26 Weeks

Yes, I know it's almost 27 weeks now.  I wasn't able to post week 26 until now because we took the baby on its first vacation.  Unfortunately, the baby couldn't see anything, but I like to think it still had fun.

Scott's mom, Sue, retired from teaching this year.  Her last day of school was Tuesday, May 31, and we went on a celebratory family vacation.  We left for Riviera Maya in Mexico on Saturday, June 4.  As we sat in the airport on Saturday morning, the baby moved in a different way, and it was tickling me.  It was pretty funny, except for the fact that I looked like a crazy person laughing for no reason.  I felt it move a lot during the 26th week.  It seems to be getting more and more active...just in time for it to start getting too crowded for it to move.  It's getting less shy with its movements now.  The baby will let Scott feel it move on a pretty regular basis.  I think he's having more fun with the baby now that he can feel it move more regularly.

According to the information I've read, the baby's eyes are now open.  The book I've read says that if you shine a flashlight on your stomach, the baby will move in response to the light since it can see now.  We haven't tried this yet, but it's cool to think that the baby is looking around sometimes.

Since I'll be posting more in a couple of days, I'm going to make this post pretty short.  Even though I was gone, I did still remember to take my weekly pictures (you're welcome, Mom).  Here they are:

25 Weeks

This was a rough week.  Not health-wise or baby-wise.  Everything is going fine there.  I haven't had any more issues (knock on wood), and the baby is still moving like crazy.  It tends to move most early in the morning.  It wakes up around 6:30, and it feels like it starts doing back-flips right away.  I love to lie in bed and watch my stomach literally jump up and down.  It also moves around a lot somewhere between 4:00 and 6:00 at night.  I'm sure it moves at other times during the day, but I'm usually busy and don't feel it as much.

So the rough week had nothing to do with worrying about the baby.  It was more selfish.  This was the first week that I felt fat.  Up until this week, I loved my big belly.  I was happy to see it getting bigger because I know that means that the baby is doing well, and that's all I really care about.  It still is all I care about, and I know I'm gaining weight for a good cause.  I also know it will all be worth it, but that doesn't make it hurt any less when certain comments are made.  The specific comments aren't important.  I'm only mentioning this because I want to document how I felt - the good and the bad - throughout this pregnancy.

To put my mind at ease, I asked my doctor about my weight when I was there yesterday.  His first response was that it must not be an issue because he couldn't even remember how much I had gained.  That told him that it didn't really stand out.  But, he went back to my chart and looked at the specific numbers.  Then he said, "no, you're perfectly fine.  You are absolutely within the normal range for this stage of your pregnancy."  That made me feel better!

The doctor also told me that the baby is doing well.  Its heart rate is still about 141 - 145, which is what it has been for a couple of months now.  He said when I go for another ultrasound at the end of June to check on the kidney, that I should also have the tech take another look at the placenta just to make sure all is well.

Of course, the fact that the baby is doing well is the best news of the week.  But, there is more good news.  I figured out how to control my heartburn!  My doctor had told me to take Pepcid for heartburn.  I tried that.  Whenever I got heartburn, I would take my Pepcid...and nothing would change.  My throat and chest would still be on fire.  Then it hit me that I was taking the Pepcid to correct the problem, instead of preventing it.  So, earlier this week, I tried taking it first thing in the morning.  It worked!  I didn't get heartburn until really late that night.  The next day, I didn't get it at all.  I'm sure the Pepcid is what's making the difference because I forgot to take it today, and the heartburn is back.  I won't forget again!

Finally, I want to thank all of the people who have helped me through my week of being sad over my weight.  Hearing that I "look cute" and that I am "all belly" has helped me to feel better about myself, and I appreciate it.

And now, the weekly pictures (I messed up this week.  I took the pictures on my camera's hard drive instead of the SD card, and I can't transfer them to the computer, so this is as good as they get.):

 

24 Weeks

This past week was rather...eventful.  Last week, I wrote about how Wednesday was a rough day.  Thanks to my super-fashionable belt, Thursday was a better day, and Friday started out good as well. However, at about 9:00 on Friday, I went to the bathroom and saw a little spot of blood.

I panicked!  I called the doctor, and they told me not to worry.  They said I would be in pain if anything was wrong.  I hung up and was appeased for about 3 minutes.  Then I started thinking of Grovo.  When things first started going wrong with him, they (different doctor's office) told me that if anything were wrong, I would be in pain.  I wasn't in any pain then, and there was definitely something wrong!  I also thought about the pain I was in on Wednesday.  As soon as my next class was over, I called the doctor again.  I reminded them of my history, and I told them I wanted to come in to be checked.  They called back a little later and said they could get me in at 11:30.

I left school, and Scott met me at the doctor's office.  By that time, I had seen a spot of blood one more time.  I was so nervous.  I started thinking of how Celeste's placenta started to tear away when Shelly was 35 weeks pregnant.  I also thought of how little our baby is.  It's lungs aren't developed enough yet.  It's only a little over a pound.  I worried that if it were born today it wouldn't survive, even in the NICU.  My palms were so sweaty as we waited for the doctor to come in.

I got to meet a new doctor, and I really liked him.  He joked around a lot, which made me calm down a little.  He did an exam and said he didn't see any blood, and he couldn't see a reason for the bleeding.  So, he sent me to get another ultrasound.  He wanted to make sure the placenta was okay.  The ultrasound tech let us see our baby again, and it looked great!  It was moving around like crazy!  Then she looked at the placenta.  She explained what it would look like if the placenta were tearing away, and our baby's placenta didn't look like that.  It was still perfectly intact.  The ultrasound tech told the baby to stop scaring Mommy.

We went back to the doctor, and he told us that everything looks great, and he couldn't explain why I had been bleeding at all.  He said it happens sometimes as you get bigger.  He told me not to worry; the baby is fine.  He said I shouldn't lift anything for two weeks, and I needed to stay off my feet as much as possible over the weekend.  Otherwise, there was really nothing else I could do, and everything should be just fine.  I was so relieved!

Other than that episode, it's been a pretty good week.  It's starting to get harder to breathe, and I know that will only get worse, but the baby has been SO active!  It's fun to feel it move around and watch my stomach jump up and down from time to time.

We also went on a tour of a day-care center.  My school has a day-care for children of employees in our school corporation.  We talked to one of the directors about their program, and we got to see all of the different classrooms.  It was fun to see where our baby will play, learn, and make friends!  And I love that it is right down the hall from me.  Several of my friends have kids that go to the day-care, and they are very happy with it.

And finally...this week's pictures:

23 Weeks

Sorry this post is a day late.  This time, it's the baby's fault.  I had my weekly pictures all ready to go...and then yesterday turned into a rough day.  When I got to school, I just didn't feel quite right.  As the day went on, the feeling got worse, and I was able to pinpoint exactly what was wrong.  The baby was sitting down LOW and was putting a lot of extra pressure on me.  It hurt SO bad!  As soon as my prep started, I called Mom.  I wanted to see if this was normal.  She said it sounded normal, but to call the doctor's office to make sure.  I called, and they said to get off my feet and see if that made it better.

Since it's near the end of the school year, taking off work is not the easiest thing.  So I stayed, and I taught from my chair.  I have to say, I have the most wonderful kids!  They were so well behaved, and they helped me so much.  They allowed me to sit back with my feet up for the rest of the day.  They took turns being my "assistant," and they helped each other so I didn't have to get up.  Of course, I helped them, too, but they were good about coming to see me when they had questions.  If I tried to get up or put my feet down, I had about 5 different kids yelling at me to sit back down and get my feet up.  I love this group!  I'm really going to miss them next year!

I came home last night, lay down on the couch, and didn't move again until I went to bed.

I'm better today.  I'm wearing my super-cool support belt.  Even though it makes me feel like I'm 90 years old, I don't hurt anymore.  I can still feel the baby down low.  At times, it feels like it's acting like a ping-pong ball, ricocheting back and forth between my bones, but the belt must be helping because I didn't hurt at all today.

Other than that, this week was pretty uneventful.  My heartburn is still really bad, but nothing really new to report except for the previously mentioned pictures.  Here they are:

Ultrasound Pictures!

I FINALLY got the pictures changed to the correct format.  Here's the first look at our baby (well...when it looks like a baby instead of a blob anyway):

Rubbing its little nose

Calf and Knee

Face and Belly

Showing off its muscles by flexing its arm

Tiny little foot

Calves

The hands look weird, but you can see the lips here.  Scott thinks it has my chin.

Ribs

Its spine is perfectly healthy

Sucking its thumb...just like Mommy used to

Swallowing amniotic fluid

"Everything is fine in here!"  Giving us the "thumbs up" sign.

Top of its head

And finally...

Our baby would like you to know that it's #1.  (Or, as Dad says, that there's only one in there.)

22 Weeks

I'll get the bad out of the way first.  My heartburn has been HORRIBLE!  It doesn't matter what I eat or don't eat.  It's unbearable.  I've heard that heartburn means the baby has a lot of hair.  If this baby comes out bald, my jaw will drop to the floor.

Now for the good:

I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day!  For the second year in a row, Scott and I had both of our moms (plus our dads and Brandon) over to celebrate our mothers.  This year, I got to be part of the celebration, too!  My mom bought me two maternity dresses.  Here is one of them:

Sue got me a gift card to Motherhood Maternity so I can go shopping.  And Scott surprised me with these:

Of course, the big news of this week came the day after Mother's Day.  We got to see our baby!  We had our ultrasound on Monday, and everything looks great!  There are no signs of Down's syndrome, no cleft lip/palate, and no spina bifida.  The brain and heart also look great.  It's little hands and feet are SO cute!  And Scott thinks that it has my chin.  There may be a minor problem with one kidney.  It may have some scar tissue on it.  It could correct itself automatically.  The worst-case scenario is that they would need to use a probe to remove the scar tissue once the baby is born.  This isn't ideal, but at least it doesn't involve cutting the baby open.  They want to keep an eye on the kidney so they are prepared, so I get another ultrasound at the end of June.  It will be fun to see how much the baby grows/changes in the next 8 weeks.  For now, though, here are some of our favorite pictures from this ultrasound:

Well, never mind.  The ultrasound pictures are in the wrong format, so I'll have to do some more work to get them on here.  For now, I'll show you some pictures of the baby from the outside (aka me):

21 Weeks

Sorry this is a day late. I know Mom is dying to see my weekly (huge) picture. But, I had tests to grade last night.

This week has been a good week (aside from the charley horses and HORRIBLE heartburn). I had my 3rd baby shower. Another 7th grade class threw me a shower last Friday.

The planners had a baby food tasting contest. Disgusting! I told them I couldn't play because they haven't proven that baby food is safe for unborn babies. They bought it, and I got to sit back and watch the competition.

Then the kids decorated onesies. I saw this on Grey's Anatomy, and I thought it looked like such a cute idea. I was so excited when I learned that this was part of the plan for the shower. The girls brought in onesies and fabric markers, and then the groups decorated them however they wanted.































The kids did a great job, and the onesies are REALLY cute.

Next week's post should be exciting! My next doctor's appointment is on Monday, and I get to have another ultrasound. Scott and I are so excited to see how the baby is doing and to get some new pictures! Until then, these pictures will have to do...