18 Weeks and Counting

Every Tuesday I progress another week in my pregnancy.  This past Tuesday I hit the 18 week mark. I've been feeling a lot more energetic since I hit the 2nd trimester.  Even though I'm still exhausted by 9:30 every night, I no longer feel the urgency to crawl into bed everyday after work for a nap.  But don't get me wrong; I'm still more tired than usual. I've never been big on sleeping in on the weekends but now, I don't find it difficult at all to sleep until 9:30 or 10 on Saturdays and Sundays (and I even score the occassional breakfast in bed). 

My body is definitely changing a lot.  The doctor explained that when your preg, your muscle tone changes, you get more clumsy and you just won't feel as strong as maybe you're used to.  Meanwhile I'm thinking yea yea yea, I'm in good shape, I rarely feel weak... I probably won't notice too many changes other than my belly protruding more and more.  YEA RIGHT.  I thought wrong.  I feel as dainty and vulnerable as I've ever felt.

I've maintained running 2-3 times/week and each time, I notice my strides getting shorter and shorter, slower and slower... as onyx basically drags me around the neighborhood.  As long as I keep a slow pace, it still feels good to run.  When I try to keep Will's pace (keeping in mind I used to outrun him... I had to throw that in there :) I feel a sense of panic and totally don't enjoy the workout.  So, I usually run alone or let him and onyx run ahead of me so I don't feel pressure to keep up. 

The other day, I decided to do some squats and lunges (in light of my growing rump and thighs).  Afterwards, I felt like I had done a full on back workout; the next day I had to take Tylenol for the pain. I was like WHAT?  Will and I theorized that my back muscles are compensating for other muscles that aren't working normally due to being pregnant.  Whether we're right or wrong, all I know is that my body is definitely changing as the doctor expalined it would.

I think I've gained somewhere between 8-10 lbs so far.  I'm trying to love it but, it's certainly a challenge at times to not critique myself when I'm used to being in shape.  Most of the time though, I'm embracing it and absolutely loving seeing my stomach grow and grow.  Over the past two weeks or so, it has popped out quite a bit. 

This weekend Wade, Jenni, Will and I are staying at Cindy and Otho's house.  The boys are hunting during the day while Jenni and I lounge by the pool and treat it as a mini-vaca. Since I've spent some time updating this blog today, I decided to take a new picture of my bump to share.  I'll try to keep a more regular photo update....

Sharing the Gender News

When Will and I left our ultrasound appointment we called Mom (Suzie), Dad (Timmy), April, Sarah, Grandmother Smith and left messages with several of my girlfriends.  Mom sounded like she was going to bust a vocal cord when I confirmed what she had been thinking for several months.  I don't know if she was just thrilled that it was a boy or if she was purely excited to finally know who she would be a grandmother to.  When we called Dad he was at the Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh which I thought was so fitting for the news I was about to share.  I told him to go ahead and buy his grandson a lifetime hunting or fishing license while he was there.  I don't think he cared whether it was a boy or a girl; he just wants a grandchild, period.... but, I'm excited (and I think he is too) that he finally gets a boy to help raise since he's so gracefully raised girls his whole life.

So, we had plans to go to a hockey game with Jill & Matt, Otho & Cindy and some of Matt's family the same night after the appointment.  We were headed to Jill and Matt's house while I was making phone calls and we were making the Tucker's wait for the news until we arrived. Jill and Cindy both called us a couple of times on our way "asking where we were" but, I think they were hoping we would give in and divulge what they were dying to know.  It was a fun little game for me and Will to make them wait.  So when we pulled up I was wearing both a blue scarf and a pink scarf and made them play the guessing game for another 5 minutes before peeling off the pink scarf, leaving just the blue scarf to reveal our 'boy' news.

I don't think anyone was shocked because Cindy and Jill thought from the beginning that I was having a boy... although, Jill's final guess right before I shared the news was that I was having a girl.  Jill bought us cookie cake that said "BOY or GIRL?" with blue and pink dots on the edge.  It was such a cute idea.  The picture below is the cookie after Will had smudged off the girl part so it just said "BOY".  It was fun for everyone to finally know for sure what we were having!

JACK OR JILL???!

We're having a BOY!  I know, I know.  I've been totally slack keeping you all updated via this blog.  We found out nearly 3 weeks ago the little tucker baby has a penis.  Sorry for the delay in sharing the big news! 

We were scheduled to find out the sex through our doctor's office at 17 weeks but, Will was busting at the seams to find out so he did some research on ultrasound tech offices that would do it earlier.  His boss recommended a place he and his wife had used.  So we tried it out.  The lady scheduled our appointment a few days after I would be 15 weeks along. 

It was kind of a funny scenario.  The lady told Will she had recently moved her office into her basement.  I thought that was kind of wierd but imagined this lady living in some nice Atlanta suburb area and didn't think too much more of it.  So being the procrastinator I am, I waited until the day before the appointment to goodle map her house using satellite view.  It was in a neighborhood and was decent but not exactly what I was expecting.  I joked with Will that I kept imagining being taken down to her basement and never coming back.  I knew I was being over dramatic.  Will said to me 'get your mind right - we're going'.  So we got there; the lady was nice.  She dragged us through her basement full of unorganized baby paraphernalia and into her ultrasound room.  Apparently she had an internet-based baby store as well.  It turned out to be a fine experience, although I don't know if I'd be eager to recommend it to someone else.  

She started the ultrasound and first found the baby's heartbeat - which is always music to my ears.  She had a hard time at first getting a shot of the private parts because he was moving around so much. He was standing straight up inside my belly and it looked like he was doing squats in there. And his little arms were flailing away.  At one point he looked straight into the ultrasound and his little arm was waving around.  It was like he was saying 'hi mom and dad; what's up; I'm doing great in here'.

She finally got a good between-the-legs shot and she said 'welp, look there'.  We looked hard at what she was pointing at which was his penis and she said 'looks like you guys are having a BOY'. 

Before the appointment, I tried for weeks to dig deep to see if I felt strong one way or the other about having a boy or a girl.  I truly had no feeling one way or the other.  One hour I'd imagine I was having a boy... and the next it'd be a girl.  So when the lady said 'you're having a boy' I was just excited to know.  Other than that I was kind of like 'cool, we're having a boy'.  Will grinned from ear to ear and admitted he was hoping for a boy.  He is elated to be having a son.  I'm also excited my mom and dad will finally get the experience of having a boy in the family.

My mom and I are still in search for a manual on 'all things boy'.  No luck yet so I guess we're going to learn as we go.  Lots of good times ahead!

Here's a picture of me before the appointment.  I was 15 weeks, 4 days.  Look hard and you can tell I have a little bump.