Week 19

Just got back from my first session of pelvic floor PT. It was interesting! Learned about the pelvic floor being high tone. The PT found some trigger points on each side of the pelvic floor and did a manual release. She also taught me to get a lacrosse ball and sit on it for 1 min until it releases on its own. She then went over breathing exercises. Basically ideally I get in a deep squat (can balance against the wall) and bring my hands forward. While slowly inhaling, imagine the pelvic floor becoming a deeper bowl. then while slowly exhaling, imagine the pelvic floor rising and relaxing. Repeat. this can also be done in a child's pose position (ideally with the hips internally rotated to counteract the natural external rotation of the hips that happens with pregnancy). If child's pose becomes to difficult because of the baby bump, then I can do it leaning forward with my hands on a low table at or just below shoulder level. I also learned it isn't possible to prevent diastasis recti but it is possible to reduce the severity of it. In general I should focus on strengthening the deep core (transverse abdominis), strengthening my hips.

Pregnancy so far hasn't been too terrible. Every morning if I glimpse myself in the mirror, I am surprised by what I see. My innie belly button is becoming an outie. Nausea has significantly improved to becoming neglibile. Dysgeusia has improved and I don't feel the desperate need to chew gum or a mint anymore. my appetite is no longer always ravenous and my sense of thirst is more manageable now. I suppose the 2nd trimester being the best trimester is true. 

It's been exciting to feel the babies move. I can't believe that they're supposedly 9.5 inches long now. when I ultrasound myself, I can no longer just assume the boy is RLQ and the girl is LLQ. Each one is literally each in both quadrants. it seems the girl is just closer to the surface of the skin, while the boy is deeper and closer to the cervix. I hope everything with this pregnancy goes fine. we have our anatomy scan on Friday and I'm looking forward to it.

I also am looking forward to our family video meeting on Friday. I'm expecting everyone to be really excited. I expect my bro to sort of suspect that we might be having kids. I suspect my parents and G/Y to think that we are announcing an engagement. I expect everyone (except Derek) to be visibly shocked when we show them.