We have a stander

Welcome back readers!  We've been home from our visit back home for a couple weeks.  I've been busy catching up on things like stocking up on groceries, appointments, yardwork, etc. so I haven't been able to update the blog.

But this is what happened tonight.

First time standing up all on my own.

He managed to get from a sitting position up to his feet all on his own tonight.  (Sorry it is from behind.  I couldn't get my camera without him falling and he couldn't turn around without falling down.)  And he still doesn't crawl.  Instead of crawling he prefers to do this:

My downward facing dog.

Or planking.  Yep, he's into baby planking on the floor.  lol  I didn't have any clue he could pull or push himself up on his own until last Tuesday when during our Tuesday 'birthday' photo sessions he did this:

Look at me mommy!

Yeah, how he figured this one out I don't know.  When we got back from out west 2 1/2 weeks ago he wasn't trying to pull himself up on the couch yet.  Okay, I lied.  He tried a couple times back home but his butt stayed firmly planted on the floor.  In the span of less than two weeks he's gone from only sitting on the floor to being able to get up to standing all on his own.

He's moving at lightning speed now. 

Holy kick, batman!

I just felt the first kick from the outside.  Cool!  Either that or it was a serious bubble of gas in entirely the wrong spot in my abdomen and that wouldn't be such a good thing.  ;-)

19 weeks ... It's a ...

...........................




BOY!

I'm totally flabbergasted.  Now, I had a feeling right from the start this was a boy.  I think my IUI timing was perfect for a boy so much so I thought this one was horribly mistimed.  I had a feeling that since I had girl names all sorted it would, of course, be a boy.  lol  And when I started feeling kicks, albeit intermittently, 3 weeks ago I was sure it had to be a boy as I've heard that boys kick harder than girls so you might notice their movements earlier.

I told the tech at the scan yesterday that I was interested in finding out if the little bean was cooperative.  I even had a glass of orange juice before hand to try to get the bean to move but to no avail.  I think the bean was snoozing or in deep rest ... or something else that equaled chilling out.  lol  He was on his side with the knees tucked up to his chest and his hands tucked behind his head.  His butt is literally sitting right on my cervix in perfect breech position so that would explain the cervical pressure and pain I've been feeling.  He was content to sit like that the entire time even when she moved the probe around.  The tech showed me his developing brain which is developing on both sides, his 2 kidneys, bladder, etc. and he has everything they look for at this stage.  The heart was working well and the heartbeat came in at 147 beats per minute so nice and strong again.

Halfway through the scan she was covering the nether regions and couldn't get a good look so she zoomed in and pointed out the protrusion to me on the screen.  She said that was a boy.  She continued on with the scan and at the end tried to get a better look but he would NOT cooperate.  She did point out the bottom of the butt and all I saw was baby butt.  However, she is trained and pointed out something that must be a scrotum.  She told me that had she not seen that and the protrusion she wouldn't even have guessed.  So, I'm going to trust her and believe this is a boy.  Girls don't come with protrusions between their legs.  LOL  Although if she is wrong my mom is going to have an awful lot of boy clothing she purchased today to return.

I'm sort of at a loss about this.  I'm not disappointed.  That is definitely the wrong word for it.  I think I'm just really surprised because I've never imagined myself as a mom to a boy.  Never.  I always thought that if I had one or more kids it would be all girl.  I'm used to being around little girls even though I have a bunch of nephews.  Three of those nephews are overseas and I've only met the oldest one.  Most of my cousins are girls and they are a lot younger than me and my sister.  I asked my mom today, "What do you do with a boy?".  Really, I just don't know once they get past baby stage.  My mom was like that too but the complete opposite.  My mom had a younger sister and brother but 2 nephews so she was used to boys and didn't quite know what to do with a girl.  And my mom isn't super girly either so I can only imagine being surrounded by pink. 

There are positives to both girls and boys.  I was thinking it would be easier to have a girl in a very practical sense ... when out in public I never have to worry about her being too old to use the same washroom as me.  I'm not quite sure when I can trust my son to do that and be safe.  My job makes me slightly paranoid.  I'd also love to be able to give my niece's wardrobe another turn as would my sister.  She had so many lovely girl things and as the first grandchild on both sides she had a LOT of really cute stuff.  But I've asked my mom to tell my sister not to get rid of anything yet.  Just in case ...

Boys?  I've heard they're actually a lot easier in many ways after you get past the hard spots when they are young.  The massive appetite as teenager does scare me a bit but maybe that is because I lived with a family with 3 teenage boys who are all now 6'2" and over.  lol  One great thing is that since boys don't have ovaries they can't get PCOS.  That is a huge relief.  I did have a bit of a breakdown last night and started crying because I got sad over the fact that my son won't have a father in the house to be a role model.  But I know that this will affect a little girl as well just in different ways perhaps.  No matter what, any child of mine is definitely wanted and will be loved and he will know that.  I just wish I lived nearer to my family.  My dad is great: he's respectful of everyone, especially women, smart and incredibly funny and great with little kids.  We'll just have to make due with visits and hopefully quite a few business trips home from age 13 months to 2 years when he can fly free on my lap. 

I still have no intentions on going all blue with the baby room or with the clothes.  My mom said she found lots of really cute non-blue 'boys' clothes at Cos.tco today and I'm happy with that.  I'm leaning towards primary colours since I found some really cute vegetable garden theme curtains at Ik.ea. 

I'm a bit stuck on a name and will have to spend some time researching that one to find just the right one.

Other than that I'm feeling fine.  I've had a headache for 3 days now and nothing helps so I think this is just a hormonal shift thing that I've had before with this pregnancy and just have to wait for it to go away.  Hopefully sooner rather than later because I've done nothing all day except sit on the couch.  Kitty may be happy but I'm not.  I've got way too much to do to be sitting around all day on a Saturday. 

Anyway, if you've made it this far and you don't already know Shannon please head over to her blog Chasing Rainbows to give her some support.  Her little guy was born in May and she just received very difficult news about a tumor found with an MRI scan.  I just can't imagine going through what she did only to get this diagnosis.  She has a good support system but I think there is no such thing as too big a support system.  It sounds like this was caught very early so I'm hoping for a good prognosis.

On the road again

Yep, I'm on the road for work again.  I got to see my family Monday and Tuesday and will see them late Friday before hitting the hay and then briefly in the morning before I fly out on Saturday. 

The secret is no longer a secret with my mom.  So much for my clever 'reveal' plan.  On Tuesday we were discussing my sister's likely 2nd c-section in a few weeks.  With just under a month to go their little guy is measuring 8 pounds and is on track to hit 9.  My sister was unable to deliver my niece vaginally and she was just over 7 pounds.  Her doctor said my sister just isn't built the right way as I had suspected.  I saw a program or tv news item about this and the misconception about wide hips = easy birth.  One has nothing to do with the other as it is the pelvic something or other (I can't remember) which determines it, not the width of one's hips.  Anyway, I told my mom not to freak but that if I had a choice I was going to go with a midwife rather than an OB since it is covered and they have admitting privileges at the local hospitals.  She looked at me and said "you aren't pregnant, are you?"  Serious deer in the headlights moment from me.  But I couldn't lie.  I told her I was.  She was excited and said "that's exciting" 2 or 3 times. 

I then told her it isn't so exciting that I won't be coming home for Christmas this year as I'll be full term and I won't be able to fly.  I said everyone will be welcome to come to my place this year instead.  I told my mom that I doubt my sister and BIL will want to come because the in-laws will want to spend time with the new baby so that if they don't come, that's fine.  My mom seemed open to the idea, which is great because I'd really like to have her around before the birth and certainly for a while after.  I can't imagine being full term and trying to make my way around the city, to work, to the bus in the middle of an ice storm or a major blizzard.  What about basic grocery shopping?  I'll still have to eat at 9 months and I can't let a snow storm stop me from eating. 

I did tell her not to tell anyone else and she promised not to.  But we'll see.  I told her the reason I don't want anyone to know is two-fold:  (1) I'm not yet 8 weeks, and (2) I want my sister to finish her pregnancy first.  I did feel some relief after telling her especially because I wasn't feeling well Tuesday after getting up at 4 am, flying, being dehydrated from flying, not getting to stretch out on the couches at their place most of the day because the house is full with my sister, BIL and niece there for the rest of the week until renos on their house are complete, Monday cramping, and sleeping on the couch (which strangely is more comfortable than the spare bed).  And then Tuesday afternoon I had spotting.  It wasn't much but it started out pink and quickly turned brown.  It went on for a few hours and there was a little bit every time I had to go to the bathroom but nothing on a liner.  That really freaked me out.  I was glad to be able to tell my mom so I could voice my fear and anxiety in person rather than hanging on to it until I could fire up a computer and go online to do it.  This was much better.  But it doesn't prevent me from feeling anxious over the spotting and whether it means anything.  I don't get another ultrasound for quite a while and it worries me that I won't get any confirmation for weeks.

I've been dealing with pregnancy rhinitis and pregnancy headaches too.  Lovely.  I feel like I've got a mild level cold along with annoying allergy issues.  The headache comes and goes and it just depends on the day.  And since it is hormonal there is nothing I can do.  I hate hormonal headaches because NOTHING helps.  I just have to wait them out.  Haha!  Just like the pregnancy acne I seem to be experiencing.  Joy of joys ...