Baby Cady is the toughest fighter

Baby Cady is taking after Auntie Zarah (the toughest fighter ever...according to herself). Too bad Baby Cady is fighting me! While Baby spared me the dreaded morning sickness that I've heard so much about, I am currently dealing with bouts of Round Ligament Pain. In essence... it feels like Baby has a dagger, which he thrusts into my groin region for an hour every week or so.

What is round ligament pain? (from babycenter.com)

Round ligament pain generally refers to a brief, sharp, stabbing pain or a longer-lasting dull ache that pregnant women commonly feel in the lower abdomen or groin, starting in the second trimester.

You may feel round ligament pain as a short jabbing sensation if you suddenly change position, such as when you're getting out of bed or out of a chair or when you cough, roll over in bed, or get out of the bathtub. You may feel it as a dull ache after a particularly active day — when you've been walking a lot or doing some other physical activity.

The round ligaments surround your uterus in your pelvis. As your uterus grows during pregnancy, the ligaments stretch and thicken to accommodate and support it. These changes can occasionally cause pain on one or both sides of your abdomen.

You may feel the pain starting from deep inside your groin, moving upward and outward on either side to the top of your hips. The pain is internal, but if you were to trace it on your skin, it would follow the bikini line on a very high-cut bathing suit.

I know, you are all jealous now! The slightly comforting thing is that I got checked out by Dr. and he said that this is very normal, and hopefully it will go away in the next few weeks. He also told my hubby that he had give me the occasional back rub (however, I seemed to walk away without a script for this, silly me!)

In other news. We hit Week 21 tomorrow!

How Baby Cady is growing: Week 21

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

I definitely feel baby kick around 2-4 pm, and then around 9-10:30pm. I think baby also kicks all night long, I am just not conscious enough to know what is going on, I just know I'm uncomfortable. I felt the baby from the outside yesterday, so I hope to catch him when I'm close to hubby so he can feel also.

Baby Cady's heart beat continues to be right in the middle 155bpm, 136, 144. (Normal is 120-180 bpm). I believe that the wives' tale is that a heart beat is <150bpm = boy. However, I have switched to thinking it is a girl...partially fueled by all the cute dresses I saw at a friend's baby shower.

I'll try to take a belly picture tomorrow. Don't worry, Baby Cady is growing quite nicely.