Half Way!

I am now 22 weeks along and if I thought I looked like I had a beer gut before, then it looks like I swallowed a volleyball now! The nausea has subsided (hallelujah!!) and most of the other early pregnancy woes have faded as well. Now I just get easily winded (going up and down our stairs a couple of times), have regular heartburn and reflux (never experienced either before in my life), and have some more noticeable veins. I still get tired easily, but it's no longer an all day, someone just ran over me, I can't lift my arm because it weighs 50 pounds, kind of tired. I have been able to resume some exercise, though not as many days a week as I did before and certainly not at the intensity as before. It feels good to just move a bit and I'm hoping it will be good for me in labor and carrying a baby around. I do still feel a bit on the "chunky" side- a fast changing body is very difficult to get used to, but I know I'd rather have healthy baby and have to work out harder later.
We had a level 2 sonogram at 18 weeks. That is just the fancier, more in-depth sonogram that is performed at the hospital versus our doctor's office. Since I am 35 it is recommended because it can detect far more birth defects than a regular sonogram would be able to. We had to first meet with the genetic counselor because our clinic in Colorado never sent any of our genetic testing information to our current doctor. I was appalled when I read on my chart as a diagnosis "Elderly Primigravida". What?! Apparently this is the medical terminology for a woman who has her first child at age 35 or older. I thought AMA (Advanced Maternal Age) was bad, but ELDERLY? Wow. Other than the shock of finding out I could now qualify for the senior citizen discount at McDonald's, it was a pretty amazing experience. Because the tech was looking at all of the organs in such depth and measuring the length of each appendage (measures 2 days ahead), we never really got a full baby picture. Luckily, all of the organs looked great, the heart was perfect, and we did get a peek at the gender. Matt and I were both pretty sure it was going to be a boy, so when the sonographer said GIRL, we were both a little shocked. Matt kept saying "wow, a little girl, a daughter." Later, he said "oh no- the only bad thing is that now you're going to spend a lot more money because girl stuff is so much cuter?" Yep!
I'm really glad we found out the gender. I feel like the greatest mystery is in what is she going to look like, what will her personality be like, and what little familiar quirks will she have? On the sonogram we could see that she was laying with her ankles crossed (at first)- just like the way I lay (I was even laying that way while I was on the table that day. Oh, and my Mom sleeps the same way!) She has always had her hands up by her head and usually they are moving around quite a bit. Anyone ever watch Matt or I talk? Yep, lots of gestures!
So now we are in the process of "nesting"! We've cleared out the old guest room and moved it to the smaller guest room (formerly Matt's office) and moved Matt's office to the sun room with my office. We ordered the crib and it will arrive on April 2nd. We are lucky to already own some great antique furniture that we will add to her room. We will be having my generous Uncle Don come and do some work on the room and my Mom and step dad Dave are coming next weekend to paint. I found pretty pale pink silk curtains and now I'm on the hunt for bedding. With all that antique furniture, I am also wanting to add some more modern pieces so the room doesn't look too "granny". I'm sure I'll be obsessed until every detail is done. We started to look at registering, but what an overwhelming task!! I am not sure what is necessary, helpful, or just really nice to have versus what is crap and worthless. I'd love to ask all my mommy friends what they recommend!! I just hosted a baby shower for my friend Jenny and she got a lot of great stuff- but there was SOOO much, a little overwhelming to consider! Luckily little peanut's room has 2 closets!!
Just a little beyond the half-way point and all is still going good. We are excited, hopeful, nervous, and overwhelmed and couldn't be happier about it! We have another sonogram in about 6 weeks and will be starting some of our classes soon (natural childbirth, newborn care, child/infant CPR) so I'll have more to update in the coming weeks!!