19 weeks!

19 weeks and baby and mama are both doing well.  Baby girl is around 6 inches  (crown to rump) and she weighed 8 oz. on Tuesday, so maybe around 9 oz. now? All I know is my appetite is way up this past week.  I'm sure I'd be putting on more weight if it wasn't 100 degrees every day and if magically someone else grocery shopped and cooked all day long.

An amazing thing happened yesterday. I've been tired more, probably due to heat and some grumpiness, and I passed out on the couch for two hours. I was lying on my right side the whole time. When I woke up, I moved to my back and all of a sudden a huge THUMP on my lower right. Apparently baby girl wasn't too happy about her relocation. I looked down and another big kick - this time I saw my belly move!  I called Gabe over and he felt two strong kicks. The look on his face was pure awe and happiness. 

We're still getting used to the idea that she is in fact a she. I also have to stop browsing the internet for the approximately 80 million adorable apparel items made for little girls. And how am I supposed to pick out crib bedding with all the beautiful possibilities?  (And does anyone know how hard it would be to make your own?)

Time is going faster now that the ultrasound is over. Usually each week it's a countdown to Sunday, like an advent calendar. But today it caught me off guard: whoa, it's 19 weeks!  And that means I'm nearly half way. And that means I am realizing more and more that one day this baby will have to come out!  I am terrified and excited in equal measure.

I'm giving birth at the nearby birth center attended by midwives. (Picture a bed and breakfast with lots of technical stuff hidden in nice cabinets. So different than the hospital!)  There is a big tub and I'd like to try a water birth (knowing there's only so much you can plan). Gabe and I are also signing up for a Hypnobabies childbirth class. This will help the terrified part of my mind relax and let my body do what it needs to do, and I think will best help me reach my goal of an unmedicated natural birth. There are lots of great hypnobabies birth stories online or on youtube if you're interested.

Since my belly looks the same as last week I thought I'd change it up and post a front angle: