take some new belly pics tonight and post the collection later-- 8 weeks/16 weeks/20 weeks-- the progress is pretty amazing!

Hooray for digital...

Here's the picture of the "wave" from the lost Turtle collection (doctor was able to give me some replacements-- the first of many times someone will save me from the wrath of my child, no doubt...).

"IT JUST GOT INTERESTING!"

Ok, so we created this blog really just as a fun way to tell our family and friends that we were pregnant (my favorite response was "I really thought I was going to find a picture of a turtle."), but lots of folks have been asking for updates and this is probably the easiest way to send them!

So I promised myself that I would start posting when things got interesting or when we hit 20 weeks, whichever came first. Well, I think the two are coinciding. We go for our 20-week ultrasound tomorrow and I think (I think!) I may have felt the baby kick for the first time today. But, quite honestly (and those of you who have ever been pregnant, especially the first time, will validate this sentiment), it really could have been just gas. :) I will, however, remember today as the first time I felt the baby kick.

So we're going for the 20-week ultrasound tomorrow. First pics in 7 or 8 weeks. And I, wonderful mother-to-be that I am, lost the last ones while we were on vacation in Montana. I took them to show off to the grandparents, but didn't scan them beforehand, and voila, they disappeared. I have my fingers crossed that the perinatologist can give me new copies, but if not, I have already confessed to the Turtle in my letters to baby that I have lost them. So I may one day be called upon to answer for this treachery. How could I lose the first picture of my child waving at me? With all five fingers? Argh.

With the 20-week ultrasound comes, of course, the million dollar question, "Are you going to find out?" Most everyone knows by now that the answer is no! (I have seen a maternity t-shirt that says, "We're not finding out"-- I think I need to get one). One of my colleagues at work tried to debunk my "I want to be surprised" theory by saying I would be surprised no matter what-- it would just be 20 weeks earlier. My reply to him was that Christmas is my very favorite holiday (as anyone who knows me knows), and gift-giving is one of my favorite activities-- so I would liken this to getting an x-ray into your Christmas presents a few weeks ahead of time. Sure, you're surprised, but it does take the wind out of things somewhat on Christmas morning! So, we're not finding out, we're decorating the baby's room with a gender-neutral sea creature theme (to further our own love of all things ocean, including sea turtles!), and yes, we are totally open to purple onesies (the first of which we received from a friend this weekend), even in the event of a boy.

I also, FINALLY, have a belly that is worth showing off. So stay tuned for the Turtle's next pics and the blog debut of the Turtle's shell.

P.S. Kudos to all who can name the source for the title of this post!