Week 20: Little milestones

By Published On: June 10th, 2016

Pregnancy is all about the milestones … getting past that […]

Pregnancy is all about the milestones … getting past that first trimester, hearing your baby’s heart beat for the first time, discovering the sex of your baby, feeling that first kick. These little milestones are what keep us sane. These are things we look forward to while suffering through various pregnancy symptoms and anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby. This past week seemed to be full of little milestones for us and our bun in the oven.
Week 20  Sam DobsonWe had our second trimester ultrasound screening and were so excited to see our baby—but a bit anxious to make sure everything was moving along as it should. Apparently my pregnancy brain is in full swing because we ended up in the doctor’s office almost a week early. I even started to argue with the receptionist until I pulled out my appointment card that confirmed we were scheduled for the June 7, not June 2. Luckily, the doctor was nice enough to squeeze us in, and we got to see our baby wiggling like crazy. Most importantly, we got reassurance that she’s a healthy baby girl. Happily, we left our impromptu appointment with a new set of sonograms to hang on the fridge.
This past week I also hit 20 weeks. The halfway point feels like a big milestone to me. Sometimes I have to remind myself that we will soon have a real human baby to love and care for, but at this point, I always feel pregnant. My body won’t let me forget that there is a living, breathing, growing beautiful baby in my belly. To celebrate five months of pregnancy, I finally let my husband take our very first bumpie. Despite a lingering insecurity, I even posted the photo on my Instagram. Now that I’m starting to look pregnant, I’m feeling more comfortable in my own skin. I’ve grown a sense of pride in rocking the baby bump.
To top off all the excitement of this past week, I saw my baby kick for the first time. The other night I was lying in the tub with my belly sticking out of the lukewarm water, and I started to feel some serious movement. I focused my eyes on my belly and sat quietly, not really expecting to see anything yet. To my surprise, my stomach twitched out a bit when I felt the next good kick. I got so excited and yelled for my husband, but she stopped wiggling by the time he got to the bathroom. Luckily, later that night while lying in bed with my belly exposed, she decided she wasn’t done fluttering and my husband got to see some of the twitching I had seen earlier. It was amazing, and I know it’s only going to get better from here.
Pregnancy can be hard work. Your body and emotions are constantly being pulled in one direction and then another. Morning sickness, back pain, heartburn, unexpected tears and all the other array of symptoms suck; I won’t attempt to sugarcoat it. The amazing part of pregnancy is that despite the uncomfortable things your body goes through, those little milestones make it all worth it. The nausea and exhaustion of the first trimester are all but forgotten when you see your baby during that first ultrasound. The back pain I feel when lying down at night is completely forgotten when I feel my baby girl kicking and wiggling away. That’s the beauty of pregnancy—we are all-too eager to happily endure the discomforts just for the thought of holding our baby for the very first time.