Holiday Firsts

We had a wonderfully relaxing holiday season. We were able to spread our Christmas festivities over a three-day period which made for a very stress-free holiday. This will definitely be the annual plan for as long as possible.

This holiday season also brought along a few pregnancy firsts. On Christmas Day we reached the midway point! We’re on the downhill slope now. Also, my belly button decided to peak outside of its cave. The top half popped out a few days after Christmas so now I have a half-innie/half-outie. Ben is already really freaked out by it…this is going to be fun! I was also graced by the presence of my first encounter with heartburn. I don’t know how I have avoided it all these years, but I do believe I am now making up for all that lost time. Oh joy! And finally, the thing that completely shocked me was I experienced my first Braxton Hicks contractions. All of the books say many women don’t ever feel them and even if they do, they are completely painless. Ok, I will concede to the fact that they are not painful, but they are rather uncomfortable. To quote a frustrated Rachel from “Friends” when Ross told her Braxton Hicks contractions were completely painless: “No uterus; no opinion!” Well said Rachel, well said!

This wasn't a holiday first, but I just realized I forgot to mention it in my two-month break from blogging. I first felt the baby move (flutters) at 15 weeks. When we went to Mexico I could feel kicking, but every time I would call Ben over she would stop. But, Ben was able to finally feel her kick at 18 weeks.

Here are my 20 week belly pictures: