Category: pregnancy

As of yesterday I reached the point of viability, AKA v-day! Legally, that means doctors would do everything they could to save him if he were born now. Statistically, that means baby would have between a 40-70% chance of survival if he were born now, so obviously we want to keep him in there for much longer! But by 26 weeks that chance goes up to about 80-90%. Full term isn’t considered to be until at least 37 weeks – the point where baby would most likely have no lingering health problems. And 39-40 weeks is considered optimal. So yeah, keep baking little boy!

At 24 weeks…

Baby is about a foot long now, maybe a little longer, and weighs a little over a pound. He is still very skinny, but this week he should be getting more baby fat and his skin should become less translucent, and taking on more of a pinkish tone. His lungs are developing “branches” and cells that produce surfectant, which will help them inflate once he’s on the outside. He’s been kicking like crazy, which is appropriate since my uterus is about the size of a soccer ball now. Earlier this week I got a kick (no pun intended) out of freaking out D. As I’ve mentioned before, he isn’t super sentimental about feeling the baby kick, and has even admitted it kind of freaks him out. Well, the other morning we were laying in bed and he was still asleep. I grabbed his hand and placed it on my stomach since I knew baby was kicking a bunch at the time. He was still half asleep when baby kicked SUPER hard. So hard that it jolted D awake and he jerked his hand away while yelping an expletive I won’t repeat here. I couldn’t stop laughing. I told him that was a small taste of what I’m experiencing (only I absolutely love the kicks and can’t get enough of them). 🙂

Mama is feeling pretty good this week. Aside from some pesky sciatic pain and a little bit of hip pain, that is. I’ve also had a tiny bit of heartburn, but nothing like the fire breathing dragon I felt like last week. All in all, a pretty good week, physically-speaking. Belly is continuing to get bigger and bigger… while my belly button is getting shallower and shallower. I’m up 1.6 lbs. this week for a total weight gain now of 12.2 lbs.

I’m kind of bummed I’m not getting the luscious pregnancy hair other women often get. I read that many women stop shedding hair while pregnant, which results in thick and healthy looking hair. I’m definitely still shedding hair, and my hair looks more dull and frizzy, if anything. I also feel like I’m totally missing out on that whole pregnancy glow. My skin is both dry and breakout prone at the same time. Funny how all the old wives’ tales say that girls steal your beauty but I feel like my little boy is! Maybe that means he’ll be one handsome dude? According to old wives’ tales, with girls you carry all over and with boys you’re all belly out front, but I definitely feel like I’m getting wider. I’ve resisted looking at a rear view of myself, but I have a feeling I am NOT the type of person who only looks pregnant from the front. I pretty much have no waist definition anymore! Oh well… 16 more weeks and mama can start getting her body back!

23 weeks pregnant – only one more week until viability! Hard to believe in less than a week, I will have a baby who is potentially capable of surviving on the outside. Not that I want him born anytime soon, but it’s slightly more comforting in my crazy brain to know that if he was born next week, the doctors would do everything they could to save him.

Things are starting to feel a bit more real. We’ve been working away on the nursery (I’ll have to write a separate post just about that!), we’ve got our registry about 99% done, and I now have two baby showers being planned for me – a family shower being thrown by my mom and sister-in-law on February 10 (I’ll be 28 weeks) and one some friends are throwing on March 30 (I’ll be almost 35 weeks). Then we’ll have about a month to finish everything up and get the rest of the items on our registry that we didn’t get as gifts. Yikes – less than 4 months to go now and I’m starting to get nervous we won’t be ready. We are in the process of looking into classes at the hospital – birthing classes, infant safety/CPR, newborn care and breastfeeding. I’m having a hard time convincing D to sign up, though. For one, they’re pricey (about $260 for all of them), and two, some friends of ours told us they left halfway through the birthing class because they thought it was lame. So now D is convinced he wants to ask around to some other friends to find out if it’s really worth it. Grr… Even if it is lame, we don’t know what we’re doing, so I really don’t see any alternative but to take them. Hoping he comes to his senses soon so I can get us signed up while the good time slots are still open.

Anyway, onto my 23 week update…

Baby is now almost a foot long, and the pancreas should be kicking into gear sometime this week. The other big news is that his lungs are getting stronger and stronger – an important factor in viability, as mentioned earlier. He is kicking like crazy now, and in the last couple days has learned a new trick – kicking me square in the bladder!

Mama is feeling pretty good right now, aside from the sciatic pain. It seems to alternate between flaring up on the right side for a couple days, then over to the left. On rare occasions I have felt it on both sides, which makes it really hard to get comfortable. The other thing that cropped up earlier this week was heartburn. Holy moly. I felt like someone had lit a match in the back of my throat, and it lasted for about three days straight. Haven’t had it for about two days though, so hopefully it’s gone now (knock on wood). Oh, and my tailbone hurts too, when I sit for very long. A girl in my yoga class mentioned that her tailbone BROKE during her last pregnancy. Yikes! Okay, so looking back at the paragraph I wrote, maybe I should retract my “feeling pretty good” statement. At least my hips haven’t hurt me for a while, so there’s something. My skin is also super itchy, and the coconut oil I thought was helping, suddenly isn’t anymore. I think I felt the best when I was using a cocoa butter lotion, so I’m going to go back to using that to see if it helps. As far as weight goes, I actually lost 1.4 lbs over the past week, bringing my total weight gain so far this pregnancy down to 10.6 lbs. Not sure I’m really supposed to be losing weight during pregnancy, but given my rapid gain over the holidays, I’m giving myself a pass this week. I’d like to maintain a healthy 1 lb gain per week, which would give me a 27-28 lb gain total (recommended amount is 25-35).

And now, another work bathroom picture, since that’s the only time I ever remember to take my weekly photo. 🙂

I have been so bad about keeping up with this blog lately! Good thing I don’t have very many readers to disappoint. I’m blaming the holidays. The last time I skipped a week was at Thanksgiving, so that sounds like a plausible story. Yeah…

Anyhoo, I am now 22 weeks along. 22 weeks and 3 days to be exact. Here’s what’s going on with baby and me…

Baby is now about 11 inches long, or the size of a spaghetti squash. Or, as one hilarious pregnancy blog puts it, he’s about 1 inch shorter than your average 12-inch ruler (snicker). I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds these fruit comparisons a little ambiguous. But wow — 11 inches of baby residing in me. That’s a crazy thought. He should weigh about a pound by now too, which sounds like a lot, but what do I blame for the other 11 pounds I’ve gained? (Don’t answer that.) Weight aside, baby has definitely been kicking more lately! And he’s kicking strong enough to feel from the outside, as D got to experience a few days ago, though it wasn’t quite the magical moment I had hoped it would be. D says that it freaks him out. I think he’s seen the movie Alien one too many times.

Mama is feeling large. See weight gain reference above. Yes, I’m now up 12 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. They say 10-15 lbs. is where I should be right now, so I know I’m right on track, but I’ll admit it’s hard to accept these numbers I’ve never seen on the scale before! I’ve gained 4 pounds in two weeks, which again, is totally normal (they say 1-2 lbs. per week is what I should be gaining), but I also know I’ve been eating a lot of junk over the holidays, in addition to simply just eating a lot, period. I’m hoping now that the holidays are over, I can keep my weight gain closer to a pound per week. No sign of stretch marks still, which all the websites and books are saying may have started appearing by now. My stomach does itch a lot, though. I have been putting coconut oil on it which seems to help, and smells good too. My belly button is getting shallower by the day. I think it may disappear altogether in a few weeks, before popping out. Not really looking forward to the whole “belly nipple” look. Better wear my fitted shirts while I still can.

In the aches and pains department, I’ve been having a LOT of sciatic nerve pain lately. Thankfully, the hip pain seems to have decreased, so at least I’m not dealing with both. I think I may try sitting on an exercise ball at work to see if that helps. Even if it doesn’t help my back, it should help keep my core strong.

In other exciting news, we just started putting together the nursery! I’ve already painted the room, we found a great glider on Craigslist, and last night I started making the curtains. Still need to get a crib, and refinish/paint the dresser we’re going to use as a changing table. It’s all starting to feel real!

Can’t believe I’m halfway done. In many ways, this pregnancy has felt like it’s flown by, but then I look back at the agony and worry I experienced making it to our first ultrasound, past our loss milestone, making it to 12 weeks so we could tell everyone, making it to our anatomy scan, etc., and I realize just how long it’s taken at the same time. What’s that expression about the days going by slowly but the years going fast? I can’t remember the exact phrase, but that’s basically how I’m feeling now.

At 20 weeks…

Baby is about 6.5 inches long now from crown to rump, or 10 inches from head to toe! For the first 20 weeks, measurement is taken from crown to rump, but going forward, standard measurements are from head to toe. I forgot to ask what my exact measurements were during my anatomy scan, but depending on which book or website you’re looking at, baby is about the size of a coconut or butternut squash. New this week, he (yay, I get to use gender-specific pronouns instead of “it!”) is beginning to produce meconium, or basically, black sticky poops. This stuff will just accumulate in his bowels, and will come out after birth (or sometimes just prior to or during). Apparently his heartbeat is now strong enough to be heard with a regular stethoscope, but I haven’t tested this yet. I did just listen to his heartbeat again this morning on my doppler, though, and it still sounds nice and strong, around 140 BPM.

Mama is starting to feel a little more movement, but still not a ton, thanks to my anterior placenta. I am a bit jealous of other women at my same stage of gestation who can feel more – and whose partners are already able to feel it from the outside – but I’m told I’ll appreciate this cushion my placenta provides later in pregnancy when he starts walloping me with those big feet of his!

New this week: my belly button is getting wider and shallower – and it itches from all the stretching! I’m trying to stay well-moisturized to prevent stretch marks – although everything I’ve read says that while moisturizing can help, stretch marks are mostly genetic. I don’t think my mom got any, so hopefully I get that lucky too!

I’m up .2 lbs this week, for a total weight gain of 8 lbs. now. Feeling pretty good about that since most books and websites say around 5-10 lbs is normal, so I seem to be right in the middle. And I haven’t noticed my face or thighs getting noticeably fatter yet, so it seems to be so far mostly belly and boobs. I’m trying not to get too hung up on my body, though. Women gain weight when they get pregnant, period. As long as I eat well (which I have been), my body is going to do what it needs to do. I can always work on losing weight later.

Hips are still killing me at night, and I still get the occasional round ligament pain, but other than that I’m feeling pretty good! I know I tend to write a lot about my aches and pains in this blog, but it’s mostly to be able to look back and remember what I was feeling at the time, and I know many women have/had it much worse – and at the end of the day I’m beyond thankful to still be carrying this baby – so I’m really trying not to complain. Here’s to hoping the second half of my pregnancy goes as well as the first!

Well, we are now at 19 weeks, and on the eve of our anatomy scan, which is tomorrow. Truth be told, I’m nervous. I’m excited to hopefully find out if this baby is a boy or girl (for the record, my gut says girl), but most importantly, I’m hoping everything is measuring and functioning normally, and that we have a healthy baby growing in there.

I’ll update the blog after our appointment tomorrow, but in the meantime, here’s what’s going on with baby and me at 19 weeks…

Mama has had a bit of a rough week, physically-speaking! As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been dealing with some aches and pains, and have been suddenly feeling very pregnant. Thankfully, since then, the morning sickness has at least disappeared again (hopefully for good this time!), but the insomnia and the hip and back pain is still going strong. I also notice that I get really winded if I bend over, like my lungs are getting smushed by all my other organs (which is probably true). Hard to believe I’m not even halfway done. I can only imagine what this will feel like as I get closer to 40 weeks… yikes!

Baby is kicking away in there and as of these last few days I’m finally at a point where I’m confident that it’s definitely baby I’m feeling – yay! Baby is now about 6 inches long – about the size of a mango, and is now coated in vernix – a waxy substance that protects its skin from the amniotic fluid – you know, so it doesn’t get all pruney. Not a whole lot else to say about development at this point. Baby is fully assembled and now just needs to fatten up!

Well, that’s about it for now. Not a ton else to report this week! Here’s a picture I took on Saturday, just before yoga class. For comparison’s sake, take a look at me in the same top just before yoga class close to 13 weeks! Big difference!

Today I am 18 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Almost halfway done, which is hard to believe. We had a doctor appointment last Monday, which went really well. I had mentioned previously that I was worried that maybe I wasn’t gaining enough weight, and that I wasn’t showing as much as I should by now. I also haven’t felt anything I can say for sure is movement, though I do still get those was-it-baby-or-was-it-gas flutters. Well, my appointment put all my concerns at ease. First off, I stepped on the scale, and let’s just say it’s apparent the holidays are taking care of the weight gain part! I’m now up about 6 lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight. My doctor also said my uterus was growing nicely (without me even having to ask) during the exam. We heard a nice strong heartbeat and she said I will probably start feeling the baby move soon. All the baby books and websites say anytime between 16 and 20 weeks is normal to start feeling movement, but it was somehow comforting to hear my doctor say “soon” without just assuming that I had already. Hooray for being normal.

We also got to schedule our anatomy scan for December 11 – just 8 days away now! Originally I thought we’d get to go in for our anatomy scan this week, but my doctor said she would rather I come in around week 19 since the chambers of the heart are more developed by that point, which should give the technician a a more clear picture of whether it’s developing properly. I’m all for more clarity and will happily wait another week if it means less ambiguity. The last thing I’d want would be to come in and be told the heart looks small or underdeveloped, but have them not sure if it’s just because it’s too early to tell or if there is actually something wrong. The less I have to stress about, the better!

With that said, at 18 weeks…

Baby is about 5.5-6 inches long now — about the size of a sweet potato or bell pepper, depending on which website you’re looking at — and is yawning, hiccuping and swallowing away. Baby is also doing a lot of moving and kicking now, which I still have yet to definitively feel. I did feel something last night as I was trying to fall asleep — sort of like a fish flopping around type feeling. I think it might have been baby, but I am looking forward to that first poke or jab where I can say, yep, that was definitely the baby!

Mama is feeling pretty good right now, aside from some persistent sciatic pain. I do notice that I tire more easily, though, and bending over isn’t as easy as it used to be. D and I got our Christmas tree yesterday and I noticed I couldn’t lay on my stomach to get under the tree to tighten the stand. I tried laying on my side, but couldn’t get the right angle and finally had to give up and have D get under there while I held the tree. I felt kind of sick when I woke up this morning, and ended up throwing up when I fed the dogs. It’s strange — I have no nausea 99% of the time, but every now and then it just hits me again out of the blue. Feeling fine now, though.

I do think maybe I’m starting to show more. I snapped a photo in the work bathroom today, and noticed I’m wearing the same outfit as I was in my 15 week update. I think the belly might be poking out a bit more now…