Ahhh :-O

    Last night I took food over to my husband for his dinner break, and while I was waiting for him to come outside I was watching my belly move all around from Baby H.  Usually I have a tushy sticking out of my belly's upper left side, but this time I noticed there was a little something sticking out directly across on my right side.  Of course I couldn't just sit there patiently watching; I had to touch.  (Take me to a museum some time and you'll know that I'm a button-pushing, have-to-touch-everything kind of person)  I decided to push on the little protrusion, but I certainly wasn't prepared for the forceful push back.  I nearly jumped out of my own skin!  Maybe I scared her as much as her reaction scared me, but holy cow!  After that I just sat there and laughed at myself. 
    I told my mom it was like when you are trying to sneak up behind a small animal, like a frog or bird...there is that moment when they are completely still and you go in for the grab but at the last possible second the animal jumps towards you!  Ah!  The animal's suprise seems as intense as the person trying to catch them.  Not that our little baby is a frog or bird....she's a sea creature, of course ;-)

Random surprised baby, haha

Kicks and Flips

  Baby Holm is definitely more active these days.  Previously, I only felt movement early morning, late afternoon, and around bedtime, now there seems to be constant activity throughout the entire day. 
  I have a lot of fun interacting with our baby.  If I feel some moving I can push on my belly in one spot or rub across an area and our baby will usually follow my movements with a kick or a punch in that area.  It's pretty awesome to already see and feel that interaction between us. Our baby already seems so feisty and full of personality- always responding to invasions of her space (my belly, talk about who's being invaded...) with a quick jab or a swift punch.  And then there is the sticking out of the tushy...sometimes it feels like my belly must have reached the limit of stretchability when that tusher gets to pushing.  What a fun and silly little baby!!  We're looking forward to seeing that foot or hand becoming distinguishible.  That will be very exciting.

No Tresspassing

  So Baby Holm doesn't like it when outside objects (ie. cups, hands, solid monitoring wands...) are poked into my belly.  First we had the punching or kicking of the sonograph wand, and last night I had a water glass resting on my belly.  Guess what, Baby Holm didn't like it invading the belly space.  I could see the glass being bumped around from the inside force of the kick or punch.  It was sooo funny!  Here my glass was bouncing around and Zach and I could see it!  Crazy little kid ;-)  Hopefully this isn't a sign of future personality traits involving personal space...

   I also got my first, "Cute belly!" yesterday evening while I was walking back to my car through the grocery parking lot.  It kind of surprised me, especially since I was making an awful face while rubbing my belly because that little baby butt was trying to come out of my left side.  Friday night I had a woman say to me, "You probably get this a lot, but what's your due date?"  I actually don't get that a lot...very rarely.  I think people are too afraid to be wrong about the pregnancy.  I think my belly has gotten to the incredibly obvious stage- either I'm pregnant or bloated like a dead piglet.  I wish more people would ask me.  Makes me feel happier about looking pregnant and not just fat, haha. 

Baby Karate

   Last night I felt a series of punches start down low and slowly move upwards to about mid-belly.  Maybe Baby Holm was pushing off the walls to reposition for better sleepytime??  Very interesting. 
   The kicks and punches seem to be getting stronger as the days go by.  Personally, I think it will be any day now that movement will be felt on the outside.  It's hard for me to tell at this point if I am feeling it on the inside or if I am really feeling it with my hands on the outside.  Seems to be noticeable only while I'm sitting or lying down. 
   We have another check up on Monday.  I feel like I have more questions at this point about labor and delivery than anything else.  I want to find out what my doctor's view is on c-sections...like what point do they decide a c-section is necessary.  I do not want a c-section unless either my baby or I will die without one.  I plan on pushing til I can't push anymore, and then pushing some more :-)  Easier said than done, I'm sure.  I'm just THAT stubborn.  I think Zach finds it amusing how stubborn I am when it comes to labor and delivery.  That's just me, and he knows it :-)  I'm also not taking any pain meds.  I say bring it.  Pain won't kill me, and it must not be life-shattering because women still have more babies after the first.  You may think I'm crazy, but I'm just strong-willed.  If my Grandma Bryant were around she would tell you a little story about a horse named Belle, a creek, and me.....

Tickles

    This morning my lower belly was feeling lots of movement...which is normal, but this time it was as if Baby Holm was tickling my tummy from the inside.  It tickled enough to make me giggle at times.  I wonder if those little fingers were wiggling around.  It had to be little fingers and hands because I still felt the pressure of little feet and legs extended and pushing into my stomach.  What an odd sensation!  Tickled from the inside...and there was nothing I could do about it- oh the torture!  I really hate being tickled as it is, but this really wasn't fair.  I couldn't even fight back!  It's probably what a Tickle Me Elmo feels like...

Baby Holm must really want this from our registry.

Baby Tusher

     So, I think our little baby was being a stinker this morning by pushing that little tushy right out the left side of mama's belly.  I thought we were going to have an episode from the movie Alien, except through my belly, not my chest.  It hurt!  I finally hollered at my belly to "knock it off and stop being a stinker!" and the pain slowly went away, haha.  Good news: baby is listening; bad news: long legs, big tushy, and lots of movement means mama is in for some aches and pains from now on... 

Baby Movement

    As I was slouching in front on my computer at work, I was taken by surprise!  All of a sudden I felt lots of pressure in my diaphram at the point where my ribs meet in the middle.  Let me tell you!  Apparently baby did not like the fact that I was slouching while zoning out in front of the computer screen.  It was such a weird sensation!  It makes sense after seeing the ultrasound pics- the one with those long legs extended.  
  Also, I think the fluttering in my lower belly is not kicks or punches, but actually the baby turning over or switching body positions.  So amazing! 

Ultrasound

    Everything went great!  We got like 8 pictures, a couple 3D and the rest black&white.  So clear, and so pretty!  Baby even yawned for us....so cute!  It's crazy how much our baby is moving and shaking all the time, but I don't really feel it that much.  The ultrasound tech said we should start feeling some major kicking here pretty soon, maybe within a week or two.  I'm excited for Zach to feel it too...but I'm sure I'll be regretting my excitment when I can't sleep with all the kicking and moving, haha.  Oh well. :-)
  So...the sex of baby?  We know....but we're not telling :->  It's a suprise.  Either Gabriel James or Holly Noel, but that's all we're saying.  You'll have a 50% chance if you try guessing- but I still won't tell you.  :-)  You'll just have to be as patient as I have to be in waiting for my due date....which by the way, the tech said should be Sept. 17, not the 2nd as we thought.  Our next appointment for a check-up is in 2 weeks, but we should know have all the results from the ultrasound within the week.  Awesome!

Snow in Mid-April....

     What a week we're having!  Yesterday we had so much snow that there was thunder and lightning right along with it.  Now THAT is a really cool occurance!  "Thundersnow"  awesome!  I needed a little exercise, so I helped Zach shovel the driveway (just a little bit, because it was heavy heavy heavy snow!).  Not going to lie though, I did get sidetracked and I threw a few snowballs at Zach, hehe.  Surprisingly, he didn't retaliate :-) 
   When it was warmer outside for the 1st couple weeks in April, I definitely experienced the warmness of pregnancy.  I felt like I had hot flashes all the time :-/  However, now that we've discovered the change in seasons is actually winter, hint of spring, winter, I'm no longer feeling the hot flashes- it's back to popsicle toes.  Silly weather!  Oh, and get this...supposedly we're getting 70s here by next week.  Outrageous!  I never know whether to wear my winter coat and boots to work or to opt for the light jacket and work shoes.  
   Baby is a moving and a shaking right now.  I can always feel baby's movement the best when I'm sitting at work or laying down to sleep.  Almost like a muscle twitch down around where my bladder sits.  It's so exciting!  Less than a week til we find out if we're having baby Gabriel James or baby Holly Noel.  I'm MOST excited for that :-) 
   I was reading in Parenting magazine that babies usually respond to Dad's voice more than Mom's (probably because the deeper voice travels better through the fluids).  So I told Zach, and we tried the theory out.  Zach started talking to my belly and I kid you not, I felt our baby move!  He couldn't feel anything yet, but I totally did!  So cool!