A Letter to Little Bird

Dear Little Bird-

You could be here in 100 days! This is so amazing to me. It feels like yesterday we found out about you and at the same time it feels like so long ago. Your daddy and I are falling more in love with you every day. Your dad spends lots of time rubbing my belly with a silly smile on his face. I spend so much time with my hands on my tummy feeling you kick and squirm. You are such a little mover! I love feeling you dance around in there, doing karate chops and acrobatics. The only thing is that sometimes you give my intestines a bit of a kick that is surprisingly painful. But I’ll take that pain because it lets me know that you are okay and that all is well.

We’ve all been thinking about names lately. Not just names for you, but names for you to call your grandparents. All for of your grandparents are so excited to meet you.
My mom wants to be called “Bedstemor” or “Bedsta”, which is Danish for grandmother. I imagine it will get corrupted to “Vesta”. I think I’m going to encourage you to call my dad “Poppy”. I’ve always thought that was super cute and can see my dad as your Poppy so easily. For your dad’s mom I think she will be a “Nanna” or “Grandma”. I still need to talk to her about that. Your dad’s dad is a “Gramps” or possibly just “Grandpa”. No matter what you call them they will love and spoil you completely.

Your name has been giving us some trouble. We have a few options; Finnegan, Sullivan and Oliver seem to be the top three – in that order. So you may very well be Finnegan James Perry or Oliver Alden Perry, or something else all together. We have decided to wait until we meet you face to face to give you a name.

I’ve also been thinking about what you will look like. I think you will look like your dad. Straight, dark hair and light eyes with a pointy nose. (I love your dad’s nose, it was one of the first things I noticed about him.) Your dad thinks that you will look more like me. Medium brown, curly hair and dark eyes with a blunt nose. You will probably be a little of both of us. I just hope you have your dad’s teeth – he has great teeth.

But know that it doesn’t really matter what you look like – just that you are happy and healthy. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms and watch you grow.

All my love,
Momma

Setteling In

It seems that our little bird has taken up residence on my side. My right side - under my ribs. It seems like a strange place for him to cozy up and not too comfortable for me. So I didn't get much sleep. The little guy had me up walking around the house at 5:00am. (A prelude of things to come.) I walked around, cleaned his room and generally futzed around until Michael woke up. I thought that the little guy would move by now, but he seems perfectly content to stay where he is. At least he has moved enough that the acid reflux has abated.

The other good side his position is that I have to sit up straight. Slouching just hurts! I may be forced into good posture.

Movement

I know I "complain" about this a lot. But truly it isn't complaining - it's just something I have to talk about.
This kid moves around SO much! I feel him all the time and every time it is amazing and really, really strange. Feeling him roll around in there is surreal. Plus at 24 weeks I know that the movements are only going to get bigger for many weeks to come - but then they will slowdown because he'll be crowed in there. I had hopes of a boy who loves to be swaddled, but I think he might take after me and enjoy being spread out as much as possible.

Quilting for the Little Bird

Yes, I knit, quilt and can grow a person - darn I'm crafty!

Seriously, I am a fairly horrible quilter but I do enjoy it.

Yesterday I ran down to the quilt shop and bought some fat quarters to make a boy quilt. Picking out fabric was next to impossible. There isn't much in the world of non-floral that isn't either really brightly colored (which just isn't us) or "masculine" by having the theme of either hunting or sports (which REALLY isn't us). So I settled on some leafy, twiggy prints in brown, light aqua, a green some where between lime and sage and a muted, mustard yellow. I'm pretty pleased with the fabrics and will hopefully find a nice easy pattern to turn these fat quarters into a blanket for our little bird.

Singing

I love to sing. But I don't like to sing when people can hear me. But I have started singing to my little guy. Today he was kicking up a storm - we are talking about LOTS of movement. So I started singing to him and he stopped moving around. Then I stopped singing and he started kicking again. So I sang for awhile longer and he settled down enough for me to take a nap. Now I'm up and he is at it again!
So I maybe doing a lot of singing in the future.

I just keep looking at the photos

Wow, am I getting obsessed. I keep looking at his little profile and thinking about how this little guy is actually growing inside me right now. And how in 20 weeks we will be holding him in our arms and kissing that little nose.

Last night I took a bath (and not a super hot one) then spent the next hour trying to get him to move so I could know he was okay. I think the bath lulled him to sleep and then he was really mad that I woke him up because I was getting lots of movement. He is my wild child - or just like his momma and can never get really comfortable in one position for too long.

Who's in Charge Here, Anyway?

By next week at this time we will know if it is Oliver or Eleanore who is kicking me. I know that this baby is only 5 oz and 5 inches long, but let me tell you this little one packs a punch. And really doesn't like it when I were something tight. The other day I had a pair of maternity pants that are a size too small (but they were 5 bucks and fit fine before I had a bump). They are tight and the little bird HATED them. I could feel him pushing back against them - clearly angered that I was not leaving him enough room to do a proper back handspring in there. So yesterday I wore a looser skirt and felt much less - every now and then I get a thumping just to remind me who was in charge, but it was much less distracting.
I'm a little worried about the precedent being set already. Clearly this baby is in charge and wants us to know it months prior to his arrival.

movement

I've been feeling little flutters lately, but for the past few days I've clearly felt something. When I'm laying down if I put my hands on my lower abdomen I can feel these little kicks. It is so amazing. There is a tiny person in there!

The Little Bird is a Little Tease!

At todays doctor's appointment they did the doppler heartbeat thing and it was kind of amazing. Nicki, best nurse ever, found the heartbeat right away. And as soon as the words "there's the heartbeat" were out of her mouth it was gone. She kept moving the wand around trying to find it again. She'd get it for a second and then - gone again. The little guy was being such a tease! He must of been doing flips in there this week.

When she first found the HB is was on the far left side of my abdomen and we ended up getting him cornered in the far right side just long enough that she could count the beats. We are still in the 150's.

The next appointment is the big one! In one month we will know if my gut instinct is correct or if everyone else was right.

Photstrip

Because Micheal is awesome at photoshop he merged three ultrasounds into one strip. If you look at the first pic it is barely more than a squiggle. But 8 weeks the bird was a recognizable bean shape, but by today he is clearly a baby.
I love the way he has his hand behind his head. It just makes me laugh to think about the bird kicking back and chilling.