What is it?! (22 weeks)

Get your guesses in... is it a boy?  A girl?  A kitten?

Hopefully, we find out on Wednesday.  I've got all my fingers crossed for kitten.

So it's up in there air - or is it?  I was very definitely assured by the lady behind the bar at the pub where I play darts (Jo) that it was most certainly a girl.  She was absolutely without doubt.  It's because I'm "carrying high."

This week I feel like my bump has exploded.  It has happened before (I think it was around week 15?).  The aches and pains jumped it up a notch, the baby calmed down a bit, and every day I woke up significantly larger.  It's been similar this week and everything feels like it's stretching.  My back hurts, my pelvis is shifting out of alignment if I walk too fast, there are shooting pains in the muscles just underneath my belly... it's all just very uncomfortable.  It's not always this bad though, which makes me favour the growth-spurt idea.  And on top of it all is a brand new symptom.  The only thing I can figure, according to Dr. Google is that I'm starting to feel contractions of the Braxton Hicks variety.  I don't know if that is what it is, and perhaps someone who has been-there-done-that can confirm or deny.  But basically the whole top of my bump (though mostly off to the right) will all the sudden just feel really tight.  It's not painful, just weird and a bit uncomfortable.  But it's not like the stretching pains I'm feeling elsewhere - it's almost the opposite.  Imagine you have a big piece of elastic about 3 inches wide and 6 inches long.  Stretch it out as far as it will go and then set it down on top of your belly.  Then let it go back to the original size taking all that bit of your belly with it.  That's what it feels like, but on the inside.  I have no idea what it is...

"Carrying High" versus "Carrying Low"

But anyway, I feel big.  Officially round undeniably pregnant bump big.  And according to many, that bump is also undeniably high.  If you don't quite understand the difference (as I didn't) here is a picture I found that nicely illustrates it:




So which one am I?  Well, I certainly feel at the moment that I am carrying high.  But it's not always like that.  The baby moves about.  There were a few days when it was very very low and felt like it was hanging out just above my bladder.  It was still kicking but not a single one went above my bikini line.  But then it moved back up, and this seems to be where it likes to stay.  (I'm alright with that by the way!  It leaves me a bit short of breath sometimes, but when it's down really low, moving around is more uncomfortable).  So perhaps that is what has happened this week?  Maybe I haven't actually gotten much bigger, maybe it just looks that way because the baby has moved higher up.  Or maybe it's because I ate a LOT of food for my birthday yesterday...
Come to your own conclusion:

Last week

This week

And come to your own conclusion as to whether you think it's a girl or a boy.  To make it easier on you, here are the following pieces of "helpful" information:

The heart rate at the last scan was 155 bpm
My biggest cravings are for salty foods
My body hair growth has slowed down
My morning sickness was intense, but didn't last too long
My feet are always cold
When I look in the mirror, my pupils don't dilate
When I dream about the baby being born it's usually a girl
My pillow faces North
My wedding ring swings in circles when I hang it above my bump

My money's still on kitten...