Insomnia, ultrasound, and giant pants

Oh no. It has started again. The killer insomnia I had while pregnant with Miriam is starting again. It is 1:20am and I have been staring at the ceiling above the bed for the past hour. This has been going on each night around 1am for the past two weeks or so, but so far I haven't resorted to prowling the house like a ghoul, like I did with Miriam. ARGH! I'm not looking forward to six more months of this every night, but on the bright side, I get to update this blog without interruptions (except from Stevie and Larry, who are prowling too, curious to see why I am up).

Speaking of the cats, Larry has once again taken to curling up on my lap every time I sit down anywhere, and using my belly as a pillow. He can sense the mystical energy in my abdomen. Ha ha, just wait until the creature starts kicking you in the head, Larry!

On a very happy note, we had an ultrasound yesterday. It was the 12 week Integrated Prenatal Screening test (to assess risk of Downs Syndrome, neural tube defects, and a few other anomalies). We weren't going to get it done, since I prefer less interventions/testing to more, but I couldn't resist an ultrasound peek (the two blood tests afterwards are not fun, but I've been getting poked every four weeks to monitor my thyroid levels, so what's another two needle-jabs?).

Anyway, it was lovely (the ultrasound, that is). At first, Josh had to wait in the waiting room as always, and the tech didn't say anything, which always freaks me out. But then she made a somewhat exasperated sigh, and said "someone is really moving around in here!". I breathed in relief (there is always that fear...), and dared to look at the screen above my head. The creature was moving around, and I got glimpses of limbs, head and torso. We chatted for a while while she did all the measurements, and then said I could call Josh in to see too, and get some pictures. We heard the heartbeat again, saw the baby moving its arm, and were told that it has a head, body, and four limbs. I should hope so!

As soon as my official report is in, I'm going to analyze it to death. All I know so far from the screen is that the crown-rump length was 6.7cm, and when I obsessively researched it online, I learned that this is the CRL corresponding to a 13-14 week pregnancy. Of course, the first ultrasound (at 6 weeks) is the most accurate in terms of dating the pregnancy, but the tech said we can probably expect the baby in late June. This is good news, since I get to get off work earlier than expected...February sounds like a good time :D :D :D...

Two days ago, I spent over an hour at the Motherhood Maternity outlet in Heartland. After trying on all manner of pregnancy rags, I finally purchased a pair of jeans, a pair of cords, and three shirts. The pants have the giant rolling belly panel I like so much, but of course they are slightly too loose still. My belly has started to get rounder in the past week, and now I undeniably cannot suck it in any longer. It's not so much that the baby or uterus are huge, it's just that my guts are spilling out mid-abdomen now, supported by the solid and patient uterus below. So I am definitely fuller after a meal (of which I am having much more lately, every 2 hours!), but even in the morning after a night fast, there's still a roundness. Now I just have to find some comfy scrub pants, and I'll be all set. This is proving to be very difficult, so I think I'm agonna have to go on down to de Walmart and git me some hoochie-mama velour pants.

Speaking of bellies, Miriam has started signing to the baby before bedtime. She pokes at my belly and makes up gibberish songs which she finds hilarious. The nightly routine when we are lying in bed during book-time, is "I want to sing for the baby" (lifts shirt, presses lips to belly) "Midi modi bidi bodi toto!" (giggles in glee). Then I pretend to be the voice of the baby saying "Oooo, that was a lovely song, big sister Miriam! I can't wait to meet you!". Out of the blue today, while sitting around after supper, she pensively said "why is it taking so long for your baby to come out, mama?". Hopefully, this excitement over the baby will continue after the it is born!

Today (meaning Dec. 24) is Polish Christmas Eve at my parents' house. Creature will get a good belly-ful of pierogi, barszcz, uszka, and "Greek" fish (or at least he/she will get squished by a massive load of these delectables weighing down on him/her!). Yummm. And the next day, we're having a Denomey Xmas Xtravaganza at our house (that's right, we had to clean the bathrooms and wash the floors!), where we'll be serving Irish Beef Stew (with a can of Guinness...yes, I called Motherisk to confirm the safety of cooking a stew for two hours with some beer in it). Oh, how I love the gluttony of the holidays!

Guess I'd better attempt to force myself to try to sleep now. I was going to post the U/S pics but for some reason Josh scanned them upside down, and the scanner is too loud to rescan them right now. I'll rescan them in the morning. And unfortunately, all my belly pictures are still on the camera, not uploaded to the computer, so I can't post those right now either, since I can't find the cord.