Appointment, names, movement, and a lovely Jane Austen picture

Had a midwives appointment this past week, and met one of my other midwives, Barb W. Professional and business-like, more clinical than Stephanie. So between the two of them, I have all the personality traits desirable in a midwife covered. I haven't met Tori yet, so we'll see.

Everything went well, baby's heartbeat was approximately 150 bpm, and we could even hear a big kick while trying to find the heartbeat! I didn't feel that one though. I've gained three pounds, and my urine is fabulous. Blood pressure is great too, 100/60. We talked about red raspberry leaf tea, hospital vs. home birth, and our common Polish heritage, and we scheduled my next ultrasound, the "BIG ULTRASOUND" for February 10th. Josh is taking the day off work, and we'll probably end up going to El Sombrero for lunch again. YUM!

Last week, I went through this entire book:

and made a giant list of the winners, both boy and girl, both first and middle names. Then a few days later, after Josh poo-pooed many of them, and agreed on a surprisingly large number of them, I pared it down to the finalists and matched them up with middle names. So now the list is official, and we have two first names for boys with six combinations including middle names, and six first names for girls, with a bunch of combos. I love them all, and just can't wait to pick after the baby is born!

In other news, I can feel the baby moving more and more over the past few days. It feels like gentle taps and prods, and isn't really often, only once or twice per day so far. I had forgotten what it feels like to have a creature living inside me! At least it's not jumping on my cervix like Miriam used to do. Although I do feel sometimes that my hips and inner organs are falling out again, and I'm sure this unsettling feeling will just intensify with time. Oh goody! At this rate, I'll need a couple of pessaries soon!

There are certain songs, smells, and books I associate with my gestation of Miriam, and I wonder what those memories will be this time around. When I was pregnant with Miriam, I always carried around my little vial of tea tree oil, and sniffed it numerous times per day (I probably got high off of it, in hindsight!), and even now when I smell tea tree oil, it reminds me of that time. Also, any song by the Kelly Family, or the Bee Gees (especially "Alone" by the latter) brings back those bittersweet memories of bouncing on my birth ball. And since I read most of the Jane Austen books while pregnant or shortly after Miriam's birth (they were one of the things that kept me sane in those weepy first few weeks post-partum, when it feels like life will never be the same again and that this whole thing was a huge mistake!), I also associate them with that pregnancy. Ahhh, the memories!

Now I have a craving for tea tree oil, this exact vial:


So far in this pregnancy, I haven't been abusing any such substances, and though I've been reading a few books, none of them stand out as "THE book that reminds me of this pregnancy". Perhaps it's too early. I need to find an author as fabulous as Jane Austen...