Well 20 weeks down and 20 to go! I hear the first half flies by for people as a general rule. But we knew so quickly we were going to have a baby that it feels like it has already been FOREVER. Not because I am having a hard time with pregnancy but because I already want my baby! I'm so ready for that tiny newborn to be in my arms. But alas... we have a long way to go. So I wanted to write down some tid-bits on the first half of my pregnancy both good and bad:
I am a planner. I can't even tell you how many hours I have spent on stroller, car seat and even pillow research. I have read hours and hours of blogs, manufacturers sites, product reviews and baby sites learning about things like "is there really a difference in organic cotton/bamboo vs non organic?" Or "exactly how is breast milk different than formula?" And I mean chemically different. I literally read up on protein compounds for about an hour last night fascinated with how it all works. Not to mention polling large number of friends who's opinions I trust on things like which pack'n'play they really thought was easiest to use. I admit a lot of my "nesting" energy is also going into this because with Preston graduating from Wharton and us then moving when baby is just four months old it doesn't make sense to do up a full nursery. Especially when we want the baby in our room for the first couple of months. So it's allllll getting poured into research. I actually really enjoy this. I'm totally someone who wants to know all the information. The more I know the less stressed I am as a general rule to all things. And knowing early what items I want allows me to deal-hunt. Which I totally love doing.
I also got to experience my first bloody nose ever. Just when you think your body couldn't have more potential symptoms, you find out that one possibility is the occasional bloody nose. I did not care for it. At all. I was so worried I would drip on something I just sat there leaning slightly forward over the sink, pinching my nose for ten minutes. This made me late, and I hate to be late. I polled a handful of friends expecting it to be fairly rare and come to find out they had ALL experienced an occasional nose bleed during pregnancy when they don't normally ever get them. What the weird? No one warned me about this. It was very unsettling. I hope that I keep my grand total to one during this process.
But the best part is feeling the baby kick! I felt my first kick at 19 weeks. And now at night when I'm watching TV or going to bed I rest holding my tummy waiting excitedly for the next one. The first kick I felt while eating egg-less cookie dough and watching "Friends." The baby is clearly also a fan of my favorite things :) I was sad Preston wasn't back from his business trip to feel it too but there are plenty of kicks to come in the next 20 weeks.
I've loved keeping track of how big the baby is each week and what is developing as the days go by. What a miracle it is, and how amazing the human body is to be able to grow another human like that. Minus a few weeks at the beginning I have felt great this whole pregnancy. I definitely get tired faster but staying active really helps with that for me.
All in all I feel really blessed. I'll take one nose bleed and some sleepiness over the other possible side effects any day. Now I just need to exercise patience for 4 more days when we get to find out if baby is a boy or girl. I don't know how you Mom's who wait to be surprised at birth do it. I'm seriously impressed with your ability to restrain yourself from finding out.
Xoxo
