The Amazing Disappearing Belly Button!

Ok, so my favorite part to watch change is my belly button. First the lower lip disappeared, now the top lip is on its way out. My navel looks like an eye, with the top lip being the eyelid and the bottom being the iris of the eye. It's pretty funny.

I discovered this afternoon how to get Bob to move - CHOCOLATE!!!!!!! I had a couple of handfulls of M & M's (left over from Vegas - what irony) and lo and behold, movement! Yay! I was actually beginning to worry a little since I hadn't really felt anything much in a few days.

Off to the windy city tomorrow for the long weekend. :-) It was flirting with 90 here today so I'll be glad to get to a little bit cooler temps. I ended up taking my kids out to the park which is adjacent to the school and we did Dancing in the Park today. One of my favorite lessons to do. The kids love it too. I stayed in the shade all day long. It was really nice. My stage, on the other hand, was not. It was hot and stuffy. There are no windows and only one door, which leads to the lunchroom, so no chance of any ventilation. I had one third of my classes (3 of 9) in there. The two in the a.m. weren't so bad but the one in the p.m. was horrid. It was hot and stuffy. A fan would only have moved around the hot air so I decided against that. Looks like summer's going to be a blast...can you hear the sarcasm in my voice? I'm praying for 70s most of the summer, at least while we're here. It can get as hot as it wants here while we're out of town. :-)

18 weeks, 1 day

This is going to be short since I have kids coming in in about 5 minutes...

The minor complication is my cervix. It's slightly shorter (thinner?) than they would like it to be. For right now we're taking a wait-and-see approach, with a re-check in about 6 weeks. Other than that, things look good. I just need to take it easy, which isn't a problem. :-) Please keep us in your prayers! This is slightly stressful.

10 toes! Yes, the feet are backward because the legs are crossed.

The fingers are either going straight up or straight down. My guess is that up in the picture is where the tips are. You can also see the skull.

I think that's a hand in the middle of the picture.

The bit above and toward the top of the skull is a hand.

The head is toward the left of the picture. You can really see the skull formations here, including where the eyes are! This is a frontal view. Smile baby!

The baby wasn't cooperating too well at first. Here we see the back of the head, with and arm and hand also in the picture

The heart is directly above the spine.

Ultrasound

Today was our ultrasound. What a trip! We got to see the baby moving, I got to feel the baby moving while we were watching it, and things look great! I'm posting six of the pictures we got to take home today.

We will need to talk with the OB about one thing tomorrow that can be worrysome. I'll post more about that when I have more info and know what he wants to do about it. It has nothing to do with the baby and everything to do with me, though I'm not sure I have any control over it. There are two possible fixes that I can think of, and both of them are relatively easy. I'll do whatever it takes to keep this little one alive. I promise I'll post again tomorrow after our OB appointment. Please don't worry about us, though.

Enjoy the pictures! For orientation purposes, up in the pictures is my belly, down is my back, to the left is toward my head, and to the right is toward my feet. The baby is currently laying with it's head down. The placenta is right in front, which is fine and explains why the movement I feel in the front is less strong than movement other places. Actually, the baby is moving right now! Bob's been really active today. Moving almost non-stop. What a kick! (Pardon the pun...)

There's the belly! Taken on Mother's Day.

Kid Funnies

My students are so funny! One little boy (he's 5) told his mother one night last week that he thought I had been eating fast food on more than just special occasions. Luckily, she works with me and knew already I was pregnant so she just told her son to talk with me about it. He's super excited! Today at school, one of my first graders asked me what it meant when my tummy got bigger. I told her that it meant that the baby was getting bigger.

Depending on what I wear, there is a definate pooch from the front. :-) Of course, finding clothes for certain occasions is getting interesting. For example, Jeffy and I are helping chaperone the junior prom at the high school where he works on Saturday night. The mom I mentioned above is bringing by a dress that she wore when she was pregnant with her son. She and I are about the same size and build so maybe it will work! I'm excited to try (it's a strapless - I finally have enough up top to hold it up! Yay!)

My next ultrasound is on Monday, then my OB appointment is on Tuesday. Can you tell I'm excited!?

I'm a treadmill....

Well, this kid is very active. I was sitting on the couch last night and felt this fluttering off and on for about 45 minutes. Wow! The kicking was all in the same place, hence calling myself a treadmill. What an amazing and awesome feeling. I was filled with so many different emotions all at once. Relief, awe, amazement, excitment, joy, wonder...I really can't explain it. I guess those of you who have been through this and have experienced feeling your child move inside of you for the first time know what it's like. I had good tears just streaming down my face. (I called my mom just to make sure that's what I was actually feeling.) I'm excitedly awaiting the next time I feel Bob move. Wonder if it will be in a different spot or in the same spot...time will tell. This is really real now! I have a little person growing and living inside of me. :-)

Testing the Rumor Mill

Well, the secret is no longer secret at school. I had a 4th grader ask me today if I was pregnant (apparently I had my hand resting on my enlarging belly while we were talking). So, I didn't lie! It will be really interesting to see how long it will take for the news to get around school to all of the kids. My bet is by the end of the day tomorrow. Good news travels fast there. Some kids just looked at me in disbelief when they heard. It was quite amuzing.

What a beautiful day we had today! Good thing too. So far I'm 3-for-3 on my walks to the Tacoma Symphony with my 4th-6th graders. It hasn't rained once in the last three years. Today we had a perfect sunny day, probably near 70. The kids liked the concert (it's a free one that the TSO puts on for area 5th graders each year. We're a mile away from the theatre so we walk. It's just easier that way.) I actually came home and put on shorts this afternoon. If we only get one nice and sunny day this week, I'm glad it was today!

I'm gonna get Jeffy to take a belly shot of me soon! My bellybutton is starting to disappear. First to go is the bottom lip. :-) I'm finally starting to feel pregnant and this is finally starting to feel real. I also should be able to feel movement any day now. I"m so excited for that! I'm 16 weeks today. In a week or two, I'll be through with my fourth month. In four more weeks, I'll be half-way there to the end. :-)