Thank goodness for good health!

I've been fortunate enough to avoid nausea and other pregnancy-related illnesses thus far, and I now understand how lucky I've been! Yesterday after lunch, I began to feel nauseous. Thankfully, I made it through the rest of the day without incident. Once I was home, though, it was a completely different story. I threw up and the bathroom became my best friend for the next 24 hours. I got a really good picture of what it'll be like once the baby is born: up every three hours, crappy sleep when I was able to get to bed--ahh motherhood! At least when Baby J. is here I'll have a MUCH better reason to wake up all night long! I think running to the nursery rather than the porcelain palace will be much better incentive for me to get out of bed!

Anyhoo--I've posted a few of the sonograms from our last ultrasound. My favorite is the shot of Baby J.'s face; it reminds me of Skeletor!! Even though I tend to think it's a girl, so as a friend pointed out, she would be the Princess of Power, not Skeletor! How fun :0)

Off to bed; it is about 8 pm, my bed time these days!

"Bad" Baby!

Lots has happened since our last post. I had another pre-natal check-up and we got to see Baby J. again! I really wish I had an ultrasound machine-thing in my bedroom--I'd stare at that baby all day every day! It is just so amazing to SEE what's going on in my belly!

Before I get ahead of myself, let's start with the check-up. Last Thursday, I went for my fourth appointment. So far, I've gained a total of 8 pounds (not bad for the 5th month of pregnancy, right?!), the baby's heart beat is strong (155 bpm), and my other vitals are good. In fact, after taking my blood pressure, the nurse asked how I was feeling. I thought the response she wanted (everyone wants!) is, "I'm really excited!" So, that's what I said! She then asked if I was nervous, anxious, scared, etc. I thought about it and then answered honestly, "No. I'm very calm." Granted, this is strange for me because I worry and plan and obsess over the tiniest of details, and here I am carrying my first child and I've never felt so relaxed in my entire life. Nature's way of preparing me for motherhood?? Anyway, the nurse kind of laughed and said I'm "dead" calm. I guess my blood pressure is really low: 90/60!! That, however, did worry me because I was afraid it was bad for the baby, but the doctor told me to enjoy it while it lasts! I'm just "unusually" calm for an expectant mother! I'd like to take this time to address all of you (AKA: my parents!) who constantly tell me to calm down, don't worry, I'm going to have an ulcer and say: I TOLD YOU SO :0)

Thank you, that felt good!!

So this past Saturday, Zach and I and our parents made the trek to Corporate One in Monroeville to have our second ultrasound. The technician was kind enough to welcome us all into the room (she claimed it was maybe too small; I tend to think I could have crammed some more people in there--Mike, Derek, and Kim next time?!), and we all got to see Baby J. in action. Everything looks great: the organs have developed and are working well, no clubbed foot, no cleft lip, both eyes, both ears, BIG feet!! The baby, however, would not cooperate and give us the ever-important profile shot, so we have to go back in a month. FINE WITH ME! I'd go back EVERY day if I could :) The technician was able to tell the sex of the baby, but of course, we opted to keep it a surprise. It was funny, though: she warned us she was scanning the "genital region" and we should look away if we didn't want to know (sometimes it's pretty obvious that even the untrained eye can identify the "hamburger or hotdog" I guess!), and Zach was the ONLY one to turn away. Everyone else stared as if our lives depended on finding or seeing SOMETHING! Unfortunately, no one could really identify anything in particular, even though my dad SWEARS it's a boy. I personally feel as though I'm carrying a girl, but what do I know?!

That's about it from these parts. In addition to all of the doctor appointments, all is well. I feel great, I look okay, and Zach is starting to realize there's a baby inside of me! He pets the belly every once in a while and reminds me that we've made a child. Like my constant peeing and weight gain aren't reminders enough :0) But it's fun. I truly do enjoy being pregnant, so I feel very fortunate for that.

Once I get the baby's pics uploaded, I'll share them on here and on Facebook. Fun! Until next time...

Milestone and Then Some!

Very exciting evening yesterday: I felt Baby J. move for the first time!! I think it's been happening for a while now, what the experts call "quickening," but I mistook the feelings for hunger pangs or...gas.

But last night, Zach and I were competing in a fight to the death Jeopardy match when I suddenly felt hungry. I thought that was strange because I had just eaten, so I knew my stomach was full. Then the feeling climbed up my belly toward my chest, almost as though I had suddenly dropped 10 feet. THEN I realized what was happening!! I told Zach right away, but because it's too early to feel any movement from the outside, he was left out of the fun :) I think we have a good bit to go until he can feel Baby J., but how crazy is this: we're already in week 18!!! I can't get over the fact that in 2 weeks we'll be half way through this pregnancy, it'll be March, and I'll probably be showing a lot more than I currently am. Right now, a passerby could mistake me for a beer guzzling bar hag rather than an expectant mother! And while that used to kinda bother me (who wants to look like they have a gut?!), I realize that I should really relish these last few weeks that I'll be able to see my toes and bend over to put on my own shoes!

While feeling Baby J. was clearly the milestone, the "then some" of this post is my tremendous victory over my nursery opponent, one Mr. Zachary Jankowski. While I've taken a chill pill in terms of "let's do this, let's buy this, let's move this," I haven't forgotten my childhood dream (okay, that's a bit of a stretch...) of having a Winnie the Pooh nursery. I've been collecting Pooh stuff since I can remember, and when we found out we were pregnant, Pooh and friends is what I envisioned in the nursery. However, my said competitor nixed the idea early on. I was cooperative and I compromised; I purchased a lovely Noah's Ark 6-piece set at a fabulous clearance price. However, I quickly came to find that the clearance price came with a huge setback: discontinued accessories. And because I have diagnosed myself as OCD, I HAVE to have the matching accessories. I'm not talking random animals or OTHER Noah's Ark stuff--I want the pieces that are the same colors, the same brand as the crib sheets!!! This has proven impossible...but that's okay!! I have successfully deferred to Pooh by slipping in a nonchalant comment one night before bed: "I can't find Noah's Ark stuff, we'll have to go with Pooh." I admit I was initially met with a bit of resistance, to which I simply responded, "It's Classic Pooh. I win." Zach took one look at me, realized I meant business, and then raised his white flag. We will be returning the Noah's Ark stuff this weekend. :0)

On an unrelated note, I called the doctor's office to make sure it'd be okay if SIX of us were to show up for my ultrasound! I tried to make a joke about it because I didn't want to be the weird patient asking weird questions, but the receptionist was very kind and assured me she's seen it all. So, on Feb. 21st, the Jankowski Family Circus will meet Baby J. for the first time. How fun!!

I'm going to grab something to eat...I do that a lot now ;o)

What a Year!

I can't believe all of the historical events that have already graced 2009!! From the inauguration of what's sure to be a memorable presidency to the Steelers winning their 6th Superbowl to history-making weather and temperatures--this year is shaping up to be pretty amazing! I envision the future Baby J. on one of those websites looking up things that happened during his/her year of birth, and what awesome events they are!

While I feel very blessed to be doing so well at this point in the pregnancy, I'm starting to feel the shock waves of the hormones. I've really been paranoid about how I sleep, so much so that I wake up pretty regularly throughout the night. My next problemo is that I've been throwing around the idea that I'm not "big enough!" I never in a million years thought I would WANT to be bigger, but I have myself convinced that my belly should be growing faster, I should be bigger, the baby's not progressing as it should be, etc. Thankfully, most of my friends have put my fears at ease; apparently a lot of them didn't really LOOK pregnant until about 7 months. So that's helped me a bit, but most times I can't control what I start to think--it's pretty annoying to be this worked up over something that I have absolutely no basis for worrying about!! Just another perk of female hormones :)

Our next ultrasound is Feb. 21st. My parents have expressed interest in joining us, although I think they're going to be disappointed because they WILL NOT find out the baby's sex unless we decide to...and that's not going to happen, according to Zach! Hopefully, Rick and Terri will join us and it'll be a family affair. I'm sure we'll freak out the technician, but we do put the "fun" in dysfunction!!