Week 19 - Flutters, kicks and a second look
Friday, May 14, 2004 by Ryan
It's been a busy few weeks for baby. The week before last (Week 17) was right on track with all the timelines we saw as baby hit one of it's first big growth spurts - Day-by-day Erin was noticibly growing a little bigger. Needless to say by Friday we were both hoping (Erin probably a little more than me) that it was going to slow down soon.
Week 17 also brought the first signs of baby in terms of flutters and eventually kicks. On saturday morning at the beginning of Week 18 we were both relaxing in bed and we could feel a hard spot on one side of Erin's belly and then a minute or two later it would be gone, only to reappear again on the other side. A couple of days later Erin started to feel the first flutters.
It's been funny to see what makes the baby move around. For the past little while Erin has noticed that the baby seems to be most active after meals, typically lunch and dinner. (I got a call shortly after lunch today to inform me that baby seems to like curry) Last night was the first time I was able to definitively feel the baby - it seems "kicking" was the discovery of the day yesterday and after dinner baby decided to really give it some good practice. It was great to finally to be able to feel it myself - certainly feels much more real.
This morning we had our second ultrasound visit. Chances are as long as everything continues to go weel it'll also be our last. Our excitement for the day started before we even got to the appointment when we got stuck in the elevator going up to the lab. Irritable pregnant woman with a full bladder trapped in an elevator does not a good combination make. Of course the elevator didn't just stop and sit there refusing to open the doors. It had to bounce, go up a few floors and drop back down a floor or so. Seems the brilliant service guys were working on the elevator but decided to leave it in service while they fixed it. The doors finally opened on the sixth floor (we were aiming for the third) - needless to say we took the stairs back down.
This appointment was probably twice as long as our first. Unlike the first ultrasound, which was basically just a dating scan this appointment is when they really give the baby a good once over. It was amazing just how much more there was to see this time. The baby was the size of a grape the last time and it's now about 10" from head to toe. We got some great VIDEO(40MB, AVI) - it should be obvious this time but the head is to the left again.
The big question of course is boy or girl. Well, we'll tell you in October - we decided not to find out and just let it be a surprise. If I recall correctly the old wive's tales are still split pretty evenly.
We've got our next Midwife appointment late next week so we'll post an update if anything interesting comes up.
Until then... :)
Week 17 also brought the first signs of baby in terms of flutters and eventually kicks. On saturday morning at the beginning of Week 18 we were both relaxing in bed and we could feel a hard spot on one side of Erin's belly and then a minute or two later it would be gone, only to reappear again on the other side. A couple of days later Erin started to feel the first flutters.
It's been funny to see what makes the baby move around. For the past little while Erin has noticed that the baby seems to be most active after meals, typically lunch and dinner. (I got a call shortly after lunch today to inform me that baby seems to like curry) Last night was the first time I was able to definitively feel the baby - it seems "kicking" was the discovery of the day yesterday and after dinner baby decided to really give it some good practice. It was great to finally to be able to feel it myself - certainly feels much more real.
This morning we had our second ultrasound visit. Chances are as long as everything continues to go weel it'll also be our last. Our excitement for the day started before we even got to the appointment when we got stuck in the elevator going up to the lab. Irritable pregnant woman with a full bladder trapped in an elevator does not a good combination make. Of course the elevator didn't just stop and sit there refusing to open the doors. It had to bounce, go up a few floors and drop back down a floor or so. Seems the brilliant service guys were working on the elevator but decided to leave it in service while they fixed it. The doors finally opened on the sixth floor (we were aiming for the third) - needless to say we took the stairs back down.
This appointment was probably twice as long as our first. Unlike the first ultrasound, which was basically just a dating scan this appointment is when they really give the baby a good once over. It was amazing just how much more there was to see this time. The baby was the size of a grape the last time and it's now about 10" from head to toe. We got some great VIDEO(40MB, AVI) - it should be obvious this time but the head is to the left again.
The big question of course is boy or girl. Well, we'll tell you in October - we decided not to find out and just let it be a surprise. If I recall correctly the old wive's tales are still split pretty evenly.
We've got our next Midwife appointment late next week so we'll post an update if anything interesting comes up.
Until then... :)
