Doctor Appointment

Well, I was back at the doctor again this morning.  This time for a regular check-up and my glucose tolerance test.

The glucose tolerance test was pretty much what I expected from everyone else's description -- terrible drink and then wait and wait.  However, there was one unexpected bright side.  Usually, people have a really hard time drawing my blood because my veins are supposedly small and thready and they collapse as soon as a needle comes near them.  The last time that I went to this particular lab it took FORTY-FIVE MINUTES to get blood from me.  Ick.  So, I was really worried about getting the blood drawn in time for the test to be accurate, but she got me on the first stick!  She said it must have been from all the sugar in my system.  Good to know.

The appointment was also good.  My belly measured okay, my blood pressure is still rocking at 102/68, and the baby's heart rate was 140.  

They also gave me all the information on the third trimester and the pre-registration form for the hospital!  Yikes!!  Any day now, right? :)

26 Weeks

26 weeks!  Our little girl now weighs two whole pounds and is about 14 inches long!

In other big news, her eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, are starting to open!  Obviously, there is nothing good to see in there, but she might respond to bright lights near my belly with increased pulse or movement.  She is able to react to loud noises outside the womb as well because her brain has become more developed and sophisticated with an increase in brain waves (I know this part is true, because we went to a movie on Thursday and she simply THRASHED around the whole time.  I felt bruised when we finally got out of the loud theater!).

The baby's nostrils have also begun to open, and she is making periodic muscular breathing movements to prepare for drawing air into her lungs after birth.  Within the next two days, the air sacs will also begin to develop in her lungs.  Also, over the next couple of days, her fingernails will be visible!

Her movements are strong and frequent, as she is practicing movements she will need outside the womb.  Apparently, she is even "pedaling" her feet against my belly (this made a lot of sense when I read it!  So THAT'S what's she doing when I thought I could feel both of her feet at once!).

I am feeling bigger and bigger, and the baby's kicks are getting harder and harder!!  I can't believe how big of a wallop she packs when she only weighs two pounds.  She also found some new, not-so-pleasant places to kick me this week.  

However, her kicks are now strong enough that Jeremy can easily feel them!!!!  Last night at 9:50, he felt a bunch in a row, including one that was on the opposite end of my belly -- she kicked so hard at the top of my belly that he felt it at the bottom!  It was so great.  His face lit up like he had just won the lottery.  Then, ten minutes later, he was actually around to see her "super-activity" time and saw my stomach bouncing around while she kicked like crazy.  It was a big night!

Some not-as-awesome news from yesterday -- the name Jeremy really wanted for the baby that I definitely wasn't in love with but thought I could learn to like?  I finally admitted to Jeremy that I was never going to be happy with it.  So we got the baby name book back out and started over from scratch.  The good news is, I think we are down to about three or four, so I think we will be fine.  I feel really badly about dashing Jeremy's hopes like that, but the name just didn't sit right with me.  I just knew it wasn't her name.

Today, we went to Detroit for the Race for the Cure.  About 30 of Jeremy's family came out and about 25 of those walked or ran the 5K.  I, however, brought a snack and sat on the ground in Detroit and waited at the finish line to cheer them on.  Apparently I looked like this:

Classic.  Jeremy thought it was worth capturing for posterity.  

The baby kicked really hard when we cheered for the runners!  She loves saving boobies too! :)

Baby Visit

I just got to see one of my best girlfriends who lives in Chicago and has an AMAZING and ADORABLE two-month-old baby boy (who is TOTALLY betrothed to our baby girl).  


It was nice to see her for obvious reasons, but I got two added bonuses.  First, I got to see how Cleo and MoJo would react to a baby in the house.  Cleo came right over and sniffed from a distance, then sat down in front of me, smiling away.  Then, whenever the baby cried, she would run over, like "Why aren't you taking care of that baby?  Can't you hear him crying?" and look very concerned until the baby stopped crying.  She was SO good and polite and didn't try to lick the baby or eat his adorable feet (even though *I* tried to eat his little feet and cheeks).  MoJo came over after a little while and also gave the baby a sniff from a safe distance.  He gave me a look with big, wide eyes, but then busied himself with sniffing the carseat.  But, they both seemed very comfortable with the baby being there, and were definitely not freaked out or scared or territorial (which I knew would not be a problem with Cleo, but you never know with Prince MoJo!  He is a little sassy!).


Also, I got to take sweet pictures of Jeremy hanging out with the baby.  

Doesn't he look sweet with a baby? :)

25 Weeks

Head to toe the baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches and still weighs only about a pound and a half, but she's starting to fill in with some baby fat.  As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn.  The small blood vessels under her skin are also starting to fill with blood, so her skin is taking on a pink color.


She's also growing more hair, and if we could see it, we'd now be able to discern its color and texture!  Her adult tooth buds are also developing up above her baby teeth buds in her gums.  The baby’s nostrils (which until now have been plugged) begin to open this week. By today, blood vessels will have developed in the lungs.  After birth, these vessels will allow blood to flow through the lungs to intercept oxygen and circulate it to her tissues.  The amniotic fluid (all six gallons of it) is also being removed and replaced by my system EVERY THREE HOURS!  Yikes!


The baby continues to practice reflex movements, and by now, she has developed the startle reflex, meaning she might jump when she hears loud noises outside the womb.  Jeremy said he would be more careful from now on! :)

As for me, I am uncomfortable, but feeling good overall.  The kicking is getting harder and more frequent -- but Jeremy still cannot feel it! Every night, I put his hand on my stomach and keep saying over and over again, "THERE!  Did you feel THAT?" and he shakes his head. Soon enough, I guess.


Jeremy and I did some planning in the nursery today.  We had some high hopes that we might not be living in this city or this house when the baby came, but we got some good news the other day that Jeremy got another job at the Henry Ford Museum, so we will be here for a little while longer at least.  So, we started the process of changing the room next to ours from the workout/storage room into a nursery and talked about what we will have to do to make it work.


There are a few problems, like PANELING on the walls, which we probably can't paint pink because we are renting, and the fact that there is NO CLOSET.  However, there is an entry to a flight of stairs that leads to the attic, so I am going to buy two tension rods today -- one for baby clothes and one to go behind it with a white curtain to make a fake back wall of a closet.  Genius, right?  And, the room is actually ivory on the top half of the walls and lavender on the bottom half (because the homeowner was going for "neutral" ...?) so if I just do pink bedding and pink accents, I think it can work.  Anyway, I know we could have MUCH WORSE options for a room to put the baby in, and like Jeremy said today, it is not like we are putting her in our horrific "Silence of the Lambs" basement.  So, parents of the year, right? :)

Doctor Appointment

Today I had a doctor's appointment where I basically just checked in, got my blood pressure checked (108 over 68!), got my belly measured (looks good), and heard the heartbeat (sounds awesome!).  


The doctor assured me that the nose bleeds are still normal and aren't a sign of something bad (no worries, mom!) and was glad to hear that I have no swelling my feet or ankles now that I got rid of that pair of shoes.  So, all is well.


I also set up an appointment for my glucose tolerance test for a little less than two weeks from today.  I am certainly not looking forward to it after all the stories I have heard, but I will be glad when it is over and the results are good!

Foot Experiment Completed

I was getting a bit sick of the swollen feet and ankles at the end of work days, so I decided to conduct a little experiment.  I generally wear the same pair of black shoes to work every day because they are fancy enough to go with my suits AND make a clicky sound, but they have a low baby wedge heel that is really nothing and they are almost flats, so they are comfortable enough to walk around in all day.


This week, I wore a cute pair of flats on Monday that are not QUITE as dressy and don't match most of my work clothes, but are insanely comfortable.  When I got home from work at 6:30 -- NO SWELLING.


On Tuesday, I wore another pair of super-comfortable flats that could PROBABLY be worn with most of my work clothes without people raising eyebrows, but they are a little outdated because they have a rounded toe.  When I got home from work at 6:30 -- NO SWELLING.


On Wednesday, I wore my go-to cute black shoes.  When I checked my feet before my 4:00 class started -- OUTRAGEOUS SWELLING.  When I got home -- EVEN WORSE SWELLING.  


Now, I am no scientist, but I think I have got myself a little formula here:  Don't wear the black shoes that are beautiful and match all my work clothes.  Sad.  But YAY to maybe less swelling and grossness in the future!  


And some people were telling my I wasn't eating healthy enough and that was the reason for my swelling punishment.  Take that!

Mother's Day!

Some people might not count it, but I am counting this as my first Mother's Day. :)  AND, some other people agreed!


My mom got me this cute plant:

My mother-in-law sent me this card (Warning!  I cried, so you might too!):

And my wonderful husband got me a sweet card and this outfit for our little girl!:

I also get to see my great friend, Heather, who is the new mom of a sweet little boy.  She is visiting from Chicago, and  I get to see Heather and the baby for the first time since he arrived!!  It's going to be a good day.  


Happy Mother's Day!

Visible Kicks

Jeremy has been sad lately that he can't feel the baby kick.  I think part of it is he doesn't really know what he is trying to feel, but most of the time I can't even feel her kicks just by touching my belly.  I have been pretty down about it too, because he really wants to feel it and I really want him to share it.


Anyway, I have been pretty sure that the kicks were getting stronger, and for the past couple of days she has even been kicking me really early in the morning (she used to sleep in until about noon!) and I even thought I SAW my belly move from big kicks, but it was always out of the corner of my eye.  Tonight, however, I FOR SURE saw my belly moving from her kicks!!  I put my hand where she was kicking, and sure enough, I could feel it.  Of COURSE, Jeremy is gone and won't be home until tomorrow night! :(  But hopefully she will practice until he gets home and he can get a show right away.

24 Weeks

Today is 24 weeks.  The baby is probably a little more than a pound and could be as long as 12 inches from head to toe!  The baby probably gained about six ounces in this past week, and will gain six ounces every week for the next three weeks.

Now that her inner ear is developed, she can tell which way is up while she does all the spinning and moving and thumping around in there.  Even though her environment is getting more and more crowded, she is still moving around a lot, and all the moving helps her to develop strong muscles (so she can look like her dad!).  Her face is also almost completely developed -- all she needs is the fat deposits her entire body is lacking (which means her skin is still transparent and all of her organs are visible through her skin).

This week, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball!!  Kind of crazy to imagine.  But, it does kind of feel like a soccer ball is in there!  I still have swelling of my feet and ankles on days that I work, but on my days off I keep them elevated as much as possible and I haven't had any trouble.  It seems it is just me being on my feet for extended periods of time that is doing it, so while it is annoying, I feel confident that it is not a warning sign or something abnormal.


Also, oddly enough, my nose bleeds are back.  I woke up this morning with blood dripping onto my pillow case!  I am not worried, however, since my blood pressure is fantastic and my nose and sinuses have been hurting this entire pregnancy.  I assume it is just the same swelling and easily broken blood vessels.  Annoying, though!


Today, Jeremy is gone on his annual 3-day baseball adventure with his brothers and cousins, and I am off to my baby sister Victoria's graduation (if you see her or talk to her, be sure to congratulate her on her BFA in Graphic Design!).  This is my first public foray in a maternity dress!  Yikes!  Wish me luck! :)

Presents

I am falling a little behind in presents, here.


Way back on my birthday, my wonderful mother-in-law gave me this sweet statue:

A few days after that, a co-worker of mine made me this little baby cap for a birthday gift:

She said I could switch the ribbon out every day with a different color to match the baby's outfits!

Then, when I saw my sister Tracy last weekend, she gave me this sweet little outfit:

I also registered for baby stuff the other night at Target and Babies R Us.  It was exhausting and a little scary.  I was very concerned about picking the right things.  Oh well, I know one way or another we will have everything we need by the time she arrives (or shortly thereafter!).

It still seems so far away ... August 28th ... it might as well be a year from now!  Jeremy, on the other hand, just told me at dinner that it seems really immediate to him, like he thought when I got pregnant that we had all the time in the world and now she will be coming very soon.  I wish she were coming soon!  The anticipation is killing me!

23 weeks

Today is 23 weeks, and that means that the baby is embarking on a weight-gain extravaganza over the next four weeks.  Today she is probably a little over 11 inches in length and a little over a pound, but in the next four weeks she will more than double in weight!  YAY, but ... she already seems to be taking up a lot of room, so ... we'll see.

Her hearing is also getting better and better every day, to prepare for all of the sounds she will hear when she arrives.  She is also supposedly able to feel me moving around now because her sense of feeling is so well developed.  It only seems fair, since I can DEFINITELY feel her moving around in there!  She continues to be a big mover.  I have to constantly remind myself that she is only a pound -- it is hard to believe she is so little but can make her presence known with as much force as a bowling ball! 

Her skin is also reddish in color right now because of the rapidly developing blood vessels and the fact that her skin is so thin.  The blood vessels in her lungs are also developing to prepare for breathing.

I continue to get bigger and bigger -- big surprise -- and have been getting some fun comments lately.  

Strangers will say, "OH MY, you are ready to POP!  When are you due?" and of course, I tell them "In four months" and they look horrified.  This past week, FOUR different people at work asked me, "Are you SUPPOSED to be this big?!?!"  I REALLY wanted to say, "I don't know.  Are YOU?" but I just smiled and said something vague and walked away.  

Other than unwelcome comments, I am feeling the stretch in my muscles all up and down my torso and am getting some unwanted pressure on my diaphram, making it difficult to talk a lot when I am teaching (which, if you know me, is a CRYING shame, since it is what I do best!), but things are pretty good overall.  Still some feet and ankle swelling, aches and pains, and trouble sleeping, but nothing unusual, and nothing that I don't already know is going to get worse as time goes by! :)

In just a few weeks I will be in the third trimester, and I can't wait!