20w

Here we are... halfway to a full, 40w pregnancy... 17w6d from Michael's delivery date.  I can't believe it.  The weeks are just flying by and, well, things are pretty normal.

I may have a slight addiction to cereal... This wouldn't be too big a deal except that I dont really like cereal.  But my days include a few bowls: breakfast, snacks, sometimes dessert... We usually had 3 boxes in the house: one for the days I might want to eat a bowl (usually whole grain cheerios, which the kids like a lot too), one for Peter, and Panda Puffs (Bobby and Maya's fave).  Right now?  We have seven boxes on top of the fridge and countless in the garage pantry.  Yeah...  I bought (I'm not joking) 9 boxes of cereal at the store this last Sunday.  I had coupons so I **needed* to buy that many, but in reality, I was thinking these will last me a few weeks... sweet!!!

It's just another reason that somehow having out with Sarah has shifted some of her genetics my way :)  She loves PB&J, bananas, and cereal.  She also is the one who turned me on to Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, the latter of which I should buy stock in this pregnancy.  And water- she is a wateraholic, and I drink way more water (and with ease) than I did previously.  It's funny, the little things... Of course, this baby really digs fried chicken (Sarah doesnt like fried food) so maybe not...

20w belly... there's a baby in there!

Michael is quiet the mover and shaker!  From Peter's trip onward, he's had a dance party in my belly in the early morning hours and as I wake up, I have such a fun moment just putting my hand on my stomach and feeling him kick.  No longer are we feeling the rushes  of a tiny baby flipping; now, we are beginning to feel isolated movements, like a tiny little foot jutting up against our hands.  When Peter got back, he laid down near me and just marveled at each movement.  We've got another soccer player on our hands!  Maya also loves just snuggling my belly.  She thinks it is so neat.  And Bobby has begun to run up to me randomly, hug my belly, and say "Michael."  It's adorable.

For the longest time, Peter and I went back and forth on nursery planning.  He wanted the crib, etc, in our bedroom (we have a larger bedroom so this is possible); I wanted the creche in our room but to convert the playroom into the nursery with crib, etc, with the understanding that once Michael was 2, he'd move into Bobby's room and Maya would move into the nursery as her bedroom.  The biggest downside to the baby in our room is noise; the biggest downside to a nursery (because, the baby will sleep in the creche or we will coseleep when he is a newborn) is that we lose the playroom.  When Peter came back from his trip, we started discussing again, though, and an idea he presented was converting the yoga studio/man cave area into the playroom (which is how it was when we moved in).  It's a huge space and, he reasoned, I could still teach, simply by keeping the screens up to cordon off the (former) man cave (turned playroom) (which is how it is now), and keeping all the really difficult to move toys there, and then covering the posters, etc. with tapestries.  It could work, I'm reasoing, and, truth be told, I dont teach enough hours to warrant keeping that space as nothing else.  Of course, the fire marshall would have to approve teaching with the playroom down there too, so we shall see.... But regardless, I've been throwing around the idea of that space.  It is substantially bigger than their current playroom, has the bathroom with changing area down there, and is easily accessible to the outside via stairs and an outside egress... So, maybe....  We have decided to fully attack whatever we decide after vacation.  We'll be approaching the gestational age that I delivered Bobby and Maya, so crafting a nursery is a nice thing to look forward to, whether it is in our room or in the playroom.

We're also debating ripping up the carpet in our main level and replacing it with wood (or wood laminate).  We shall see...  We know that we have to have the carpets seriously cleaned and that, let's be honest, with little kids, they need to be cleaned more than we have (which is zero... I vacuum, but they've not been steamed, etc); that's not cheap.  At the least, we want them done before Michael is born; so, a lot is just weighing the cost benefits.  I prefer sweeping and mopping to vacuuming.  I loved our wood floors in previous homes, so, we'll see...

But things are great!  Still active, still moving and shaking, and I have my 20w level 2 u/s very soon!!!  Like 7am soon! :)  4 more weeks to viability, and 1 more week until my next appointment with Dr. B.


UPDATE:  My 20 week scan was PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My cervix measured.... wait for it... 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The tech is one that I've worked with before (nearly 2x/wk with Bobby and Maya once I was in the hospital) and he suprised me with a 3D view of Michael's face at the end of the appointment. I couldn't stop the tears, looking at this beautiful little face.  I think he has Alexander and Maya's nose, but Peter thought it looked more like Sophia's.  Regardless, he's perfect in every single way!

20w at 3/7/13