21 weeks!

It feels as though the weeks are flying by! This week, baby is the size of a large banana. According to the web, Shmu is gulping down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for hydration and nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. Taste buds are actually working now and studies show that after birth, babies are more interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid. Another reason to eat a variety of healthy food.

Last night, Rudy and I read that we should be able to start hearing the heartbeat with our stethoscopes.  So after just a few minutes of trying, Rudy found it! It was not as loud or easy to hear as an adult heartbeat, but it was definitely there. It was so fun! Ru immediately started talking to the baby and asked it to kick or move so he could feel it. Surprisingly, after holding out on him all week long, Shmu moved and Rudy felt it! :) It's always a magical moment when dad gets a little piece of the action, too. 

Another random fact . . . I also traded a throw pillow for my body pillow to sleep at night and what a difference it makes. I'm loving it and am actually sleeping through the night now! :) We hope the pattern continues!

We're halfway there!

It seems surreal to be 5 months pregnant with a baby the size of a cantelope! I can remember looking online at our little "appleseed" at 4 weeks after conception, then seeing the blueberry and all the other fruits that grew in size. The cantelope was the first that stood out to me as being "big!" I remember thinking, "What will it be like to be there, at 20 weeks?" Now I know, that it definitely marks a turning point as many "firsts" have occurred! I thought I'd give you an update on our family and some of the new things we're experiencing...

The dad - Ru is doing really well in school. He recently taught his first graduate level anatomy lab. Using cadavers, he instructed the students about the knee. Everyone said he did a great job! Rudy is also working full time at a physical therapy clinic in San Clemente. He really enjoys what he does and the patients all rave about him. He's a good teacher, is patient, and likes a challenge. There's nothing too hard for him to figure out or make himself. He has invented so many gadgets and exercises to fit each individual injury, it's amazing. The therapists are in awe of him and his creativity. I'm not just bragging here. I'm actually understating how well he is liked and how well the job suits him. Of course, we're very excited for his future job when he is the therapist himself! :) On the home front, he's gotten some more tools and saws and loves working on projects in the garage. A year or two ago we turned that into his domain and he really enjoys having his manly area of the house! :)

The baby - Our little dragon exchanged his/her fireballs (making me so sick) for karate moves and is moving constantly. That is a fun new thing that started in week 17 with slight movements that turned into actually rolling around and kicking during the 19th week! This week, Rudy has been able to feel Shmu almost every day and I definitely feel the baby ALL day long, every day!! I was teasing Rudy about it in church last Sunday, saying that this baby was definitely taking after him. During the whole 30+ minutes of music time, the baby was moving and actually kicked so hard, I said, "Wow" out loud during a prayer! Oops! :) Who am I to know if this is normal or not. It just seems to be so constant, we're thinking we've got an active one!!
Baby's growth measurements are as follows...

Many of you have asked what "Shmu" means or why we use the name. Let me first clarify that we have NO intention of naming our baby, Shmu! This is a nickname, one of many, I'm sure our baby will have. Rudy heard the word on a Seinfeld episode and started referring to anything small or tiny as a "shmoopie." So, we say shmoopie or shmu for anything cute and tiny. Writing it out as "Shmoo" just looked weird to me, so I changed it to Shmu. I suppose in normal language, it would mean, "Little one."

The mom- I am feeling much better, which is a relief words are just not adequate enough to describe! I do feel ill at night and I know I need to be getting more sleep. However, I can't complain when I compare it to what it used to be. I continue to feel very tired, but I keep excercising a little each day trying to coax the energy out of me. Teaching pretty much takes it out of me and by the end of the day every task seems much more difficult than it really should be! :) I think I can take back pretty much everything I said I wouldn't do or would do differently, "if I were pregnant." It's a completely different story when you're actually experiencing it. 

In other more important news, I am losing my job. Our school is one of many that is facing huge budget cuts due to the 8.1 billion dollar education cut our state has decided to make. My district is having to cut 27 million and when 80% of the budget is salaries and benefits, young teachers get the axe! There are many things about losing my job that break my heart. The first and foremost, I love teaching! Apart from loving the classroom, the school where I am at has given me many amazing opportunities to stretch my wings and develop my professional career, including training fellow teachers, and being on leadership and advisory teams, not to mention the diverse students I have had the priviledge of teaching. I'm so thankful for the many ways I've grown as an educator while here. I was also very thankful to be 7 minutes away from my parents' house, as my mom offered to watch the baby for 3 days a week! (So sad to lose that!)

Another reason my heart is heavy is that I had saved all my sick days to be able to take time off for maternity leave in the fall. I was so looking forward to getting just a little time home with the baby before having to go back to work. I can't cash those days out, so they just sit in a holding tank until I get hired elsewhere. Speaking of which, the chances of finding another district that is hiring is about zero! Districts all over southern California are being affected by this and there are thousands of really great, qualified, young teachers who are also looking for work.

The one thing we can cling to is knowing that our God is not at all surprised by this. He knew when he blessed us with this baby, that I would lose my job. He has proven Himself faithful and I cling to that when I start to panic! :) Speaking of panic... I need to secure a job with benefits for us soon, as Rudy will be in school full time starting in July and unable to work. He is so close to his goal and we are not even considering having him drop out of his program. If you think of it, we'd sure appreciate your prayers! 

Grandma's Visit!

Trying to hear Shmu's heartbeat with stethoscopes! :) 

Grandma Gina got to come for a short visit while on a layover in Orange County. We LOVE her job! We got to pick her up at her hotel and take her to one of our local hole-in-the-wall restaurants for breakfast. It's much more fun to catch up in person! The time was too short, but hopefully we'll be able to see her much more often. I can't wait for when Shmu is old enough to anticipate Grandma's visits! :)

19 weeks

This week was fun in that I can finally say, I "popped!" I've got a bulge that everyone can see and I'm starting to get looks that go directly towards my belly. I'm also getting my stomach rubbed quite constantly with everyone at school now noticing the growth. It's fun to finally look pregnant! :) Along with looking the part, I feel the baby daily, too! That has been really fun. It reminds me that there really is a life growing inside me and it causes me to stop and pray for my little one. So amazing to daily grow more and more in love with someone you've never met and someone you know will change your life forever. Ru's started talking to the baby and kisses my belly every time we see each other before or after our long days. He's also starting to help me lift things, which is cute. Now that he can see a belly, I think he feels more protective of us. :)

Our baby is the size of a mango! Here's the stats on Shmu...

The hair on baby's scalp is sprouting. This is a crucial time for sensory development: Baby's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. 

Presenting...

Baby Shmu!

Our baby at 18 weeks.

The black space inside the body is baby's heart. It was beating just as strong as ever!

This is one of my favorites... look at Shmu's little pouty mouth! So cute!! 

Here we can see that Shmu has five fingers (at least on one hand, anyways)! 

Today we had our long awaited ultrasound! Shmu was being somewhat stubborn and not moving for the technician. The lady even had me lay on my side, rubbed the ultrasound wand over and over the spot where she wanted the baby to move. Would baby cooperate? Nope! I have no idea where he/she gets that from! :)  It was so fun to look at all of the upper anatomy parts, including inside baby's brain. Wow! It was so fun! There's a lot going on in there and it's amazing to compare pictures of when baby looked like a dragon at 7w4d.  I was sure debating whether or not we should find out the gender of the baby. It was pretty hard to have the tech know what it was and not ask! I know it makes complete practical sense to find out. However, Rudy is really excited about that miraculous moment when we welcome our baby into the world and get our big surprise! I figure, if my husband is pretty excited about it, I can be patient. I think! :) 

This week, Shmu is the size of a sweet potato, measuring 5.5 cm and living in a uterus the size of a cantelope. The number of pre-pregnancy pants I can wear are slowly dwindling down to zero! I'm thinking this might be my last week in them. Good thing warm weather is just around the corner. Time for skirts! :) Here's my belly pic at 18 weeks, taken early Monday morning. Can you see how tired I feel? 

18 weeks

I can feel my uterus!!

Weird post, I know, but for the purposes of "journaling" about this pregnancy, I had to comment on it. For the past two to three days, I've felt something I've never felt before. My lower abdomen area is tightening, stretching, and making its presence very well known. I can feel it both inside and outside my body. Besides a heartbeat we hear once every month, feeling this is like a real guarantee that something is going on down there. It's weird to have anatomy you've always had and rarely noticed become such a focal point.

So, this week baby Shmu is the size of an onion. Now to me, an onion is smaller than an avocado and and orange, but we'll just think of it as being a large onion. :)

Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints.