20 week belly

Though I'm sure I'll be the typical neglect-to-take-pictures parent of a second child, right now I'm telling myself that I'm determined not to be. And in the spirit of that hope, here are some belly pictures of me in my second pregnancy. These were taken on Sunday, when I was 19 weeks, 5 days along. My week turnover day is Tuesday, so I'm officially 20 weeks -- halfway!! -- by now.




Yes, I realize I look pretty big already for only being halfway through my pregnancy. I wasn't exactly a Skinny Minnie to start with, so that should be considered. :) With Julie, I didn't have a need for maternity clothes until I was about 22 weeks along. This time, I've been wearing them since about 15 weeks or so. Part of that was a need (on some days), and part was just that I was tired of "suckin' it in" all the time. I have friends who are already feeling their waistlines tightening by 10 weeks or earlier with second, third, and fourth pregnancies, so I'm definitely not complaining. It's been in the last week or 10 days that I've really "popped" out and been quite obviously pregnant.

A lot of people have asked how I've been feeling. I've been really blessed with both Julie and Robyn that I haven't had any morning sickness. I've had a little nausea here or there, and some food aversions (this time around, in fact, I had a two to three week period where I just didn't want to eat anything, because nothing sounded appetizing at all), but no actual sickness. I've had no complications so far, and everything seems good. The doctor says I and the baby are healthy, and growth is on target. During my first trimester I was really tired a lot, and had a really hard time getting moving in the morning. I'm not a morning person anyway, and I'd end up in bed still a couple hours after Julie was up, and even once I got up, it took me awhile to really wake up. I'm still moving a little slowly getting out of bed, but for the most part, I'm good.

Here are a few pictures with Julie that I like. The first one is fun, despite being really blurry.

School spirit

These are for my grandpa and my brother. My brother just graduated high school and will be heading to USC in the fall. My grandpa earned his Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees from USC, and is a Trojan forever. Julie is wearing my brother's USC hat.

It's a boy...or a girl...but definitely one of the two

I had my "big" anatomy ultrasound this week. On the day of the ultrasound, I was exactly 19 weeks. The tech said that the baby measured slightly larger than average, but not enough that they'd worry about moving my dates or anything. Everything looked healthy -- all important parts were there and growing well. The baby was active but cooperative. We got a pretty clear bum shot, and there were most definitely no boy parts present. It's a girl!

Ben's initial reaction was a slight let-down: he's been demanding a manchild. I keep reminding him that that part is his job, not mine. He's getting more excited by the day, though -- no worries. And he's given himself a new nickname: Abu el Banat. It's an Arabic phrase meaning father of daughters. It's an episode title and the impetus behind an amusing scene in one of our favorite now-off-the-air TV shows, The West Wing. You can watch the scene here:



My only disappointment was that the only printouts they gave us of the ultrasound were profiles. I like the profiles -- don't get me wrong -- but there were some cute/funny views of the legs and feet when the tech was measuring those. Oh well. Without further ado, I present the future

Robyn Ruth Nutter