Kicks

Here's the most recent picture of my little guy:

And here's a recent picture of me:

My pregnancy is definitely noticeable now. I went for my "20 week check up" this week, (even though I was technically only 18 1/2 weeks) where they check all of the baby's vital organs, etc. The first couple of ultrasounds we had were kind of emotional...hearing the baby's heartbeat, seeing him look like an actual baby, then finding out the gender, but this time we were just sort of in awe. It was like an anatomy lesson. I could see all of our son's little vertebrae, his brain, the chambers of his heart, kidneys, bladder, arms, legs, fingers and toes. It was simply amazing. Every time the technician moved the wand to get a better look at him, he would squirm away, and it was ridiculous to see him move. I'm afraid we're going to have a little wiggleworm on our hands. I praise God that he's healthy and that everything is normal.

I've started to feel him move and kick. He's especially active after I've eaten and I'm just sitting still. They say that the baby's first movements feel like flutters or bubbles, but to me, the best way to describe it is a like muscle spasm. Like, have you ever had a tiny involuntary muscle spasm? That's what it feels like on the inside of my belly when he moves. I'm sure that will change as he gets bigger. I can't wait for the kicks to get strong enough so that my husband can feel them, too.

The first week of classes went very well. Somehow, God always steps in and helps me get it together in time. It still amazes me how I've gotten this far with such reluctance to get things done. I have a great group of motivated students. This is the first time I've taught intermediate and upper level classes, so most of them actually want to be there and are not just there because it's required.

Next up on the to-do list is to start our baby registry. My mom and best friend are planning a shower and we need to get a start on the registry soon so that my mom can include info for it with the invitations. To be honest, I'm kind of overwhelmed with where to even begin, but I guess we can find guides somewhere to help us decide what the essentials are. What I don't want to do is get a bunch of silly, gimmicky stuff that we aren't going to need or use. We'll figure it out.