21 weeks

Why do I feel like I look smaller this week than I did last week? I feel like my growth has stalled, but I'm sure that will change soon.

Bruce gave me some big firsts this week. I experienced my first Braxton-Hicks contraction while on vacation. I had often wondered if I had been having them and not noticing. Ha! I definitely know now. I've had them sporadically since the first one, and while they're not painful, they are uncomfortable.

Also, Bruce has decided to start kicking up a storm the past few days. I first felt movement around 18.5 weeks, felt a little every day for about a week, then nothing for about 5 days. Last week I started noticing little movements and random kicks, but everything changed on Saturday. I felt a noticeable difference on Saturday, lots of movement and kicks, and he hasn't really slowed down since. I love it, but I think Rodney is getting a little jealous because he wants to feel it too. I actually felt one kick from the outside on Sunday night, so it's just a matter of time before R experiences it too.

I have been doing some major nursery planning this week. About 45 minutes after I wrote this post, I came across some crib bedding that I really like. Since then I've been planning and envisioning how I want things, but you never know when I'll change my mind again.

We've also come up with a few name contenders. I don't think we'll be sharing his name with anyone until he is born. I know a lot of people (family) won't be happy about that, but it's our decision. It's going to be so hard to keep it a secret, and I keep wanting to ask people's opinions on our name choices, but I have to remind myself that it's only our opinions that matter in the end. Everyone will just have to get used to hearing him called Bruce until the big day. :)