Tae-Bo

So here is the first shot of the belly! I'm 20 weeks and 3 days in this photo. (That's 20w3d, for those of you who speak prego.) The exciting news, though, is that Mia officially made her presence known today. I'm pretty sure she set up a DVD player and has been practicing Tae-Bo since about 1pm today. Last time, she said hello once and I didn't heard anything else for about a week and a half. Today was a different story. Several times today I felt her dancing around on and off for about 10 minutes at a time. c-r-a-z-y.

Weighty Matters

I had my monthly OB visit today and was officially welcomed to the 2nd half of my pregnancy by my OB. I can't believe it's been four and a half months already. My doctor said that this is the "fun month" because I'm about to "double in size". My first thought was how rare that circumstance is considered fun. ;o) I remember not enjoying that aspect of my first semester in college so much... Along the same line of conversation, my OB mentioned that my weight gain was "beautiful". (Again, so rare that that is true!) I joked that my grandma has been giving me a really hard time about the weight issue because she gained 12.5 pounds with her first pregnancy, and she thinks the current 25-35 pound recommendation is dreadful. So, for those who may be interested, here's what I think is a very interesting breakdown of the gain associated with the current recommendation:

7.5 pounds - average baby's weight 7.0 pounds - extra stored nutrients like fat, protein, etc. 4.0 pounds - extra blood 4.0 pounds - extra body fluids 2.0 pounds - amniotic fluid surrounding the baby 2.0 pounds - breast enlargement 2.0 pounds - enlargement of uterus 1.5 pounds - placenta

P.S. I neglected to mention it last time, but Jeff and I have actually agreed on a name. Our little one will be Mia Sketeris. [Suggestions for a middle name are welcome!!]

It's a GIRL!!

We had our 20-week ultrasound today, and it looks like we are having a girl! (Or I guess it would be more accurate to say that it doesn't look like we're having a boy...) We have several new pictures posted below. The cutest part of the whole thing was getting to watch her tap her feet. (Mom, it looks like she takes after you!!) We also got to see her chubby little thighs. Sooo cute. And most importanly, all of her anatomy looks good and is in the right place, though Jeff was a little concerned that we didn't see any arms this time. They were there last time though!

Tap...

So...I think I felt my first tiny kick today! I'm not 100% confident, because it was the tiniest little tap. I felt it a couple of times inside of 20 minutes, and then nothing. So, maybe? If it was, I'm sure we'll be playing soccer soon and I'll post an affirmative update. :o)

Oh, the heartburn...

This has got to be my favorite* pregnancy symptom yet: I drank a 20-oz bottle of water a couple of days ago, and I got wicked heartburn about 2 minutes later. Heartburn from water?? This has to be some cruel joke. So I did some reading and found out that if you drink a lot of fluid after having eaten sort of recently, your stomach distends and causes heartburn instantly. So...I'm supposed to drink water like it's going out of style, but have to make sure that I haven't eaten and that I don't plan to eat soon. This is slightly problematic, considering that I get hungry every hour now!! On a happier note, Jeff and I have an appointment for our big ultrasound next Friday. If baby cooperates, we'll know whether we're having a boy or girl & we can stop referring to our offspring as "it". I'll post new pictures as soon as I can. *Please note sarcasm.