Seven Months and Counting (oops!)

I realized last night that I've been counting the weeks-to-months incorrectly, and I'm actually in the seventh month, not just the sixth! Wow!! So I just advanced a month in my pregnancy, at least in my mind. I think seven months seems more appropriate, considering the size of my belly. This thing is a monster!!



I laugh and laugh and laugh every time I look at the first pregnancy picture I took, at almost 15 weeks. Look at the extreme difference between then and now!



Now for the 29-week update from BabyCenter:

Your baby now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. To meet his increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because his bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

Six Months and Counting

We're slightly past the six month mark now, and counting down the days till our little babe arrives! She's very active in my (huge) tummy now. Tonight there was a large round surface moving back and forth across my belly, which we could only assume was her head. Very strange! She also likes to turn sideways and tickle my ribs, usually when I lie down to go to sleep or when I'm in a meeting at work.

My stomach is starting to get uncomfortably large now, and I'm sure it still has a lot of growing to do before November! It feels tight and bulbous and stretched, and puts a lot of pressure on my back. Oh, the things we put up with for our children ;-).

This picture of a very tired Mama-to-be was taken yesterday:

Crib Fun

We got our crib today!! Our friends Doug and Megan gave us the white sleigh crib their two adorable daughters used, and we happily picked it up in Woodstock this afternoon and brought it home for assembly.

Recommended for assembly: 2 Adults and 1 Cat

Luckily, William "Helpful Cat" Lizza was nearby to help Jeremy assemble the crib, which was in about 7 pieces when we brought it home. Here they are reading the instructions:



And now an action shot of the two boys screwing in one of the parts:



William then assumed a surveillance role in the project, while Jeremy did the heavy lifting:



Next, I dressed it up in the crib bedding I ordered a while back. We don't have a mattress yet, but use your imagination to picture it between the bed skirt and bumper:



It wasn't until I was about to leave the room that I saw two flashing eyes underneath the crib - William was kind enough to try out the drawer for us (and now he won't get out)!

27 Week Update

My nurse called on Friday evening to let me know that I passed the glucose screen test - hooray!! They also tested my iron and said it is a little low, so I'm now taking an iron supplement in addition to my prenatal vitamins. That makes three pills a day, which I take with dinner: prenatal vitamin, DHA, and iron. This baby should be getting everything she needs!

We're on week 27 now, the last week of the 2nd trimester. Here's what BabyCenter has to say about week 27:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

She does hiccup quite a bit, and my tummy jumps when she does. It feels like a twitch. She only does it 3 or 4 times and then it goes away.

We still haven't done any work on the nursery, but we do have some plans in place now. Here's the layout that we think will work best for her room (of course the cat will be in the chair!):

26 > 27 Weeks

Here I am at 26, going on 27 weeks (this was taken today):

That belly's getting pretty big, eh?

I had my glucose screening test today. I had to drink about 12 ounces of a really sweet fruit punch flavored drink within 5 minutes (which actually wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be), and then had my blood drawn 1 hour later. I'll get the results tomorrow, hopefully.

The doc measured my uterus (with a tape measure!) and said it's about a half centimeter smaller than normal, but that she would expect me to have a small baby since Jeremy and I are both small. They'll keep an eye on it during my next appointments to be sure the baby is still growing as she should be. It sure doesn't feel or look to me like she's too small!!

My next appointment is in 3 weeks and I'll start rotating among the other doctors in the practice so we can get to know each other, since there is a high likelihood that one of them will deliver our baby. After that I'll start going in every 2 weeks, and then for the last 4 - 6 weeks I will go in every week. We're getting closer!