Moving: limbs and furniture

She moved for both of my parents for the first time today. She's in a new position with whatever appendage out on my right side, just underneath my ribs. Both of them were able to feel it one after another, and my mom couldn't stop talking about it the rest of the day. Later in the afternoon I was resting on the couch and I could SEE the movement, very clearly, from the outside. I wish I had a video camera within arm's reach; I could have easily captured it. Regardless, it was still very exciting.

The bedroom that will eventually be hers is really coming together too. Art's desk and the bulk of the audio gear he doesn't need any more has been disassembled and moved down to the garage to be sold. The armoire has been moved from the dining room and into that room; the reptiles have been moved from that room and into the dining room; the futon and armoire have been rotated around that room into the positions that they will remain; the holes in the wall and ceiling have been patched and painted (though the ceiling needs to be touched up with the right color white); and her clothes have been moved from our closet and organized into the armoire.

Now we just need to finish up organizing the rest of his audio gear, acquire the crib and changing table (and go through the joys of assembling them), and get some decorations up on the walls so it's not so bare! I'm feeling much better now that this all has been accomplished.

Oh yeah, and this all happened in the past 72 hours. We've been busy.

En utero musical theater

I've decided to perform a musical experiment. One of the vets I work with, Dr. Judy, bought us a CD set of lullabies, half of which are beautiful instrumentals which I really don't mind listening too. In hopes of having these songs actually do something with the baby on the outside, I've decided to play them to her on the inside. I've heard of things like this before; dads saying the baby's name all sing-song-y frequently to the belly and having the baby respond to the same intonation once born. So, why not? If I can have her respond peacefully to these songs being played quietly, it will be worth it.

I feel kind of silly sitting at the computer with headphones on my abdomen, but Art thinks it's a decent idea too, and he's the only one that would ever see this. I'm also making sure not to play the music when she's still--only when she's active--so I'm not disturbing whatever sleep pattern she's developed in there.

24 week photo

Well, there's no hiding it any more!

No more tears

Pregnancy hormones? Yeah, you. Can you stop making me so sensitive now? I escaped the whole first trimester and now most of the second without having ridiculous emotional side effects, but now a handful of times in the past week I've cried when only mildly upset, then become so embarrassed and frustrated at the fact that I was crying that I cry some more. What a vicious cycle! Then Art grounds me, or I get a reassuring kick from inside, and the mean circle of tears is broken. And while I still feel like a fool, at least I have an excuse :)

An extra look inside!

Tonight's midwife appointment was awesome! Art came with, finally getting to meet at least the one of them, so that was the start of the greatness. It was followed up by getting to borrow a really great book about birthing.

And the absolute icing on the cake was when I asked if she could do a quick scan with the ultrasound machine to double-check me growing a miniature vagina in there, and she spent a good 10 minutes double, triple, and quadruple checking that itty bitty vulva's presence, as well as getting great shots of her face (both profile and straight on), showcasing all her tiny body parts, and just letting us enjoy watching all the activity in there. I freaking LOVE these midwives!

The first photo is the wonderfully creepy face shot straight-on. And here's a look at her little thigh beefing up, along with a peek at her "hamburger" (as opposed to a boy's "hot dog").

22 week photo

Following along what month I'm in has always seemed to escape me. I can't believe that I've already completed five and am in my sixth. That just sounds so crazy!

Listen careful

We heard the baby move a few nights ago. I borrowed a stethoscope from one of the veterinarians at work and we've been fooling around trying to catch a little listen of perhaps the heartbeat. While she's probably still too small or not in the quite right position to catch that, we did hear her wiggling up a storm. Not only could I feel it and hear it, but Art could feel it from the outside while listening too. Next week we have another midwife appointment--the first one that Daddy will be able to attend--and we'll get to go over the results of the ultrasound. I attended an awesome baby expo last weekend, we updated our registry, I can feel her moving daily now...This is beginning to feel really real :)