21 weeks (and 2 days)

21 weeks plus a couple... After the excitement of last week and being halfway through and finding out the baby's a boy, this week is rather uneventful.

Earlier this week I was working in a house where the bathroom had a large, low mirror where I could see myself from the hips up. Seeing my body still almost catches me by surprise sometimes, especially when I'm busy working and not really thinking about being pregnant every second. Most of the time I basically feel like my normal self, with a belly attached to the front. And that's kind of how I look, too. I was lying in bed on my side this morning and pulled up my shirt to look at my belly. I still have the same narrow (nonexistent) hips and even a waist of sorts, since my belly's so low... but there's a firm little beach ball sticking out there now. So weird.

The house where I was working also had a digital scale, so I weighed myself and saw I'm up either 6 or 7 lbs total (it was different the two days I tried it). That doesn't seem like much considering I started out on the skinny side, but I'm just relying on my doctor to tell me whether or not my weight gain is okay. I'm certainly eating as much as I feel I need to. And I certainly have enough time to gain more if necessary!

Miles isn't exactly moving more often yet, but he seems to be getting stronger. I've felt some kicks this week that were borderline painful... or I guess not really painful, but exceedingly weird. Most of the time he's quiet, or I'll feel a little something here and there, but once in a while he settles in for some clog dancing for about 10 minutes at a time. I've had that in the morning and the evening on different days. Last night while we were watching a movie, I had my arms crossed over the top of my belly and I could feel him kicking against my arm pretty hard... but every time I try to put my hand over him to feel the kicks, he stops. Little fox! I look forward to Mr. I being able to feel it too.

We've gotten almost all positive comments on the name Miles so far. I'm not sure my mom or sister love it, but eh... they'll get used to it. I told my mom when we had the ultrasound that we were thinking Miles and she just kind of said, "Oh!" noncommittally. Last night I called to wish her a happy birthday and I heard my sister in the background tell her to ask if the name is definitely Miles. When I said yes, she again just said oh with no discernible positive or negative reaction. Which I take as lukewarm. But whatever. It's not a bad name so I'm sure they'll come to like it over time. I can actually understand having kind of an ambivalent reaction... it's a big deal to name a new family member, and almost anything would sound unfamiliar and a little strange.

My regular clothes photo.... Can you believe this is NOT a maternity shirt? I can probably get another 6-8 weeks out of it. I have a theory that Charlotte Russe is secretly a maternity store for teenagers. I used to shop there before I was pregnant because the clothes are cheap but cute... little did I know I would still be wearing them at 5 months pregnant!