carrots

I forgot to upload the photos of the Anemoi mittens, so it'll have to wait until another day. This is week 21, nearing the end of the 2nd trimester. I'm still surprised at how little I'm showing, though some people are shocked to see that I suddenly look very pregnant. I think it all depends on what I'm wearing. At work, I'm in dress pants and button up shirts so don't think it's as noticeable. At home I'm in jeans or sweat pants and tank tops, so I think it's much more obvious.

My check-up with our clinic midwife last Friday went very well. The baby's heartbeat was 158 bpm, which is perfect and normal. We've got the ultrasound rescheduled for this Wednesday, and we're also scheduled to see the home birth midwives again on Thursday, which will be fun and exciting. Our clinic midwife is fine with our plan to do a home birth, and has had a few clients who chose this route. She and Abbott NW will be the backup plan. It's good to have that piece taken care of. She also recommended the standard glucose screening test at my next visit. This is something I've been anticipating, and doing some reading about. Somewhere along the line I got it in my head that this test has a high rate of false positives, and I'm looking forward to talking to our home birth midwives to get their perspective on it.

In other baby related news, I think I felt the first stirrings this weekend. In the middle of the night (after the mouse attack) when we were going back to sleep, I felt what I'm almost sure was the thumpings of the little one on my insides. Since I identified that feeling, I've felt it once or twice more during the day and in the evening. I'm still not 100% sure that this is it, but more and more I'm thinking it can't be anything else. According to babycenter.com the baby is the length of a carrot this week - and can definitely hear sounds on the outside. Maybe I'll get Dave to blast some Shostakovich at my belly - that should get the kid moving!

For unknown reasons, yesterday was a really hard day for me. I was exhausted (despite the extra hour of sleep) and took 2 naps and a long shower. I just couldn't get motivated to do anything, and I missed the yoga class I had been wanting to attend. I suppose these bouts of exhaustion are normal, and I got used to it during the first trimester. It's been 6 or 7 weeks since I've felt tired like that for no reason, and I couldn't help but be angry and sad about it - something else I can't really control. I took my naps and lazed around, and tried to get into a better mood. I'm feeling much better today, so Dave and I were joking that maybe the babe is just going through a growth spurt and needed to sap my energy for 24 hours. By the end of the evening things were better, even though Dave kicked my butt at Trivial Pursuit 80's edition. I hope that I get a few more weeks of boundless energy, before the hum drums of the 3rd trimester set in. T minus 133 days until the due date! Woo hoo!