Sunday, October 2, 2011

Halfway there--and it's a GIRL

 Baby Girl's Profile + legs and bit of hand near the face


Tiny baby foot


Week: 20, the sweet, sweet halfway point (that is, if I go the standard 40 weeks and don't deliver before or after).
 
Gender: Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I think you could have knocked me over with a wet noodle when the tech said that!  I certainly wasn't disappointed, but I had myself convinced that it was a boy.  Brian and I just kind of looked at each other when the tech said girl.  I'm so happy, though, especially since it means we're getting a ton of cute clothes from Brian's sister :)  And, having grown up with a much younger sister, I know what to do with girls!  Brian, on the other hand, only has experience babysitting younger boys so he's in trouble.  We really couldn't be happier.

Baby Size: 5.66-6.5 inches. She's(!) about the size of a cantaloupe and weighs in at about 9 ounces.

Maternity Clothes?: Are my friends.


Sleep: I'm starting to have trouble again!  As I mentioned last week, I think my hips must be starting to spread, because lying on my side is killing my legs.  I've also been waking up with horrible sciatic pain--Thursday I could barely walk.  I finally bought a pillow for between my legs, since all the books say to, and to my surprise it is working wonders!  My hips still hurt in the morning, but the sciatic pain is completely gone.  I'm so relieved--one of my friends mentioned on Facebook that her sciatic pain got so bad that she couldn't even walk during her last pregnancy!  I'm going to keep up with the exercise, and try to get some yoga DVDs in there, since stretching is really supposed to help.


Diet and Exercise:  I only got in 2 days this week.  I had a sore throat early in the week, and I was worried I was getting sick so I decided just to rest and not push myself.  It must have been some post nasal drip, because it never got any worse.  I'm pretty happy about that!  Diet really took a nose-dive--when I'm sick, I just don't want to eat healthy!  I was thwarted in my attempts to have McDonald's this week.  I went on Tuesday before my class, and they were closed for renovations!  I couldn't believe that the one night I really wanted those sweet, sweet fries I was denied.  I went to Subway instead and had a much healthier alternative, but I still want some McDonald's fries, darn it.

Movement: I felt her(!) moving around yesterday while standing around waiting to get the grapes (see below for more on that).  That's the first time I've felt her while standing, and it was pretty cool.  When we had the ultrasound, she was lying on her back and kind of jumping around in quick little motions (but she still held still long enough for the tech to get all the necessary measurements), which is probably what I feel when I get the good thumps.  She was also moving her legs around a lot, but kept her little ankles crossed like the lady she will be.  I've been feeling her a lot more while sitting as well.  She gets especially active when I've first woken up in the morning, and more so about half an hour after I eat (sugar rush!).  If someone has a hand on me when she moves, they would certainly be able to feel her!  Unfortunately, she still unpredictable enough that it's hard for Brian to feel a good kick.  It's still a very weird feeling, and kind of startles me if it comes out of the blue! 


What I Miss: Nothing since I got to see my sweet little girl :) 


What I'm Looking Forward to: Relaxing some after a very long day yesterday with the grapes.   


Best Moment this Week: Did I mention it's a girl?


Pregnancy Body-New and Exciting!..maybe:  
I've already mentioned my hips and sciatic.  Beyond that I seem to be OK.  So far I'm not seeing any of the odd skin things that are supposed to happen to pregnant women, although they are less likely to occur in very light skinned people.  I never thought being translucent would come in handy! 

Baby Milestones: I know it's nothing new to her, but she's a girl! 



Food Cravings: McDonald's fries!  I actually had some Burger King fries for lunch yesterday, but they are definitely not the same! 

How's Dad?: Really tired!  I keep teasing you with wine references, but he did the (very) heavy lifting yesterday.  He's currently napping to make up for it.  In bathroom news, the flooring is finally in.  Brian took the whole day on Friday off and hoped to be able to work on the bathroom, but it was not meant to be.  He was finally able to pick it up on Sunday.  That means a whole weekend lost on this, and with the front room painting and baby's room to do coming up, he's going to be home improving for quite some time.  Poor guy!   

Wine Making:  I'm going to take out the tid bits and throw in wine making!  We are making tempranillo this year after the successful Zinfandel last year.  On Saturday, we went to the winery in Lodi from which we were getting the grapes.  They were supposed to be there at 10:00 am.  The grapes were picked, but since all the wineries in Lodi were picking at the same time, the small winery we were at lost out on the truck.  So we waited for the truck to get to the field to pick up the grapes.  And waited.  And waited.  And went to get lunch.  And waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Finally, at about 3:00, the truck shows up with the grapes (this is now 5 hours later than we were originally told).  Great, we're done.  Nope--now they need to be de-stemmed.  So Brian and our friend Chris, being the good guys they are, get up and go help the winery guys with the stemmer.  Everyone else gets their bins and starts filling.  Well, I'm pretty useless with anything, so I watch a lot of people get their grapes and then leave while Brian and Chris are still on the machine.  I finally get sick of it, grab our bins, give people the "I'm pregnant, what are you going to do?" look and call Brian and Chris over to fill ours.  Please understand that it's now almost 5:00 and we've been there for 7 hours doing something that should have taken 2.  Chris and Brian go back to help out until the rest of the grapes for our group are done and we leave.  No one was very happy at this point!


On the bright side, the adjustments for pH and Brix (sugar levels) on our 300 lbs of must (de-stemmed grapes) went very smoothly, since I had to do them last year.  It really only too me 1 addition of acid and water to get the pH right.  I let the must sit overnight to equilibrate, and pitched (added) the yeast this morning.  I'll be fermenting with VRB yeast for about a week.  Despite the hassle getting the must, I think we'll have a much easier time this year! 

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