18 Week Checkup

Last Thursday Brynne and I had our 18 week appointment to make sure that Baby McCutie was doing OK. All signs pointed to a healthy baby and healthy development for Brynne too. She's starting to show a little more everyday and I've noticed people are tempted more and more to rub her belly. This is one of the most fascinating observations from living with a pregnant woman. In any other situation you're sure to be slapped upside the head if you touch a woman's belly, but a lot of people don't hesitate once they find out she's pregnant. The thing is, until she's somewhere in the ballpark of 20 weeks, her stomach is still the same as it always was. So you're not so much rubbing a pregnant belly, but just her normal everyday belly. I've given Brynne permission to rub anyone back who rubs her belly without asking her-I think it's only fair. So far she hasn't taken me up, but beware!

Here are a few more observations from Brynne's conversation with our midwife, Sherri, at our appointment last week.

-Brynne's been feeling pain toward the bottom of her stomach and Sherri explained that her uterus and bladder are fighting for space at this point and her bladder is extra tender. I always wondered what happened to all of the normal organs when a woman gets pregnant and the baby starts taking up space. Apparently everything else pretty much suffers, to the point where I think Sherri suggested Brynne stand on her head before going to the bathroom so that the baby could force every last little drop out of her bladder when she stood back up. (Thank you to Deb and Kelly for providing additional bathroom-time exercises to help the cause)

-This same pain becomes amplified when Brynne exercises because she feels like everything is colliding together inside. Again, Sherri confirmed that that's exactly what is happening and told Brynne that she needs to stop running until she's past 20 weeks. This made me think, baby or no baby, don't my organs collide around inside me when I run? If it's not good for Brynne, is it good for any of us? No word from Sherri on that question yet.