27 Weeks...On to the 3rd Trimester!

Wow, I honestly can't believe I just typed 3rd TRIMESTER!  It doesn't seem possible that we're closer to the end of this journey than the beginning.  It has really gone very fast.  I know, I know come December I won't be thinking or saying this anymore, but for now it does seem like it's really flown by.

Next Monday is the first of 4 Lamaze classes I have signed us up for.  Too bad Matthew is going to be in Chicago that night.  Thankfully a friend is going with me so I'm not alone.  Matthew will definitely get his fill of other classes though!  Lamaze is a total of 4 classes, then there is a breastfeeding class, newborn care, epidural anesthesia, and infant/child CPR.  Oh yes, he gets to attend them all with me!  :o)  He does seem to be kind of excited about learning things about babies so that's good!

Sophie won't enjoy all the evenings we're going to be gone over the next few months, but I guess she'll get used to it.  It's definitely starting to hit me that she's going to get a LOT less attention once the baby is here.  I hate that.  Some people may think I'm crazy for saying this, but she really was our first baby, and especially with all the infertility stuff was dragging me down, she was such a great comfort.  When I was upset she'd crawl up in my lap and lick the tears from my face.  Hopefully she doesn't go through too rough of an adjustment period once he's here.  We've been talking about him and using his name a lot around her so she gets used to hearing it, but she won't fully understand it until there's a little person attached to that name.  She's great with other people's kids, so I hope she's the same way with her little brother!

Well now that I'm off that soap box, here's this week's belly shot.

26 Weeks!

Yea!  I'm on time this week.  haha!  Not much to report this week.  I had my latest OB appt. yesterday.  Everything went great.  Little man's heart rate was in the 150's, nice and strong.  The midwife said everything sounded and measured out great.  She gave me a pamphlet on pre-term labor and the signs of it.  Now that I'm almost to the 3rd trimester (OMG!!!) it's something I need to be on the look out for, especially since I'm on my feet all day.

I still can't believe I'm only a week or so away from the 3rd trimester!  It doesn't seem possible.  I'm really amazed at how fast this pregnancy is going.  It kind of makes me sad.  I've really enjoyed it so far.  I know, I know...just wait, I'll be dying for it to be over in a few months...blah blah blah.  I'm sure that's probably true, but really so far it's been great.  Don't get me wrong I can't wait to meet our little guy and finally hold him, but there are so many things about pregnancy that I won't be able to experience once he's born.  I absolutely love feeling him move.  It's such a cool feeling.  I actually find myself missing his movements when he's sleeping and not moving around.

The one thing I won't miss is the pain in my ribs.  Wow...this was something I hadn't ever read about and didn't expect.  My ever expanding midsection is constantly putting pressure on the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones in and around my ribcage, and man is it painful!  I can always tell when our little guy is going through a growth spurt because the pain doesn't go away.  It's constant for a few days.  Most of the time I only get it after I've eaten or been sitting too long.  I think I'm pretty much going to be having this pain steadily from now until the end because he's growing so much more and so much faster than at any point up till now.  It's definitely worth it, I swear I'm not really complaining, but that's been the one thing that I would be ok without dealing with again.  lol!

On an exciting note, we got our first piece of baby furniture this week!  We got one of the dressers for his room on Wednesday!  Yes I said one of...lol.  It's gorgeous and we absolutely love it!  My favorite part is when the drawers are open it smells so good!  I love the smell of new wood furniture :o)  I can't wait to get the other pieces and have his room all put together.  It's making everything seem so real now!
Well anyway, now that I've bored you, here's the weekly pic!

25 Weeks...what an eventful update!

Well comes the 25 week picture.  It's a few days late because we've been crazy busy this week.  I took it on Thursday but didn't get it posted.  We've had something going on almost every evening this week.  Last night was the first night that we was supposed to be relaxing, but that so didn't happen. 

Matthew was in St. Louis for work, and had planned to stay over with one of his friends so he didn't have to drive all the way there and back in the same day.  Those plans all changed when I came down with a stomach bug.  I was feeling nauseous all morning while getting ready for work, but it was too late to call in to work, and I really didn't want to waste the few sick days I have left, since most of them are being used for maternity leave.  Breakfast did not settle well on my stomach, but I knew I had to eat something, so I tried to eat as much as I could.  I got to work and was still a little queasy but was pushing through and trying to ignore it the best I could.  About 15 minutes after my kids arrived I couldn't ignore it any longer.  I wound up getting sick...lovely I know.  I stuck it out during the rest of the day because I didn't get sick anymore, but I definitely did not feel well.  As the afternoon drug on I was having stomach cramping.  I'd been trying to decide whether to call the OB or not and  wasn't going to, but then the cramping started.  I left as soon as my kids were gone for the day instead of staying through contract time.  On my way home I left a message for the nurses at my OB's office and climbed into bed while I waited for a call back.  When she called about an hour later I described all the symptoms I'd been having and she told me that the cramping did concern her a bit.  It could mean that I was starting to get dehydrated since I hadn't eaten or drank much all day.  She then suggested that I go to a Prompt Care or the ER to get checked out.  I knew Matthew was on his way home, but wouldn't be back until almost 7:00 and asked if it was ok to wait that long.  She told me it would be ok, and to try and keep drinking.

Matthew gets home around 6:30, we both changed clothes and got in the car.  We headed to the hospital because most of the Prompt Cares were closed, and the one that was still open didn't have an ultrasound machine, should we have needed it.  They told us to go to the hospital.  When we arrived I asked the person at the info desk where to go for the ER.  When I told her I was 25 weeks along she told me that we would bypass the ER all together and go straight to labor and delivery.  The ER doctors would've sent me up there anyway because I was past 20 weeks.  She put me in a wheel chair and took me upstairs.  Once we got up there, they gave me a gown and had me climb into the bed.  They hooked me up to all the fetal monitors and took info from both of us.  Thankfully our little guy was very active the whole time, and his heartbeat was nice and strong.  He was not a fan of the fetal monitors and kept trying to kick them off.  It was very reassuring to hear him move around and hear his heartbeat. 

The nurse showed me on the printouts where I was having some stomach cramping and she said it was causing some slight uterine contractions, but they weren't serious, just uncomfortable to the baby and me.  She talked to one of the midwives in my OB's practice and got instructions from her.  There has been a stomach virus going around, and they've seen several patients with it lately.  She also told the nurse to do an internal check just to make sure the stomach cramps didn't start any real contractions.  Thankfully they hadn't.  So we had our instructions and they sent us on our way a little over an hour later.

We weren't exactly happy to be spending a Friday night in the L&D unit at the hospital but we were both very relieved when everything checked out fine.  Here's hoping that's our last trip to L&D until late December!  Now on to the fun part.  Here's this week's picture :o)

Weekly update...24 Weeks!

Well here is this week's exciting news.  Over the weekend we were able to see Baby Boy move for the first time!  Matthew and I went to visit Mom and Dad for the weekend and we went to a friend's wedding in Cincinnati on Saturday night.  When we got back little man was moving and shaking all over.  I had my hand resting on my belly and just happened to glance down just as he kicked and I was able to see my hand and belly move!  It was the coolest thing.  I sat real still for a while hoping that he'd keep going, which he did.  After a few minutes I had Matthew come sit next to me to watch.  He came over, and I'm sure we looked pretty ridiculous staring at my belly.  Sophie definitely wondered what in the world we were doing.  ha!  It didn't take long before he started moving all around again, so Matthew got to see my belly move too.  I wish I had a video of his reaction.  It cracked me up!  Once he saw our little guy move he started talking to my belly, encouraging him to move some more and would get so excited when Baby would respond to his voice.  It was pretty darn cute, I have to admit :o)

Mom also got to see little man move around a little as well.  Dad was trying to trip us up all weekend in hopes that we'd accidentally say his name.  Nice try Dad, but we didn't fall for it.  I do have to commend the effort though!  :o)

Well I guess that's it for this week's update.  Here we go...I can't believe the difference in my belly in just the last few weeks! 

23 Weeks!

Today is 23 weeks and I'm feeling really good.  The pain in my ribs has come back, so I think that means little man is going through a growth spurt again.  I typically get the pain after eating, which the OB said is not uncommon.  The stomach fills and further crowds an already crowded space, forcing the ribs out, but every few weeks the pain will be continuous for a few days.  The last time this happened I noticed a very significant increase in the size of my belly.  I've noticed the belly getting bigger and tighter in the last couple of days, so I'd say he's definitely growing fast :o) 

I'm also feeling more and more movement which helps put my mind at ease.  Each kick, roll, punch, etc makes me feel better.  He's even kicking at me as I type this.  The movements are strong enough now that Matthew has no trouble feeling it.  Last weekend before we got up he had his hand on my belly for a good ten minutes and our little guy was rolling and moving all over.  That was the longest Matthew has ever been able to feel him at one time. 

Well here's this week's token belly pic.  I don't think it will be too much longer until my bellybutton pops out.  It's about as shallow as it can possibly be now!  I keep waiting for the day I wake up and it's out for the whole world to see.  ha! 

22 Weeks!

Not quite as exciting as our ultrasound on Monday, but here's the weekly belly shot!  He's getting bigger everyday and I feel more and more movement!  Last night I was lying on the couch and felt his hiccups again.  Of course by the time I told Matthew they were over.  Such a cool feeling though!
This weekend it's off to Southern Indiana for my grandma's 90th birthday!  So glad she is still going strong!  Should be a fun trip, especially since I'm quite a bit bigger than the last time I saw everyone :-)

Cartoon

Well I saw this on our fertility clinic's Facebook page and I couldn't resist reposting!  It made me laugh.  Very true though!