39 weeks

STATS:
39 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 164!!
How Big Is The Baby This Week? He matches up to a mini watermelon.

Sorry guys, not much to report on again this week. My doctor's appointment went the same as always. She said that I'm a fingertip dilated, 20% effaced, and the baby is at a -2 or -3 station (which means he's still pretty high up). So if he hasn't shown up by my next appointment, which is next Tuesday (and my due date), then we'll have to schedule an induction. My doctor said she doesn't like to let her patients go more than 1 week overdue because the placenta stops working as efficiently, and since the baby is fully developed by then there's really no reason to leave him in there. And that's just fine with me! However, if I have to be induced that means I more than likely have to get an epidural, which I was going to try really hard to avoid if he comes naturally. The drugs that are used to induce labor cause more painful contractions than you would have otherwise; and those painful contractions begin a lot earlier in the labor with an induction, so epidurals are usually necessary unless you're some kind of wonder woman. But being induced would be nice considering the fact that I would know exactly when it's going to happen, you know I like to have a plan. No rushing to the hospital or having my water break in public.

TJ and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary this week. I was afraid that Kash would show up on that day, I didn't want to share our anniversary with his birth because I wanted both events to have their own separate days to celebrate on, so I'm glad he didn't show up yet. But any day from here on out would be just fine with me, you hear that Kash?, You can come out now...

38 weeks

STATS:
38 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 161
Waist @ bellybutton: 43''
Issues: My heartburn has gotten worse, it wakes me up in the middle of the night.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? As long as a leek.

Well not much has happened this week. My doctor's appointment went the same as it always does. He's still in the right position (head down), but not down far enough yet. She said I'm still not really dilated, so it doesn't look like the baby will be on his way anytime soon. So all of you anxiously awaiting a phone call from TJ saying that we're on our way to the hospital, don't expect it for another 2 weeks.

This is my first week off of work, so I'm finally able to get some things done. I've been cleaning the house and packing my bag for the hospital, things like that. The nursery is almost all put together, we just need to hang some things on the wall, so I should be able to post some pictures of that next week.

And here is my belly pic for the week:

37 weeks

STATS:
37 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 157
Waist @ bellybutton: 41.75''
Issues: Oh my lower back is killing me. I can't stand in one place too long or it's hell on my back muscles. So I guess no more cooking or washing dishes for me :)
How Big Is The Baby This Week? according to the reference I've been using for these comparisons, he's "as lofty as a stalk of Swiss chard", which weighs about 6 and 1/3 pounds. But I asked the doctor to give me an estimate of his size this week, and she said he's about 7 pounds.

TJ and I had our childbirth preparation classes over the weekend. I'm glad I went, I learned some things I was curious about; and I'm glad that TJ went because I think he learned a lot about how to help me through the labor. And even though TJ complained pretty much the entire weekend about having to go, I think he's glad he went too. I could tell he kind of felt sorry for me after watching some of the birthing videos, knowing what I'm going to have to go through, cause he would start rubbing my back to comfort me. And I must say that after the classes I'm now slightly leaning towards keeping Kash in here forever, isn't there an easier way to get him out?

I also had a super strange cramping episode over the weekend. I woke up at about midnight with pain the encircled my entire uterus, and even radiated into my cervix at times. It wasn't horrendously painful, but it didn't feel good. I started to think maybe it was a contraction, and maybe I should time them or something, but the pain never really stopped, so I couldn't figure out how to time it. I was pretty much in constant pain for about an hour. I tried walking around, sitting up, laying down. I finally fell back asleep a little after 1 am only to wake up a little later to the same pain, but luckily it didn't keep me up for another hour the second time. When I explained it to my doctor at my appointment on Tuesday, she said it might have been an atypical contraction, but who knows, it was weird.

The doctor also discovered at that appointment that my blood pressure was a little on the high side, so she made me go get some blood work drawn to see if there was an issue that would cause me to be induced a little early. She also made me go get a pressure gauge so I could take my blood pressure twice a day, and write down my readings, and come back for a check up on Friday. My readings didn't exceed 140/90, which is what it was at the office on Tuesday, and my blood work came back fine, so I guess Kash gets to stay in there a little longer.

And you know how on TV pregnant ladies are always portrayed eating a bunch of food and sitting on the kitchen floor at midnight eating out of the refrigerator? Throughout this whole pregnancy I've been thinking "what a crock, I can barely eat half of what I normally do and I'm stuffed", until this week. I'm freakin' starving lately, especially during the first half of the day. I eat my normal bowl or two of cereal before work, and as soon as I get to my desk I'm starving, so I have to another breakfast, then I need a snack between that and lunch, then lunch, another snack, a snack when I get home, dinner, and dessert. And then maybe another snack before bed, or in the middle of the night. I know right? That's a ridiculous amount of food, but I'm just really hungry. Oh, and if it's even possible, I'm even more thirsty than I am hungry. I probably drink about 120 ounces of water a day, at least.

Ooh, and my last comment of the week, I'm sick of going to the grocery store only so everyone can comment on how my stomach looks like something I'm purchaseing. One week it was "oh, that watermelon looks just like your belly", yesterday it was "hey, you're kinda shaped like those eggs huh?". Yes everyone, I'm aware that my stomach is huge and shaped funny, I guess I need to stick to buying square shaped items.

36 weeks

STATS:
36 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 157
Waist @ bellybutton: 40.5''
Issues: Do I seriously still have to go to work?, I'm ridiculously tired in the morning.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? Apparently, he's as big as a crenshaw melon this week, but if you're like everyone else on the planet who doesn't know what the hell that is, he's about 6 pounds and 18.5 inches long.

Phew! I've been super busy this week. I've got a lot to do at work in order to finish up my projects before I go on maternity leave, and I'm trying to get the nursery together by picking up any items that we didn't receive at our showers (which isn't much thank god), and putting everything away. We came home with a bunch of stuff we needed for the baby from our baby shower over the weekend, and it was so great to see all of my family, especially my dad. I'm so glad everyone was able to get together at the same time, that doesn't happen much any more. And I would be posting a slide show of some of the pictures from the shower, but somehow the ones I had on my camera got erased (there weren't very many on there anyway), so I'm waiting for TJ's dad to send me some of the billion he took that day.

The ladies at work also threw me a little shower in the office this week. We had a little luncheon and I got some really cute baby outfits, and a handful of them pitched in to get me a generous gift card to Babies R Us, which we're gonna use to help us get the glider and ottoman we want.

My doctor's appointment was almost more exciting this week; the nurse asked me if I had my ultrasound last week, I said no, and so she put me in the ultrasound room. I guess you usually get an ultrasound around this time to make sure the baby is head down, but I think since my doctor can feel his head down there when she checks my cervix, she doesn't need to check with the machine :( . Maybe I'll get one next week. Anyway, after checking the heartbeat and fundal height, she checked my cervix and said that it still hasn't dialated at all, but that it feels shorter. She said I'm about 20% effaced, which just means that it's started to thin out like it should. I told the doctor about this pain I've been having in my joints, mostly in my hands, but also in my feet, knees, and ankles. I told her how it hurts when I staple something or make a fist, and how it feels like I have arthritis or something. She said it's probably carpal tunnel and that if it really bothers me I should buy some wrist braces to wear to bed. Oy!, no more braces!, no more pills! I'll just deal with it. She said it will almost definitely go away after the baby's born, so I think I can live with the pain for a few more weeks.

As for my other symptoms this week, the swelling in my feet seems to be getting worse, I'm getting tired more easily, my heartburn is occurring more often, and I woke up for the first time throughout this whole pregnancy with a growling stomach and had to go to the kitchen to grab a snack (it was a pop tart if you must know). Other than all that and my old lady joints, gee, I guess I'm doing swell! And if you're curious to see how much more huge I can get, here's my latest picture:

35 weeks

STATS:
35 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 155
Waist @ bellybutton: 40.5''
Issues: I'm uncomfortable!
How Big Is The Baby This Week? as hefty as a honeydew melon, about 5.25 pounds and 18 inches long.

I had my last bi-weekly doctor's visit this week, from now on I'll be going once a week until the baby's born. She measured my fundal height and it is right on track for 35 weeks, and the baby's heartbeat sounds good as always. She also tested me for strep B, which is a bacteria that some women have; it's not harmful to adults but it can cause problems with the baby so if I test positive they'll have to put me on antibiotics during the labor. She also checked my cervix and said that everything is closed up nice and tight, so it doesn't look like Kash will be coming any time soon. But she did say that she could feel his head down there, so at least we know he's in the right position. We talked a little bit about what my birth plan was so that she could get an idea of how I would like everything to happen and what I'm up for.

As I mentioned in my stats, I guess I'm finally in the uncomfortable stage. I can't sleep all that well anymore, and I can't really find a comfortable position to sit, stand, or lay in to watch TV. But I'm most uncomfortable at work, I'm not sure if it's all the sitting or what, but I can't wait to go on maternity leave just for the simple fact that I'm almost always in pain while I'm there. I've also noticed that I've finally started having trouble moving. I walk just a little bit slower than usual, and taking a shower takes a whole lot of energy.

TJ has begun to display some more sympathy symptoms this week. Most pregnant women do some nesting before the baby gets here, which I guess is their instinct kicking in to get the house ready for the baby. They'll do things like clean in places that don't usually get thought about, and organize drawers and cabinets. Well last week TJ emptied out our outside storage closet, the two hall closets, and the nursery closet and either threw out or moved everything to storage. We also bought some new pots for the kitchen and when putting them away he ended up rearranging all the things in all the kitchen cabinets. I guess I'm not the only one nesting huh?

34 weeks

STATS:
34 weeks 3 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 156
Waist @ bellybutton: 41''
Issues: I wish someone would tell me how much he weighs, I'm terrified that he will be like 15 pounds when he's born.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? he's supposedly as heavy as a cantaloupe


I think the baby has been up to something in there this week. Yesterday he was moving around a lot, more than usual, and his movements felt different. I'm not sure how to explain it any better than that though, they just seemed different, they were more distracting. And now I seem to be feeling a lot more movement way down low as opposed to up behind my ribs, so maybe he's dropped? I'm not sure at around what time they are supposed to move down, or what it feels like, but I think it might be happening. I guess the doctor can tell me next week if I'm right. It also feels like he's getting bigger, but my stomach isn't; so when he makes any move at all it's like he's drop kicking an organ, and it's starting to get pretty painful.

Do other pregnant bellies grow like this? Mine just keeps going outward, nothing at all to the sides, it's like a torpedo. Isn't that weird?

The other day I shut a door on my stomach, it was sticking so far out, and I got door grease on my shirt and had to get my shirt wet in an attempt to get the grease out. So then I had to walk around with a big wet spot on my stomach while I was at work for a while.

I've read in a few books and articles that the husband often gets "sympathy" symptoms during the pregnancy; like he might gain weight, have cravings, etc... I woke up at midnight like I always do to go to the bathroom one night, and I couldn't find the body pillow I use to help me sleep comfortably. It wasn't on either side of me, it wasn't on the floor, you know where it was?, on TJ's side of the bed, between his legs! I guess that's his sympathy symptom, he can't sleep comfortably without a body pillow either.

33 weeks

STATS:
33 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 152
Waist @ bellybutton: 40.5''
Issues: My ankles swelled up yesterday at work, it looked like I had sprained one of them, it was pretty ugly.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? he weighs as much as a pineapple (about 4 pounds).

Well, we are back from our long weekend in Lancaster. I was super busy while I was there, and am thoroughly exhausted from it. The baby shower went well, thank you to all who were able to attend and celebrate with us. We got some really cute outfits and a lot of bath time stuff. It was nice to see all of our friends and family. I put TJ on camera duty during the shower, and I've put together a little slide show of some of the pictures above.

I also got some maternity photos taken while I was in town. They are still being touched up, but once they are ready I will post some for you all to see. There are some really good ones in the bunch.

This week I had another uneventful doctor's appointment. We checked the heartbeat on the doppler and measured my fundal height, and everything is still right on track. We also had our tour of the labor and deliver floor at the hospital, so now TJ knows where to take me when the big day comes. I really like the way my hospital does everything, they keep you in the same room for the delivery and recovery, it has a bed for TJ to sleep on and a private bathroom attached. They have wireless monitoring so you can still move around during labor if you want and not be tied to the bed. They provide birthing balls, and they even have a bar to hang from the ceiling for you to use if you want to squat to give birth instead of lay down. But the best part is that they keep the baby in your room with you pretty much the entire time that you're there. We stopped by the nursery to take a look, and there wasn't a single baby in there, they were all with their mommies.

32 weeks

STATS:
32 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 155!
Waist @ bellybutton: 40''
Issues: I have pretty much lost my appetite. I'm still hungry, it's just that nothing sounds good enough to eat :(
How Big Is The Baby This Week? he weighs as much as a large jicama, whatever that is.

Since my feet have been hurting so bad I broke down and ordered some of those hideous Crocs brand shoes online, since they're supposed to be really good for your feet, ergonomically speaking. They're really lightweight and increase the circulation to your feet, and they provide a really nice cushion for the bottom of my heels, which is what I needed. Today is my first day wearing them, and they seem to be doing the job so far, but God are they ugly. I also finally bought a belly support belt like the doctor (and Brenda) suggested to help with any stomach cramps or back pain, but it's not very comfortable, and I can't really tell if it's helping any yet. We'll have to wait and see...

Last night TJ was poking at my belly and he made the baby kick me. He thought that was funny, so he kept poking. He was much more amused than I was.

Other than that, not much has happened yet this week. I'm busy trying to get ready for our trip to Lancaster this weekend for our baby shower. So next week I should have lots pictures to post.

Here is my most recent belly pic:

31 weeks

STATS:
31 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 150
Waist @ bellybutton: 39.5''
Issues: I can't really cross my legs anymore.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? he weighs as much as 4 naval oranges

Over the weekend I attended a breastfeeding class that I had signed up for through the hospital, since I've heard and read that it is not as easy as you'd think. I'm glad I went, I learned a lot of stuff about how mine and the baby's bodies work. And apparently the hospital I'm delivering at has the best lactation center in the whole nation; with consultations, a 24 help line, a feeding assistance room, and all sorts of other things. So that's nice to know. However, all the other women there were due in early July, and guess who had the biggest stomach... ME!

On Monday I was having some slight cramping really low in my abdomen, it wasn't super painful, but after about an hour it hadn't gone away and was starting to get kind of annoying. So I called my doctor's office just to see if there was anything I could do to ease the pain, and they made me go to the hospital to give a urine sample to check for a UTI and do a non-stress test. They hooked some monitors up to my stomach, one to measure the baby's heartbeat and one to measure my uterine contractions, and I had to just sit there for an hour. My urine was clean, and I only had one contraction while I was there (which I didn't feel), which isn't unusual at this stage of the pregnancy, so I went home. I guess they just wanted to be safe instead of sorry, some women call in with symptoms like that and are in pre-term labor, but not me. And I think Kash is a little show off; the whole hour that he was hooked up to the monitor he would not stop moving, and as soon as they unhooked him, he stopped.

The next day I had my normal 2 week check up with my doctor. She said everything looks good and that the cramping I'm having is probably just the ligaments stretching, baby must be having a growth spurt. She suggested I get a belly belt again to help with that, I guess I should really go get one huh? And she assured me that my stomach is not too big, if it was she would let me know. My fundal height actually measured at 32 weeks, which is only a few days ahead of what I am, so pretty much right on track. I'm really thinking about getting a shirt that says "I'm due in August, no I'm not having twins, and my doctor says this is how big my belly should be!" Maybe then people will back off. Oooh and I almost forgot to tell you the funny part about my appointment. Every time I go in it's standard procedure for me to pee in a cup; so I head to the bathroom, pick up my cup, write my name on it, place it next to the toilet, go to the bathroom, pull up my pants, wash my hands. I go to grab my "sample" on the way out, guess what I forgot to do, pee in the damn cup! The nurse said it happens all the time, good thing I had just left the hospital a sample the day before.

And I think I mentioned a few months ago that I started having calf cramps at night. Well I've only had a few and they were very mild, until the other night. I woke up screaming and crying in the middle of night with a cramp in my leg that hurt so bad for so long that I truly thought it wasn't ever going to stop and I would have to get my leg amputated or something. The pain was so bad that it really doesn't even deserve to be called a cramp. It was more like someone had reached through my skin, grabbed my muscle and was pulling and twisting it away from my bone, but a little worse. I think I scared the crap out of TJ, because all of sudden he was hovering over me asking "what's wrong, WHAT'S WRONG?", and I was in so much pain that all I could say was "ow, ow, ow, ow, ow", so he still didn't know what was going on. He finally just put his hand where mine was and when he felt my leg muscle jumping and twisting he figured it out. He massaged it out for me and once it finally stopped, I went to move my leg back down to the bed and there it went again, me crying "ow, ow, ow", my muscle jumping and twitching, and TJ massaging my leg. After it stopped this time, I was terrified to move my leg at all in fear that it would start again. I very slowly lowered it down to the bed, and tried to fall back asleep. I almost had a heart attack when I tried to stand on it out of bed the next morning, and I had to limp into work that day. My calf was bruised and sore from that damn cramp for the next 2 days.

30 weeks

STATS:
30 weeks 3 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 148
Waist @ bellybutton: 39''
Issues: I'm not hungry all the time, but I want to eat all day long anyway.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? as heavy as a good-sized cabbage.

Why does everyone keep saying that I look freakin' humongous? People keep commenting "Oh, you're not due till August?", and "Wow, it looks like you're about ready to pop!". Some woman even had the nerve to ask me if I was sure that I wasn't having twins. What the hell are these people going to say to me when I really am 9 months pregnant? Have they never seen a pregnant person before, I'm really not that big! I mean, there is a 3 and a half pound person in there for crying out loud.

On a different note, I'm finally done with this semester of school, so now I can focus more on baby stuff and exercising. We have a few prenatal classes to attend at the hospital, and I've got a lot of research to do for the baby's insurance, and my maternity leave, and a lot to do in the baby room. So I'm glad I don't have to worry about school right now. And I've been able to take Quila for a good long walk everyday, instead of just 3 times a week, so that makes me feel better.

The baby had some hiccups again this week, and his movements have changed from sharp jabbing pokes (although I still get those occasionally) to slow, graceful, fluid movements. But don't mistake that description for "less painful", it's still not very comfortable to have someone moving around in there, whether they're doing karate or ballet.

And the belly pic:

29 weeks

STATS:
29 weeks 3 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 150
Waist @ bellybutton: 39''
Issues: Baby likes to wedge his feet up in between my ribs.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? he weighs as much as a butternut squash.


Kash had his first set of hiccups over the weekend. They were very rhythmical pulsations in the same spot, but they were much faster than I thought they would be, so at first TJ and I were a little freaked out. I guess I expected them to be more like our hiccups, with more of a pause in between each one, but these were quickly one after another. Though after I thought about, it seemed normal that they would be that fast, since their heartbeat is faster than ours too. They went on for quite a long time, and just when I thought he was done, they'd start back up again. But hiccups are a good sign, so I didn't mind. It means he has begun to practice swallowing the amniotic fluid in order to get his body ready for the outside world.

I had another doctor's appointment this week, I told her about all my "issues" and she gave me a prescription for a muscle relaxer to help my back and to help me sleep better (I just now started having difficulty getting a good night's rest). She said I need to keep something on my feet at all times while I'm standing on them, whether it be shoes or slippers, just so that the bottoms have extra cushion, they are after all carrying around 22 extra pounds. She said that should keep them from hurting me like they did when I cleaned the house last week. However, she said there's not much I can do about my rib pain, they're being stretched apart, so it's just going to hurt. She listened to the baby's heart on the doppler again, everything sounds fine. And she repeated what the ultrasound doctor had told me, that the brain spec has resolved itself and no worries are necessary. She also said that Kash is currently measuring in the 62nd percentile for his growth, which she said is about average. So all looks good!

Oh, and the dermatologist gave me the results of the mole they removed a few weeks ago, it is atypical, which means the cells have begun to change, so they want to take more of the surrounding skin out. Its not cancer or anything like that, they just like to be safe and take the precaution of making sure they get all the affected skin. And the procedure to take care of it is safe for the baby, so no problems there, just another scar to add my canvas.

28 weeks

STATS:
28 weeks 3 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 145
Waist @ bellybutton: 38.25''
Issues: Too many to count...
How Big Is The Baby This Week? as heavy as a chinese cabbage, about 2.25 pounds.

This week's post is just going to be filled with complaints, sorry.

#1) I decided to clean the bathrooms and the kitchen this weekend. I usually clean the entire house at one time, but since I've been pregnant I've had to break it in half, the bathrooms and the kitchen one weekend, the bedrooms and the living room the next. Well, looks like I'll have to split it up again because halfway through my cleaning my feet were killing me. It felt like I had been standing on them for 24 hours straight without moving at all. Wait, I don't think you're quite understanding, my feet were in so much pain it was like I had absolutely no fat or tissue on the bottom of them and my feet bones had been smashed up against rocks while I was carrying 400 extra pounds. The bottoms of them were throbbing, massaging and propping them up was not making them feel better. It took about 2 hours of resting them before I felt any relief at all.

#2) My back hurts. OK, I know I've mentioned this before, but compared to the other times my back was hurting, this weeks pain was excruciating. It seemed as though my lower back muscles were just exhausted, the pain would not stop nagging me. Laying down didn't really help, stretching wasn't providing any relief, I didn't know what to do. I ended up just going to bed, and after a few hours of laying there, the pain finally went away. Thank God.

#3) My ribs are killing me. Mostly while I'm sitting at my desk at work. It just feels like they're being smashed together or something, right underneath my boobs. I think that it's actually my ribs stretching apart, trying to make room for all the smooshed organs underneath them, and that's probably causing the surrounding tissue to be inflamed or irritated. And there's probably nothing I can do about it, but I will mention it to my doctor next week. It feels better if I'm standing up or if I stretch backwards, but I can't do that all day while I'm at work, so instead I'm in pain.

#4) I'm exhausted. Pregnant people really should not have to go to work. I CAN NOT get up in the morning, and then all day at work I practically have to staple my eyelids open. I just need to sleep.

#5) I think I continue to get sporadic cervix pain. Though it's hard to say that's what it is since I don't know where you would feel cervix pain or what it usually feels like, but it seems like the only logical explanation for it. It's pretty uncomfortable.

And I think that concludes my complaints for the week. I'm starting to get slightly worried though, I honestly don't think that there is any more space left in my abdomen for this baby to grow. If he gets any bigger I fear that I might explode or something. Seriously. I don't see how this is supposed to work.

Below is my latest belly pic...

27 weeks

STATS:
27 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 144
Waist @ bellybutton: 37.5''
Issues: I think I got my first taste of swollen feet last night. I had to park farther away from my college class than usual, and I think the cause could have been my long walk through the campus in the hot sun with a heavy ass backpack.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? about as heavy as a head of cauliflower (2 pounds).


So I had quite a few doctor's appointments this week. Tuesday I had my normal routine appointment with the OBGYN. Nothing very eventful happened. She asked me how I was feeling, checked the babies heartbeat on the doppler, and measured my uterus. All looked good. I asked her about my diastasis recti and told her about my concern regarding the muscles not fusing back together after the baby's born, and she said that a lot of the time they don't, and even with special exercises they may never go back the way they were. Not what I wanted to hear. But I have now graduated from monthly checkups to bi-weekly checkups, so I'll get to know that everything is still going OK every 2 weeks now.

On Wednesday I had a dermatologist appointment to get a mole checked out that developed a black spot in it. I know it's common for your skin to change during pregnancy, but I've had moles change on me before, and this one didn't look right. The doctor agreed, so I had to have it taken off. I'll find out if it's anything to worry about in about a week. I then asked the doctor if she could write me another prescription for my acne medications, since mine were expiring, she said "sure", and asked me which one's I was taking. I told her. She said "oh, you can't use that while you're pregnant". WHAT!? When I first found out I was pregnant I asked my normal doctor, my OBGYN, and my dermatologist if my acne medicines were still safe to use and they all said yes! That's great. Now I'm afraid I've given my baby an extra finger or something. Although it's unlikely that it did any harm, since the amount of medicine absorbed through my face isn't much, it still pisses me off.

And on Thursday I had another ultrasound to look at Kash's brain again. Did I mention how hot those rooms are? They're freakin hot. The tech spent a lot of time looking at everything again. And the baby wouldn't quit shaking his head so I'm sure that didn't aid in the process. She gave me some pictures, but I've come to find out that the ultrasound techs give really crappy pictures. She gave me two profiles that are kinda grainy, and then she gave me two pictures of the back of his neck. Why the hell would I want a picture of the back his neck? Then the doctor came in to do a quick check herself. She explained that the reason I was asked back was because (just as I had suspected) during the last visit she had confused the sides of his brain and which had the spot on it originally. She just wanted to do a double check. And she basically said the same thing as the previous two visits, that's it's really nothing to worry about, and that it has practically resolved itself. The she gave me a few pictures, 2 more (better) profiles, and one of him looking directly at the camera. That one is kinda creepy cause he just looks like a skeleton, you can see his teeth and his nose bone and his eye sockets. TJ had a hard time making anything out, so don't feel bad if you can't see it either. His head is tilted to your right, if that helps. And TJ swears that he has my lips by looking at this profile, I think we'll have to wait and see...

26 weeks

STATS:
26 weeks 5 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 143
Waist @ bellybutton: 37.25''
Issues: same ol' same ol', my back hurts.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? about the length of a cucumber, and he weighs over a pound and a half.

Well, the doctor called last weekend with the results of my gestational diabetes test, which was negative. However, it turns out that I have developed anemia. So, now I get to take 2 iron pills a day, along with some vitamin C. Add this to my prenatal vitamin, my omega 3 supplement, and my magnesium pill, and my daily pill regimen has gone from 2-3 a day to 5-6 a day. Oh joy.

The baby is getting stronger, his kicks are starting to hurt a little bit. I'm considering lowering my intake of milk (j/k). But it's weird, sometimes I'll see my stomach move from a kick or a punch, but I won't feel it from the inside. I'm not quite sure how that's possible?

Here are my latest pictures:

25 weeks

STATS:
25 weeks 3 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 142
Waist @ bellybutton: 36.75''
Issues: The baby likes candy and sweets, this can't be good...
How Big Is The Baby This Week? He weighs about the same as a rutabaga (about 1.5 pounds), and is about 13.5 inches long, head to toe.


TJ is gone visiting his family in Ohio this week (I didn't go along for numerous reasons, mainly just because I didn't want to use a week of PTO since I plan on using that during maternity leave). Anyway, since I was all alone over the weekend I decided to get a prenatal massage. It was pretty nice, but every so often the masseuse would rub a part of my back that would make the baby move, and that kind of freaked me out, like he was somehow hurting the baby. So I probably won't be getting another one.

I finally gave in and bought a pair of maternity jeans over the weekend. I still wear my normal jeans, but there are some days when they're just not as comfortable, so I'll wear the maternity ones on those days. I feel bad buying maternity clothes knowing that I won't ever wear them again after August, (yes, except for during the next pregnancy).

I had to go to the lab for blood work this week to do the standard tests for gestational diabetes. I probably won't get the results back until my next doctor's appointment in 2 weeks, unless of course it's positive, then I'll probably know by the end of this week. The stupid nurse guy who took my blood decided for some odd reason to use the vain on the top of my hand instead of the one in my arm like normal people, and now my hand hurts like hell and is all bruised and sore. Then, after he takes 1 vile of blood, takes the needle out, and tells me to be on my way, he says "oh, wait, there's another test they want to run on you, I'll need 1 more vile of blood". Are you kidding? Well I wasn't going to let him use my hand vein again, so I gave him my other arm, which apparently has a bigger vein because he used that one without any hesitation. So I left the lab looking like a pin cushion with cotton balls and tape everywhere.

Oh, and I mentioned last week that I have 3 chairs at my desk at work because I can't find one that doesn't hurt my back. So this week I bought a big exercise ball to sit on instead, and it feels much better. So I'm excited about that. Plus, since I'm basically balancing myself on the ball most of the day, I'll be getting a mini workout for my abs and back muscles while I work :)

I think I might have started having Braxton Hicks contractions. I'm not sure though, I'll have to bring it up to the doctor at my next appointment. My stomach gets really hard sometimes, it doesn't hurt at all, it's just hard. It kind of just feels like the baby is in an awkward position though, so I don't know which it is. Oh, and remember that weird ab muscle separation thing I mentioned last week? Well this week, it's actually started bothering me and being a bit painful, so I did some research on it and found out that the medical term for it is diastasis recti. I called the doctor to see if there was anything I could do to make it feel better (even though I was pretty sure there wasn't), she suggested I buy one of those big ugly maternity support belts, but I don't want to. I guess I'll wait and see if it bothers me enough to go get one in the coming weeks. And in case you're curious about my diastasis recti, below are some pictures of my stomach. The first shows what a "normal" pregnant belly looks like when looking down at it, this is what mine looks like when I'm just standing normally. The second picture is of my muscle separation, this is what my stomach looks like when I tighten my abs:

24 weeks

STATS:
24 weeks 3 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 141
Waist @ bellybutton: 36.5''
Issues: I'm really uncomfortable at work. I have three different chairs at my desk and I play musical chairs with them all day long thinking one will feel better on my back, but no luck.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? about the length of an ear of corn.


Here's some uterus information for ya,
(nothing more exciting than this has happened this week):

I noticed something strange a few weeks ago, whenever I sit up from a laying down position, or use my stomach muscles in anyway, I get this long slender bump down the middle of my stomach, from my rib cage down to my belly button. It looks weird, so I decided to ask my doctor about it at my appointment last week. Turns out it's not uncommon, I guess my stomach muscles, (which are usually attached to each other at the middle of your stomach, like interlaced fingers) have separated, and that bump I'm seeing down the middle of my abdomen is my uterus coming through the opening. Gross huh? And I read in one of my books this week that my uterus is the size of a soccer ball, that's pretty damn huge!

So while we're on the uterus subject, here is my bi-weekly uterus shot (from the outside of course):

23 weeks

STATS:
23 weeks 3 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 136
Waist @ bellybutton: 35''
Issues: I've come to realize that eating a bowl of rainbow sherbert and a few handfuls of whoppers right before bed is not a good idea. The baby was doing somersaults and jumping jacks for a good hour before I could fall asleep.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? he weighs about as much as a large mango

We had our check up ultrasound appointment on Monday to look at the speck in Kash's brain again. The doctor said that the speck is about the same size as it was 3 weeks ago, which is good. She said that in comparison with his brain, (which obviously has grown since the last visit) the speck is now so small that if this was our first visit she would have never known it was there. She also said that this sort of thing is sometimes seen in very premature babies, and that if it doesn't disappear and resolve on it's own, it won't have any affect on the way anything else works or develops, so it's basically nothing to worry about. She said that if my doctor thinks it's necessary she can have me bring Kash in after he's born to follow up on it. She gave me a ton of pictures this time, mostly profiles of his face close up. She said "what a beautiful baby", and just kept printing them out. So here is the best one (they all pretty much look the same):


The ultrasound tech gave me a few too, but hers are hard to make out. The one below is his profile again, in the same position as the one above, but he's touching his face so you can also see his shoulder, arm, and hand. Can you see it? I know, like I said, these ones aren't as easy to read.


And last but not least, the doctor also gave me a shot of his "goods". We've gone from 90% to 100% boy. This should prove it (in case you have a hard time with this one, the picture is taken from below his bottom, like he's sitting on the camera):


I also had my normal monthly OBGYN doctor's appointment this week. All went well there too. She said that she spoke with the ultrasound doctor and was told that the original speck had disappeared, and that there was now a new super tiny spec, and that she wants me to come back in for another ultrasound in a month to follow up on the new spec. Confused?, me too. I think what happened was that the ultrasound doctor didn't check my file before she did the 2nd ultrasound, so when she saw the "new" spec she didn't realize it was in a different spot and thought it was the old one. Once she looked at my file after I left she realized it was a different spec and then spoke with my doctor. Since I've now been told by 3 different doctor's that the spec(s) are nothing to worry about, I'm pretty sure that the ultrasound doctor is using me as a guinea pig to fulfill her curiosity about the specs, which is why she wants me to come back in a month. And that's fine with me, because I would never be getting this many ultrasound pictures otherwise.

22 weeks

STATS:
22 weeks 3 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 137
Waist @ bellybutton: 34.75''
Issues: I'm tired, always.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? the size of a spaghetti squash

I think my belly is starting to get in the way of my everyday activities. When I wash the dishes at the sink, my back starts to hurt becasue I have to stand further away, and lean over more. It's getting a little harder to do my yoga and stretching, to crack my back, and to sleep. And I know it's just going to get worse, 18 weeks to go...

We finished registering for gifts over the weekend, you can find more information about that on the left side of this main page. The theme for the babies nursery is counting sheep, the colors will be light blues and greens. We just ordered some pictures for the nursery walls, of cute little cartoon sheep.


And here are my latest belly pics:

21 weeks

STATS:
21 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 133
Waist @ bellybutton: 34.5"
Issues: I'm still sick, I guess it takes longer to get over a cold when your pregnant, bah.
How Big Is The Baby This Week? the length of a carrot

The ultrasound doctor gave me a call on Monday, she wanted to let me know that she spoke with another doctor, who is the head of perinatology at UCSF, about the little spec she saw in Kash's brain. The UCSF doctor told her that they had recently done a study on babies who had that same brain spec show up on their 20 weeks ultrasounds, and that almost all of them had it disappear by the time they came back a few weeks later for a check up. So she just wanted to call to assure me that it is most likely nothing to be worried about at all. But I will still be going back in a few weeks to check up on it, and to get some more pictures of him.

Oh, and we bought a new vacuum. "What does that have to do with the baby?", you might wonder. Well, it's a Dyson, and it's specifically designed to help reduce the causes of allergies and asthma, and if this kid is anything like me or TJ he will have both. Plus the baby will be crawling around on the carpet soon and it would be nice to have it be a clean carpet. You should have seen the amount of dirt and dog hair that the Dyson picked up, that our old crappy vacuum left behind. Disgusting.

Oooh, and I almost forgot, TJ made the baby a shelf for his room! It looks very nice, we just have to stain it now to match the furniture. We need all the extra storage space we can get in this apartment.

I had a strange vision issue yesterday. While I was at work things started to go blurry in the upper right corner of my eyes. It was really strange and it wasn't going away so I started freaking out, I thought I was going blind or something. I called the doctor and they told me to come in, so I did, but all they said was "if it happens again definitely give us a call". My vision went back to normal after about 45 minutes, so it was fine by the time I got to the doctor's office. I wasn't sure it was from my cold or the pregnancy or what. It didn't make me dizzy or anything and I could still see fine (except in that upper right corner), and since my blood pressure was normal at the office they said they don't worry about one time occurrences too much. It still freaked me out though, I've never had that happen before.

20 weeks

STATS:
20 weeks 2 days
Starting weight: 128
Weight: 137
Waist @ bellybutton: 34"
Issues: I've managed to catch only half of TJ's sickness thank god, but without being able to take any drugs, my throat is bothering the crap out of me!
How Big Is The Baby This Week? about the length of a banana

I feel like a lot of stuff has happened this week, so instead of cluttering up our "It's A Boy" post I figured I'd just write a second one. Besides finding out that we're having a boy, I've also finally realized that what I've been feeling for a few weeks now has actually been the baby moving. I probably barely started to feel it around 16 weeks, but it felt just like muscle spasms to me and I thought that's what they truly were, you know, caused by growing and stretching. Then they started happening a little more frequently, but I still didn't think it was the baby because everyone keeps explaining the feeling as "little butterflies in your tummy", or as gas bubbles, or even as a goldfish swimming around in there. It doesn't feel like any of those things to me. But over the last week or so they've been happening much more frequently, and I'd put my hand where they were to see if I could feel them on the outside, to confirm that it was actually the baby. But I wasn't sure if I was actually feeling it with my hand, or just thinking I was feeling it with my hand because I could feel it from the inside. Am I confusing you?, well, now you know how I felt about it. So the other night I felt it again, and this time I had TJ put his hand there so that he could tell me if you could actually feel it from the outside, and he could! So that confirms it. And what were TJ's words after he felt it?, "that's weird".

We also just recently signed up for Netflix (for TJ), and he created a second account for Kash under which he requests movies for the babies, like Baby Einstein's and Disney movies. Anyway, our first Baby Einstein video came in the mail yesterday and TJ was excited to see his name as the addressee. I think we feel better about everything now that we know it's a him, and now that he has a name it seems more real. Oh, and a tip for all of you that don't like the name Kash, write the full name down on a piece of paper (Kash Glover, middle name TBD), it looks good, and it will make you like it more, really.

And below is my bi-weekly belly shot: