22w 6d assignment

I have a favor to ask of anyone who reads this and has a few moments open. Can you look at our registries and let me know if there's too much stuff? Not enough? Recommendations, advice, warnings?

I wound up putting two different car seats on there. The Wal-Mart registry has a car seat that fits on a stroller it comes with, plus you can order extra bases for it. The Target registry has a highly-rated car seat (with a built-in base, I believe) that stays with the baby up to 65 pounds. Should I leave them both on there?

[Right click the links and select "Open Link in New Window" if you don't want to navigate away from the blog...]

Wal-Mart Registry

Target Registry

We've heard that a couple baby showers may be in the works, so I'm really excited. I'm all for any excuse I can get to be excessively baby obsessed oriented for a couple hours. And I'm extremely grateful for everyone's generosity. Thanks again for the shopping trip yesterday, Mumma. The new bra and maternity pants are in the wash. ♥

One more thing: Andy thinks perhaps we should give up the gender game and tell everyone whether to go pink or blue, at least before any baby showers. What do you think? Is this a pointless game? Are we being foolish? Or would you actually like to be surprised on the big day? I could go either way at this point. It would be fun to have everyone know, even if it does spoil the surprise.

Here's a song that Andy and I always enjoy singing in the car together. I told him I'd post it on the blog, and he said I should probably skip the lyrics about vodka and whiskey and mistresses. Yeah, it isn't the perfect song for the baby blog, but here goes. From "Bed of Roses" by Bon Jovi:

With an ironclad fist I wake up and
French kiss the morning
While some marching band keeps
Its own beat in my head
While we're talking
About all of the things that I long to believe
About love and the truth and
What you mean to me
And the truth is, baby, you're all that I need
I want to lay you down in a bed of roses
For tonight I sleep on a bed of nails
I want to be just as close as the Holy Ghost is
And lay you down on a bed of roses

22w 3d morph

I couldn't resist posting this. I highly recommend that those who are bored upload pictures to www.morphthing.com and morph themselves with their loved ones and/or celebrities. Delightful.

Some (frightening?) possibilities for Baby Schultz:

22w 2d growing

Baby is doing good. We heard the strong heartbeat again yesterday, and the doctor said that our ultrasound looked perfect. Baby is growing ahead of schedule -- a more accurate due date is May 24! But instead of complicating things, the doctor is leaving it as May 31, officially.

I think we're both eating well.

I've gained 16 pounds since the first doctor appointment. Apparently most of that weight is inside my bra, as earlier this week I managed to destroy a bra simply by putting it on. It felt like that Subway commercial where buttons are flying and chairs are breaking. It's definitely time to upgrade, and a shopping trip is in the works for this weekend.

I have a hard time not focusing on the pain that I'm in. It's a dangerous thing, thinking that things can't get worse. Because that's when they do. Of course there's the back pain. Then came the pain in my ribs. I told Andy earlier this week that it feels like the baby is going to burst through my rib cage and he asked if that's possible. I guess I've heard that babies can crack ribs. Anyone have any stories?

But the latest now is cramping akin to menstrual cramps. Oh goody. Something I thought I would avoid for at least four more months. If it weren't for the increase in kicks, I would be really scared that something was going wrong. Instead, I imagine this is the result of rapid growth. I should've predicted it would be painful. Should I predict any other impending torture?

Luckily the kicks keep me from worrying too much. So I'm a blubbering, desperate blob of pain, prone to intermittent giggling whenever the baby kicks my hand resting on my globe of a belly. It's strange, this pregnancy thing. Andy says it's weirding him out. It's weirding me out too.

I can't wait to meet you, baby. I can't wait to hold you and look at you and learn about you. Years and years and years of getting to know you.

And, sadly, I can't wait to get rid of some of this body pain either.

The doctor didn't have much else to say. We told her the gender of the baby (she's the only one who knows besides Andy, me, and the ultrasound technician) and she told us some of her naming stories -- she doesn't care what we name the baby as long as we don't give it a strange phonetic spelling. As an English dork, I had no trouble promising her a proper spelling.

For tonight's song, I'm going with a guilty pleasure -- one of those songs that I recognize as not being all that good yet I can't help enjoying it. One of those songs you're embarrassed about when someone catches you listening to it, yet you like it so much that you don't change the station to save face. Anyone else have one of those? Andy's latest is one by the Black Eyed Peas, I think.

Mine is "The Climb" by the pop-tastic Miley Cyrus. I suppose I'm on my climb right now. We'll get to the top of this mountain eventually, Baby. Maybe sooner than I think.

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments
That I'm going to remember most
Yeah, just gotta keep going
And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on
'Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb.

22 weeks singing

I'm struggling with more back pain than I've ever had, including some unusual pain in my ribs. When it seems intolerable, though, I will get nudges from the little one, a small "hello" and reminder of what it all means. It's the only time I've had this kind of pain for a meaningful reason.

Baby has all the right proportions of a newborn, only thinner because the body fat hasn't formed yet. The average baby at this point is around a pound in weight and getting closer to a foot long. It can hear male voices through my abdomen better than female voices. So keep up the singing, Andy.

Here's the comparison now that we have 22 weeks behind us.


Andy's been singing the song "It Might Be You" by Stephen Bishop to the baby, a song his mom used to sing to him, at least in part.

I've been saving love songs and lullabies
And there's so much more
No one's ever heard before...
Maybe it's you...
Maybe it's you...
I've been waiting for all of my life

21w 5d sharing

Lots of little movements are making life that much sweeter. Last night, during Conan's final Tonight Show, I placed Andy's hand on my belly and a minute or two later he felt a really good one-two punch; it's the first that Andy has shared. It was during Neil Young's "Long May You Run" performance.

The tiny one is tap dancing right now. I think it was napping until Andy finally got out of bed and decided to place his headphones on my abdomen and blast The Beatles. If our baby is anything like Andy, it may not have appreciated the wake up call. But it's play time now, and I can only be grateful.

We've been through some things together
With trunks of memories still to come
We found things to do in stormy weather
Long may you run.

21w 4d pressure

It's been one of those weeks where I eat, sleep, and breathe work (literally, I dreamed I was working). Friday is here, and now the exhaustion is catching up with me.

My new shiatsu massage pillow came in the mail last night, and it was wonderful on my aching back. Maybe too wonderful... I feel a little bruised this morning.

Regarding names, the process has been put on hold. We have a few months, after all. But I did hear Andy say this week, in reference to getting the nursery in order, "I guess this isn't something we can procrastinate."

This baby really is a ticking clock, and as the countdown gets closer, my heart beats a little faster. I -- me -- the one who's been wanting a baby and pushing for a baby for years -- I feel the apprehension building, little pulses of panic in my stomach. Everything will change.

Everything will change.

I look at my body and can't recognize my waistline. I just look BIG. I try to remember that I wanted -- was looking forward to -- "the bump."

I look at the cats, especially Bella who has been my baby through all the biggest moments of my life, and I wonder how I'm going to deal with the fact that I won't be able to baby her anymore. Is it sad that she's one of my best friends? She's just a cat. But I'm going to have to start kicking her out of our bedroom soon, because she'll pose a threat to numero uno, the real baby.

The way that I diffuse the pressure is to plan and prepare as much as I can as soon as possible. I've mentioned this before. What I need to remember is that this isn't the same for Andy. I can't be putting all this pressure on him to get everything ready immediately, including the baby's name.

The truth is, I haven't had that "lightning bolt" moment where I think, "This is it. This is the perfect name for our baby." Sure, I have names that I love more than others. But Andy has found his lightning bolt, and unless I have my own little eureka, Andy is going to win out... Which is actually wonderful, seeing a connection between him and this little thing inside me.

Well, if I never find my exact perfect name for this one, I'll just have to take naming rights for the next Baby Schultz.

Probably my favorite movie featuring pregnancy is "Where The Heart Is." Here are lyrics from the movie's theme, "That's the Beat of a Heart."

No one can tell you how to get there
It's a road you take all by yourself
So listen with all your heart, hold it inside forever
You may find all your dreams have already come true
Look inside and find the part that's leading you
That's the beat of a heart.

21 weeks names

I felt something this morning on the way to work (always in the car, it seems...) that puts what I've been calling "kicks" to shame. Seriously, I swerved while driving. I don't know what this baby was doing, but it hurt! I imagined it was turning itself around the hard way.

I had an idea for the nursery -- hanging a baby picture of myself and one of Andy, and then putting one of Baby Schultz in the middle when we get to that point. Here are ours:

Lindsay Dawn, 5 weeks "surprise face"

Andrew Gerald, 5 months "happy baby"

The last week, we've slowly been arguing talking over names. I thought it would be a little more fun than this. Of course, we're just starting out, so maybe it will get better.

In typical fashion, I had my long, carefully chosen list of names all set to go, but none of them won. Andy has had his mind set on one name in particular, which I don't dislike, but I feel lukewarm toward it. We'll just have to keep searching for the perfect one, I guess.

Anyone have any favorites/suggestions? I can say with some certainty that we won't be choosing a name that's in the current top 100 (or maybe even top 1,000) names.

I ♥ stick people. (Thanks, Alyssa)

20w 3d thump

I didn't notice a lot of movement today. However, I felt some pressure at one point this afternoon, like the baby might be shifting, so I pressed my whole hand over the area, and within five to ten seconds I felt this one little thump against my hand.

It's the first time I've ever felt it on the outside, and I'm dying to share it with Andy. I know he's waiting for this part too; I hope it won't be too long before it's a regular occurrence.

I tried out our new scanner on the last of the ultrasound photos. For anyone who's unsure, the head is the round thing on the left and the body is the round thing on the right. In the top picture, you can see the spine. The last two pictures are pretty much identical.

20w 1d secret

Okay, fine, I give in.




As soon as you see the pictures, the secret is going to be out anyway, so I might as well tell.




It's an alien species.

"I am from France."

The ultrasound was wonderful, everything looks good and healthy and perfect, and I can't seem to stop crying.

I remember the moment when I realized that I was going to spend the whole rest of my life with Andy. It was like the world had paused, and then begun spinning in a new time, a new speed, a new universe... It was like that again today. There was a new element and definition to the rest of my entire life. The universe held its breath, and my world began spinning its new course.

I'm in awe.

20 weeks lullaby

It's another milestone -- baby is halfway done with developing and we're halfway to becoming parents. I can't believe we've come that far, and yet it feels like I've been pregnant for a long time, only I'm just now really showing.

I had a meeting at church today, which gave me some time in the car "alone with the baby," which is sometimes when I feel a kick or two. Based on tonight, I'm officially convinced that the baby can hear me now.

I was too lazy to find my iPod or find a decent radio station, so I thought, why not sing a Capella? After all, no one was there to hear it... except perhaps the baby. So I came up with my favorite lullaby (or maybe the only lullaby I know) -- the "Stay Awake" song from Mary Poppins, a movie I watched so many times as a child that I still knew all the words.

I got some of the most amazing jabs to the back of my guts, including the strongest kick yet. If I didn't know it was the baby, it would be unpleasant... almost enough to make me feel sick for a second. Instead, it was like magic.

"It kicked really hard!" I told Andy when I got home. "Either it likes it or it's really annoyed with my poor singing."

So then Andy crouched down and sang a few lines from "Summer Lovin'" from Grease. Then he said, "Yeah, it's probably annoyed."

Okay, so this kid won't have the best singing genes, but we'll definitely be a family that knows how to have fun.

Girl or boy? Vote for your prediction in the pole in the right column! Tomorrow's the day!

Here's our lullaby.

19w 4d dragon

At one point the other night, I spazzed out. All I wanted was to sleep -- I was so ridiculously tired -- and I couldn't because of the pain.

For more than a week, I've had a headache that feels like my forehead is going to split open, part of a terrific head cold. Then there's the back pain. I am no stranger to this, but it has been constant and painful enough that I can't sleep. Finally, there's heartburn so powerful it has turned me into a fire-breathing dragon.

When all of this caught up with me and I lay whimpering and pathetic, Andy repeatedly asked what he could do to help me. We were both helpless.

Then he said, "You knew this wasn't going to be easy."

Sigh.

Pregnancy isn't just a round belly and little nudges. Still, I didn't think I'd be in this much discomfort until the third trimester. Now I sit here grasping my achy head, popping yet another useless Tylenol, and I wonder just how much worse things are going to get.

As a side note, my torso for the last week has been boiling hot to the touch, for even more added discomfort. Is this another step -- is the transformation almost complete -- am I becoming a fire-breathing dragon?

I am tough. I am tough. I can do this. Rawr!

Here are some lyrics from "Fences," a great rockin' song from Paramore.

Yeah, yeah, you're asking for it
With every breath that you breathe in
Just breathe it in
Yeah, yeah, well, you're just a mess
You do all this big talking
So now let's see you walk it
I said, let's see you walk it

19w 2d weight

Here's the whale-tastic 19 week belly comparison:


I consulted the American Pregnancy Association to learn a little more about healthy pregnancy weight gain, because every morning when I step on the scale I get a larger number than the day before, and I'm starting to get worried.

I was a "normal" weight before getting pregnant, but close to underweight for my height. The recommended total weight gain for me is 25 - 37 pounds.

In the first trimester I was supposed to gain 3 - 5 pounds, and I really didn't gain anything. In the second and third trimesters, I am supposed to be gaining 1 - 2 pounds per week. Instead, I'm starting to see a pound per day (yikes).

Going by the instructions above, the maximum I should've gained by now is about 11 pounds, which is exactly what I've gained. So it's definitely time to slow down now, if I want to gain only a pound per week from here on out.

Easier said than done, hmm? Maybe it's time I go back to my old friend, caloriecount.about.com.

In a nostalgic mood, I added Debbie Gibson to my iPod this morning. Here's "We Could Be Together." The pic used in this YouTube clip is priceless '80s.

I'll give up my security
For just the possibility
That we could be together
For a while
If you said, "Jump"
I'd say, "How high?"
If you said, "Run"
I'd run and fly
Just for the chance
Just for the moment
Should the moment pass us by
And if you ask once
I'll tell you twice
I'll ignore the world's advice
If we could be together
For a while

19 weeks reality

Back to reality. How depressing it is when Christmas is over. My brother has flown back to Hawaii. I'm back at work, where I will no longer be able to take a nap whenever I get tired.

Feeling the baby move is still sort of rare, but I especially felt it squirming around some when I lay on my stomach last night, something I was told it was okay to do all through pregnancy, as weird as that seems.

Andy is starting to surprise me. I think maybe it's sinking in, or he's excited to find out if it's a boy or girl in nine days' time. But whenever I get down about Christmas being over, he keeps reminding me in his upbeat way -- it's just another day closer to the baby. What a wonderful thought, and how great to hear it from him. He's also really trying to figure out what to do job- and school-wise before or just after baby's arrival.

There are a lot of things left to figure out before June, which makes me nervous. I wish I could fully over-prepare as soon as possible.

Baby update:
It is about 8.5 ounces and six inches from head to butt. Arms and legs are in the correct proportion to the body, and all the senses are developing. Some research suggests that the baby may be able to hear me now.

Symptoms:

• Fatigue. Where's this second trimester surge of energy I was promised?
• Hunger. Hmm.
• About nine extra pounds.
• Round ligament pain. Wow, it worried me at first. Every now and then when I move, I'll get a bad stabbing pain in my abdomen. This will probably continue, as I'm expected to grow even faster in the weeks to come.
• Some redness to my skin... but luckily no noticeable spots on my face and no linea nigra yet.
• Different center of balance. Andy will tell me to stand up straight, but I think if I do I will fall over...
  

Almost halfway there! If only I were Bella Swan, I'd only be pregnant for a month. On that theme, here's "Flightless Bird, American Mouth" by Iron & Wine, from the Twilight soundtrack.

Have I found you
Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding
Or lost you, American mouth
Big pill stuck going down