Week 22

This is the end of my fifth month. I'm now entering the sixth month and will soon be in my third trimester.

The last time I went to my midwife I was 122lbs. She still would like to see me gain more weight and be above 125lbs next time I see her which is tomorrow. Gramma Rachel was with us for the last visit, and she got to hear the babies heart beat which made her so happy. The heart beat was much louder and stronger this time. Usually, it's a little difficult to hear because there is static, but not his time.

I've been feeling the baby move around more and more recently. Sometimes it scares me how active it can get. It's movements are sometimes slug like and other times so jittery and spastic that I get quiet shocked. What's going on in there? I love feeling these movements and spend a lot of time with my hand on my tummy. You can even see it moving through my clothes now.

Symptoms: Itchy abdomen-it's very strange to be itchy on my belly. I feel like Homer.
My belly button is starting to be pushed out. I can now see the end of my belly button which makes it easier to clean. The worst symptom I have is legs cramps in the middle of the night. They really hurt when I get them. A few times the muscle has contracted into a tight ball which freaks me out. Thank goodness I'm half asleep when this happens because if I were more alert I think it would hurt more. My appetite is back to normal. My mind is going though! Boy have I become clumsy and forgetful. It's embarrassing in class, but my students laugh at me for it.

This is an outfit that my mommy (a.k.a nana) sent me from Ireland. You can't see it very well, but it is an "Irish baby" hat, and a teddy bear onesie. My Parents have just moved back to America, and they are now living in Viroqua, Wisconsin. I'm not sure how long they will be there, but I'm happy to have them closer to home. My mom also sent a bunch of chocolate goodies and some Hob Nobs for Tim. I seriously didn't even get to see the packet of Hob Nobs and Tim ate them in less than 24 hours which had its consequences. Yesterday, we went to another garage sale and scored on getting some more cheap clothes. We got a bunch for $5. Forget Babies'r Us and all those places. Garage sales a gold mines.

16 weeks

Well, we've reached the 16th week. I'm starting to feel a lot better. My appetite is coming back slowly, and I'm happy that I don't have nausea as much anymore. I went to get a test done this week to check my chances for Spinobifida? and down-syndrome. I'm sure it's fine. Neither of our families have had problems, and I'm not old enough to have complications.

My clothes are starting to get really tight, so I went to buy some new ones last week. They have some really cute maternity clothes these days. Forget regular clothes! I'm becoming more comfortable in my body. I feel like it is so different from when I was not pregnant. I'm proud of my blossoming belly, and I am connecting with the little life that is forming inside of me. Last weekend, Tim was in Minneapolis, so I figured it was good bonding time for me and my "little bun". I bought a children's book to read to it, and I had fun fantasying about the moment I would actually read the book to it. I also bought a book called "One hundred Promises to my Baby" written by Millika Chopra. It's a lovely book, and it is helping me to form my parenting philosophy. Tim and I have decided that the painting we will paint is going to be a tree, and we are going to add our favorite promises to the tree.

Tim's birthday was a lot of fun. I made him breakfast in bed and gave him one of his first gifts. He was very happy, but so tired because he missed the last Bart train to come home, so he had to take a shuttle and a bus. he got home at three in the morning. After work, I gave him the rest of his gifts, and we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. We had a great time there. We had a lot to talk about. You'd think he was gone for a month. After dinner, I brought out his birthday cake, and we ate a bite, and went to bed. We are having a birthday party for him this weekend, so that we can celebrate with our friends and neighbors. I still need to get that organized!

Today, we enjoyed ourself at the annual "How Berkeley can you be?" parade. It was our first time going to the parade, and we will definitely go back next year. It was the best parade that I'd ever been to. All the crazies come out! One of our favorite parts of the parade was an art car that had 250 singing bass and lobsters on it. The singing bass were rigged up so that they sung songs that were opera, pop, or rock. Very funny! Here's the website for the car:

"What can be more annoying than an animated singing fish?
Try 250 of them bolted to a Volvo and singing Opera.
The Sashimi Tabernacle Choir, Houston Texas."

Here Tim is making Apple sauce! Yum.


-I'm pretty sure that I'm starting to feel the little baby kicking or moving inside me these days. It's very very subtle, but it feels like little palpitations right above my pelvic bone. It feels like something popping. A lot different from gas. I mostly feel them right after I've sat down and relaxed a little bit. It makes me so happy to feel these. Are these early kicks?