Twenty Weeks

I feel like I should be singing Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" this week.  We are half-way through this pregnancy.  I can't believe how fast time has gone.  The second trimester really is the "honeymoon" period of pregnancy, although I do have limits now.  But maybe it's just because I'm getting old.  I exposed Baby Storms to the legendary Miss Britney Spears on Wednesday night, and didn't get to bed until after midnight.  Yesterday, I worked all day and then met my girlfriends at Chino Latino and ate a bunch of spicy and rich foods.  The entire time, the baby kept thumping against my stomach.  I should have taken that to be a sign because I had to leave the restaurant early, I felt so terribly.  But, it was nothing ten hours of sleep and a dozen glasses of water couldn't fix, because I feel so much better this morning.

So, here we are at twenty weeks...I'm getting a little bump, as you can see.  However, I'm not sure if everyone would define it as a "bump."  The other day, my boss and I were discussing the finer legal points of a case I'm working on.  As he got up to leave, he asked me how I was feeling.  I responded that I was feeling like a rockstar.  He looked at me and said, "You know, you don't really even look pregnant yet."  I told him that I'd been hearing that a lot.  He replied, "I mean, if I didn't know you were pregnant, I would think that you had been putting on a little weight....er, I suppose I shouldn't say that sort of thing to a pregnant woman, should I?"  We both laughed, but it's like, uh...thanks for calling me a fatty.  

The baby is doing a lot of growing this week.  According to "What to Expect When You're Expecting," the baby is as big as a banana and weighs about 11 ounces.  I'm also going to put this down directly from the book, just because I just think it's amusing and directly on point to what I was saying above:  "Your baby swallows at least several ounces of amniotic fluid each day - not only for hydration and nutrition, but also to practice swallowing and digesting - skills your baby will need as soon as he or she arrives in your arms.  And keep this in mind:  The taste of amniotic fluid differs from day to day depending on what you've eaten (spicy enchilada one day, sweet carrots another).  And that smorgasbord of tastes won't be lost on your baby."  Um, duh.  I think that's why Baby Storms was kicking the crap out of me last night while I was eating coconut curry shrimp and pork fried rice.  

I'm also feeling the baby move quite a bit and body surfing around inside of me.  For example, right now, she's popping me right below my belly button.  I can't really describe what it feels like.  Sometimes it feels like I'm on a roller coaster that just dropped and other times it's like popcorn popping inside my belly.  When we were at Britney Spears, she was thumping like crazy during the first song.  I choose to believe that means she appreciates my musical stylings, Jeff believes its because the baby was telling me the music was crap.  You decide.   

We have our BIG appointment on Monday.  Our next look at Baby Storms.  We'll find out if I was right all along (meaning the baby is a girl) or if everyone else (besides Becky) is right - that it's a boy.  I'll update early next week with lots of pictures.