WOW - We have movement

So of course you know that Baby Mort has been moving by now. But last night, he really moved. I felt what I swore was his elbow and forearm drag across my belly. It was such a pronounced movement that if I had been looking at my belly when he did it, I probably would have seen my stomach move. And I am surprised at how high up I can feel him now. For some reason my brain seems to almost be going in reverse now. I find myself thinking - isn't he just an apple? And of course knowing he is the size of a large ear of corn and a pound and a half of hamburger sitting in there I feel like my brain is pulling tricks on me. The thought of gaining 15 more pounds which is what is supposed to happen - is really starting to frighten me - and I won't even tell you all the bad reasons why. You'd think that was TMI..........

6 mo checkup

passed with flying colors.

Baby measurement - perfect
Baby heartbeat - perfect
Momma blood pressure - perfect

Next - will have to do the glucose test in a month (again). *sigh* But that is the last needle prick until the hospital.

How big is Baby Mort? Well he is the size of an ear of corn - or about 12 inches long. And he is over a pound. My guess is that little porker is probably about a pound and a half if he is still on his same weight gain schedule. And he is thumping me pretty good now. So much that I can see his big kicks quiver my belly. I saw the chart in the doctor's office of how big actual size he would be in 2 weeks - I was like, how can that fit in there. And then I realized - he is almost that size already and that big inside me already. Kind of was a weird revelation.

I don't know how my weight was as the nurse didn't comment on it this time - but I think it is right on track for a normal pregnancy. At the same time, I feel like I have become quite the little piggy this last week. All the stages seem to happen for the most part on track - or I should say that every stage or time that something seems to change a little bit with my body, it is right around the new week cycle or new month cycle. Part of how I know we have entered a new point in this process.

So anyway it was a sign that little Baby Mort was getting ready to go through a growth spurt. I guess momma was right cause he is growing (starting to fill out his frame with some baby fat) and it has made me want to eat. Not that I am having urges consistently throughout the day or that my stomach seems too small to gorge myself. It's actually quite the contrary - which is in some ways scary. My coworker said that if I hadn't gotten to that point yet I probably wouldn't. But here I am - wanting to stuff my face when I eat - at least that has been the last week's experience. But I guess if Baby Mort is telling me that he needs me to eat a little extra, that I need to listen to my body. And no, Tony has not started gaining sympathy weight yet.....at least he doesn't look it and he isn't admitting to me he is. In fact he's been a little surprised at my mowing lately.

I asked the doctor if she could give me a focus pill since I seem to be having a problem "doing" things. Even if I list them out on paper, it's like I just can't seem to do them. And for someone that is typically in 5th gear (as my husband says) that is so frustrating to be in second gear trying to tell yourself to get back in 5th gear. The midwife said that because all the blood is in my uterus and going to the baby right now (instead of equally distributed throughout my body), that is why I am having that problem - and that I just have to deal with that. Frustrating.

On the one hand I had always swore if I ever got pregnant I wasn't going to be one of "those" pregnant women that seems to space out. As a business professional, it really used to piss me off that I felt I had to do more work because of a pregnant coworker's spaciness. And now, I am frustrated that I can't get my brain to get in gear and go go go like the A-train usually does. On the other hand, it was an interesting moment of clarity when I thought - so this is what happens to a man when all the blood drains out of his head and into his penis.......ah....an interesting epiphany.

My Kitty has a whole new outlook

Well it was a little worrisome there for awhile on whether or not Bambi was going to get to continue to hang out in the world of the living. Her peeing and pooping on the carpet problem was just getting out of hand. And having a baby amplified the problem. We had done a spot check on the carpet and found that it was worse than we thought. Luckily, Tony had won some carpet cleaning services he had won for free as part of a charity fundraiser for our soccer club, so we got the whole house cleaned! We haven't done that at all since we moved in 4 years ago. The result is that the carpets look great! And the smell is not a problem.

After a couple more vet trips and lots of research on cats, we decided to alter a few things. We lifted the door to the cat box going into the garage so Bambi can always know - this is you spot. And that hopefully the extra smell factor will help draw her to the spot. The second thing we did was to put less litter in the pan - which apparently cats don't like 5 inches of litter - who knew? And then we switched out our good brand of litter and went back to the clay kind and using an unscented version. The vet's rationale is that cats typically don't like what humans like. Our sense of smell is conditioned to be more odor pleasing, but to a cat since their sense of smell is so much greater than ours, they feel like they are being perfumed out.

I am happy to report that there have been no foul ups with the carpets since the cleaning! I have not had to stuff her once either! AND I have seen her go in the box on her own twice! I can't tell you how happy Tony and I are. Now I know it is only a few days - but it seems we have turned a corner on this. That and we are still giving her the prescription food. But who cares. I am just happy she gets to remain in the land of Mortenson.