Monday, January 24, 2011

Week 19: My Achey Breaky Back

When reading in my pregnancy books this week, I was comforted (in mind, not in body) to learn that my aching back, legs, and head "may be more noticeable" this week.  Good to know that I am normal.  Somebody flipped the switch and suddenly everything requiring physical activity is harder.  Whether it's climbing stairs or sitting up in bed in the morning, I feel like I have sand bags weighing me down.  My muscles ache and my movement has slowed down.  I'm positively dragging.
19 Weeks

I have put on about 6 pounds so far, which is actually 1 pound less than the "recommended" weight gain range for this week.  I am not worried about being a little under, I am more worried about being out of control and I am afraid it will take off suddenly, so I am happy here for now. 

One exciting development I have been experiencing the past few weeks is little James' movement.  People have described it as "butterfly wings" or "tickling," but to me it feels like my guts are rolling over themselves... but very subtly, if that makes sense. 

We had one sonogram on January 13 where we learned that he is a he (c:  The technician said our doctor likes the sonograms done early which can make it difficult for the technicians to find everything.  James was super wiggly, doing all kinds of rolls and twists, stretching out his entire length and then returning to a curled up jumble (kind of like the picture shows) over and over.  He rarely held still so she could get the info she needed, but at moments he cooperated well enough.  We saw the lobes of his brain, all four chambers of his heart, and there was even a really cool view she did that showed the umbilical cord and how it twisted in red and blue, showing the blood flow.  Because the sonogram was "so early," the technician warned us ahead of time that he may not look very cute yet.  At that point, he had not started putting on much fat and he would look very skin-and-bones-ish.  He did, but it was not a disappointing experience.  She told us that this would be our last routine sonogram, but we could request another one at our own expense later on if we wanted "cuter" pictures.

The following week I got a phone call from my doctor's nurse.  She said the sonogram revealed that my placenta is low-lying and that I would need to return next month for another sonogram to make sure it moved.  So we will get another sonogram afterall, along with cuter pictures (c: 

1 comment:

  1. I can't wait to see the next sonogram! My little James!

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