I kinda skipped posting last week because…I just didn’t really feel like it. Fortunately, these past two weeks have been pretty similar pregnancy wise, so it wasn’t actually necessary. Also, the app I use on my phone via “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” suddenly changed how they calculate weeks to make it match the timelines doctors use. I’m not too sure what this means, and I’m utterly confused by it. All I know is that the stats I see this week regarding baby girl’s weight and size are a duplicate of last week’s, so I guess they were going a week ahead or something. Let’s just say she’s getting bigger.

Notice I called her a “she” this time. Well, we found out during our 20 week anatomy scan that we are having a little bundle with lady parts. I even have a very blurry distorted sonogram of said lady parts that the tech was trying to explain to me. “See the little hamburger shape on the screen there? That means she’s a girl.” I looked for it a few times before just saying “Yes.” even though I’m still not too sure I’m looking at it the right way. And believe me, I know what a burger looks like; it is one of my favorite foods. I would share the photo so you could help me figure it out, but I don’t think my daughter would approve of me showing her off to the world in that way. But I will post this one:

It’s really crazy to see the drastic change in size from my first sonogram photo at 14 weeks to this one at 20 weeks. I could see her entire body wriggling around on the screen back then, and now I can only see about half of her at a time. Ultrasound appointments are very interesting. I don’t get nervous before mine, but I can see why some women do. In my experience–and according to other accounts from blogs I’ve read online–it’s kind of an awkward appointment. Ultrasound techs aren’t allowed to shared the details of the information they’re gathering because your doctor has to view the results and share that with you personally. Being in a silent room with only the sound of clicking keys makes you want to break the silence, but I didn’t think I should. You wouldn’t really know–unless it’s an emergency I’m guessing–if things are going well or not. However, during my last doctor’s appointment, she said I’d get a phone call if there was a need to alert me of something regarding the anatomy scan. No phone call yet, so that’s good.

So, as I stared at the ceiling with no view of the monitor, I would look down at my husband’s face occasionally to see if there was any alarm there. He had a great view of the screen while the tech clicked away and kept scanning my uterus to find different baby parts. I would whisper to him “What’s the baby doing? What can you see?” I thought we had great silent communication until we got into the car later and I realized I had confused pretty much everything he was saying to me. Fortunately, he took some video of the screen with his camera phone so I could finally see it later. After what seemed like a very long time, the tech finally turned the screen to me and showed me our daughter for maybe 30 seconds and pointed out the girl parts. It was so nice to hear that my instincts from the beginning about having a daughter were correct.

Other than doctors appointments, and preparing for baby, there haven’t been too many newsworthy events happening these past two weeks. If you remember, I did mention that I’m taking a break from acting until I’m physically able to step back into the ring. Fortunately–and unfortunately sometimes–projects I’ve acted in have a way of taking forever to surface. Even though I haven’t worked since last November, there’s been some major progress happening with my career. I really need to get on top of updating my website with all of this. (Heavy sigh.) It’s a blessing to have things in motion when I feel like my career is at a stand still, and it’s nice to have other things to focus on other than the obvious.

Here’s some stats for you:

Age and size of baby:

21 weeks old, 7 inches long, 11 oz in weight.

Cravings:

I have been eating a lot and keeping down 95% of it which is great! I’m really into salty, sweet, or spicy things. The more flavor, the better. And beef is one of my best friends.

Morning sickness:

I had a few incidents in the car, but I really can’t help that I’m prone to motion sickness. Other than that, a few bouts of morning sickness crept up on me when I had to get up early without enough sleep.

Stretch marks:

Actually got a few…in the boob-ular region. None on the belly yet. I hear that they are hereditary and there’s not much you can do to avoid them, so it’ll be interesting to see if they pop up on my belly closer to my due date.

Crazy hormones:

Alls I’ll say is: when hunger strikes, there better be food ready to consume immediately.

Sleeping habits:

Sleep hasn’t been too bad, fortunately. The only thing that’s uncomfortable is when my abdomen feels like it’s really tight from growing or if baby girl is rolling around and tap dancing throughout the night. Also, frequent peeing is an issue. It’s my fault though because I like to drink a lot of water before bed. Also, an odd thing that happens when you’re pregnant is that you start getting vivid nightmares. Sometimes, I’ll wake up and feel like I haven’t gotten any sleep because I was going through so much in my subconscious. No bueno.

So, that’s that for now.  Be blessed and take time to make your dreams into your reality.

-Kytia L’amour