It was 36 Weeks ... a Few Days Ago

Yes, I missed posting on the real 36 weeks mark, which was Saturday.  All I have to offer are lame excuses.  The last week of my life has mostly been divided among three activities:  1) Frantically nesting while sweat pours down my face and my feet ache and I feel like passing out, but I MUST CLEAN AND ORGANIZE BECAUSE WORLD WILL END IF I DO NOT; 2) Taking a break at the end of a nesting period (which usually lasts about 6 hours) with my feet up on a pillow and crying uncontrollably; and 3) Sleeping (but still not at night -- this also ties in nicely to the crying times).


On Saturday I hosted a girls night at my house, and a few high school friends came over.  So Friday and Saturday were all about the cleaning and shopping and no time for the resting, crying, or sleeping, but it was well worth it, because it was a really fun night.  Like, no one left until 4:00 AM fun.  It's great to get to talk to them and eat for huge stretches like that.


ANYWAY, I was supposed to have the 36 week post already written and then have Jeremy take a picture of me on Saturday before the girls arrived, but I was running behind schedule and sweating profusely and did not want a picture of me sweating and without make-up, so I skipped it.  I thought I could get one on Sunday, but after my full day, my feet were once again looked like hams on toothpicks, so when I finally woke up on Sunday, I ignored all the other things that REALLY needed to be done and sat on the couch with my feet propped up all day (and as of right now, the right one is still pretty puffy.  gross.).  So when Jeremy got home, I shrieked "NO PICTURE!" and scared him out of the room.  And here we are on Monday.  I am feeling miserable and have NO intention of getting dressed or putting on make-up, and I have 30 papers to grade before tomorrow night at 4 PM, and here I am complaining about life, with no belly picture.


SO ... if you made it through all of that, here is what is going on this week with my little baybay: Once again, I will not give you an estimates for length or weight, because she shot right past the book. We will still just assume "large."  The baby still has a soft skull, bones, and cartilidge so she can get out easier, but almost all of the rest of her systems are good to go.  The only system that is not fully developed is her digestive system, but that won't begin to mature until she is outside and breastfeeding, since she has only been practicing by swallowing amniotic fluid.


37 weeks is considered the "for-sure-full-term" week according to the books, but my doctors say this little biscuit is being considered full-term at 36 weeks (as of a few days ago), so if I were to go into labor now, they would not try to stop it until 37 weeks rolls around next Saturday.  This is exciting but also not ... I was hoping that would be the magic words baby needed to hear and she would make her debut, but she seems to like it in there -- even though she is really throwing her weight around in there a lot, as if to say "What happened to my spacious accomodations, woman?!?!"  Of course, she is on her own timeline, so we will just have to wait and see.


I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions all week, and while that could be a good sign, I also know that some people have them for months.  I sure hope that's not the case -- I am NOT enjoying them.  I am much more uncomfortable and in a lot more pain this week, but I know it will just continue to get worse and worse, AND it is almost over.  But all her clothes are washed and Jeremy and I went on big trips to Target and Babies R Us to get a bunch of stuff we still needed, so can't she come NOW??? :)

35 Weeks

I am not even going to bother pasting in a picture of what the books say the baby looks like now, because OBVIOUSLY my baby is not a normal 35-week baby.  The books says she should be anywhere from 5 1/4 pounds to 5 1/2 pounds ... but at the ultrasound earlier this week she was in the mid-to-upper 6-pound range.  So, from now on I think I'll just say length: long, weight: very heavy.


As for other baby-making developments, her kidneys should be fully developed this week and her liver can process some waste products. Her brain is also developing at an amazing rate and her body fat, which used to be about 2%, is 15% (or higher) at this point.


This week has been slightly rough for me, but mostly just the discomfort of being so big and not being able to move.  I have been sleeping a lot.  Just not at night.  Also, my gentle little lamb has her foot shoved up so far under my ribs that sometimes I just sit for hours trying to push it out and trying even harder not to cry.  And when I try to push her gently so she will move?  Yeah, she kicks and kicks until I give up and leave her alone.  

The official caption of the photo:  "The glow is gone, people!"

As you can see by the picture, yes, I have outgrown almost ALL of my maternity clothes.  They have all become belly shirts.  Classy, let me tell you.  I actually wore this outfit around town today while we ran some errands.  We went and picked out stain and whatnot for the dresser (which Jeremy worked on today, and it is looking GREAT!), then I went into Barnes & Noble.  I was looking for a baby book ... and I ended up running out of the store crying.  Classic.  At first I was crying in the aisle while reading all the pages -- first smile, first bath, etc. -- and then after I had gone through all of the books they had, I was suddenly overwhelmed and couldn't remember which had which pages, and WHICH was the best??  I was too busy crying to remember.  I needed a piece of paper so I could make a list of pros and cons!!!  Then I ran out.  Good times.


Jeremy said it was okay because we had plenty of time, and I wailed, "What if she is EARLY?  We need the baby book at the hospital to get the FOOT PRINTS!"  He reasonably suggested we get the prints on a piece of paper and put them in the book later.  I cried.  He is in for so much more than he ever imagined.  But he hasn't run away yet! :)

33 Weeks

The baby is still gaining about half a pound a week, and she could grow up to another full inch this week.  She is probably somewhere above four pounds.  Now that she has gotten so big, there is less amniotic fluid to cushion the blows, and her kicks and pokes feel a little harder. Antibodies are being passed from me to the baby as she continues to develop her own fetal immune system.  Her skeleton is also continuing to harden.  

After we heard from the doctor that my measurement had jumped so quickly this week, Jeremy pointed out that it made sense, since this past week has been particularly difficult for me in terms of painful stretched skin and muscles that seem ready to give out at any moment.  The quick jump was probably what made it seem pretty bad this week.  The muscles really low on my pelvis (which I never really thought about even existing before) hurt SO BADLY ... when I try to roll over, get out of bed, or do something crazy like WALK.  I feel so stupid, because I see pregnant ladies all the time who are walking along as if they were not in agonizing pain.  Why am I so weak that I can't even do basic things?  So sad.


I read that the baby was supposed to be running out of room and would be moving around less ... not this one.  She is still as active as ever, rolling around, stretching out, poking, and kicking.  One of her favorite new positions is with her head shoved up really high on my far right, under my ribs, while her feet are WAY down at the very bottom on my left side.  And then sometimes she kicks her feet and flails her arms at the same time while in that position.  


She also continues to hiccup a lot.  In fact, she is hiccuping as I type! It is strange how different the hiccups feel when she is in different positions.  Depending on whether she is head-up or head-down, the crazy percussion of the hiccups vibrate in very different places!  My mom said she never felt any of us hiccup, and I feel this one hiccup about three times a day on average.  My friend Jess hiccuped a lot in the womb too, so maybe our little girl will turn out like her! :)

Doctor Appointment

I had a doctor appointment yesterday morning, and I needed a little time to think about it before I wrote anything, but I have found this blog to be very cathartic, so I am going full-steam ahead with discussing some news that has me freaked out.


So, yesterday's appointment started with my weight, which has not changed in a month!!  WOOT! (no worries, though; "plus-sized" mothers do not usually need to gain as much weight.  The doctors are happy with my weight progression) and a urine sample which was "fantastic" according to my doctor (I like that he likes my urine so much).  My blood pressure was 118/68, even though I was very worked up (since I have still been spotting since my last visit two weeks ago when they ran the EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLAR test to make sure there were no signs of premature labor and my cervix was in good shape).  The baby's heartbeat was great, even though she moved away from the doppler THREE times while the doctor was trying to get her heart rate! :)  I told him she was a mover!


So, everything was fine until he did my fundal measurement (*The height of my uterus.  Picture below if interested) and saw that I was measuring 3 centimeters ahead of 33 weeks, even though I was only at 32-and-a-half weeks, which puts me just over the "not normal zone." My doctor told me there was slight concern because I have been absolutely on with my measurements the entire time, never wavering one bit, and then there was a rather large jump into the abnormal range so suddenly, so he scheduled an ultrasound ... in TWO WEEKS.  I have to wait TWO WHOLE WEEKS to see if something is wrong or everything is fine and she is just in a very strange position, causing the measurements to be skewed.


He tried to calm me down and tell me not to worry (nice try, doc), but explained very rationally that combined with my spotting, the fact that I had not gained any weight but my uterus got so big so fast, AND my sugar was fine (so it is obviously not gestational diabetes making the baby big), it was necessary to take a quick look to check the size of the baby and check to make sure everything is still okay with the placenta, amniotic fluid, and umbilical cord.


So, there are many options here:  

• It could just be a very large, but still very healthy baby -- however, the doctor said big babies tend to grow at a steady rate
• The baby could just be messing with us and be in a strange position (I am crossing my fingers for this one)
• There could be too much amniotic fluid, which could be a symptom of many, many things (Which I will not go into detail here.  I am trying to hope for the best)
• The placenta could have slipped from its posterior position to covering or partially covering the cervix (This would also not be great)
• I could be at risk of the umbilical cord prolapsing (Also not awesome)

Jeremy will probably think that I am sharing too much here, but I really feel better after writing everything down and taking a critical look at it. Plus, there is always the chance that some of you reading might have had a similar experience and could give me some comfort! :)

It was just so disheartening to hear that everything looks amazing ... ooops, except this one thing that could be nothing or could be a huge deal.  And then my doctor tells me not to worry about it while I wait two weeks for the ultrasound.  GUH!!!

I also feel tremendously guilty, because I have been saying I am SO ready for her to be here.  I mean, I am having a tough pregnancy and I am DYING to have a baby instead of a belly, but I obviously never meant I wanted her to be premature and in danger.  I wanted a baby NOW who was healthy, fully grown, and a nice healthy weight.  Maybe I should have specified that.  

However, I had Jeremy give the baby a stern talking-to when he got home from work.  He told her to "grow normally!" and "stay in there until you're cooked!" and told me if I ever needed to, I could just tell her, "wait until your father hears about this!!"  He's a big help! <3

*Fundal measurements, if interested:

Odds and Ends #2

Other than sharing baby news with people I don't speak with every day, the main reason I started this blog was to record all the little things that I knew I was likely to forget.  Here are a few of the latest ...


1.  The baby has a new morning routine in response to my morning routine.  I always wake up to some serious kicking (maybe she will be a morning person, unlike her mother?), she falls asleep in the shower (I figure it must be a calming feeling or sound for her), and then when I brush my teeth after my shower, she wakes right up and kicks like a maniac while I brush my teeth.  The funny thing is, she is usually very quiet for the rest of the time I get ready (and doesn't start kicking again until I get started with whatever I am doing that day) but she is WIDE awake and kicking for teeth brushing time and then goes back to sleep.  I don't know why, but this cracks me up.


2.  Ever since I was first able to feel her hiccup, she has had the hiccups almost every single day, and sometimes more than once a day.  The other night she had hiccups three times between 9 PM and 1 AM, and yesterday when I was teaching (the first day of the Summer quarter ... bets on whether or not I will make it to the last day of class on August 26th??) she had the hiccups three times during my four-hour class.


3.  One of my students in the class I am teaching on Tuesday nights was also one my students last year.  He came up to my desk to hand something in last night and said, "I predict you will go two weeks past your due date."  Luckily he is someone I know very well and have a good rapport with, because I decided to go with my first instinct, and said, "You can shut your mouth right now, mister.  If you ever say that again, I might punch you.  In the face."  He died laughing.  I, however, got a little hot just thinking about it.


4.  I posted a few days ago that I had been having some spotting and the doctors examined me and also ran some tests (which all came back saying I had no signs of premature labor!  Yay!) and the spotting went away after a few days.  Well, the spotting came back this afternoon, and it was a little closer to the color that they told me to watch out for.  Naturally, I freaked out, but I decided to assess the situation before calling anyone.  I felt no pain or cramping, but I also wasn't feeling the baby move, so I went and laid down on my left side in bed and put my hand on my belly.  Immediately, she started kicking harder and faster than she ever has before, and she then proceeded to move all around my belly and kick every single inch, as if she were saying, "Hey!  I'm alive and fine!!  Feel how strong and energetic I am!  No worries, mom!"


I can't remember if I already posted this or not, but she seems to do this a lot.  Because she is so active, whenever I notice with a shock that she isn't moving and hasn't been for at least a half an hour, all I have to do is think When did I last feel the baby move?!?!? and she will kick on cue.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is very reassuring, like she can feel when I am worried and just need to check in on her, and she obliges.  Such a sweet girl! :)


P.S.  Wanna vote for when you think the baby will be born?  Please do so!  I have a new poll at the top right of the page!!

31 Weeks

31 Weeks!  We are getting closer and closer to D-day, and I simply cannot wait.  Not only because this pregnancy is kind of killing me, but because I have been DYING to meet our baby ever since the day we discovered we were pregnant, on December 22nd.  It seems like a million years ago to me, but to Jeremy, the time has flown by (lucky him).

This week, the baby weighs somewhere around three and a half pounds and is probably 18 inches from head to toe.  This means that she is getting pretty close to her birth length, but she needs to pack on a few more pounds before she comes tumbling into the world.  Jeremy is actually more worried about premature birth than I am.  Whenever he gets up close to my belly to talk to the baby these days, he tells her over and over to "Stay inside!" Luckily, she has a huge growth spurt coming up.  Just when I thought my abs could not feel any more stretched and painful! :)

The baby is also developing brain cells at an amazing rate, and can perceive signals from all five senses at this point.  I was happy to read that she is now putting in longer stretches of sleep, because I was wondering why she went from having a 24/7 dance party in my belly to taking long breaks in between what must be kickboxing classes.

I am still getting lots of comments like, "The doctor must be wrong! You're due ANY DAY!" and "Are you SURE there aren't two or three in there?"  I don't think most people realize how insecure these comments make me, so I try not to get mad at them; instead, I just laugh and smile and say "I am measuring right on track and she is a healthy weight."  If people keep asking questions and pestering me (which a lot of people do), I usually say something like, "Well, I was big BEFORE I got pregnant, so what did you expect?" (with a smile on my face of course).  That usually makes them laugh but also ends the conversation.  I just don't think most people realize that telling someone who has a terrible body image and was overweight BEFORE getting pregnant that she looks huge is maybe not the brightest point in my day.  I know they are probably just caught up in baby excitement, but it still stings.

This morning the baby had her head shoved WAY up toward my ribs, and there was a bulge you could not only feel, but see.  I called Jeremy in to feel it, and he couldn't believe it.  He kept feeling it, and then leaned in exactly where her head was, and repeated, "DON'T COME OUT YET."  I love that guy! :)

28 Weeks

I missed last week's update and belly shot because we were up on Mackinac Island for four days.  I even forgot to get a good profile shot of my belly.  I had just mentioned to Jeremy that we couldn't forget to take one when we got to a pretty spot, but then I walked up 304 stairs, so my only thoughts were death and I forgot all about it.  But I did get some shots that give you a pretty good idea of how big I was.  These were all taken on Friday, when I was one day away from 27 weeks:

The baby makes her first visit to Arch Rock

Beautiful weather for our 8-mile bike ride around the Island!

I felt the need to pose for Tommy's camera.  One of my friends said the caption for this picture is "I'm too sexy for my belly!"

I am wearing HEELS in this picture!  So stupid!

We all had loads of fun, but unfortunately, I was a big buzzkill.  The day before we left, I was working and packing and cleaning and preparing directions for the dog/cat/housesitter from 7 AM until 2 AM ... and then I looked at my feet.  They were bigger than I had ever seen them, and my body told me there was no way it would allow me to sleep with my feet elevated while I laid on my side (per doctor's orders), so I went to bed and hoped for the best.  I woke up four hours later to leave and, surprise, surprise -- they looked about the same.  Then we spent 3 hours in the car, half an hour on the ferry and then started a vacation that included a lot of walking, standing, and socializing.  So, basically, my feet never had a chance to return to normal, and I walked around getting shocked looks from people when they saw that my ankles were bigger than my knees and my swollen feet were jammed into dress shoes like ten pounds of sausage in five pounds of casing.

So, I was pretty lame, complained about it, and put my feet up on people's laps whenever I got five minutes to do so.  At one point, I went into my mom and dad's suite and she had some friends I had never met hanging out in the sitting room.  I plopped my feet on her lap and they both gasped.  The husband said "Is there anything we can do for you??" and the wife immediately ran back to her room and got a tube a cooling lotion to use on my feet.  She even insisted that I keep it because I needed it more than she did!  

Also, I don't know why, but the beds killed me this year.  I have stayed in this hotel for years and years, and usually I wake up feeling rested and ready to take on the day.  They are very nice mattresses.  This year, the same bed I slept in last year felt like a torture device and I woke up every morning exhausted and with every muscle in my body aching.  On the last night, my arms were actually going numb because of the knots in my back, and instead of letting Jeremy drink and party with everyone else, I insisted on an hour-long back rub because I was certain I was about to die.  So ... sorry fellow travelers!!  And especially Jeremy. :(

Well, that was a big re-cap, but now here we are at TWENTY EIGHT WEEKS!!!  I am offically seven months pregnant and in my (drumroll) ... THIRD TRIMESTER!!!  

Look how big she is!!

This week our amazing baby has probably reached two and a half pounds and could be as long as 16 inches!  Along with being able to cough, hiccup, suck, and take practice breaths, she can now blink and experiences Rapid Eye Movement when she sleeps!  Thankfully, her lungs are fully mature at this point, which is the milestone I was waiting for with bated breath.  Although she would still need a LOT of help if she were born at this point, she is out of the "danger zone."

It hit me in the shower this morning that it was my third trimester and I frantically started listing all the things we have yet to do (because we had SO MUCH time) like finding a pediatrician, pre-registering at the hospital, and taking a childbirth class.  Of course, when I freaked out, Jeremy just patted my hand and told me we couldn't do ALL of those things today, so we will sit down tomorrow and make a schedule of when to get those things accomplished in the next month.  What a guy.

Tonight I am off to a Girls Night with some old friends from high school.  We'll see how the baby likes the car trip from Rochester Hills and back.  She has been giving me some trouble to and from work lately.  I often have to lean really far to the right so the pain in my left side will go away. Oh well, I have a lot of working left to do and that means a lot more driving, so we will both just have to get used to it.

My ligament pain has also returned with a vengeance, at exactly the same time when I am having a hard time hauling myself in and out of certain positions.  At night, I usually wake up about ten times, whimpering because the hip I'm laying on hurts so bad.  When I have heaved myself halfway to the other side, my ligaments stretch and I feel like someone is stabbing me under my belly, so I flop back down.  It can take a few tries to roll over now, and all the while I am grunting.  Of course, Jeremy sleeps right through this.  I am going to need a system of pulleys and levers soon! :)

I guess I never appreciated being able to just get up off the couch or go from sitting on the floor to standing or roll over in bed without effort and embarrassment.  I will cherish when I am able to again! :)

A few big achievements also took place this week.  The baby has been SO ACTIVE and sometimes I feel like she is beating me up in there, but every time I put someone else's hand where she was moving, she would instantly freeze, then the second they gave up and moved their hand and I put mine back, she would go bonkers again.  Sigh.  She also moves so much now that I see my belly moving like an alien movie all the time.  I even freaked a student out in the Writing Center because she was doing it, but Jeremy couldn't see it.  But THIS week, Jeremy felt TONS of hard kicks AND saw my belly moving around!  AND I finally found the baby's heartbeat and put Jeremy's hand on it ... and he FELT IT!!!  It has been a good week! :)

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! :)

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? :)

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! :)

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!

22 Weeks

Today the baby has reached the one pound mark!  She is probably about 8 1/2 inches from head to rump and 11 1/2 inches from head to toe.  

Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and even though her eyelids are still fused shut, she is making blinking movements.  She can also perceive light and dark more accurately through her eyelids, and her irises are fully developed (but they still lack pigment).  Her hearing is getting better and she can probably recognize my voice.  She can also now be aroused from sleep by loud noises outside the womb.  Her eyebrows are almost totally filled in, and she is growing more hair on her head every day -- but the hair looks white because it is devoid of all pigment.  It might look something like this:

During this week, the brain development begins a big burst that will only end when the baby reaches five years of age.  The baby's sense of touch is also developing, and as she develops her grip, she might even grab the umbilical cord to hold onto (since there is nothing else in there to grab).  She is even developing tooth buds beneath her gums and taste buds on her tongue!

I am feeling okay overall.  I have some feet swelling after long days at work, and I have lots of leg and hip cramps, but nothing big.  When I get into my "approved" sleeping positions, my arms fall asleep pretty quickly, and I have to wake up often to shake the circulation back into them, but I am getting better at staying on my side at night, so that is good.

The baby is moving a LOT lately.  She also seems to have similar sleep patterns to her dear old mother.  She doesn't like to wake up until mid-afternoon, and she starts really bouncing around at about 10 PM and stays up having her little dance parties well into the AM.  We'll have to see if that stays the same once she is "on the outside!" :)

So Impatient

So, apparently some women can feel kicking as early as 16 weeks and most can feel it by 18 weeks.  I am 17 and a half weeks ... and NOTHING!  I am dying here!  I spend most of my time with my hand pressed on my belly, hoping and waiting.


I don't have too much more to say, but that has been my main focus lately, just dying for a little movement!  Come on, baby!