Pregnancy Update: 21 weeks

This is one of those posts that is mostly for my memories.  I realized with my pregnancy with Luke I didn’t do any updates from 20 weeks (when we found out the sex) to 31 weeks.  I really wish I would have updated more because I would like to go back and read about how I was feeling and what I was thinking in case I ever get the crazy idea to do this pregnancy thing again one of these days….

I’m feeling pretty good these days.  My nausea went away around 17 weeks.  It is really nice to wake up and not have to vomit.  The headaches are better too.  I still have them, but not as frequently.  My main symptom is HORRENDOUS heartburn.  I had this with Luke too.  I feel it even if I haven’t eaten anything.  Thank God for Tums and Zantac.  I seriously think my esophagus is being eaten alive sometimes.  The old wives tale is that heartburn correlates to your baby having more hair.  And I will say that Luke had a lot of hair at birth—so maybe it is true. 

I have an anterior placenta this time again—which means the placenta is in the front—so the baby’s kicks have to be felt through that.  Most people have their placenta in the back.  So, the movement is still pretty subtle.  I have been feeling movement for at least 5 or 6 weeks.  But the hard kicks will come later for me.  I guess that isn’t that bad but I would like for Mark to be able to feel the kicks.  It will come soon enough though. 

I am SO thankful for the doppler that Shauna’s friend let me borrow.  She had a scare in her pregnancy so they bought a really expensive one. Some of the cheap dopplers you can buy don’t work well but this one is even nicer than the one they use at my doctor’s office (Shauna graciously agreed to let me have it instead of her since I tend to be slightly more anxious :) ).  Mark and I have been listening to the baby’s heartbeat since about twelve weeks.  We usually listen to it every other day for less than 30 seconds.  I just love hearing his heartbeat and sometimes his kicks.  His heartrate is usually in the 140s.  Mark is really good at finding it and should probably be a certified doppler technician. We were able to bring it with us to my parents’ house and Mark’s parents’ house so that everyone could hear the baby’s little heartbeat. 

“The baby” may or may not have a name.  We thought we had a name picked out but I am having second thoughts.  I want to decide soon though!  I hate being undecided. 

And we were very excited to find out this week that Shauna is having a boy too!  How fun will it be to have these two little boys (that will only be about a week or two apart in age) grow up together!