Not that I am counting LOL but Friday marked the half way point for our future Strongheart. 20 down 20 to go well give or take since we never really know when this new addition to our family will decide to make his/her appearance into this world.
So what has happened this past 20 wks? Pregnancy wise anyway :-D
Couple of weeks ago our little Strongheart made his/her presence known when I felt that first fluttery movement. For you women who have experienced this before you know what I am talking about. That hmmm could that have been the baby? or was it just gas? Don’t get excited until you feel it a few more times and decide that HAS TO BE the baby.
From those first tentative movements to now much stronger ones. Ones that even Segundo can feel and a couple of days ago he actually SAW them too. Seems our littlest unborn Strongheart is prone to several bouts of hiccups a day. Segundo could actually see my tummy moving during one of those particular hiccup sessions the other day.
Fetal HICCUPs ok at first they are cute and you go awwwww my baby. I feel my baby!!! awww it has the hiccups.. isn’t that exciting and cute!!
Then after awhile it’s like UGH hiccups again. I have two favorite times that this one gets the hiccups (favorite NOT really :-D )
One is right when I am trying to go to sleep..grrrrr. And secondly is when I am trying to type on the computer. The hiccup sessions are getting stronger and stronger as this lil one grows bigger and bigger. Trying to think and formulate thoughts and type them while your stomach is jumping around is quite a challenge. A couple of times I have been trying to IM friends and have had to just straight up tell them: “I can’t type let alone think right now the baby has HICCUPS!”
So according to the experts how big is our littlest unborn Strongheart right now? According to babycenter.com our unborn baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He/she’s also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana.
How big am I? Well big enough that I am kinda starting to show. Big enough that maternity clothing and/or sweat pants are a must. Big enough that the front of my t-shirt gets dirty and I am not noticing it because the belly is in the way. Big enough I have to now lean forward to confirm that my feet are still down there when standing LOL.
Also big enough that I think Cecelia is noticing that mommy’s lap is disappearing :-D Segundo is now grinning like crazy because he can see my growing belly and knowing his 2nd born is growing in there. Segundo spends time in the evenings when we are going to bed talking to my belly. Giggling because both him and CC think that if they talk to my belly button it is some how a portal? mega phone? microphone straight to the baby.
Cecelia hugs my tummy and talks to her future brother/sister. She’ll pull up my shirt and hug and snuggle my belly and babble away. She makes me laugh because for some reason she thinks she can “smell” the baby if she buries her nose in my belly button and sniffs.
Otherwise, all is going well pregnancy wise. Definitely have more energy and am able to get more things done. But pretty much have to take a nap in the afternoon to avoid getting over tired. Which works out well because CC and I just nap together.
Well time to wrap up this post. The crew aka Rollie, Vic and Gundo are coming in for lunch before heading down to process fish.
So I will wrap up this post with something we have never done here on Anonymous Bloggers….a POLL….
Is this future Strongheart going to be a boy or a girl?? I could go into a detailed explanation as to what I think it is going to be and why. But I don’t want to spoil your fun. So here we go. Our first POLL on Anonymous Bloggers. Assuming that I can figure out how to do one LOL
July 5, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I’ve heard of little fetuses sucking their thumbs, but hiccupping?
What’s that all about? Trying to stuff the little fist into the mouth?
July 5, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Ann,
My belly was like a Mexican jumping bean when my son had hiccups. My vote is for a healthy new Strongheart!!
Jane
July 5, 2009 at 5:58 pm
@Karen J,
They say that they hiccup b/c they are practicing breathing by breathing in the amniotic fluid and just like us they get the hiccups.
:-D
July 5, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Oooh fun! Hiccups and megaphones – sounds like a rock singer and a backup band! It’s so fun to get the little Strongheart story, hiccup by hiccup. I voted for a girl, but that’s just because SOMEONE had to vote for a girl! Thanks for a great little update, and a POLL – now there’s something fun. You are no longer a novice blogger, my dear!
July 5, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Fun! I bet your belly button DOES smell like your baby will. CC is wise beyond her years.
July 5, 2009 at 11:37 pm
I would of sworn the steak I ate last night had the hiccups.
Seriously I’ll never forget the day we went to the hospital and my beautiful daughter popped out. She’s been so feminine since day one. And she’s always been smarter than her dad.
A stupid question: what does a rural Alaska mother do when the time comes to deliver? (obviously you deliver, but do you stay at home, or go to a clinic? I’m sure it depends on each situation, but what’s most common?
July 6, 2009 at 1:11 am
@Jim
Not a stupid question actually a very good one. Well one month before my due date I am required to move to Bethel to wait. I’ll stay at the prematernal home and just sit there bored out of my mind, walking like mad trying to patiently wait to go into labor. Some women if they are high risk are sent to Anchorage to wait and will stay in the prematernal home there.
So when I had CC I was at the prematernal home for 3 wks and then the day I went into labor (4 am) I called home and let hubby know I was in labor and that he needed to fly in. Luckily he was able to take off from work and catch a flight into Bethel. He was there to see his first, CC, born.
I still tease him endlessly about it. So I call him to let him know I am in labor. Contractions were about 7 minutes apart. Told him to call the airlines at 8 am when they open and make a reservation. So a lil after 8 am he calls me back and lets me know he has made the reservation and will be coming in on the morning flight.
Then he proceeds to tell me everything that he has packed in his backpack for the trip….pants, shirts, undies, socks etc etc. Mind you I am still having contractions about every 6-7 minutes. Then he asks me….
SHOULD I BRING THE PHONE BILL??? I am thinking WHAT??? THE PHONE BILL??? WTH is he talking about. I ask him why and he is SOOOO nervous his reply was well…I saw it sitting here and thought I’d ask.
He then leaves Nunam and flies in to Bethel. He is sooo excited he goes running out of the terminal to catch a taxi to the hopt. Forgets his luggage! Gets to the hopt of course he walks in when I am having a horrendous contraction, yelling loudly. Panics and asks the nurse if I am ok. Which she assures him I am fine.
Then he realizes he has forgotten his luggage, calls the airline and asks them to hold it for him. So my labor progresses and it’s time to push and when CC’s head starts to show he slaps the doc on the back and yells…THERE’S THE HEAD!! Hmmm think the doc mighta already knew that??
But he’s a very proud daddy and very excited about baby #2.
Ok well I need to get CC to bed, hope that answers your question. (Ooops kinda over did it I think LOL) Just had to share b/c it makes me laugh/smile every time I think of Segundo being there for CC’s birth. Wonder how it’s going to be this time around.
Night all! Ann :-D
July 6, 2009 at 1:20 am
Exciting! So happy the Strongheart family is doing well down there with Vic & Rollie, not having to haul those heavy water buckets. Great too that CC is into taking naps easier, so you are both resting. Good ‘girl time’ – hope you’re both remembering to wear your PJs occasionally, on behalf of all us Anonymouse folks also, too.
July 6, 2009 at 1:32 am
Ann, that REALLY gave me a chuckle hearing how Segundo made it in time for CC’s birth. Dude must have been a nervous wreck. But so special an occasion (now that we know how far away, contingent on airline schedules). Thx for the giggle!
July 6, 2009 at 2:46 am
Ann:
Wow. That’s a great story!
So I guess you will probably be spending late October- November in Bethel with a beautiful baby around Thanksgiving.
July 6, 2009 at 9:07 am
That story is TOO funny! I have a new line, now. Honey, do you want me to bring the PHONE bill?? Poor Segundo – the world now knows about the PHONE BILL. Slapping the doctor is even better! And hey, hanging out in Bethel won’t be so bad this time, because you… have…. US!
July 6, 2009 at 9:46 am
Will you have wireless there?
If not, we better start collecting donations for the Anonymous Bloggers Maternity Home Wireless Network!
July 6, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Jane: You’re right– In rural Alaska, communication is vital! Maybe we should just rent them a couple satellite phones.
Gosh, if my wife went off to a distant prematernal home, I’d miss her! This must have been hard on Ann’s family too. Of course they did the right thing. Part of the rural Alaska life.
July 7, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Count me in to help with the Maternity Home Wireless Network!
July 7, 2009 at 1:55 pm
What a priceless story! I laughed and laughed so hard. It reminded me of the night my eldest daughter was born. I went into labor three weeks early in the wee hours of the morning (of course). My then-husband couldn’t believe that it was time to go to the hospital. He kept saying no, it can’t be, it’s too soon, I’m only taking you to the hospital to humor you! The joke turned out to be on him. I still chuckle about that.
I’m so happy that all is going well with our new future Mudchild. A Thanksgiving baby – isn’t that something! Do you need anything? Do you follow the traditional pink and blue for girls and boys? Or are you like me who thinks the more color in a child’s world the better?
July 7, 2009 at 2:52 pm
@LiladyNY
Quyana for sharing :-D No we don’t need anything, it is against Yup’ik tradition to make, buy, or receive anything before the baby is born. Thanks though :-D
Ann :-D
July 8, 2009 at 8:47 pm
So Ann, you can accept mudpuppy Strongheart gifts after s/he is born, right? Everything except yellow boots, that is. Baby Strongheart is wearing a pair already, if I remember right. Was that a secret? Did I just give it away?
July 8, 2009 at 8:55 pm
@Martha
Yes after our lil one is born then we can accept gifts. LOL at the yellow boots…I don’t know how that could be a secret since AKM put up the picture on mudflats.net what a couple months ago?
July 8, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Oh yeah – that was funny!
“The Littlest Mudpuppy”
http://www.themudflats.net/2009/05/01/bedtime-in-alaska-odds-ends-5/
July 14, 2009 at 10:24 am
Ann
Before I guess what you are having, can I ask how many lines did CC on her legs when she was a baby?
July 14, 2009 at 1:13 pm
AKin OK…
I do not understand your question? Explain more for my pregnant brain please :-D.
July 15, 2009 at 9:37 am
I’m sorry, it’s the fat lines, when you look at a babies legs there are lines on the inside of the upper leg, below the diaper line and above the knees.
July 16, 2009 at 6:46 pm
AKin OK~
I have no idea :-( That wasn’t something I remember noticing let alone counting. Sorry.
OK now I have to ask…What does that have to do with guessing the sex of this one???
I love to hear about things like that. Let me know. :-D
July 17, 2009 at 8:28 am
Ann
It’s an old (Yupik) wives tale….if your baby has one line your next baby will be a boy, two lines for a girl. There’s another way, but I get that mixed up though because I’ve heard several different things, ie. stomach shape, but like I said I’ve heard different versions.
When my son was 14 months old I got pregnant again and he had one line, so my sister said according to his lines you’ll have a boy. Sure enough when I had the sono there he was showing off his stuff. My baby is almost 3 months old and he has only 1 line too, so if I have another one it’ll probably be a boy (if you believe that.)
Congradulations!
July 17, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Fun! Ann maybe when you get back home you can check CC’s baby pics. They keep those lines for some time until they start walking and muscling up, so it’s bound to show in old pics. Will be interesting to see if this prediction method bears out.
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@ KarenJ Says:
July 5, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I’ve heard of little fetuses sucking their thumbs, but hiccupping?
My folks were foster parents for newborns, had 34 babies over the years. You would be surprised how many babies came to us at 1-2-3 days old with blisters on the end of their thumb from sucking them before birth.