17w

I had a checkup this week, and all went well. The heart rate was in the 140's, which was much lower than the first time - completely normal and healthy, but leaves me wondering as to that old wives' tale regarding heart rate and gender. While we were listening to the heart, the baby moved - I could hear it, but felt nothing. My doctor assured me that in the next week, I'll be able to feel movement. The baby is about 5-6 inches long, and weighs about 4-5 ounces, about the size of a large baked potato. At our next visit in 4 weeks, we'll have another ultrasound and I can't wait to see the wee one.

Knowing that Ferris can hear sounds and recognize our voices is bizarre but fun. I catch myself talking in the direction of my stomach, humming and rubbing my belly simultaneously, and making up silly songs about cleaning the house, cooking dinner, tv shows, etc.

It's interesting to me that I can relate to the symptoms in pregnancy books and on different websites that track progress as we go along. I think it's impressive that women's bodies are so similar in the types of symptoms we experience, especially when it comes to things like nosebleeds, clogged ears, and dry eyes - all things I was certain had nothing to do with pregnancy and more to do with the weather.

Today is my husband's birthday. I reminded him that this is the last birthday he'll celebrate without having a son or daughter in his life....which then caused both of us to fall into silence. It's easy to have moments of pure panic with the realization that our lives are on the brink of such utter and complete change. Happy birthday, honey - it will only get better from here.