Eighteen weeks and counting!

I just found this post. It is from 4/19/09. Things have changed! Elizabeth

The past two weeks have been marked by more change. The baby is growing, growing and my body is continuing to change to accomodate it. At week 17, the baby settled firmly on the right side of my body. It was a bit disconcerting to have a sudden sense that there was a fist sized "thing" hanging out asymmetrically. My abdomen was higher on the right than the left and it felt so odd because it was a sudden sensation. After a call to Claire, the OB nurse and one of my many adopted moms, who assured me that, yep, that was our baby. I relaxed and marveled in the novelty of finally being able to feel where the baby was. I am not without my concerns, however. The fact that the baby is trending toward the right makes me wonder about his/her future political affiliation. As Claire likes to say, from the moment of conception, our children are independent beings. I guess this is my first opportunity to accept that as being true. :)

I have been able to feel Baby Middleton's activity more and more each week. I always feel him/her moving in quiet moments, whether I am sitting at my desk thinking and working or trying to rest. It is good encouragement to slow down; as I often feel I am in a race to get as much accomplished as possible before the baby arrives. I am anxious for the process to continue so that the baby's movements can be felt by Ryan. I know he wants to be a part of experiencing the changes beyond watching my belly grow. Whether I am more aware of the baby's movements when I am talking to Ryan or with him, or whether the baby is responding to his proximity, I'm not sure. I do notice the baby's movement more around Ryan than any other time. I try to let him know when Baby Middleton is saying hello, even if he can't feel it yet.

I just attended a cloth diapering workshop with Mom yesterday. I think that we will be cloth diapering part-time at minimum, but there are a lot of systems to choose from and decisions to make. It was good to get information and have a better sense of what will work for our family and lifestyle. The cost of disposable diapers over the lifetime of diapering a child is staggering to me, and I feel much more comfortable with cloth diapering as a way to control cost and minimize our impact on consumption. Plus, I have to say, cloth diaper covers are so cute! They come in all sorts of colors and patterns that make diapers much more interesting than the typical white plastic look.

The next couple weeks are going to move very quickly, and soon we'll be finding out how Baby Middleton is developing and if "it" is a he or she. There are definitely "camps" forming as to whether we are having a boy or a girl. I'm anxious to get a glimpse if our baby is developing well and finding out its' gender is just an added bonus.

For posterity's sake, here is Baby Middleton's first ultrasound at 8 weeks, 6 days.