28 Weeks!

This week, baby is the size of an eggplant. He measures between 13.6 and 14.8in, and weighs between 1.5 to 2.2lbs. He's now packing on layers of fat, giving his skin a smoother, less wrinkly look. His lungs are mature enough that he could probably breathe on his own. He can now open and close his eyes and sense changes in light. 

I had an appointment this morning with the midwife. They took my blood pressure twice--it was a little high the first time, but totally normal a few minutes later. Still chalking that up to anxiety. Otherwise everything is looking good. I'm not having too many symptoms (aside from general achiness and discomfort, a little swelling, and feeling more tired than I have the last couple of months-- all totally normal). All my tests from last week came back normal. I'm not showing any signs of preeclampsia so far, which is great! Because this is about the time things started going downhill with Evelyn. Fingers crossed the preeclampsia stays away altogether. I asked whether they would send me for another ultrasound, since I had a growth scan around 30 weeks with Evelyn. The midwife agreed that it wouldn't be a bad idea, but that it wasn't standard procedure for a healthy pregnancy. (Now that I think about it, it was the high-risk office that did that scan with Evelyn). Then she check Two's heartbeat, which was perfect. And she measured me....and I'm measuring 4 weeks ahead. 

Good grief!

Needless to say, she decided to re-address the thought of a second ultrasound at my next appointment because she has no concerns that he'll be too small now.

So. If you're out and about and see a cute outfit you'd like to get for Two, skip the newborn sizes and go for the 0-3 or 3-6 month sizes :-x He might be a big boy.

We finally got our painting done in the nursery. The trim and the ceiling are white now. Tim is going to swap out the tan outlets and switches, and then I can get the room put together :) I spent some time over the weekend hemming cotton gauze for swaddling blankets like the ones I made for Molly. And I did the nautical flag bunting for the wall. I'm going to use the rest of that fabric to make him some bibs. 

The only bad news on the horizon is that our AC isn't working. Tim thought he fixed it this afternoon, but it's still not cooling. So we have to get someone out to look at it. Tomorrow is going to be the worst day this week-- in the 90's here-- but we should be OK after that. I'm very thankful I insisted on the window unit for our bedroom. At least we can sleep comfortably. But I'm finding it harder to avoid my ankles swelling with it getting up to 82 degrees in the house. Ugh. 

27 weeks! Third trimester!!

This week, baby is the size of a rutabaga. He's still growing in the 1.5-2.5lb range, but he's getting better with his practice breaths and is showing brain function now. Not only is he getting bigger, he's also getting smarter!!

We're officially in the third trimester! 3 more months and Two will be here! And, hopefully, not a moment sooner :-x

The swelling seems to be less of an issue this week, but I have been getting stiff a lot easier. I have woken up with neck pain the last few days and I get a good bit of stiffness around my midsection (like I've done 100 too many sit ups). But otherwise, I'm feeling pretty good. Evelyn is definitely out-pacing me in terms of energy. And, now that we have a calm week ahead, I have to go have that glucose test done. And I'll hopefully get the doors for the nursery finished. Whew!

26 weeks!

This week, baby is the size of a head of lettuce! He's still growing in the 13.6-14.8 inch and 1.5-2.5lb range. His eyes are forming, and he will soon begin opening them. He's soaking up antibodies from mama to prepare his immune system for the outside world. He is also beginning to take "practice" breaths to help his lungs get strong enough for constant breathing on the outside.

He's also moving around a lot more than before. I'll be sitting around, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I will not only feel, but see, him move from one side to the other. That's right. We're officially at the alien phase. If I watch long enough, I can SEE kicks and rolls.
Now that Evelyn is officially moved in to her new room (we bolted the furniture to the wall last night), I can get to work in the nursery. I'm going to wash the walls this week and hopefully Tim will take down the doors so I can paint them in the garage. Fingers crossed I get to the trim before getting up and down from the floor is something that I'm no longer capable of doing :P

25 weeks!

This week, baby is the size of a cauliflower. He's measuring between 13.6 and 14.8 inches and weighs between 1.5 to 2.5 lbs. We're measuring in pounds now! Woo hoo! He has figured out which way is up and which is down and is working on building up cute baby chub. He's also working on growing hair.

I've been fighting with some swelling lately. Mostly in my ankles at the end of the day. I can still wear my wedding band, which is great. But the days I'm on my feet a lot or haven't quite kept up with my water intake, my ankles are pretty swollen by the time Evelyn goes to bed. So I've been using the evenings to put my feet up and work on Two's blanket :) Now that Evelyn's room is done, I can start thinking about the nursery. I have some crafts lined up, but nothing too severe (since I'm running low on time where I'll be able to move comfortably).

24 weeks!

This week, baby is the size of a cantaloupe. His skin is becoming more pink (thanks to new capillaries forming) and less translucent. He measures between 10.5 and 11.8 inches and weighs in between 12.7 and 20.8 oz. Every day, he comes closer to being capable of surviving out in the world.

I have been feeling pretty good. Not exactly nesting, but I am hammering away at my to-do list as best I can. I had an appointment today, and my BP was high at the first measurement (which is not new--I blame anxiety) but I got a great measurement a few minutes later, so that's great. Talked to the doctor about delivery options and she gave me a consent form to read and sign before my next appointment. The plan for now is to schedule a c-section around my due date, but if I go into labor on my own, they'll let me have a shot at a normal birth as long as the circumstances are good. Because of my history, they will not do an induction, which is great. I told her I had no problem with that. She also ordered my glucose tolerance test (checking for gestational diabetes. This is routine--they do it for everyone), so I have to go have that done before my next appointment in July.

Two's new ride

We finally got the car seat thing sorted out. When we found out Two was a boy, I twitched a little bit because our infant seat is pink and flowery. It's what Babies R Us had on hand when we found out we needed to bring Evelyn home before she broke 5 lbs (the minimum weight requirement for our nice, neutral green-and-grey carseat). And the pink flowery thing was the only thing Babies R Us had that wasn't $300 and would fit a preemie.
So I looked to see if I could get a new cover for the seat from Graco in a different pattern. I called their parts people, and was told no-- I could only order replacements for parts I already have.
And then I looked into getting a custom made cover. But they're a bit gaudy (see below) and just as expensive as a new car seat would be. And I don't trust my sewing skills enough to deconstruct our current cover and re-make it myself in normal colors.

WHYYYYY???

So. We decided to find someone to donate Evelyn's girly seat to. And we'll get a nice green one for Two (and any future siblings).

So we went to the big Babies R Us outside Harrisburg and came home with this:

And this, so both Two and Evie can ride when we go out:

The infant seat can fit in either of those seats, and Evelyn can fit in the front seat or the back seat can be removed and she can ride sitting on the little bench or standing on the platform at the bottom. This way, I don't have to worry so much about one or the other bolting on me in a parking lot or busy store. I can keep them both contained if I need to. My only complaint is that everything is so darkly colored, which will make things extra toasty in the summertime :-/ All the car seats are like this now. This one does boast on the box about being warm in the winter/cool in the summer. We'll see about that. 

So we're all set for traveling. Evelyn said she's excited to have company in the back seat in a couple of months :)

Two's Name Poll

I posted a poll so that everyone can vote on Two's name. I had several people tell me they thought it was fun to vote on Evelyn's name, so I thought we'd do it again for Two :)

To vote on the poll (which is in the right-hand column of this page), just click on the button next to your name choice and click the "vote" button. If you want to vote for more than one name, I've made it so you can do that as well. Just click the button next to your two name choices, then click "vote".

For anyone who tried voting last week and couldn't get it to work, the poll should now accept votes.

Thanks and have fun!

23 weeks!

This week, baby is about the size of a grapefruit. Measuring roughly 11.8 inches and weighing up to 20.8 oz, Two is spending plenty of time getting used to new noises. On top of mom's heartbeat and voice, he can now hear loud sounds from the outside world as well. His face is fully formed now--he just has to pack on some baby fat to fill it out.

I'm feeling pretty good. There's an air conditioner in our bedroom window now, so I'm sleeping pretty comfortably. But my ankles have started swelling up at the end of the day, despite the constant water intake. It's a little annoying, but always gone by morning. It just kills anything I was intending to do after Evelyn goes to bed because I have to get my feet up :-x

I feel some days like we're never going to get this to-do list done, but then I remember that I was skeptical that we'd get Evelyn's room ready before the end of June, and things are looking pretty good. The walls are done, so I'm going to paint the trim white this week. Tim will do the ceiling over the weekend, and we're hoping to get down to Home Depot to get new shelving for the closet. Once that's in, we can begin assembly :) The old bed is out, so we need to get a twin mattress set for her. But other than that, we have all of her furniture. And, thanks to Grace, I get to skip hunting for new bed sheets and whatnot :)

I'm also hoping to finally catch up on Etsy orders this week. I hate making people wait (because I hate waiting), but everyone is being patient. I have two more orders to get out the door, then I can work on some crafts for Two when I need a break from working on the bedroom :P

22 weeks!

This week, baby is 20.8 oz and 11.2 inches long--about the weight of a papaya fruit. His eyes and lips are now fully developed, giving him more of a squishy newborn look. And he's starting to sleep in cycles of about 12-14 hours per day. The bad news is, his sleep cycle is reversed from mine--he's quiet all day and dances up a storm just as I'm laying down to go to sleep! He can also hear sound from outside the womb now--so he's probably enjoying a lot of Evelyn's screeching and shouting and laughing right now, since she's the loudest thing in the house :P

I finally got Evelyn's room cut in with primer. I even rolled one wall. But then I ran out of energy and stopped. Tim is taking off on Friday so we can get some more done. Hopefully it will be purple by the end of the week :)

I had a doctor's appointment today. Blood pressure is good and baby is sounding good as well. They asked me to start taking a baby aspirin and at least 6 tums per day (for the calcium) since there are a lot of studies that show these things to reduce the risk of pre-ecclampsia. They also sent me to the lab for baseline blood work, so they have a reference point if things do start to go wrong. They also told me to stop taking my blood pressure at home, because there's nothing wrong with me. So if you ask how my blood pressure is the next time you see me, I will probably just shrug at you :P

21 weeks!

This week, baby is 12.7 oz and 10.5 inches long! He weighs about the same as a large pomegranate. At this size, his movements are less like flutters and more like full blown kicks, tumbles, and jabs. He's still hard at work giving his digestion a run for it's money-- studies show that the stuff he tastes now will turn out to be what he prefers later. Better get on top of my fruits and veggies!

I definitely have more energy now. And I'm getting a bit hurried about getting the house ready (although you wouldn't know it by the state of the living room and kitchen). I've been working on painting the closet doors for Evelyn's room white, and we're going to get the room taped off and primer'd soon. But now that we're moving on it, I feel better. Paint, Trim, closet shelving, then moving Evelyn in. Then I can get the nursery ready for Two :)

I opened my Etsy shop back up and now have an order or two to fill. Elf hats, woo. I'm thinking of raising the price a little so people will order something else. Or at least I can make an extra dollar or two every time I ship one, since EVERYONE wants them for newborn photos :P But at least I have something to do when I'm sitting around with my feet up :)

20 Weeks!

This week, baby weighs about 10.6 oz and is around 6.5 inches long. He's giving his digestive system a test by swallowing amniotic fluid--up to a couple ounces per day. He also has working taste buds, so he can taste all that awesome food we're eating;)

I've been feeling pretty good lately--it's nice to know that Two is a boy-- we can start planning now. We've already cleaned out the guest room and went today to get paint while it was on sale. We're painting Evelyn's new room light purple. She's getting very excited. I'll probably start prepping things this week--there are some holes to patch and a corner in the closet needs to be repaired. But I'll leave the sanding to Tim, I think. Too much dust for me ;)

So glad to be halfway!!

Two is a...

BOY!!!

Profile shot with a couple of fingers

Here he is yawning...a little creepy, but cute with imagination?

19 Weeks!

This week, Two is the size of a mango:) Baby is 6 inches long and weighs about 8.5 oz. Their skin is now coated with a covering that protects it from the amniotic fluid. Baby is forming the nerve endings needed for his/her five senses to begin working--taste, sight, smell, and hearing.

I had a regular checkup on Friday, and that went really well. I only gained two pounds (woo!), got a really good blood pressure reading, and they found the heartbeat right away. Two does not like the doppler. S/he tries to get away from it. Heart rate was 140-- sounding good:) I have two more monthly appointments, then I go down to bi-weekly appointments.

I'm feeling a lot of movement now. Which is still so exciting, since I didn't feel anything until much later with Evelyn. I remember thinking at our ultrasound with her that it was weird to see her move on the screen, but not really feel it.

Our ultrasound is tomorrow at 3pm. I'm so excited--tomorrow afternoon, we'll know what Two is and I can start planning (and crafting)!

18 weeks and Mother's Day 2014

This week, Two is the size of a sweet potato. Baby is becoming increasingly mobile. S/he is spending time yawning, hiccuping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking, and swallowing. Baby is 5.6 inches and 6.7 oz and growing rapidly (which is why I'm so hungry!)

I am occasionally able to feel movement now, which is very exciting. I couldn't feel Evelyn move until about 21-22 weeks because the placenta was in the front, blocking all those little kicks. They told me at 10 weeks when they did the first ultrasound that the placenta was in the front again, but it must not be totally centered, because I feel plenty of movement now, especially around dinnertime.

On the down side, I have been getting headaches more frequently (but my blood pressure is no higher than normal). And I get a bit restless at bedtime regardless of how active I've been during the day. My legs feel like they might get up and walk away whether I want them to or not, so I have to get up and stretch and shake out my limbs before I can settle down to sleep. It's super annoying, but something I dealt with last time around. I might mention it to the doctor when I see her on Friday.

1 week left until our ultrasound! I'm so excited, but nervous at the same time. We'll get to see Two and find out if it's a he or a she, but these things can turn up bad news as well. So fingers crossed and prayers said for no bad news.

We celebrated Mother's Day all weekend. It started with a delicious breakfast in bed on Saturday morning:) Then we headed over to Mom's and gave her all of her Mother's Day gifts (some annuals, a couple of arborvitae for her back yard, and a stepping stone with Evelyn's handprint in it). We then went out for dinner and ice cream with Mom, Dan, and Emily.
On Sunday, Tim and I got up a bit early and made chocolate chip waffles for breakfast:) We headed to church with his parents, then had a little cookout at their house, where we gave Fran her gifts as well.

My present from Tim and Evelyn came in the mail today-- 4 seasons of Doctor Who DVD's to keep me entertained while I spend late nights with a newborn :D

17 Weeks!

This week, baby is about the size of a pear! S/he is about 5.1 inches long and weighs almost 6oz. Baby's bones are beginning to harden and s/he is beginning to put on some fat. S/he has probably had the hiccups before, but around now is when mom can start feeling them. Baby's brain and eyes are making huge strides in development daily.

Now that we have a couple of free weekends in our near future, we've been getting down to business on getting our to-do list hacked away at. This past weekend, we built a sandbox for Evie to play in this summer (so I can keep her semi-contained while we're outside). Tim has a bunch of trees he wants to get cut down, and we also have some bedroom switching we need to do before baby gets here.

I saw this on pinterest and thought it was perfect for little kids to play in,
and the nifty lid keeps the neighborhood cats from using it as a toilet :)

I've been trying to use every afternoon I don't have to work to get some crafting done, mostly baby shower stuff and gifts. I don't want to leave anything for the last minute because I'm afraid my blood pressure will shoot up and I will be useless for the last two months of pregnancy or the baby will come early. Good thing we have most everything we could need for the newborn months. But I have a to-do list a mile long that would drive me nuts if I was put on bedrest again :-x

*sigh*

Two weeks until the ultrasound. Then at least I'll know if I need to start shopping for blue things or not :P

16 weeks

This week, baby is about the size of an avocado:

Bones are forming in baby's ears, which means s/he can now pick up voices. Which means s/he hears a lot of Evelyn's happy squealing and shouting "NO!" when we ask her questions. Baby is about 4.6 inches long and weighs about 3.5 oz. S/he is beginning to grow hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes this week, along with some tastebuds! (Guess I better start choking down some veggies!)

I've been feeling pretty good the last week or so. I'm perpetually tired, but nothing compared to the exhaustion I felt in the first trimester (when Tim was the only one I could complain to :P) I couldn't get myself off the couch (or off the floor, depending on what Evelyn was doing), had zero motivation (took me two weeks to get a hat order out to a very understanding friend), and I napped literally every afternoon while Evelyn napped, and I still had zero energy. Ugh. Now I just constantly feel like I didn't get enough sleep, which is making me a bit snappy and short on patience. Otherwise, we're doing pretty well. 

At my last appointment, I was advised to cut back on my sodium and increase my protein to maybe help stave off a second bout of pre-ecclampsia. It's not proven to help (since they're not sure what causes pre-ecclampsia in the first place), but at least I feel like I'm doing something about it, rather than twiddling my thumbs. Evelyn and I have also been going on at least 3 walks/week and Jill gave me a prenatal yoga DVD I'm going to try to start doing before bed a couple nights per week. Aside from being tired, I've been feeling pretty good. And I do check my blood pressure once or twice a week. All my readings have been in a healthy range so far. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

In other news, I got my first paycheck from doing QA testing for Tim's company, so I'm happily typing up this post from my brand new laptop :) There's nothing wrong with the old one, really, but it is 7 years old and getting slow and clunky. We're considering finding a college student in need to pass it on to, or wiping it clean and loading it with the programs Tim works on so Evelyn can have her own laptop with educational toddler-friendly apps on it. In the meantime, we've gotten back into using ABCmouse since the new laptop has a touch screen, and that's far more toddler-friendly than using a mouse or touch-pad. She's enjoying it much more now :) She is really soaking everything up right now. She has a new word or phrase every time we turn around, she's dancing to music all the time, and she even tries to sing along with some familiar songs. She's learning people's names now (but still calls me Daddy >:| ), and you should have heard her playing with Zach on Saturday-- all please and thank you and sharing! 

Alright. Time for bed. Maybe I'll be less sluggish tomorrow...

(21 days until the ultrasound!)

Bump!

So we had been really good about taking "bump" pictures for a few weeks, but then I hit a stretch where I was overtired and lethargic and thought, "It's just pudge, what's the point?" But I guess 15 weeks is a good time to get back to it :-x

It's still mostly pudge.

I also found these neat necklaces on Etsy earlier while I was searching for things for my mother's day wishlist.

They're teething necklaces! Wooden beads treated with beeswax or covered in cotton thread on a long necklace for baby to play with/grab while they're eating (as opposed to scratching their face or pulling mom's hair or whatever). And I was able to find all of the supplies at the craft store. I was able to make up a little one today-- turns out they make cute toddler necklaces, too:)

15 Weeks

This week, we have a baby the size of a navel orange!

Baby weighs about 2.5 oz and is around 4 inches long. His/her limbs are becoming more proportionate, and their legs now out-measure their arms. All of his/her joints are now functioning. He/she is squirming a lot, even though I can't feel more than the occasional flutter yet. Baby is even capable of hiccuping now!

28 more days until the ultrasound!

Maybe it was the long weekend, but I've been extra-tired this week. Which is a bummer, because I have a lot of projects to get done :-/ I managed to get to Kmart with Evelyn to get potting soil so we could plant some seeds Dan & Emily gave her for Easter, but ran out of energy just after lunch and then the rain set in. I'm hoping the exhaustion lifts again. I'd really like to spend Evelyn's nap either working or crafting as opposed to laying on the couch hoping to nap :P

We also had a bit of a scare with one of the kids in MOMS club being exposed to Fifths Disease (which is something that could be bad news for baby), and we were around them at the spring party two weeks ago. So I had to go have bloodwork done. Luckily, I came home from the lab to an email from his mom saying that he did not, in fact, have Fifths Disease, but some contact dermatitis (which looks about the same). Whew! But at least I'll know from the bloodwork if I'm immune (because I might have had it as a kid) or if it's something I need to be worried about in the future.

Don't have too many plans this week. Tim is hoping to get the first bit of mowing done in the next couple of days if the weather holds out (and the mower starts). But we do have Zach's 5th birthday party on Saturday. I'm excited to watch Tim chase Evelyn all over the BounceU ;)

Evelyn Has Some News...

We're expecting number two in October! Our due date is 10/13/14, but since Evelyn didn't even show up in the correct month, we're not holding Two to a specific day ;)

And to answer the most common questions I've been getting:

1) Nope, no more morning sickness. There were a few weeks where I was nauseous pretty much 24-7, and I had super strong food aversions for awhile. But I'm doing much better now. Tomato sauce is pretty much the only thing I can't tolerate. So no pizza, spaghetti, or lasagna right now :-x (There goes half of our weekly meal plan!)

2) No, I am not delivering at the same hospital as with Evelyn. New doctor, new hospital. And I'm super happy with both of them.

3) As long as it's healthy and human-shaped, we're happy. We have an ultrasound on May 20th, and as long as Two is cooperative, we'll find out whether it's a boy or a girl then.

I am going to start doing weekly updates in lieu of keeping a pregnancy journal (just like I did for Evelyn). So check back on Mondays for those :)