A Boy in My Belly

Since week 13, things have been getting better and better. I'm back to eating mostly raw: green juices and fruit during the day, big salads in the evening. That's really helped with the constipation and gas. I do include baked potatoes, chickpeas, tofu or other cooked foods in the evening with my salad, but only when I want them. For me, listening to my body is key. And the pregnancy seems to be going pretty well; I feel good, no problems. I work out 3 or 4 times a week on the elliptical trainer, lift weights. I'm about 20 weeks now, still wearing my own clothes for the most part, but of course rocking a little belly at the same time.

We decided to give birth at a birthing center -- rather than a full-on hospital ward -- because you're able to be a little more in control there. To do it, we started seeing a team of midwives, one of whom will be with us throughout the birth.

Seeing a midwife is different than seeing a doctor. They don't make you wait as long for your appointments, and they tend to do tests by touch rather than with machinery. For example, the midwife I saw took my blood pressure by hand and felt my belly to see the baby's size rather than using an in-office ultrasound. That's fine with me. I'd be happy to get out of the other chemical/tech tests, too. But apparently I still have to do the glucose test -- which involves drinking some awful, neon orange artificial sugar crap -- in order to use the birthing center. I said I'd like to see if there's any way around that, and they said they'd try... but no promises. That gunk cannot be good for me or my baby. Why do doctors always want to do what's most convenient for them instead of what's best for the patient? Seriously, that's what I see.

A couple of days ago, we went for the 20 week ultrasound and found out we're having a boy. Exciting! But also something to absorb and think about. It raises some questions for us -- will we have a baptism? a bris? What's a good name? So... thoughts. He just does his own thing, doesn't respond to sounds or pokes really. But he's very active, and I feel him often.

I'm almost done with school now, so my life should be a lot less hectic in three weeks. Three! I can't believe I'm almost done. I'm really ready to put it behind me, so it's not a moment too soon.

So far -- pregnancy is different than I expected but not as bad as I feared! I'll wait to see what happens in the coming weeks.