Kickin' up a storm

At my NT scan, the tech told me that my placenta was posterior and that it meant I would probably feel movement pretty early. She was right. At about 16 weeks, I started to feel the "bubbles" that I kept reading about. The feeling that you kind of think might be gas, but if you're not bloated, is probably the baby moving. I was lying on my side and it really just felt like bubbles in my belly. At 17 weeks, I was sure it was baby. She was kicking pretty low, sometimes around my cervix, and it was unmistakable. You'll know that one when you feel it!

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By about 17w4d I could actually feel kicks from the outside! Since then, every time I feel her kicking hard I put my hand on my tummy to feel her kicking. It's amazing! And I can't get enough. Every night I put my hubby's hand on my belly to make him feel her kicks. I think he's felt her a couple times but he says he's not sure if what he's feeling is really her or just my muscle tensing or my breathing. He often says he felt something but it's not usually the times when I feel her kick really hard inside. So who knows?

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You know, as amazing as it all is, this whole pregnancy is still so surreal to me. I still can't believe there's this little person growing inside me and I still don't really feel pregnant. Maybe because I still don't look pregnant? I just really don't feel much different, physically, than I did pre-pregnancy. Everyone has told me to enjoy my pregnancy because it goes by so quickly. And I'm trying to enjoy it. But it's so much different than I ever expected. I've gained between 6 and 8 lbs and I still just look a little chubby in the tummy. No flames, please, but it's just so hard to have to be okay with gaining weight, when, for as long as you can remember, you had to try so hard to lose weight or at least not gain any. I think I'm just in that stage where I still just feel fat because I don't have a real bump yet. And I know that I'll lose the weight once I have the baby, but it's just weird. I really thought I would embrace the belly, and maybe I will once it rounds out and looks like a baby belly. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. I do know that in the end, no matter what my body looks like, it will be worth it. I just can't wait to hold our baby in my arms!