Growing!

My belly is certainly expanding!  This week my abs have been sore but I haven't been working them out.  And the area right around my belly button is really sore to the touch.  It's all from my abs stretching and even separating (eewww) to make room for Baby Girl!  Well here are the results of that happening!  I pretended to do crossfit today so I stretched one of my pre-pregnancy crossfit outfits over my bump.  The shirt is almost too short to fit over my belly now.

And this picture was just for my own curiosity.  I've been told that I don't look pregnant from behind, well I can't see that for myself so this was my way to see if people are lying to me just being nice.  I think I'm a little wider in the mid section than before, but I don't mind, my excuse is that it's just evening out to help with the weight distribution :-)

On a side note, at my doctor's appointment this week when I was able to sit up the nurse came over and said "let me help you up" but I sat up on my own before she could finish the sentence.  She looked surprised and said "Oh, your abs still work!"  My reaction: "You're telling me they are going to stop working!!???"  Oh yay, another thing I wish I didn't know!  Yes, my abs will end up stretching too much to do their normal job, fun, fun, fun!

27 Week Update!

This week Baby Girl is the size of a rutabaga! (I'm not sure what a rutabaga is....) but she's more than 14 inches long and weighs more than 2 lbs.  Her brain is even more developed this week and now not only can she hear sounds and feel movement but she can react to them!  She might jump if startled by a loud noise!  She can also recognize mommy and daddy's voices too!  This week she has also started opening her eyes, up until this point the eye lids were fused shut.

I have one smart cookie growing in there.  At today's appointment, the nurse put the doppler on my belly to find her heart beat and right away Baby Girl kicked it off.  When the nurse put it back she kept kicking at it.  So the nurse stopped and said, "Now listen, as fun as it is to see you move, we also want to hear you."  And just like that Baby Girl cooperated. 

She's been moving like crazy this week.  Her dance moves are so strong that you can actually see her jabbing my belly.  It's definitely making me less productive because I can't help but stop and watch her moving around, it's absolutely amazing. I can't wait for Dan to be home to see it too, Baby Girl might get a midnight ice cream snack tonight to get her moving in the few hours that he will be home!

Today I also had my glucose test.  The drink didn't taste bad at all but after chugging 50g of sugar I didn't feel so wonderfully afterwards.  I'll get a phone call in 2-3 days if I failed and and have to go back for a 3 hour test.  So let's hope I don't hear from the doctor's office any time soon!  They also switched me to appointments every 2 weeks instead of monthly (this is routine now that I'll be in the 3rd trimester, where has the time gone) which I'm fine with, it's twice as many times to hear Baby Girl's heart beat! Today her heart rate was 146 and strong. 

I feel like my belly is growing double time.  I can still fit into my non-maternity summer dresses, but I'm guessing that won't last much longer, I have no idea what I'll do for the fall since maternity clothes still look ridiculous on this shorty.

I've learned that there are lots of strangers out there that think they have x-ray vision.  I've been told that I "must be having a boy."  I reply saying, "no, it's a girl."  To which I've been told, "no, you're too small for that to be a girl." or "Just wait, you'll see."  Thank you random strangers, but I think I'll stick to the news the doctor and tech gave me who actually looked at Baby's GIRL anatomy.

I've been feeling pretty much the same lately, except the back pain is getting worse.  I'm going to invest in one of those maternity support belts to see if I get any relief.  And the pregnancy brain is getting worse as well.  I forget anything that I don't put on my calendar with reminder alerts. I'm going to have to start setting reminders for everything from putting on my shoes (I wore my flip flops to work twice this week, luckily I had shoes in my car) to doing laundry to picking up Hubby at the airport (luckily he knows about my condition and calls me 50 times before getting on the plane)!

Biggest dilemma of the week: what to wear to my baby shower?  What will the weather be like then?  What size will I be then?  Where the heck can I find maternity clothes that actually fit me?

How far along? 27 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  Up 11 lbs overall, 2 pounds gained in the past week again.  But the doctor didn’t say anything negative at my appointment today, just told me not to worry about anything so I’m taking that as no worrying about my diet either!  The numbers on the scale have reached numbers I’ve never seen before but it’s really not bothering me.

Maternity clothes?  I don’t want to talk about it.  Another disappointing shopping trip this weekend; what the heck am I supposed to wear?

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep:  No more or less. 

Best moment this week:  Watching her make my belly move!

Miss Anything?  Hubby.

Movement:  Crazy dance parties have begun!

Food cravings: No real cravings but I’m obsessed with the cool new coke machines they have at Noodles and Company.  It’s a touch screen computer and you pick what you want then you pick what flavor you want to add to it.  So I can get lime flavored water and it’s bright green, and it’s pretty awesome. 

 Anything making you queasy or sick: Bananas, Sweet Potatoes, and the trash can. 

Belly Button in or out? In but it’s looking more shallow.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy.

Looking forward to:  Dessert, haha, super sweet tooth lately!

Random Maternity Items

This week I have noticed that putting a napkin on my lap does no good.  If I drop any food, which I do more often since I have to sit further from the table to fit,  it just lands on my belly.  I think I'll have to start fashioning a belly bib with my napkin.  [Quick Google Search]  Turns out people actually sell "belly bibs."  Apparently I'm not the first pregnant lady to have this problem.  But I think I'll hold on to my money and just place a napkin over my belly!

Another nifty belly accessory that I will be purchasing shortly is a maternity support belt.  This belt is said to support the belly to take some pressure off of the bladder and strain off of the back.  My back has been killing me this week. 

In other news, I have my glucose test tomorrow to screen for gestational diabetes.  I have to drink a bottle of fruit punch flavored liquid sugar, provided by the doctor, then get my blood drawn exactly an hour later.  If I fail that test then I have to go through a 3 hour test, getting blood taken each hour, so keep your fingers crossed I pass!

Bump Pictures!

Giant baby bump!  I feel huge, but I still have lots of growing to do!  Excuse the ill fitted top, I couldn't see how much extra fabric there is under my belly!  At the rate I'm growing there won't be any extra fabric soon!  

Class #2

Yesterday we had our second, and last, childbirth class.  We started out with some visualization exercises that almost put me to sleep (and did put Hubby to sleep).  Then we talked about reassurance and massage so I got to sit on the floor on blankets and pillows and try other comfy labor positions while Hubby gave me a massage and told me how awesome I was.  This was supposed to be a labor rehearsal but the ice cubes they gave us to squeeze to simulate contraction pain was a bit of a joke.  When the rehearsal was over I said to Hubby, "wow, labor is pretty easy" haha!  Hubby was very good at making me laugh and I wonder if this method will be successful during actual labor or if it will get him a palm to the forehead, we shall see!

We also talked about all of the medical interventions that are available during childbirth.  This convinced me even more that I want to try to stick it out for a natural delivery.  A needle in my spine and having to have a catheter since I won't be able to get up to use the restroom  does not sound like a good time.  The only thing I worry about is that if you don't have an epidural and they need to do an emergency c-section then they need to put you to sleep with general anesthesia and I wouldn't get to see Baby Girl until I was awake.  But they did point out that emergency c-sections only occur 1% of the time so that made me feel better.  I do need to talk to my doctor about episiotomy...if you don't know what it is, don't look it up, you don't want to know.  But I need to warn her that no matter how much local anesthesia she uses, if she comes at me with a pair of scissors, I may kick her.  Luckily they don't do that very often either.

The end of the class got into other nitty gritty stuff that I have to know but wish I didn't.  We covered the "goody bag" of stuff the hospital will give me to help my recovery and why I will need all of those lovely goodies.  They should have thrown in another relaxation session after that, that's when I needed it.  Okay, that's enough of that discussion, I want to forget about it until after I meet my Baby Girl!

Tonight is baby care class, I'm excited to play with dolls and I will try to snap a picture of Dan with one too.  It won't be the last time he plays with dolls!

Week 26 Update!

I had to double check to make sure I really was already on week 26, it's flying by!

This week Baby Girl Veale is 14 inches long, the length of an English cucumber and almost 2 lbs!  She is inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid which is preparing her for taking her first breath of air on delivery day!  Her ears are even more developed and she's busy listening in on all of my conversations.

I'm not feeling wonderfully today maybe due to the super busy days I've had (all of which were very fun).  But I'm hoping this feeling doesn't last because I have a few more busy days ahead too!  Tonight is childbirth class #2 and tomorrow is baby care class.  I honestly thought baby care would be a great one to take just to get Dan more comfortable with babies, but the more I read the more I realize I don't know so I am glad to be taking it too!  I was looking at pictures of baby bath tubs today and seeing the little babies in that water made me super nervous!

This week I have ordered the crib skirt, window valance, wall decals, and fitted sheets for the nursery all through Etsy (I have an addiction) and am now patiently waiting for them to get hand made and shipped to me.  I should have realized that hand made things would take longer to get and I don't have that much patience at the moment, but I'm glad to have at least checked off the ordering!  I also ordered a Christmas present this week which I laughed about doing so early, but now it has me thinking that I'll probably want all of my shopping done before Baby Girl arrives!  The month between her due date and Christmas I certainly won't be spending in line at stores!!!

How far along? 26 weeks

Total weight gain/loss:  Up 9 lbs overall, 2 pounds gained in the past week again.  We’ll see what my doctor has to say about this rapid weight gain at my appointment next week…hopefully I’m not up another 2 pounds by then!

Maternity clothes?  A must!  Although I only have 6 outfits for work and I’m getting sick of rotating it but with fall quickly approaching I will hold out until I have to buy new weather appropriate clothes.

Stretch marks? No.

Sleep:  No more or less.  

Best moment this week:  Cirque du Soleil with friends and family!  I love spending time with my parents!

Miss Anything?  My energy and motivation!

Movement:  Not as much this week, but every now and then she’ll wiggle to let me know she’s still there.

Food cravings: Nothing really this week.

 Anything making you queasy or sick: Bananas, Sweet Potatoes, and the trash can.  

Belly Button in or out? In but it’s looking more shallow.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, except today, feeling yucky.

Looking forward to: Picking up Hubby at the airport later today and visiting Roommate and B this weekend! 

Double Digits!

Holy Moly, 99 days until Baby Girl's due date!  We are down to double digits, I can't believe how quickly she will be here!

Speaking of double...I have double of everything.  I have 4 eyes, 4 ears, 4 arms, 4 legs, 2 noses, 20 fingers and 20 toes, and coolest of all 2 heart beats!  Random thought of the day...

I had a fun filled weekend with my family but Baby Girl had me nervous.  I didn't feel her move at all.  I was going to call the doctor today because I was stressing about it but after my alarm clock went off at 4:45 am, my grimace quickly turned to a smile as I felt her kicking away.  It must have been the change in routine.  My parents are night owls and lately I like to be in bed early.  Also, we didn't sit still for much of the weekend, we were out and about so she must have not gotten bored enough to have a dance party in my belly.

And to go completely off topic again, we saw Cirque du Soleil Totem this weekend and it's a must see!  Seriously, go see it!