Feeling Better, Getting Bigger & Brainstorming Boy Names

Week 16 ~ 4 Months



Mama Sicinski is feeling better! I feel like my old self, well sort of. No more upset stomach and I've got energy! However, I'm not exempt from the pains of pregnancy. Last weekend I realized the tummy sleeve or belly band I was wearing to expand my regular clothes was no longer working for me. Mom and I were heading to Abilene and I was driving (Matt, Scott and Chris went to Colorado for Andy (their cousin) and Angela's wedding. I opted not to go since the doctor told me the altitude would make me sick.). The band was too tight on my growing tummy, so I managed to take it off at a light in one of the small towns we passed through. Ah, relief. I haven't worn it since. I'm all maternity now (at least for pants and capris).

I also started having lower back and abdomen pains last weekend and this past week. It feels like pin pricks and it alternates from my left to right side. I figured it was just the uterus expanding and sure enough Matt and I checked the book to find out that my joints and ligaments are softening and loosening preparing my pelvis for birth. Plus my abdominal organs are shifting making way for the growing uterus. It's not as comfortable to sleep anymore (already!) and my back hurts no matter which side I sleep on. Supporting my back with a pillow seems to help, but I am waking up with back aches! Matt and I are going walking this morning...maybe that will help.

I also noticed last week when I lay on my back or lean over I can feel my uterus sticking out. It's weird! I can feel this ball in my tummy. I think this expansion is also making me go pee more often. I guess it's all pushing on my bladder right now. I can't wait until I can feel the baby moving. That is supposed to happen around week 20.

As you can see, I am showing more!



We are counting down the days to September 20th when we find out if we are having a boy or a girl. Many of you have voted on the blog poll and as of today it's a tie! We know what the girl's name will be, but we cannot decide on a boy's name. Over the weekend in Abilene, I got some ideas from Aunt Jamie, Maylee, Meghan and Mom. Then Matt and I brainstormed over coffee and dessert last night. We are getting there, but nothing is final. I'm hoping Baby Sicinski will make it easy on us and be a girl. We've had her name picked out forever. Many of you already know, but we'll wait to publish the name once we know for sure what baby will be.

The first signs of a Baby Bump

Many of you have been asking "are you showing?" or "when are you going to start showing?". Well I've been showing for the past few weeks; at least Mom and I could tell that my small waist was starting to expand. Even Matt wasn't quite sure I was showing until this past week.

Matt and I attended Andrew Johnston's wedding on Saturday night and the profile of my dress really showed off my bump. Here is the first official baby bump picture at 14 weeks:

As you can see, from the front view it is not obvious.

More to come as I continue to grow!

Boring = Healthy

Matt and I went to the doctor again today at 11:30 and he actually beat me to the waiting room this time. The office was full and we had to wait about 30 minutes for the doctor to arrive. In the meantime I got to step on the scale and see that I've gained some weight! We also heard the heartbeat again. The nurse found it very quickly, and I am so glad Matt was there to hear it too. The baby's heartbeat was 161 beats per minute. When the doctor arrived she reviewed and discussed my chart including all of the results from my recent blood work and Down syndrome testing. She said everything looked great! The Down syndrome stats were 1 in 3500 which is also great! She measured my stomach and I am measuring at 12 which apparently is also right on track. Dr. Richter told us I was boring...which means nice and healthy...and to come back in 5 weeks after I have the ultrasound to determine the baby's gender.

Our next appointment is on September 20th which happens to be Joe's (Matt's Dad) birthday. We'll have the ultrasound to find out if baby Sicinski is a boy or a girl and then we'll meet with the doctor.

As I previously mentioned, I'm starting to gain weight. I am also getting a small belly which is big enough that I need some bigger tops. I can still wear some of my pants, but I can't button them. So after work and dinner tonight, I ran by Target and bought a few tops to get me through the week. I've got to go shopping this weekend and use my birthday gift cards to Motherhood! Goodbye cute fitted sweaters...see you next year!

One last update...I've gone BLONDE. Well not totally, but I got some major highlights this weekend in an effort to not "color" my hair but still cover the lovely gray. I look at this as an opportunity to change things up a bit.

I'll upload a belly picture later this week...

P.S. I am feeling better as you may have imagined since I didn't complain yet in this post. The sickness is going away (including a brief cold I attracted last week), but I am tired. My sister Ashley, her husband Chad and their 7 year old daughter Lexi came to visit us on Saturday and I managed to sneak in two naps...what does that tell you? Luckily they didn't mind and we had a great time seeing them. I guess this is what the rest of my life will be like huh...tired. :) Looking forward to it!

Proud Daddy-to-Be!

I mentioned in my last entry that Matt and I work at the same client right now. So he's met many of my colleagues when we run into each other in the halls during the day.

This morning my friend Jamie Biggers saw him on the elevator (she told me this later in the morning). She didn't recognize him immediately, but once she saw that he was carrying audit files, she looked up and knew it was Matt. She told him congratulations and let him know how happy everyone was for us. Jamie said that Matt's face just lit up and she could tell he was so proud and excited! When she was telling me this, I started to tear up a bit and I think maybe she did too. I was touched! I told her thank you so much for sharing it with me. It made my day!

Another Ultrasound - He or She looks like a baby!

I had another appointment on Monday, July 30th at 7:00 a.m.! Whew that was early! These days I do not get out of the house before 8:00. I tend to move a bit slower trying to get breakfast down and get ready. The appointment was an elective test for Down syndrome. It's a non-invasive test to measure the thickness of the baby's neck and it consists of an ultrasound and blood work. I had a very sweet radiologist conduct the ultrasound and she made me feel nice and relaxed. She had to wake up the baby by pressing the wand against my stomach getting him or her to move so she could see the right angle. "Come on baby, wake up", she kept saying. After taking the measurements and pictures she needed for the test the radiologist turned the screen towards me, so I could see the baby. She also made me some pictures.

It was so neat! This time the baby looked more like a baby. Our first ultrasound looked more like a bean. I got to see the baby's profile; I think he or she looks like me already! ;) ... And I saw two arms, two legs and two hands with five fingers a piece! I also saw the heartbeat again. When the radiologist turned the wand another direction I could see top of the baby's head and could see the two hemispheres of the brain. It was absolutely amazing! It's weird, I know that I'm pregnant and I feel different, but it's just so hard to believe that I actually am carrying a baby inside of me. Seeing the baby on the screen helped me realize that this is actually happening. Yay! I'm so excited! I was grinning from ear to ear after the appointment.

Matt was unable to join me at the appointment, but he had already called to check on me before I got back to the car. He and I are working at the same client right now; I'm implementing Oracle Benefits at Helix and he is auditing Cal Dive (Helix owns Cal Dive). So I called him back on my way to the client to fill him in on the appointment. When I told him I had pictures he said, "Call me when you get to Cal Dive, so I can come and see them!" Once I got to the office he came down to my floor to see the pictures; he thought they were really neat too! He said, "Can I take them and make copies?"

When he brought them back to me later that day the ladies at work were ooohing and aaawing over them just like we were.

I'll see if I can scan them and upload them to the blog!

BTW, I'll hear about the test results at my next appointment.