Halfway there

Today we've reached the 20-week marker. That's halfway there! Crazy how time is flying now.

Yesterday morning I felt the baby for the first time -- I think. I'd love to gush over how cool it was, but the reality is that I didn't know what it was. I've felt all kinds of new feelings in my tummy area while pregnant, things like muscles or ligaments or something growing, strange cramps, and just weird feelings. Most of them I ignore. And at first, I ignored this feeling too.

And then I thought about it for a second and wondered: Was that the baby? I'm not sure how to describe it; my doctor and others have said it feels like flutters, but this felt different than that, too. Use your knuckles and roll them on your arm gently; that's kinda what it felt like. But it was about an inch or two below my belly button. I felt it a few more times and was pretty sure it was the baby. Very cool.

Leaving work early today for my 20-week check-up with my doctor. I'll have to step on the scale again, and I'm pretty scared about that. I just hope I didn't gain another 9 pounds like I did last month. I'll be a whale by August if I keep that up. After I see my doctor, I see the ultrasound specialist one last time to measure the length of my cervix. I'm feeling pretty optimistic that my cervix will measure well one last time, and I'll be out of the woods on this one.

I'll keep you posted.