born.in.japan

Baby Likes Mister Donut

Yesterday on the way home from work I could not resist the lure of the great Mister Donut shop. It’s a tragedy, really, that I must walk by each day and lucky that I limit myself to one stop, or fewer, each week.

Well, yesterday I couldn’t resist. I hopped into the shop, grabbed my tray and tongs and picked out a few donuts for Aaron and I. A little treat for the two of us.

They packaged up my four donuts neatly, and before I could get out the door, I had already undone the careful packaging and sunk my teeth into my honey glazed cake donut. The thing was so delicious and it was gone in about 10 seconds flat. Record donut eating time.

Flash forward about 30 minutes….

I got home and decided to take a bit of a nap before we went out for the evening. In addition to the pregnancy, I have been nursing a cold and really knew that I needed the rest. I laid down on my futon and tried to settle in. But then it happened!

A little flutter. A little bonk. All happening on the inside, right where the baby is supposed to be.

For the next 45 minutes or so, instead of napping as I should have, I lay perfectly still hoping to feel some more movement. Baby obliged, with the help of the donut, and gave me the thrills I was looking for. It was awesome.

I guess there really is somebody in there…

I’m pretty sure I have felt a few flutters before, and attributed them to gas, but this was the first undeniable that’s-the-baby movement and it came at 18 weeks exactly. Now I can’t wait until we can feel the baby from the outside, that way hubby can join in on the fun!

Photographic Evidence

Last weekend we visited Kyoto with a friend. When we got home and uploaded all of our photos I was shocked to see how pregnant I am starting to look. Sometimes it still feels more like I am getting a bit chunky, but I think, overall, it is rounding out into a nice pregnant belly.

So yeah, that is me and my changing body. I am getting used to it, but it still surprises me. Even this morning, when I walked past the mirror, I did a bit of a double-take. I wonder if that will ever stop?

I’m Pregnant, Really??!!

Today is a day that makes me feel like I should go out and buy just ONE more home pregnancy test. I know! Crazy!

At 16 weeks and 2 days, I know I am being ridiculous. I have 4 ultrasound photos that prove there is life growing inside of me. I have the round belly which expands more with every passing day, but yet, I doubt that it is even possible.

I have hit that mystical, magical second trimester. My nausea has gone away (completely). I have been vomit-free for more than two-weeks (excluding one incident where I vomited because someone else had vomited). I am able to stay up at night until a reasonable hour (9:30 or 10:00pm) and wake up at my normal time. The bedside snacks have disappeared. And many foods and drinks that I completely avoided, have started making a comeback. After nearly three months of getting used to my old pregnancy symptoms, I have found it sort of shocking that they have all but disappeared (totally knocking on wood!).

And now, in this moment, I really don’t feel pregnant. I am in this in-between stage. I am thankful to be relieved of all the troubles that plagued me in the first-trimester, but waiting, anxiously, for the reassurement yet to come. In a matter of a few weeks I should start feeling babies first movements. I think, last night, I may have felt something, but it might also totally be in my head. I would imagine that once I start feeling those tiny little kicks regularly I will feel without-a-doubt pregnant. Until then, the pregnancy is just sort of this mystical thing. Something that I know, in my mind and heart, is happening but I just can’t feel it. How can my body be growing a human without me really noticing?

Our Jumbo Huge Baby

So far as I can tell, I am growing this one HUGE by Japanese standards.

Each time we go in for an ultrasound, we have had four already, they take a measurement and estimate a due date based on that measurement. Of course, my initial due date is the one that sticks, thankfully they don’t keep bumping up the date just because the baby is growing a bit faster than expected.

Anyways, at the first dating ultrasound the baby was measuring a bit small and so my due date was assigned on April 7th. According to the calendar and my known ovulation day (I was basal temperature charting) my due date should actually be closer to April 1st.

At the second ultrasound the baby had grown by leaps and bounds (thankfully), based on its length from head to bottom it was scheduled to arrive by April 1st (right on target!).

Then, at the most recent scan, the baby had grown a ton! They measured his head diameter and now the computer suggests that the due date will be March 23rd.

Of course, the computer here is comparing my very American baby to their very Japanese statistics, but I can’t help but feel like I am just growing this monster child! It will be interesting to see what happens.

Part of me wonders if I will go in for a scan sometime in early March only to have the computer suggest that the baby was already born!

The Dreaming

Last night was not a good night. Now, I know I can’t blame EVERYTHING on the pregnancy. And I know bad dreams happen even when people are not pregnant. But I can’t help but feel that they happen more now and that they are more vivid than my dreams have ever been before.

Last night I didn’t have just one bad dream, I had two. It was enough to make me sleep horribly for the entire night. And now, shortly after noon, I just feel tired. I feel crabby and I can’t wait to get to bed again tonight, hopefully without the dreaming.

I don’t know if it is even worthwhile to talk about the content of the dreams, at least I don’t want to too specifically. The first bad dream had to do with my relationship with my husband. The second involved a bad turn of events with the baby. I feel like I have been mostly calm about both of these things recently. I am starting to feel more settled as a pregnant woman, a pregnant wife and a future mother.

I truly believe that I am not worrying as much, but is my subconcious doing more worrying than I know about? How can I make it stop? I really can’t handle waking up already feeling like a mental and emotional wreck, falling into the loving arms of my husband crying only moments after we both wake up, and wanting the day to be over shortly after it has begun. Yuck!

Wow! What a Baby!

So we just had our fourth appointment last night and got another chance to see the baby again. Wow! Craziness! I must say that I am completely in awe of Little R and my ability to make such a fantastic little creature. Genius, for sure.

In an effort to make the baby a bit more active this time, I drank some juice and ate some chocolate about an hour before the appointment. But, it didn’t work. We had a very lazy, sleepy baby on the screen. After the doctor spent some time showing us all of its important parts – arms, head, heart (how cool that we could see it and the two chambers thumping away in the middle of its chest), aorta, umbilical cord, femur, stomach, etc – he started poking at the belly a bit with the ultrasound wand to wake the baby up.

Well, he managed to wake up little R and little R didn’t seem too happy about it. The doctor pushed and squished around and the baby sort of swatted him away and moved away. Seemed a little crabby actually to be disturbed. It was awesome. It was amazing and I am completely speechless at how incredible this all is.

Baby is doing well. Mom is doing well. I put on a bit of weight, about 3 pounds, which I am pretty happy about. I have gained a whopping 6 centimeters around my waist which seems crazy. All of my bloodwork came back good and I seem to be doing well and healthy. I have had six vomit-free days now, thankfully, and I am feeling like my energy is coming back. I still like to be in bed, sleeping, by about 9:30, but at least it is getting a bit better.

So, that is the news from pregnancy land, at least for today.

Changes

I am 14 weeks now and things seem to be changing so fast. Especially my body. I definitely have a belly now and it is nearly impossible to hide the fact that I’ve got a little something growing inside there. I am both pleased with this fact and disturbed by it. In some ways I couldn’t be happier to have others able to readily recognize that I’m pregnant from the outside (still most would be too polite to say anything). On the other hand, I am really struggling with my new shape and form. It is all changing so fast.

I knew the moment that I saw that first positive test that I was in for a few changes, but I didn’t really imagine how many would be in store and how quickly they would come. I find myself looking in the mirror as I get dressed in the morning and barely recognizing who I am.

My belly is bigger, as my hubby so kindly pointed out, it didn’t used to stick out further than my boobs.

My breasts are bigger. When I was on a vacation to visit family in America I made sure to get in a lot of maternity shopping. On the top of that list was getting fitted for new bras (my old, sexy, underwirey ones were no good anymore). Well, I got fitted into a few new bras that are comfy and supportive, but scary in their DD-ness. I mean really, how did they get that big? And will they stop?

My hair is drier. I totally can’t wash it every day anymore, if I did I would fear that I would have very little hair left on my head.

My skin is oilier and has more acne. How it is possible that my hair is drier and my face is oilier, I have no idea!

My ass is bigger and my thighs are smaller. Somehow all of my fat and weight just seems to be shifting. I have yet to gain a single pound (must be all the vomiting and lack of appetite) but I have drastically changed shape.

I am still vomiting. This is the one that I like the least. My current count is one vomit-free day (my previous record was 12) and I am really hoping that I make it through today. I usually do okay until it comes time to take the bus home in the evening. For whatever reason that usually gets to me. That and seeing a rice cooker filled with disgusting black mold (we forgot to empty and clean the rice cooker before we went to America, came back and it was totally disgusting). The protect-the-baby-upchuck-reflex worked pretty quickly with that one.

So that is what is going on with me these days. I am not feeling quite so tired (thank goodness) and am really hoping that the second trimester brings all the wonderful feelings that everyone promises (and soon). I am also hoping that I start getting used to everything that my body does. Right now it just seems so strange! I mean, really, there is a baby in there?! And it is making all this stuff happen?! Craziness!!