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.