Just over 4 months ago, I saw two pink lines on a pregnancy test.  An hour later, I didn’t believe it so I tested again.  Then also the next day, and then even a week later, just to make sure.  Now, several months later, I’m feeling my litte jellybean kick even as I type this out, and my ever-expanding belly is leaving no doubt to the entire world that my body is producing something amazing on the inside! 

So I am officially 20 weeks pregnant, which marks the halfway point (b/c everyone knows you deliver at EXACTLY 40 weeks, right?)  This stage seemed like a good time to take a break and reflect on all the changes that have been going on lately. 

Me at 20 weeks and 1 day

Now that I actually have a clearly defined baby “bump,” I have a newfound confidence in my body.  Rather than hiding behind flowy, ambigously shaped clothing, fearing that the uninformed observer might assume that I’ve indulged in a little too much Halloween candy, I’ve begun sporting my pre-preggo tops with pride.  Of course I’ve had to invest in a few long tank tops to layer underneath my old shirts to keep my belly from hanging out, but am still savoring the last few weeks that they will still fit.  Almost all of my pre-preggo pants still fit (although a few need to be held together with a rubberband rather than a button).  I’ve purchased one pair of maternity pants which are still way too big to wear, along with a few maternity tops, which I’ve worn enthusiastically a few times, but trying to hold out as long as I can, b/c realistically, I know I’ll get sick of these clothing items long before April rolls around. 

I go back and forth between enjoying being treated like a delicate flower, and disgusted at being treated like I am disabled or handicapped in some way.  While it feels good to have people constantly inquire about how I’m feeling and offer to carry things for me, it is annoying when people assume that I should be laying around in bed all day doing sudoku.  My friend and coworker Heather (who is currently about a week behind me with her second child) warned me to enjoy the coddling while I could, b/c once the baby came, no one would be paying any attention to me anymore.  🙂  So I’m trying to take in all of the unsolicited advice with a grain of salt and a smile on my face, understanding that the majority of the people are commenting b/c they care about me, and are only trying to be helpful – and often times the advice is actually useful! 

Trying out my super cool CAMP full-body harness at 19 weeks!

I’m still climbing (toproping only of course) and have managed to complete at least one 5.11 clean per week of pregnancy.  It will be interesting to see how much longer I can keep that up.  I’m still running, although I now mix in a few walk breaks and I’ve gotten a good deal slower.  The funny thing about that is that since I don’t keep track of my pace or mileage or anything like that, the only time I notice that I’m slow is when Steve and I jog together.  If I only ran alone, I would be blissfully unaware of my subtly slowing pace!  I’m also still biking (only on the greenway, no more mountain biking) and feeling pretty good, although hills take a lot out of me and just this week I have had to humble myself enough to get off my bike and walk a couple of times.  But all in all – I’m feeling fantastic!  Aside from the many new and weird things going on in my body (most of which are not appropriate to discuss in this blog…)  I feel as good as new! 

IT'S A BOY!!!!

As far as the jellybean goes (or J.Bean, as Steve and I have nicknamed him), we found out that he is indeed a boy a couple of weeks ago!  He was not shy at all, and had no qualms about raising his legs high in the air the entire time the nice lady was trying to measure his abdomen, femur, head, etc.  I guess he wanted to make sure we saw it. 🙂  We were amazed at how clear of a picture we were able to see on the ultrasound machine, and how much he was moving around (especially considering that at that point, I hadn’t felt any kicks for sure yet).  The funniest part was when the sonographer actually caught a picture of him sticking his tongue out!  This is especially cute, since Steve is well-known for sticking his tongue out when he is really focused, either mentally or physically.  We call it “the concentrating face.”  JBean is evidently concentrating very hard on growing these days, b/c according to one of my many pregnancy books, he is about the size of a cantaloupe!   

JBean's concentrating face 🙂

Steve's concentrating face in action!

We’ve made our first round of visits to Babies R Us to get our registry started (an overwhelming process to say the least…), and my mom was kind enough to paint the nursery for us while Steve was in Vegas (just the background – my friend Kim is going to paint rainforest animals all over the walls over Christmas break!) 

We have done some name research and come up with a name that we both really like, but we will most likely keep it a secret 🙂  So that leaves us with a to-do list of replacing my car, finishing the registry, moving a bunch of furniture around in the soon-to-be nursery and guest bedroom, taking birthing classes, and about a million other things – not to mention all the things I’m sure will come up last minute! So thats the latest update for now!  Time sure is going by fast and I’m sure it will only get faster as the holidays approach.  Our little guy will be here before we know it!  🙂

After we said sticking your tongue out is rude.... 🙂

Little feet 🙂