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.

The Heartbeat!

When you go 4 weeks between doctor's visits, hearing even something as simple as a heartbeat is pretty exciting! My mom was able to go with me this time, which was really special. We called Ru and held up the phone to the doppler machine so he could hear the miracle, too. Afterwards, I made an appointment for the "big" ultrasound in a few weeks and Rudy and I are eagerly waiting to see our baby, especially now that it looks like a baby! :) 

Here's what we heard yesterday ... 

Guacamole anyone?

That's cause this week baby Shmu has grown to be the size of an avocado! 

This week, tiny bones are forming in the inner ears and Shmu will be able to hear his/her mommy's voice!!!! :) Eybrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in. It's amazing to start thinking about what features our child will have and what parts will look like daddy and what parts will be like mommy! Even more amazing (and tempting) is that we could now find out Shmu's gender. We have decided, however, that we'll wait to be surprised in the end. I know it will be a very special moment for Rudy and I, and we're really looking forward to it! My only wish would be to have a photographer there for the delivery... to capture those special moments of first meeting one another! Are you interested Randy? :) 

And besides the main attraction, here's mom at 4 months: 

See the baby?? :) Granted, this is taken at night and I'd just eaten. I tend to look a lot "fuller" in the belly at night. By morning, there's not that much to get excited about. Nevertheless, there it is at four months. I have my next doctor's appointment this Friday and I'm really looking forward to it! It's especially nice because for once I'll be going while feeling well!!!!  I'd forgotten to post about that. It has taken the last three weeks to simmer down, and the nausea is still there in the evenings, but I finally feel (mostly) better!!!!! Yeah!!!!!! Rudy and I celebrated the fact that we'd made it through! Honestly, it was such an accomplishment for both of us! :)

San Diego and 15 weeks!

Thanks to my school sending me on a really great conference for four days, over Valentine's/Presidents' Day weekend, Rudy and I got to take a mini vacation! We kept referring to the place as our "little Hawaii." I didn't take a picture of the pools and water slides, but I did get a shot of one of my favorite places to sit! True to Hawaii form (for us anyway) we enjoyed four, lovely, rainy days. What can we say? Hawaii just does that for us!  It was so good to get away that even the rain was fun! Here's one of my favorite spots. The pool had a bunch of cabanas, too. Mmm, how fun to swim and lay in one! Maybe some day...

During the conference, I noticed my slightly expanding waistline to be somewhat of a nuisance. My pants fit well, but sitting down for 7 hours a day proved to be slightly uncomfortable. :) Wow, this is really happening?! He/she is definitely there!! And should be, considering that now our Shmu is the size of an orange! 

The dragon, as we affectionately call our baby, is now moving and wiggling like crazy. It's legs outmeasure it's arms and all four limbs have functional joints. I can't wait to feel the first flutters of movement! 

Good-bye 1st Trimester!

Never have I been so excited to say good-bye to something! :) Hopefully this new trimester will be as wonderful as everyone claims and soon I'll be feeling more myself again. I've had a few more tolerable days lately, so Rudy and I are hoping we're starting a new trend. Of course every time I say this, I end up eating my words the next day! 

Our doctor's appt. went well and I got to hear baby Shmu's heartbeat at a beautiful 170 bpm. It took the nurse quite some time to find it and I was getting pretty anxious. No ultrasound and I'm sure not another one until sometime between my 16th and 20th week appt. That will be our next and last look at our baby before his/her grand entrance. For now we're lookin' at a peach...

This week Shmu's teeth and vocal chords are forming! Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now one third the size of the body. Speaking of which, crown to rump, our Shmu is about 3 inches long! It's still hard to believe there's a living being inside me. 

And... speaking of that... here's my 3 month "bump" pic. My students and I all agree we can see a difference. We noticed it the morning before this picture, when there was just something there that wasn't there before! Although most of you will say I'm crazy, I still had to post a pic after three months. It's also the first time I was well enough and had the energy to blow dry my hair for school in about two months! I've been wearing long sleeves, not because it's cold, mind you, but because they cover the sea bands I've been wearing on my wrists in my attempt to feel less nauseous. Who knows if they really work or not!