Week 15: Belly Shot!

A bit late, but here is my week 15 belly shot - actually taken at week 15 and 2 days ;)





















Week 14 belly shot




















Week 11 belly shot





















Week 5 belly shot





















It's coming along! I feel a difference, but I don't think it's looking all that difference from last week. We'll see about week 16 though :)

Week 15: Labor stories

lol - check out this cartoon: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/l/labor_wards.asp

So, I have been meaning to write about this for a bit; those who are following me on twitter may have also seen a few tweets about this.

I finally talked to my mom the other day for more details about how labor was for her. As in - how much does it actually hurt/what does it feel like? I still think that it's going to be one of those things that you have to experience for your own - I still don't feel like I know what it's going to be like too well. (of course, part of my problem may be that I always 'defined' my pain in categories due to sport injuries and so I probably have a different way of going about pain than other people! lol)

But, also - people don't often say too much about the pain. I mean, they say it does hurt (and open their eyes really big to get that point across), but at the same time, they then focus on the pushing and how tired you can get... So, the pain is not as bad as the exhaustion? And I would think that anyways you are super uncomfortable... the baby is in your pelvic area, your legs are wide apart when pushing, your breathing is off - it just seems very uncomfortable!!! ;)

Going back to my mom though - let me know share what her history was in birthing the 3 of us kids. Mind you, it's really sounding like the doctor didn't tell her much of what was going on... the last 2 births seem better, but she does say that the first doctor kept telling her during the entire pregnancy that she was doing everything wrong (don't eat ice cream, don't drive... ok, how do I get to your office? lol) and that the hospital was pretty industrial and not personal at all for delivery.

My older brother was the first one born and my mom says that she was in labor with him for 2 hours. That's it!!! He was also about 19 days early, although it sounds like the delivery estimates weren't as actuate in 1978 since they didn't use ultrasound that much. (my mom is LOVING my ultrasound pictures) Anyways, she said that they did the whole 'push, push!" thing, that they had her laying down (thank GOODNESS they don't do THAT anymore!), and that she got a pain shot (I'm unclear if it was an epi, she says it was) in her back. Now - she also says that the shot was given and about 5 minutes later she gave birth! She said if she knew that, she would have gone straight through with the delivery since it was only a bit longer. With it being her first birth, the main thing for her was that you don't really know what's going on and so it's kinda' scary.

... But, with births 2 and 3, she knew that she wasn't going to, well, die - and so that made it better for her. Also, my birth and my younger sister were also pretty quick: I was born in 45 minutes (15 minutes after she got to the hospital, 30 minutes after her water broke), and my sister was born in 3 hours or so. (my sister was the largest out of the 3 of us) The main thing that she says from us is that she really didn't need to 'push.' She says that if she pushed when they told her to, she felt that she would be going counter to what her body was telling her. She also says that the muscles were pretty much just doing the job... I guess if it's so short like that, they really do have a mind of their own!!!

I find her birthing stories really interesting (or course- it has me in them!), but I don't know if it's an indication of how my own labor will be. Other factors that I'm sure can contribute: 1. my grandma wasn't fast with her labor, although she was 38 and 40 when she had her 2 kids... apparently at some point the nurse told her that she just wasn't trying and needed to get serious - how rude! ;) 2. My mom was younger than me with her births, I think 23 with my brother 25 with me and 27 with my sister. I'm going to be 29 when I give birth to my first...

I get worried about her fast delivery because my delivery hospital is about 20 minutes away with no traffic, but there is a very good chance that I would hit traffic and/or ice/snow considering I'm expected to deliver in Feb!!! So, I'm probably going to be very paranoid about going into labor in case it's super fast! :) My mom joked that I should rent a room closer to the hospital.

I still have plenty of time to discuss delivery with my doctor (we haven't touched on it at all yet), but please share your birthing stories and if you think that family history does make a difference or not. Also, although I don't think this would help if it's super fast, I heard that having an epi can delay how long the labor is... any thoughts on this?

Week 15: Quickening

"Bubbles. Butterflies. Gas. These are all words used to describe what a baby's first movements feel like to a mother.

Quickening is defined as the first time you feel your baby move. This is a long anticipated event in every pregnancy.

If you are expecting your first baby you can expect to feel your baby for the first time between 18 and 24 weeks gestation. If this is not your first baby you can expect to feel your baby a bit sooner than you felt your first. This is usually said to happen because you know what you're feeling for and your uterus is more stretched out than it was the first time around." From http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/fetaldevelopment/a/aa082999.htm

So, I wanted to write about this because I'm either having a new kind of gas/growling belly or I'm actually feeling baby :) I know, I know - it's early and probably not it, but it certainly is different! :) About 3 days ago - at the start of the weekend - I was lying in bed before getting up and felt kinda like a growling in my belly... except that it is not in my belly (much lower) and that it's not really growling. It was like a gentle growl, I guess. Since then, I have felt it every once in a while, usually when lying down.

What do you think? I don't know if anyone can really tell you yes or no, but when did you first feel what you thought was quickening? I'm sure that once the baby is REALLY kicking me, I'll be less enthusiastic. ;)