Finishing the 2nd Trimester

I loved that we could more easily feel Baby Girl Bell from the outside. I would get my book and lay on the bed reading with my hand on my belly waiting to feel some movement. This was my way of 'hanging out' with my daughter and I loved being able to have that interaction. Chris got in on some quality baby time as well, when Baby Girl Bell cooperated. It seemed that more often than not I would feel Baby Girl Bell moving quite a bit, but by the time Chris could get his hand on my tummy she had found a comfortable spot and was settled down. Plus, I had a pulse that bounded down my stomach which made it more difficult to tell if it was the baby moving or just my heart beat. One afternoon when Chris and I were relaxing by the pool Baby Girl Bell was quite awake and kicking. Sitting on the long lounge chairs I was at a perfect angle to see my stomach jumping with the strong baby punches. It was like a scene out of an science fiction movie where there is an alien living inside you trying to get out. I guess Baby Girl Bell is living inside me, but not in the sci-fi sense. I thought it was amazing to experience Baby Girl Bell in yet another way.

Chris and I had a couple of rough weeks with sicknesses. I guess pregnant women are extra susceptible to illness during pregnancy because they body weakens it's immune defenses so that the baby isn't rejected (in a round about way of putting it). So (blaming my ailments on Chris) when Chris did a triathlon that called for a very early morning and had us both out in the rain for the morning and then we were gone all day and got home very late at night, it was no surprise that Chris and I came down with something. Actually, I started out with fatigue and body aches as a result of our long and active day. Pains which lasted just long enough to transition into a full on cold that was passed on from the one Chris had developed. For a day I thought maybe I had strep throat again and was upset because didn't want to have to take antibiotics, so I was actually relieved when I only had to suffer through a typical cold.

Once November hit things started to get busy. Chris and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Our gift to each other was all of the clothes and accessories we would need to go to the temple. We had plans to use all of it and go that night, but Chris' pants didn't fit and the shoes I had weren't really as white as I remembered. Plus, it was already late night so we spent the evening at a nice restaurant for dinner and enjoyed some quality time just being together. In talking about things we had done and where we were in life - expecting our first child - we felt good about what we had done and where we were headed. I always try to find something to look forward to and so bought some tickets to the showing of a ski movie. One I knew Chris would enjoy. Chris, being so thoughtful, got me a gift certificate for a pregnancy massage. That guy sure knows how to please. My favorite part of the whole evening was that Chris had bought a present for me, well for the baby. It was the cutest, coziest, most adorable baby outfit I have ever seen. Of course it was from REI, Chris' favorite store. I thought it was so precious that he picked it out and was so excited about it himself.

For a short time we were privileged to have some visitors - Richard, Heather, Tyler and Ainsley made the trip from Utah to spend a few days in warmer weather. I had been missing family so much I was so excited to be able to have some time with them. We took one day and went to Disneyland. Being pregnant I couldn't go on any of the big, fast rides so I didn't mind that we spent most of our time on rides like Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan. Baby Girl Bell may not know that she already had her first trip to Disneyland, but we decided it would be a while before we actually ever took our kids. I wished that Rich and Heather could have stayed longer and we could have had more time together, but it was okay because a couple of days after they went back to Utah I followed them home.

My mom bought me a plane ticket to bring me home for the weekend of Oma's 80th birthday party. I was really excited to see family, but apprehensive at the same time. It seemed that all those crazy emotions everyone talks about pregnant women having had been converging on me for some time. I was more emotional than I had been in a while and the stresses associated with visiting family seemed to exacerbate some of my feelings. Also, I had never been nervous about flying on a place until this flight. I was strangely, and ridiculously afraid that something bad was going to happen. I had thoughts that the plane was going to go down, or the landing gear might not work, or that I would go into labor while in the air. All possible, but extremely rare. I began to understand how new moms, and new parents in general, start to get unrealistic worries about things that are out of your control. It made me think of my friend Stacey that obsessed about the possibility of her daughter getting a peanut allergy. She was pretty much sick and consumed with worry. At the time I thought it comical how intensely she stewed about it. I understand her now. It is amazing how protective I felt. I just hoped I could keep to the rational side of things.

My trip home was good. The first day was a little rough due to my stressing over the plane flight. I had gone on a run-walk, a wog Chris calls it (walk and jog combined), and had some pretty strong round ligament pain that was causing me concern. This furthered my anxieties and I was sure something was going to go wrong. Thanks to a husband that is calm and rational I got on the plane and arrived safely in Utah. My round ligament pain lasted through the day making the first part of my trip a little mellow and me slightly moody. I was able to go with my mom to have Thanksgiving dinner with Grandma Austin at the care facility she lives in. Grandma Austin had been crocheting away and made Baby Girl Bell a beautiful baby quilt. I loved the homemade aspect of the gift and am very excited for Baby Girl Bell to have something Grandma Austin had done herself. The next day I visited some friends, got my hair done, and spent some time with Jan. We went to the surprise party for Oma that night. I loved seeing all of the extended family together for such a fun celebration. We had every pregnant cousin there and I suggested we have a belly parade so everyone could show off their pregnant tummies. Poor grandma had her work cut out for her with six great grandchildren showing up within the next six months or so. Marty seemed to be feeling better and was embracing the pregnant way of life much more than I ever did. I wanted to look non-pregnant for as long as possible, but Marty decided to flaunt it early and liked the responses she got. At this point there was no hiding it, and I was proud to show off that I had a beautiful baby growing inside.

The next day, and my last day in Utah was an emotional one. Feelings being exacerbated by pregnancy and fatigue I was upset when my mom was hurt thinking that some things she did made Chris and I not want to bring our family back to Utah when the fellowship was over. I worked to explain that there is no other place we would want to be and we hope to be around family so that they can learn from their grandparents. I keep telling my dad that we need to be close to the property so I can send the kids over to learn how to work hard on the farm with their grandpa. My mom, always so generous, took me shopping for a baby stroller. That was her main gift to us. Although, she spent a bunch on baby clothes and a few toys as well. I think Baby Girl Bell is going to be one of the best looking girls out there thanks to Grandma D. Mom also took me maternity clothes shopping. I think I tried on everything in the store before I found something that looked good. I have never wanted to be an unfortunate and uncomfortable looking pregnant lady so I was appreciative of the extra outfits. I had been spending a lot of money on clothes already trying to make sure I looked somewhat stylish. I think that having my body change so much, though for the best reason, was pretty tough on the psyche and to make myself feel a little bit attractive I made sure I had some good clothes that fit well. Before I had left for Utah I was trying on all of my clothes to make sure I had outfits to keep me warm. Chris was very thoughtful and had bought me a new fleece jacket to fit over my pregnant belly. I was glad he had because it was much colder in Utah than California. For the last night before I left we ordered pizza and played games. Just hanging out at my parents house one of my favorite things to do and was glad to have some down time to chat and enjoy the company of my family. I thought about how nice it would be to bring Baby Girl Bell over to Grandma D and Papa's house to play with the cousins.

The morning of the flight home I woke up to a blizzard hitting Utah. This added to my stress associated with flying, though I wasn't worrying as much as I had on the flight out. My flight was delayed, but landed safely at the Ontario airport. I was so glad to be home again with Chris. I know that Chris had missed me and missed his tummy kicks with Baby Girl Bell. The recovery from this flight was much easier and I was up and going the next day, and not down and painful like I had been in the past. I only had a couple of days to get ready for our next adventure so I had to make the most of that time.

I had my next doctors visit right after I got back from Utah. Like most of my previous appointments this visit was pretty low-key. My blood pressure, heart rate and weight were measured and all of the regular questions were reviewed. I was surprised because my heart rate was up to 70 beats per minute instead of the usual 50 bpm. Which, 70 is normal for most non-pregnant people and 50 would be considered low. I wasn't worried because heart rates are expected to increase as the pregnancy progresses. My blood pressure was great and my weight gain was right on target. My fundal height measured 24cm - just where it should have been. Chris would tell me I was the ideal patient because everything measures just as expected and I was low-risk with no complications (to date). When trying to listen to Baby Girl Bell's heartbeat on the doppler she decided to be very active and kept kicking back. A couple of times she thumped hard enough that it made the doppler machine turn off. I think it gave the doctor an idea of just how active she could be. Chris was working in the sports medicine clinic on the next floor down and didn't make it up in time to hear Baby Girl Bell's heartbeat on the doppler. He stuck around while I got my flu shot but was disappointed at missing his opportunity to hear the heart. Things were slow in Chris' clinic so we decided to go and do our own ultrasound and get another look at our little, but now much bigger, baby girl. We loved seeing the details of her hands and feet. She had found a comfortable spot and wasn't moving much by this time. Her head was resting low in the pelvis with her feet up toward my belly. She had grown so much that we couldn't get her whole body in one view on the ultrasound and her bones were becoming more solid which made more shadows. Chris did a triple check to reconfirm the girliness of our baby. Once again, I think I could have stayed and looked at her most of the day.

For Thanksgiving Chris and I drove to Tucson, Arizona where Chris' parents had recently moved. We wanted to spend time with his family and check out the new house. Joe, Andrea and Stoddard were planning on being there so that would make even more of a holiday celebration. We broke up the drive to Tucson by staying overnight at the halfway point and finishing the rest the next day. Chris did all of the driving so I just leaned my chair back to make room for the belly and enjoyed the ride. We only had a few days time with the Bell family so we did a lot of hanging out and chatting. I think there was some sort of sports game, football or basketball, on nonstop. Interrupted only occasionally by Stoddard's Baby Genius movies, which Joe calls baby-crack because of it's ability to mesmerize little kids. I made sure to take note of that and decided I will have to pick up some of those for Baby Girl Bell. Chris' uncle Jim, Holly's brother, also lives in Arizona so we spent a couple of evenings with him and his family. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner at the local Golf Club - I actually indulged in some ribs, which I had found I was more drawn to during pregnancy. Andrea made sure to bring her camera and took some pictures of the family members. Chris and I compared bellies, and I think it was a pretty close call.

Week 20 - Half way there!

Over the next couple of weeks I could feel Baby Girl Bell kicking more and more. At times I still wasn't sure if it was just gas bubbles or if it was actually little arms and legs giving me a punch. I soon became pretty adept at telling the two apart. I could really feel Baby Girl Bell moving when we were in the car and the seatbelt was across my abdomen, or if I had pants on with a tighter waist (which was soon becoming most of my pants). I liked feeling her move, knowing she was there and doing her baby thing. Chris and I were talking while driving home from dinner one night and during our conversation I kept feeling a consistent nudge in my belly. It was a bit distracting. Chris said it's just like kids who are trying to get their parents attention and they keep saying 'Mom...mom...mom...mom...mom...' until someone finally answers them. I really wanted the time to come when Chris could feel Baby Girl Bell move. I thought it might make the whole pregnancy seem a little more concrete and real, instead of experiencing it all through me.

Unfortunately, and yet fortunately, my sweet tooth returned. I eased my way back into the land of ice cream (though still only on occasion and with no real cravings), chocolate, and cookies. The unfortunate part of this being that I would have loved the sugar aversion to continue to the end of the pregnancy so I could decrease my risk of extreme weight gain. The upside at the timing is that I could enjoy my favorite Halloween treat, Halloween Oreos. Yum.

I had gone through a stretch of not sleeping very well. I would get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and then not be able to fall asleep again for a couple of hours, if at all. I was getting headaches that kept me up. And, unfortunately I had such a headache on the day of Chris' 38th birthday. His celebration consisted of cupcakes that I took to work and dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. I was feeling extremely fatigued, but unable to actually hit the REM cycle when trying to take naps during the day. I realized that if we went to bed just a little bit later and the last thing I did before closing my eyes was to go to the bathroom I could make it to the morning. Having figured that out I was sleeping much better by the time the 20 week mark rolled around.

I was looking forward to the half way point knowing that the countdown could really start. I celebrated my 20 weeks by going shopping at Destination Maternity, a large store directed solely toward expecting mothers. I felt a little self conscious when I walked in and wished my mom or sisters were there to share the experience with me, and deflect some of the over-attention from the staff. I shopped around and found some tops that I could grow into and purchased my first pair of maternity jeans. I could still fit into some of the low-rise pants that were once too big, but those maternity pants felt so soft and snug over my belly. It was like putting a pillow in a pillowcase. My favorite part about the maternity store was the belly attachments that were an estimation of how large the abdomen would be for someone at 7 or 9 months. I tried the 7 month one on with a couple of shirts just so I could get an idea of how they would fit later on. I couldn't bring myself to put on the 9 month belly, hoping that because of my height I might only make it to the 7 month look.

I wanted to get Chris something to honor 'Hump Day', which is what Chris called it because the actual 20 week mark also fell on a Wednesday. I think he needed to feel the 'Daddy' vibe so I bought an outfit for Baby Girl Bell that said 'Daddy's Girl' on the front.

Chris surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers which helped me to know that we were celebrating together. His genuine thoughtfulness was so surprising and appreciated.

I had a doctors appointment the next day and was slightly nervous at getting the ultrasound report. This is the time when I would be told if there was anything out of the ordinary. I was relieved when Dr. Wang told me that the ultrasound looked perfectly normal. She measured my abdomen and it was 20.5 cm, which was right on track. She asked if I could feel any kicking yet. Oh, yes. She's a mover. I told her that I could especially feel her when I was in the car with the seatbelt or when wearing tight jeans. She said that Baby Girl Bell must not like it and she wants her space. When using the doppler to hear Baby Girl Bell's heart tones Dr. Wang put a little pressure on my belly with the probe and exclaimed that she felt her kick back, even with that little amount of pressure. She said that Baby Girl Bell already has a bit of a personality. I just laughed to myself knowing that this little girl is going to give me a run for my money the same way I did to my mom.

I had already started the motherly habit of resting my hand on my tummy when laying or sitting and relaxing. I had never felt Baby Girl Bell move from the outside, only from the inside. I wondered that if Dr. Wang could feel her move then I should be able to feel her, too. Two days later on a lazy morning when Chris didn't have to go to work until later, I was half asleep with my hand lightly on my belly when I felt a slight kick in the palm of my hand. I could feel Baby Girl Bell moving on the inside and realized that I was now feeling her from the outside. I laid there with my hand on my tummy and felt a whirl of movement for the next couple of minutes. I was so excited I wanted to wake Chris up and tell him, but I let him be. Once he started to stir enough that I could tell he was a little bit awake I told him I could feel the baby. He rested his hand on my belly and after a few moments he felt some movement. He wasn't quite sure what he was feeling, but once Baby Girl Bell gave a couple of strong punches, ones that I could feel inside and he could feel outside he realized he had just received his first baby high-five.

Although not much time had passed since the last belly bump picture it seemed that my 'Buddha Belly', as Chris termed it once, had really started to become visible. I had become more accepting of my changing body and didn't feel like I needed to camouflage it anymore. I really began to embrace my pregnancy instead of working so hard to prevent what inevitably comes with the diagnosis. Though I was still not lovingly wrapping my arms around the continued tiredness and various aches and pains. Running was becoming more and more difficult as pains and cramping seemed to become more and more prevalent and increasingly painful. I resigned myself to the bike trainer and enjoyed swimming when the water at our apartment wasn't too cold. As far as weight gain went I was adding the L-Bs as expected and was just glad to not be an over-achiever in this area.