Too cool!

We are 17 weeks today and I finally feel really pregnant, not just cranky and irritated and whiny for no reason. I have a little bit of a baby belly and people I don't know are beginning to recognize that I am pregnant. Maternity clothes are a beautiful thing--if I ever have to feel a waistband again it will too soon!

I had a Physical Therapy and OB appointment on Thursday, leaving my warm house full of sleeping people at 7:10 AM!! I was looking forward to it, but that was way early on a vacation day. The therapy was good, the massage was great and I got to spend some time wandering the aisles of Target by myself and starting our baby registry between appointments. (And is it just me, or does after-Christmas clearance not seem as exciting for past couple of years?)

They got me in a little early at the OB, which was a good sign, and my stats were great: normal blood pressure, clear urine and I have gained 6 pounds total. They took blood for the quad screening test, which should be back sometime next week, and a liver blood test. Funny, I asked for both, but I have not once thought or worried about the results since that day. I guess that is a good thing. So she asks me if I am feeling any movements yet, and I told her there has been some fluttery feelings that I can't really tell the difference between muscles stretching or gas pains, so no, not really. We listened to the heartbeat--WHOOSH WHOOSH, WHOOSH WHOOSH--and made an appointment for another ultrasound in four weeks. We should be able to see the gender then, but hmmmm, I'm not sure whether we will actually find out or not.

So after I get home, we head out for shopping and lunch with my niece and nephew, to Gattiland, of course. We spent the whole afternoon there, then after a dinner snack, bath and bedtime, I stretched out on the couch to relax and read e-mails. All of a sudden my stomach starts cramping. It made me squirm a little and I wondered if I overdid it with all of the activity. But it passed and I forgot about it for a few minutes. I didn't feel it when I walked around, but every time I was still it came back. After about an hour of this, I suddenly realized--it's not my stomach, it's the baby!! Real movements, not like kicks, but as if something is gently pushing and moving around in there. This goes on most of the night whenever I am still. It was very, very cool!

I do think this baby is going to be a bit of a troublemaker: the day I tell the OB there is no real movement, he or she decides to start acrobatics in there. HA, we'll show them who's the boss here!