25 Weeks, 6 Days

Baby has been causing a ruckus lately. My heartburn has been so bad today I was afraid if I bent over at the waist I'd throw up! Gross, right? My bad. I was going to run some errands this morning while hubby was at work but decided to sit tight and rest. When I talked to my sister she made the point that maybe the little one will come out with a full head of hair. He better come out with enough to donate at this rate! Whew. I've been trying my hardest to sit up as straight as can be after dinner and sleep propped up. Sometimes that is more successful than others.

Baby has also been kicking. or Kicking. So I can say he's Kicking with a capital K. He's super active at 5a, and the other day it was like he was trying to jump up and down on the bed -- every time I rolled from one side to the other he'd get his bearings, then start kicking the heck out of whichever side was down. Hubby has been working an early shift this week, so at least I don't worry about waking him up as I try and lull the baby back to sleep. I'm not sure if rocking helps, but I'm trying it. At least it gets me back to sleep. Eventually.

We had our first baby class last night -- infant care. We learned a few things that hopefully we won't forget in 3 months. Swaddling, bathing, diapering, and a bit about feeding among other things. We probably learned the most from the pediatrician who spoke about what to expect for the baby after the birth. The vitamin K shot, the various screening. He also talked about the importance of both skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth and an early breastfeeding session. I'm really looking forward to that time together!

Time to relax and watch the Mets win (fingers crossed). And drink some water to keep hydrated. :)

25 Weeks, 1 Day

Today is hubby's birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HON! We've had a lot going on in the last year, and we sure have fun things coming in the next year. We moved, got new jobs, sold and bought a house, got pregnant... major life events!

In a random way, being pregnant is like being back in the South. Everyone is so nice! I walked early this morning at the reservoir and everyone was full of smiles and hellos and good mornings. Okay, so it's like the South... with people staring at my growing belly. I love the people who don't ask about the pregnancy ("because it would be rude to assume"), and yet they stare at my belly the entire time we're chatting. Cracks me up!

Heartburn and indigestion have been crazy lately, but Dad suggested I take my heartburn meds later at night/closer to when I go to bed and that's helping tremendously. I feel like my body is much more sensitive to things than it was before, like what and how much I eat and when I eat it. Hubby has always said I'm very in tune with my body... but I think that helps.

Being pregnant has me less baby-obsessed. Is that odd? Okay, well, less other-people's-babies-obsessed. I pepper the mom and dad with questions, completely ignoring the baby. Ha -- I'm missing the baby for the Bob! I'm soaking up as much parental intel as I can... and not ashamed of it.

How I Feel: Great!

Bump Size: Regular shirts aren't reaching my pants anymore. Oh well. Mothers say I look little, but non-mothers who are my friends tell me I look huge (guessing that's a difference in comparing me to other 25-week pregnant people vs what I looked like... 25 weeks ago).

Cravings: None really. Anything I eat gets old immediately and I don't want to see it again. Until 2 hours later when I want more. Or 2 days later when it becomes appetizing again.

Nursery Changes: We bought our carseat! We even put it in the car. Just to practice. :) Now it's airing out in the baby's room! SO excited!!

24 Weeks, 2 Days

Another week down! Still feeling good, minus one day when the little one had a 24-hour kickboxing session. Whew! I'm going to have to start keeping better track of when I take my heartburn medication too -- I sure can feel it later when I don't take it when I'm supposed to. My forgetfulness is reaching an all-time high, so I might have to resort to one of those pill boxes to help me remember if I actually swallowed the heartburn-preventing goodness.

I gained 7 pounds last month. 7 pounds! As I've said before, what the body does, the body does. So be it. But dude! I was talking to other moms the other day and laughing over how people say that "it all evens out!" You may have a 7-pound month followed by a no-weight-gain month. But you might also have a 7-pound month followed by another 7-pound month! Ha! Only time will tell. But I'm cutting back a bit on the ice cream desserts. Maybe just one scoop instead of two. ;)

Hubby and friend successfully ran the marathon! It was a lot hillier than we expected, but they both finished and didn't die and were in good spirits afterward. I definitely consider that a win. I ended up walking 6 or 7 miles from cheering point to cheering point (to cheering point to finish), and I can vouch for the hills! Hubby is talking about running another marathon (number 8) in October, two weeks before our due date. That's fine by me -- but we both know I'll be parking myself in one spot and not moving along the course!

At our doctor's appointment this week everything looked and sounded good. The heartbeat is supposed to be between 120 and 160 at this point -- and we were dead-on at 140. We saw the 4th doctor out of the 5 in the practice, and he was super nice and great when answering all of our questions. 24 weeks down!

How I Feel: Pretty good! Kicked. Often. (and loving it)

Bump Size: Growing every day it feels like. Regular-sized shirts are for sure not reaching my pants anymore.

Nursery Changes: Zippo. Oh wait, no. We bought an iPod docking station/speakers today on Woot. We debated which one we wanted but opted for the one they had magically on sale today -- it comes with a remote I figure will come in handy for mid-feeding song-changing moments. Maybe tomorrow Woot will have the carseat we want on sale...

This is Precious

At 23 weeks and 24 weeks (um, maybe I peeked)... the baby books and blogs and web sites start to mention viability. It's crazy to me that this little guy who has been growing and moving around inside me for weeks is only just now reaching the edge of the window of viability outside of me. It's something I don't even want to think about or talk about let alone write down, but here I am. My sister is also pregnant (3 weeks ahead of me) and had a bit of a scare this week. Not preterm labor, but the stage right before it. One overnight in the hospital, some rest and medicine later she's allowed to ease back into work with half days next week. Another episode like this one and it's bedrest. In the midst of how wonderful and exciting it is to be pregnant, sometimes the sprinkles of fear fall more like dollops. You make it enough weeks to hear the heartbeat... whew... then to see your little one in your 1st ultrasound... whew... then your 2nd ultrasound... but there's always some story you hear or some "friend of a friend" that makes you hold back just a little bit of your excitement. Every day becomes a milestone, even if you think (like me) that you have nothing to worry about. So I bask in every kick and every movement because they're little reminders that everything is going fine.

Our little guy moved a TON today! We went for a walk with our friend Aleen who is in town to run a marathon with the hubby this weekend. We head to Vermont tomorrow and the marathon is Sunday. It's hubby's 7th! I'm praying for good weather (cool and overcast) and a good run. I know he is too! He's been doing his training and hopefully everything will go smoothly. I know this baby will love outdoor time and running with his daddy. Hubby is a dedicated runner, and I look forward to getting there eventually. Maybe. Haha. Certainly not until the baby is born! But it's one of the many things I love about my husband -- he loves to be outside together and to be active. A jogging stroller is in our future and I know he'll be putting it to use!

There are many things I imagine about this little guy growing inside me, and one of them is he and his father running together. I love closing my eyes with my hand on my belly and picturing that kind of thing.

23 Weeks

Today I am 23 weeks and 1 day pregnant! The last 5 (and change) months have been amazing. We're due November 2, and I can.not.wait. We're having a baby boy and we just couldn't be more excited.

I feel like it took forever for me to be showing. Now that I'm showing I'm worried about how big I'll be growing! Last week I realized I'm showing and I have so many more weeks to... grow! But I also know that what the baby wants, the baby gets. What the body does, the body does, and it's all worth it for baby. I have to take better care of myself than I probably ever did before -- rest more, hydrate better, snack more. It becomes pretty clear pretty quickly when I haven't done those things. Walking with the hubby today around town we had to cut it short. I could feel my belly get tight and a bit uncomfortable. So home for more water and resting.

We got our crib and put it together! We have a 9-cube bookshelf and put a "family tree" on the wall. With my family so far away, and all sets of grandparents either passed away or not in great health, I really like having our family in a place the baby can grow up and see them every day. We're slowly but surely putting everything together, but we have plenty of time. We love figuring out every detail and plotting out every square inch of the room (okay well maybe that last part is mainly me haha) where we're likely to be spending a lot of time come the fall!

How I Feel: Awesome. Growing!

Bump Size: Definitely showing, but now I think I'm at the point where I'm finally realizing it and I've stopped bumping it into counters.

Cravings: Not really any. Pregnancy-long it's been olives. Really the green stuffed olives. Omg I love them. It's everything I can do not to eat an entire jar.

Nursery Changes: We put the crib together (!!) and hubby moved the bookshelf out of the baby's room and into a guest room.