Still kicking

Baby boy is moving a lot! It is really fun to get a subtle reminder that there is a little growing person inside my body. Still mind-boggling when you really think about that! I had my appointment on Monday with Dr. Chao and it went well. The heart rate was about 143 and there was nothing else really to report. At my next appointment, I will do the dreaded glucose screen. Ugh! I am not looking forward to that, but hopefully this time, I will only have to do it once.

Nick has been in Chile for a few days now and Ruby and I are flying solo. We have kept quite busy with projects and meeting up with friends. We have a full agenda this weekend, but do look forward to Nick's return on Thursday of next week. Ruby has been breaking in some baby toys that Elizabeth handed down and I think will be quite pleased to teach baby brother a lot about the world. Ruby is referring to herself as "big Sister" when she talks about herself now. It is pretty cute. She likes to kiss the belly every morning and night.

I am still trying to get my workouts in and here I am at the gym this week. I feel like my belly has really grown in the last couple weeks. I can feel the shift in my center of gravity and certainly a limitation in my flexibility. I am really tired by the night's end and want to lay down a lot. My back continues to hurt, and I am sure kickboxing does not help that!

I also just purchased my first baby item. I bought him one of my favorite baby blankets that was also gifted to Ruby by Yaso. His little Tourance blankie should be here next week or so. I can't wait to see him on it.

21 weeks at the Gym

Wedding Travels

We traveled to New York last week for the wedding of my friend, Yaso, from college. I met Yaso the first week of class as freshman at UT-Austin. She and I were in the same Calculus II class and I credit her with helping me survive that course, and not completely failing. She and I stayed in touch over the past 15 years. I visited her in San Francisco after we both graduated, and she came to our wedding there in 2009.  The wedding was a beautiful multi-cultural affair. At 20 weeks pregnant, I was feeling good and had a blast on the dance floor. I enjoyed wearing this long purple gown and feeling beautiful as my pregnant self. Beside the wedding, we stayed busy. We met my cousin, Stella in NYC the day we arrived and had a great dinner. Then on Saturday we took the train to Beacon and had a hike with the wedding party. The next day we went to an art museum, Dia: Beacon, and a strawberry festival before the ceremony. 

I am starting to feel the baby move around a lot more and that is exciting. I continue to have back pain and have to go to the bathroom so often, but I know that is to be expected. Nick is on cloud nine to be having a son. He couldn't sleep after finding out the news...he was so excited! We don't have anything definitive on names yet. Yesterday, when I asked Ruby what we should name him, she responded, "Botticelli." That is an interesting one!

Nick is in Chile now for 2 weeks with his Texas State study abroad program. He left last night. I go to the doctor on Monday for another check-up.  Overall, I feel quite good and have good energy. Ruby and I have been staying busy and doing most of our normal routine.

Our Son

This morning we went in for the anatomy scan at 19w 3d. Nick and I both waited patiently for the tech to bring up the pics that would reveal the baby's sex to us. At the last moment, I anticipated it would be a girl. When she told us it was a boy, Nick was so excited and had tears of joy! He got his boy!!! I was happy too, but also a little bit like "oh my gosh! this is unchartered territory for me!" I don't know about boys! I know about girls!

She finished up the appointment and measured all the parts. She said that the baby is in the 46th percentile, which is awesome. He weighs apx 11 oz right now and has 10 fingers and 10 toes. His heartbeat was 145. Everything seems to be going well for the little guy. We were quick to inform our family and friends of the news. Everyone was of course excited for us.

Ruby was at school when we found out so we waited until we were both home from work to let her know that she was going to have a brother. I was nervous about how she would handle it, as she has expressed several times over the last months that she "doesn't like boys" and that "boys smell." I stopped at Toys-R-Us on my way home and found a newborn babydoll Cabbage Patch kid that was a boy. We presented it to her when we told her and she was actually fine with the news. She just wanted to play with her new babydoll! She took a bath with him and fed him and changed his diaper. She is really going to be a loving big sister I think!