Mr. Contractor, Tear Down This Wall

News about the baby is exciting, but he isn't the only 2011 new addition we're focusing on right now. The reconstruction of the back of our house is well underway. Demolition is pretty much complete and the first steps of new construction have started. I'll post some pics of the construction progress, but first here's a quick review of the demolition.  

Since this post has so many pictures, I'll put all of them after the jump.  Click the "Read More" link to see the full post and all of the pics.

Summary of First 5 months

I am amazed that it's already been 21 weeks. How is that possible?

The first three months dragged and dragged. I was nauseated all the time and while I didn't really throw up a lot, I spent a lot of energy making sure I did not throw up. The two things that made it possible (beside my iron will, of course) was ginger sucking candies and those sea sickness bracelets. What little energy I had left was focused on pretending to the whole world that I was normal and everything was okay. I worked a few less hours, but tried to keep up pace and at least the appearance of normalcy. When I left work I usually went home for a quick nap while Alan took care of shopping and cooking, woke me up to make sure I ate and then put me to bed in bed (the couch was always so comfortable!); then he did all the dishes and straightened up.

Finally week 12 came and with it Christmas. All the tests came back healthy and perfect from the doctor's office. The news was Christmas present to family, though we weren't quite ready to tell the whole world yet. And the promised relief from nausea did not happen. Though the change to maternity jeans was a godsend. I think I'm never changing back. I didn't have a bump, but my belly was more sensitive and it was a joy to not have to fight with that terrible button every morning.

Around week 14 (3.5 months) I finally started to feel normal again. (Though even at week 21 the train rides to/from work can still be a challenge.) I also felt for the first time something that I qualified as "not normal" in my tummy. When you're feeling sick all the time, you spend an abnormal amount of time thinking about your belly and how things are feeling. I was pretty sure that "not normal" was a baby (!) but wasn't certain enough to really call it out as such. When I didn't feel it again for over a week I figured I'd made it up.

Week 16 (month 4) I started telling work because I could definitely see a bit of a belly showing. Not enough that anyone would dare mention it (horror!) but enough that if you knew, it was obvious. Work took it great and I felt a bit more ready to make the next step.

Good thing, because by week 18 I had definitely popped. I got my first "Are you Expecting" question this week. That was startling, and quite brave of that person cuz if I wasn't they'd have been in trouble! I also often started to feel the occasional little movements from week 14 again, definitely the same thing. This is also about the time I lost track of my belly. I felt so much like my normal self and wasn't feeling movements very often, so I sort of forgot my belly wasn't normal sized. I bumped into coworkers, chairs, frequently pulled myself too close to tables and occasionally gave myself quite the fright when I got up in the night to go to the bathroom and hit a THING where only air should be in front of my stomach.

Now, at 20-21 weeks (5 months) I feel movement pretty frequently. It is now strong enough to distract me in meetings and Alan finally felt it too yesterday. I think our little boy will be kicking tea cups, pencils and whatever else I can balance on my belly off of it in not too long! Unfortunately, if he's not actively kicking it is still easy to forget that there is a now quite sizable belly in front of me and I can't quite walk as fast or scoot as close to the table as I think I should be able to.

All in all it's been a pretty great second trimester so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of it. I'll keep you up to date on status.

More Ultrasound Pics

And just to see how much he's grown already, these are the ultrasound pics from 8 weeks and 12 weeks:

8 weeks

12 weeks

Super-Mega-Ultrasound

First post!

Last week Emily and I went for our 20 week checkup with the doctor, where we had a chance to spend almost two hours checking out our baby with the ultrasound technician.  The tech found and measured all of the limbs and organs on her scavenger hunt list, and everything is present, in the correct place, and the expected size and proportions for 20 weeks.  During the other two ultrasounds we could see that *something* living was in there but it wasn't anything recognizable.  But this time it was very obviously a (human) baby, moving and wiggling around just like you'd expect a baby to do... it was really pretty incredible. 

Here are a couple of side views.  In the first one his knees are up by his chest (he's not stepping on Emily's bladder for a change) and you can see a little bit of his hand.  In the second one he has his mouth open and his hand up by his face.  Not long after the second picture was taken, he punched himself in the face and elbowed Emily in the side... I think he gets his coordination from his mom. :)
These two show a straight on view of his mouth and nose, with the rest of his head hidden in a pointy shadow.  He looks like a little hip-hop kid wearing a big hooded sweatshirt.  In the second one he's chewing on his hand, though the view is a little distorted so it's tough to make it out.

 Check after the jump for arms, legs and feet...