Halfway mark update

So Baby Shyu is halfway done with the “living in my belly” part of its life. From our last checkup we saw that baby is looking fully human: round head, strong spine, beating heart, and arms and legs that do kung fu. We had tried to take a peek at the “family jewels” or the lack thereof, but baby’s head was in the way. We’ll just have to try again next time.

From the ultrasound photo I noticed a thick white band of “substance” in between the skin of my belly and the baby. My eyes widened at the sudden alarm rushing through me from the shocking thought: “EEEKS! That’s a whole lotta fat!” Fortunately the doctor saw my shaking finger pointing at the substance and enlightened me that it was the placenta. I went Ahhh... and gave a relieved chuckle. So baby’s placenta is situated in the front, acting as a natural buffer between me and its kung fu moves. That would explain why I can’t exactly say if that jabbing pain in me is from the baby or spicy food.

What is annoying are pregnant hormones, specifically progesterone. As I understand it, it’s relaxing my intestine muscles so that food passes by slower and my body can have more time to take nutrients from the food. The annoying part of this is the gas that builds up. Mostly the gas rises (I deny any that come out the other way) and causes me to burp. One or two burps are not a problem. It’s the late at night, lying in bed, suddenly have a million gas bubbles part that is extremely annoying. It feels like heartburn and throwing up gas that’s on fire. It’s already hard to sleep through the night from the tossing from side to side due to pressure on the hips and veins as well as the two trips a night to the bathroom, now I have to sit up and burp fire non-stop for five minutes. Baby, you so owe me.

By the way, Oh So Bossy Baby has relaxed and chilled. It is possible that I just don’t feel baby as sharply as before because of the placenta buffer. It is also possible that baby has gotten off my case now that I live by its strict schedule: eat every two or three hours when I’m awake and don’t forget that midnight snack (which probably contributes to the late night/early morning fire breathing). Lately I’ve been drinking soymilk, which eases the hunger pains a lot and lets me enjoy eating rather than wolfing down food with a frown to ease the pain.

So far I’ve only gained 2kg (4lbs) and when you look at me from the front I look pretty much the same, although some think my face has gotten thinner. Looking at me from the side on the other hand, I’m no longer the “maybe she ate a lot of burritos” size but the “that’s a baby bump, let me ask how far along is she” size.

I go to prenatal yoga once a week, but I’m the smallest in the class. Other ladies are 34 weeks (one has twins!), some 29 weeks, and one that’s 26 weeks. We go around the room introducing ourselves and I announce my little 19 weeks bump to the 34 weeks everything is open and about to drop ladies. Sometimes I think to myself, maybe I don’t need yoga yet and I’ll just come back in a month or two. But after the class I feel so relaxed and my aches are all gone, I say to myself that I gotta come back again. I adore the little babies that come to the studio for the postnatal yoga classes. If baby is good I'll bring it then too. Who knows? Maybe baby will make a friend. =)