This Thanksgiving break has been awesome. Kevin and I have been completely vegging out. Literally. We're sleeping in until 930a and staying in our PJ's all day while rarely moving from the couch. What a change! It's nice!
While I've been doing all this R and R as of late, which has taken the form of stretching out on the couch with a couple of dogs and alternating between cat naps, reading, watching TV, and surfing and reading on the web, I've been feeling the baby move a lot. This usually happens when I'm laying down and relaxed, such as at bedtime every night. Anyhow, while embarking upon some fantastic relaxation, I have also been made acutely aware of just how much our Wicker Bean is on the move these days.
I had my tank top pulled up so I could lay my hands on my belly and anticipate feeling the baby move from the outside while I relaxed today. In between the baby taking breaks from all of its jumping around, I would move my hands back to my book, but my I left my shirt pulled up above my belly. I couldn't believe it, but I experienced a big first today! I saw my belly moving as if I was giving birth to an alien! The Bean must have been punching and rolling around and I just laid there in amazement as I watched my abdomen give way to the mission of Baby Wicker. I was watching my belly, my skin, get punched and kicked. My belly was moving and twitching all over. It was the coolest, weirdest thing I've ever seen! I turned 22 weeks a couple of days ago.
I also felt something really strange in the midst of this new development. I don't exactly know what it was, but I'm thinking either Braxton Hicks contractions or the baby. As I was watching my belly I noticed a tightening about 2 inches to the left of my belly button. It was like a a tight ball, the size of a tennis ball, that was getting really hard and extending up from my belly. It lasted about 10-15 seconds and subsided. This happened three times today, with no rhyme or apparent reason, and no consistency. These episodes were not at all painful. I always assumed Braxton Hicks contractions would consume the entire uterus and not just a small section of it, but I really have no idea. So my other thought it that it was the baby just rolling it's back or butt up against my belly and pushing out really hard. Either way it was neat. I'll ask the doc in two weeks when I see her again. But Kevin did get the feel this!
Kevin still hasn't been able to feel the baby move or see the alien belly action, as he is far too impatient when I ask him to feel my belly in anticipation of feeling our bean move. So I guess the baby will have to grow a bit bigger and stronger so his/her jabs and rolls become more noticeable which will enable Kev to be apart of the new events. Exciiiting!
Oh, and on a TMI note, I'm definitely getting larger in the chest department. Whoo hoo! I have realized I've been having to loosen things up on my bras for the last few weeks, but Kevin finally made it clear: They are bigger! For those who don't get to see them up close and personal, you probably can't tell, so we're not talking multiple cup sizes or anything, but nonetheless, it's still a welcome change. :) Bigger boobs ='s happy hubby + happy me ='s Awesomeness.
Update: I talked to my OB's nurse today about the weird tightening/ball thingy that's been happening in my uterus. She is fairly certain they are Braxton Hicks contractions. She said these can begin anytime in the second trimester and will continue until delivery. They will gain strength as my uterus grows, which may result in me feeling sightly uncomfortable when I have them later in the pregnancy. However, they should never really hurt and the rule of thumb is you should never have more than 4 in an hour and they should always remain sporadic and without equal intervals. So all is well. The best thing to do to combat these is to stay really hydrated, which I already do, but the nurse said this is just mother nature's way of preparing the uterus for the big day of delivery.
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