24 weeks

This post may be a bit short... I spent a lot of time on the computer last night and this morning organizing my pictures and putting up a blog post about our pumpkin carving yesterday.... so now I am tired of being at the computer, and I have lots of laundry to do today. So here goes!

So at 24 weeks, my uterus is the size of a soccer ball (goodness that seems so huge!) and to top of it has risen above my belly button now (which you can tell because my belly button looks totally different that it did before I was pregnant!) and our baby boy is about the length of an ear of corn, just about a foot long. He should have gained about 4 ounces in the last week. His brain is growing very quickly now ( I have been good about taking my fish oil/DHA supplements!) and so are his lungs- they are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree," as well as developing cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still very thin and translucent, but that will change soon.

As for Mommy, it is getting harder and harder to get comfortable, at any given time- sitting, laying down, standing. And I keep thinking "oh my goodness, can I deal with this for another 3.5 months?" My hips hurt at night- my body pillow helps a little, but we sleep in a full sized bed, so sometimes I think me and the pillow take up a little more than our fair share of the bed. And sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night on my back, with my arms up over my head. Not only am I not supposed to sleep on my back, but when I put my arms over my head they get very cold, because all of the blood leaves them, so they are sore in the morning. And it's difficult to breathe on my back. I can feel little pops in my lower rib cage when I breathe in very deep. Being pregnant makes me feel like my body is old and out of shape! But I am feeling pretty good other than that. I got a decreased work schedule approved by my doctor, so it has been nice to be able to go home early on some days.

That's all I got for now- Doctor appointment is this Thursday, as well as Angelia (Mike's mom in TX) is coming to stay for a night. I'll keep you posted!

Pumpkin Carving!!

We had a nice little fall get-together at our house yesterday. Autumn is my favorite time of the year- it's cool outside, and I love fall smells and flavors- pumpkin, cinnamon, apples, etc..... Yesterday we had good friends over, carved pumpkins, and made all sorts of goodies.... I made Mike's favorite slow-cooked chili. Annie made some yummy apple cider. Katie made apple crisp. Bec made some pumpkin bread. And everyone chipped in after carving pumpkins to make baked pumpkin seeds. Yummy : D The pumpkin carving was fun too, it was the first year where I didn't just do a basic jack-o-lantern face. I saw a maternity t-shirt I wanted to get at this link, and so we made it into a stencil to put on my pumpkin- it's a pregnant skeleton, in case you can't see the link. Mike of course did a Harley logo. Our friend Dan did a Jack Daniel's logo. Tiff's is a cat. Bec's is the "M" (for her last name). Katie's is "Trick or Treat." Mario did a basic smiley. And Annie's is a jack-o-lantern with a gigantic mouth- we are going to get some baby pumpkins and draw faces on them, for the monster pumpkin to eat : D

So now I feel fat after eating so much good food yesterday (and this morning!) and I spent a long time organizing these photos on Blogger in the order that made most sense, so I am tired of blogging.... here are some of the pics- enjoy!!

23 weeks

Well compared to last week, not a whole lot of "new" development going on, I was a little disappointed.... all of my weekly update websites say pretty much the same as last week. Baby is probably between 11-12 inches this week, and weighing in at more than a pound. The only thing different that I read this week that excites me is that now is the time that baby starts putting on the chub.... he's gonna fatten up like a good baby should! It says that between now and then end of the month, Baby will double in weight : ) I am trying to think of that as a mother, and be very happy about that, and not think about it as someone who will be giving birth, which then it scares me a little LOL.

Just because the websites don't say a whole lot doesn't mean there isn't anything going on for us though! My belly is getting big enough now that my belly button looks different. I played some music the other day, with one headphone in my ear and one up to my belly..... Dream Theater Sean was kicking around a lot for. Not as much for Jimi Hendrix. Sean kicks a lot though- it's nice to know he is there, but sometimes it makes it hard to sleep.

I think I have come to the conclusion that soda is what makes my feet swell. I tried this theory out this week- no soda since Thursday, and so far no swelling. Knock on wood. Also it has been nice and cool out, which helps. But I really don't eat that much salty food, and soda has a lot of sodium in it. So that's my theory.

Josh's mom (grandma #4) sent us some clothes the other day. Between what she sent us, and what other people have been sending, what I already know Mike's mom has in Austin, this boy is going to be stylin! And the best news is, we probably won't have to buy clothes for a long time! Bonus!

This is our favorite outfit so far- jeans from Karen, shirt from Josh's girlfriend Abby, shoes from Josh, and Mike picked out the hat : )

Also, I went to get my hair done this week- as I am getting larger, it gets harder to feel "pretty." I just feel pregnant. So I told the man at the salon to make my hair beautiful, and I think he did! I love it, and he really listened to me when I told him I am low maintenance- the only things I know how to use are a round brush and a straightening iron, neither of which I can use well, and I hate using products. It's perfect! He put some blonde highlights in just the top/front, the rest he was able to match my natural color almost perfectly!! Which is great- I was getting so sick of my 3 inch natural roots with my unnatural hair color LOL.

Mike went to Pensacola, FL this week to visit our friend Doug- he took some pics, so I figured I would post some of those as well. We are planning to make a trip back there together soon. Lucky dog, it was so beautiful there, I was jealous I had to work. Bout a 5 hour drive, and he took his motorcycle. He is trying to fit in some nice long rides while he still can. After Baby gets here, it will be a little while before he can take a long trip away from home like that.

That's about it for our updates for now. I am so excited, we are almost into the third trimester!! I've signed up for birthing and baby classes already. Craziness!

22 weeks

Baby is now about 11 inches from head to toe, and weighing at about a pound, Sean is about the size of a spaghetti squash, or a papaya. His eyes are fully formed, and has hair on his head, but both are lacking pigment for a few more weeks to come. His pancreas is steadily developing in his body, and he is starting to "sprout" nipples. His face is fully formed, with everything in its place as it should be. At this point in pregnancy, most babies start to settle into some sort of sleep cycle, sleeping about 12-14 hours at a time. I can tell you that I hardly go 12-14 hours without feeling his gymnastics inside my belly, but maybe he just moves a lot in his sleep!

My feet started swelling again. I was so excited, I made it almost a whole week with no swelling at all! Then I left my birkenstocks in my car one day at work, and the heat melted the glue, and they completely fell apart. I am back to wearing flip flops, until some swelling goes down, then maybe I will switch to sneakers, but for now I don't like having my swollen ankles hanging out over my socks, and I doubt my feet would fit into my sneakers right now anyways.

We have been getting little gifts here and there for our baby boy- Josh bought him his first pair of Vans shoes, which are adorable : ) And a friend at work gave me some cute white and blue sneakers from Gerber that she found on sale. Our good friend Katy from WA sent us some handmade goodies in the mail- some homemade belly butter for me, and some onesies with embroidery on them, some handsewn rattles, and a quilted travel changing pad. I am accumulating the new things in his room right now- no furniture yet, but that's ok because one: we still have plenty of time, and two: even though Doug moved out of that room, it still needs to be painted and re carpeted. He's planning on coming back to help us with that in a week or two. I am hoping that by Christmas time, after the baby shower, I will be able to begin my "nesting" phase. It has actually started for me a bit, in a different way already- I clean a lot more than I used to. Or should I say, I tidy. I pick up after myself, which is not habit I used to have. I was more of a make a mess and clean it up once a week kind of person. Now, I have decided today because my feet are so swollen and I have been so grumpy from not sleeping well, that today I am not going to clean at all. And it is killing me. All I can look at are carpets that need to be vacuumed, and laundry that needs to be washed, and dishes that need to be put away..... But instead, I am off now to enjoy a movie with my hubby with my feet propped up and work on my crocheting- I have too many friends with babies, I need to get working on these baby blankets!!