My heart skipped a beat when I woke up yesterday morning. I had reached a new milestone. My baby is now considered viable by the American medical community.

And how can she not? Baby girl is growing larger and stronger every day. I can now see my belly do “jumps” as she hiccups. She reacts to sounds and light. She keeps me awake at night (yep, she’s definitely a night owl) with her incessant tumblings.

The best part? She dances in my stomach whenever I play the piano.   My SIL — a musical genius who has a PhD from Juilliard — says that our baby cannot not be musical seeing as both J and I have both have had extensive classical music training. And so far, just from the baby’s reactions to my playing the piano, the statement seems to ring true.

Look how big I’m getting! Although the baby is measuring average now, I have a feeling that she’ll grow to be above average in the next three months. Both J and I were big babies at birth — J was over 7.5 lbs, and I was 8.35 lbs! I have no idea how my mother, a tiny Asian woman who stands at a mere 4’10”, managed to push me out without any complications.

My friends have been telling me that they love reading all the “things they never tell you until you’re pregnant” stories and anecdotes on this blog. So here’s another one…

Did you have braces as a teenager? If so, then there’s a chance that your teeth will attempt to shift back to their original positions when you become pregnant.

I had horribly crooked teeth as a kid. My two front teeth stuck out and I had a large gap between them. My bottom teeth were just crooked every which way. Luckily, I found a wonderful orthodontist who straightened them into a perfect paste-on smile in just 1.5 years, without pulling out any teeth.

Well, I have become one of the few pregnant women whose teeth have begun to shift back to their pre-braces positions (thanks, hormones!). Before getting pregnant, I had perfectly-aligned teeth. Take a look now:

The gap between my two front teeth is returning. My bottom teeth have become a big ol’ mess again.

Luckily, the shifting seems to have stopped…for now (knock on wood). Most people — including J — do not notice until I point out the change. And honestly, they don’t bother me too much.

That being said, I might think about getting Invisalign or something similar if the problem gets worse. But that’s only if the gap between my two front teeth returns to Michael Strahan proportions. I would rather save the money for braces for my children, should they need them.

Other than that, the pregnancy has been smooth sailing. These days, I’m trying my best to enjoy the last few weeks of the second trimester before the dreaded third trimester begins.