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Last week I crossed the 24-week mark with my pregnancy. Baby Froggie, or BB (for Baby Boy) as I’ve been calling him lately, is busy! He’s moving around so much now. It’s absolutely fascinating and endearing. I love interacting with him. I love to talk to him, speak blessings over him, rub my hand across my growing belly and feeling him move around in response. I just love him so much already! I dealt with a bout of severe back pain for about 2 weeks but I’m happy to say it has resolved now after lots of prayer, chair adjustments, special pillows and (I assume) my back muscles finally catching up after the rapid growth of my front side. All-in-all I’m still feeling great and loving being pregnant. The biggest news since my last update, of course, is that we’re expecting a boy. Jason, Ali and I found out together on Christmas day with a really special reveal. (I’ll post more about that soon.) I’m thrilled to know the little one growing inside my body is a son. Don’t bother asking about names; we’re not telling. 😉 We have a list and a strong top choice but we won’t decide for sure until he is born. Ali thinks his name should be donut so if you ask you might get an answer of Duncan Donut! (Not on the list.)

Twenty weeks. 4.5 months. Halfway to my due date. Baby’s kicks are harder and more obvious this week, which is nothing but amazing at this stage. I love the interaction. It was so fun seeing all that action on the big ultrasound screen Tuesday…rubbing an eye, touching toes to forehead, yawning, talking or chewing, kicking legs, wiggling fingers. Now I’m even more excited for the little one’s debut in April.

Big sister is also quite excited. She likes to pretend there is a baby sister in her belly too. She thinks it’s a baby sister but is quick to add that we won’t find out until Christmas. We had the ultrasound technician write the gender and seal it in an envelope and we’re going to have a friend or two help us with the reveal on Christmas day. She also knows that the baby isn’t coming out until April, though I’m not sure she has much of a concept of what April means.

Look at that cutie! In the one below, baby’s toes were all the way up by his or her forehead. I love that she captioned it “TOE HEAD.”

I love baby feet! (The one on the right is one foot plus some umbilical cord.)

Ali and Jason came with me to the big 20 week ultrasound, which was fun and sweet. I’ve been feeling lots of movement this week, hard enough now that Jason can finally feel it with his hands against my belly. The feedback is so neat – baby kicks, we push back, baby kicks, we push back, etc. It was really special to see all of the movement on the giant ultrasound screen because it gives me a visual for all the bumps and pops I’ve been feeling this week. I feel good in general but tired (which is why I’m so behind on blogging…and my to do list in general.)

Actually it’s 17 weeks now, but I intended to write this last week. My OB check ups are every 4 weeks so last week I had another one. Everything is perfect – baby’s heart rate, the way my body is growing, my blood pressure, etc. Thank you, Jesus! A few days before the start of week 16 something very exciting happened – we started to feel baby Froggie moving! For a couple days I had been occasionally feeling flutters but I wasn’t sure if was Froggie, since this is my first pregnancy and it’s early. One night Jason had his ear up to my belly, talking to baby and listening to the sloshing sounds in response. I was feeling little flutters that corresponded to the sounds he was hearing and then POP! He felt a push against his cheek at the same moment I definitely felt a little push from the inside. So neat! A week later I’m still feeling similar little flutters a few times a day, sometimes it’s as frequent as the “popcorn popping” feeling I’ve read about. My next check up and our big ultrasound appointment is at 20 weeks in the first week of December. Big sister Ali is excited to come along to that appointment both to see her little sibling on the screen and to find out what all these check ups are about. We’ve decided we’re going to hold the gender reveal surprise until Christmas Day. That should be very exciting and memorable. Now I can’t wait until Christmas! We’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house so I’m using all my self-control to resist decorating the house for Christmas before Thanksgiving. (As if it’ll make Christmas come sooner!)

At 16 weeks gestation, a baby is about the size of an avocado (at least in length, from head to rump). In honor of that, I ate a lot of avocados. We also had a visit from a real frog. Jason found this cute little guy while he was cutting back from elephant ear plants in the courtyard. He just missed getting his butt chopped off!

I’m officially in my second trimester with Baby Froggie now. He or she is the size of a peach and getting bigger everyday, as is my belly. I’ve graduated to maternity pants. I can’t even bear the pressure of the belly band on my regular pants anymore – perhaps because I usually wear pretty tight fitting clothes. I’ve gained around 10 lbs. and it’s no wonder because food! I want to eat everything that crosses my mind or my nose. My only real pregnancy symptoms are hunger and tiredness. I’ve been craving spicy foods since the very beginning, and still do some as well as salty/vinegary things like soup, pickles and olives. I’ve had a touch of heartburn after too much of the above but no big deal. I’m very thankful to be feeling good. We got to hear a good strong heartbeat at my 12 week check up and we’ll get to take a listen again at my 16 week appointment. Soon after that I should be starting to feel Froggie’s movements which is fascinating and not as freaky as I initially thought. In early December we’ll have the big ultrasound appointment where we’ll hopefully find out whether we have a son or a daughter swimming around in there.