22 Weeks

I started feeling Ringlet move about two or three weeks ago. This week, it's been non-stop movement! Kyle can't feel her yet, but I also limit his belly touching :)

Ringlet is now the length of a papaya. I don't know, are those big? The bump's website will leave her at the papaya stage for a month; so no new fruits/veggies until week 25.

 

I go in for a Glucose Tolerance Test on January 10th. I've done a little research and not only am I at low risk, but only 3-5% of pregnant women are diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I'm not yet a believer that poking me with a needle is really necessary.

This weekend we'll be celebrating Christmas with my family. My aunt is flying in from Phoenix. Christine will be flying in tonight. The rest of the family will be driving down on Friday or Saturday. A second Merry Christmas to everyone!

Bump...

Me: "I feel like I'm getting really fat"
My husband: "No honey, you're just getting more pregnant" 

Random guy at work who looks like he's 9 months pregnant with twins: "Wow, I can sure tell you're pregnant. Your face is getting really chubby".

Purchasing agent at work: "One of the maintenance guys was noticing all the weight that you've been putting on. I had to explain to him that you had a bun in the oven."

The Baby Corner weight gain tracker: "You are 6 pounds over the high end of of your target weight range"

I've come to accept that weight gain is part of pregnancy. I am gaining more than some women and less than others. However, I've noticed that men should probably just avoid voicing their "pregnancy weight"observations...

21 Weeks

We are at 21 weeks. Little Ringlet is the length of a banana (head to toe). She's almost a full pound. Though she may only weigh one pound, I've gained over 10 pounds... Picture coming soon. I meant to take one this week, but I was in Arkansas and Oklahoma visiting customers for work... I will have a bump photo posted before 22 weeks. For sure.

Here are some photos from my work trip. Front row seats at the Arkansas game. (I have a tough job). I was reminded of how much I love college basketball...

 

While I was hard at work, Kyle was working hard on Ringlets nursery and hanging our Christmas decorations.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Organ and Body Parts = Check

I had a fun time yesterday getting to see all of little Ringlet's little body parts.

We saw all four chambers of the heart, the brain, spine, kidneys, etc. Luckily, she has two feet, two arms, two legs and two itty bitty hands, in addition at all of those important internal organs. The ultrasound tech confirmed that little Ringlet is still a girl :) We got to see her cute little button nose and what looked like a ski mask or pair of goggles. She was jumping all around and posing for us.

Whoa Oh, We’re Halfway There…

We’re 20 weeks and still growing. Next week, Little Ringlet will graduate from being measured from head to toe (rather than head to butt). With a current head to butt length of a cantaloupe, little Ringlet weighs in over 10 ounces.

 

Today, Kyle’s mom is coming to Terre Haute to go to the 20 week ultrasound with us. Hopefully we’ll have photos to post tomorrow.

Nursery update: Kyle finished the painting, the chair rail is up, and the blinds are hung. We’ve installed a dimmer switch, new white light switches, and doorknob. Tonight we’ll replace the dingy old outlets and covers. Then it’ll be all ready for Kyle to install the flooring. We can’t pick up the flooring until David gets back into town with the minivan on the 28th, so we might just have a week of nothing nursery related to work on… Any recommendations for Kyle’s hardwood flooring endeavor?

19 Weeks Pregnant

We are now 19 weeks pregnant. In fruit and vegetable terms, that means Ringlet is now the length of a mango. I haven’t taken any pictures of my pregnancy belly yet. Hannah, I promise to post one soon! 

My new pet peeve is belly touching. It’s not a huge deal, but just really awkward.  The less I know someone, the creepier. I guess I would never go up to someone and start rubbing their belly. And I promise you (random person that I just met) even if you rub it longer, a magic genie will not appear. I guess every pregnant woman is different, but as for me, hands off the bump :)

Kyle’s friend, Bryan Brownewell, was visiting this weekend. Anything that they could bet on or make into a competition, they did. While they were concentrating on boardgames, Frisbee, and football, my dad and I installed a dimmer switch and new outlets in Ringlet’s nursery. One more coat of lilac, and the painting will be completed. Up next, hanging blinds and hardwood floors.

On Sunday, I went to Theresa’s Christmas party in Bloomington. She had a great turnout, and got me in the holiday spirit. I even got to see these guys this weekend:

Signing out,

Michelle (and Reggie)

What’s in a Name…

Naming a baby is hard. Very hard.

We’ve thrown around names for weeks. Some were very nice, pretty names (names that I chose), and some names reminded me of awful people from my past whom I’d hate for any Ring offspring to share a name with (those were usually Kyle’s picks). No matter what name we rattled off, usually one of us didn’t like it.

I’ve heard horror stories of telling others the name that you’ve chosen prior to the baby being born. And the reasoning makes sense. When Kyle suggested the name “Anna”, I crinkled my nose and stuck out my tongue and looked like I was going to vomit. I think he realized that "Anna" wasn't going to make the short list.

No matter what name we choose, somebody's not going to like it. If it takes two of us weeks to find a name we both like, I’m sure it’d take years to find a name that everyone else likes too. And I think little Ringlet needs a name before she enters high school.

People constantly ask if we’ve picked a name. And I think we have, maybe… But for now, we’re going to hold off on announcing it; I’m not quite thick-skinned enough to politely handle a vomitty face.  :)

Holiday Gifting...

This year Kyle and I are cutting back on our Christmas shopping. With Ringlet on the way, we’re putting all extra $$ towards either things we’ll need (diapers, bottles, and butt creams) or things that I really want for her (hardwood flooring).
 

This year, in lieu of the traditional gift exchange, my family is doing a CD exchange. Steve and Susan are going to be contributing as well. Each person makes a CD of whatever kind of music they want (a holiday mix, your latest favorite artist, a Gym mix, or whatever you think up). You make 10 copies and at Christmas you give each person a copy of whatever you compiled. I’m excited to hear what kind of songs everyone else picks. Possibly, some music I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of??
 

In addition to forgoing having to purchase a lot of family gifts, I also decided to make my niece’s Christmas gift this year… Handmade finger puppets (I made a set for Ringlet too). 

Saturday's creation

18 Weeks

I'm pretty sure that's a sweet potato. Little Ringlet now measures over 5 1/2 inches! Our next doctor appointment is two weeks. Hopefully we'll have some updated photos to share from the ultrasound. In just two weeks I'll also be halfway through pregnancy. 

As I mentioned previously, Kyle has taken on the task of creating a nursery out of what used to be our office. He now only has 154 days left to empty the room, tear up the carpet, paint the ceiling and trim, paint the walls (5 different colors), paint and hang chair rail, hang new blinds and install hardwood floors. 

Here are pictures of his progress so far:

Old Wall and Trim Colors

New Colors