27 weeks

The final week of the second trimester- I can't believe how quickly it has been going by! I was looking through my collection of baby bump pictures, and I remember thinking I was sooo huge at like 10 weeks LOL. Well, I think I am in for a surprise as baby will probably be getting much bigger as the third trimester approaches.

This week, according to my collection of info from babycenter.com, thebump.com, and whattoexpectwhileyoureexpecting.com, our baby has been sleeping and waking at regular intervals, practicing opening and closing his eyes, and developing those lungs by "breathing" the amniotic fluid. At this point (with lots of medical assistance) his lungs are developed enough for life outside the womb. He is about 2 pounds this week, and about 14.5 inches long from head to toe, comparable to a head of cauliflower.

I went back to work this week- the previous week, if you remember, was like a vacation for me : D Back to reality at some point though. They have been offering a lot of "excused unpaid time off" this week at work, and I am already entitled to 10 hours off a week by my doctor, so it has been hard not to gobble it all up when it is offered! I have been so tired and achy, it's nice to be at home with the luxury of a couch, bed, etc. But we need the money right now, especially with Mike being home for the last 4-5 weeks, we need to get this nest egg ready!! This weekend we plan on finishing up the paint job in Sean's room, and then hopefully next month we will be installing the new carpet.

My feet have been swelling again (I knew it was too good to be true when they stopped!) and consistently, every Friday (sometimes the day before or after too) my belly is achy- I think that Friday is his growth spurt day, so my tummy feels stretched and sore. Cold packs have been helping for the swollen feet a little, and I have been trying to avoid salty foods, but it is harder than you think! My biggest accomplishment this week has been avoiding getting sick- Mike caught a cold over the weekend, and was stuck on the couch all day Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday trying to kick it. And all I got was a scratchy throat and cough for a day or two, whoopee! Knock on wood it stays that way!! I think the worst thing I have been experiencing is the lack of sleep, even comparable to insomnia. I seem to fall asleep just fine, sometime between 9:30 and 11 pm usually. But right around 3 am is when I first wake up to go to the bathroom, and it is all downhill from there.... I am lucky if I can stay in bed past 6 am. Tossing, turning, achy hips, legs, feet, back, tummy, arms. Everything feels sore in bed at that point, and pillows don't help any more either. The only two nights I got a decent amount of sleep was after I ran a bath with Johnson and Johnson's bedtime bath bubbles. So I am trying to make a habit of doing that every night before bed.

Side note- remember my post from a month or two ago asking about the fruit in our backyard? Here is a pic of them now that they have ripened. I think they are satsumas, or some kind of tangerine. Whatever they are, they are delicious!!!

15 weeks... and a bit of life in general

I meant to post last week separately from my preggo posts about the life of Mike and Jenn aside from pregnancy, but I never finished it. I was tired of typing on the computer at the time. I will just do a brief summary of what I intended to write about- We spent a lot of my vacation week working on the yard, which was fun. We weeded out the circle in our front year that has roses in it (we kind of let it go pretty bad), and laid down some weed cover and white rocks, so now it looks pretty : ) And we are trying to figure out this citrus tree in our backyard- at first we thought it was limes, but the other day we cut one open- it is orange on the inside and smells like a tangerine, but the skin is still dark green, and they seem "ripe"- the pulp of the fruit buldges out when you cut it with juice. But it is sour tasting- with just a bit of sweetness. Thought maybe they would get riper, and turn orange, but they seem so ripe now..... we are thinking they are some sort of hybrid, because I looked it up and couldn't find anything. Here is a picture:

Any ideas?? We are a bit baffled. But our friend Angelo did use them to cook some chicken in, and let me tell you, it was delicious. Remember my cravings for meat and citrus fruits? Yup, hit the spot : D

Anyways, can't think of much else interesting going on in life now. Onto the 15 week description from babycenter.com....

Your growing baby now measure about 4 inches long crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2.5 ounces, about the size of an apple (or navel orange according to thebump.com). Baby is busy moving amniotic fluid through the nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps primitive air sacs in the lungs develop. Legs have grown longer than arms now, and baby can move all its joints and limbs. Although eyelids are fused shut, baby can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, baby is likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but taste buds are starting to form. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby is a boy or a girl! Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery though- nailing down baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way to "hide the goods."

As for me, my energy is starting to come back- I mowed the whole lawn by myself today! That is a first since becoming pregnant. I usually have Mike or one of the other boys here do half for me, or if no one is home, I only mow the front : D But today I did the whole thing, and he only did the weed-eater. I was so proud of myself! But here are a few things that helped with that- for one, it is a bit less muggy today than it has been in a while; two, our neighbor did mow a portion of our side lawn on his side the other day, so I got to skip that part. But here is my tummy at 15 weeks:

Baby is getting heavy to me. I can feel my tummy stretching a bit, and I had to get a body pillow for my hips at night. I can feel them moving out of their normal placing, and they get achy and sore at night when I am sleeping. Mike has started contemplating sleeping on the couch... : ( Apparently I am beginning to take over the bed a lot at night.

That's all I got for now. Time for breakfast and a normal Sunday routine of laundry and hanging out at home being lazy!

Week 10

Update for week 10! We went to the doctor on Thursday for our second appointment, and we got to listen to our baby's heartbeat! How amazing... that little sound brought tears to both of our eyes. Our doctor says it's very strong for 10 weeks, nothing to worry about at this time. And all of my blood work and labs came back normal, so we are good to go for now : D

And to give you an idea of what baby is doing this week, here is my update from babycenter.com....

Though baby is barely the size of a kumquat- a little over an inch crown to bottom- and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical part of its development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissue and organs will rapidly mature.

Baby is swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs- including kidneys, intestines, brain and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac)- are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

Pregnancy is treating me pretty well at 10 weeks- still no morning sickness (yey!), but I am having some pretty bad back pain/sciatica. I told my doctor, so he did refer me to a physical therapist that works with pregnant women. I have to do exercises to strengthen my back everyday, and he has been working to rotate my hips/pelvis to where they belong to relieve some of the pain. Apparently sciatica is very common in pregnancy, due to your pelvis adjusting to make room for a growing uterus- a normal uterus is about the size of a pear, and at 10 weeks it's grown to the size of a grapefruit. So I'd imagine my body is adjusting to that change as well.

Not a whole lot else going on in our lives, aside from the pregnancy updates. Mike and I have both been working hard, and when we are both home on the weekends we have been trying to spruce up our yard a bit. Most of what we want to do will take some more supplies than what we can afford right now, so we have been enjoying (is that the right word?) our new weed-eater and trimming up a lot of the bushes and shrubs around the house. Our little vegetable and herb garden has kind of overgrown a bit, but we will be making it bigger and better when we have a little extra money! Right now, anything extra we have is going towards saving for the baby, and also to replace our A/C- it has acted up on us 4 or 5 times in the last month, and it's getting frustrating. It's much too hot here in Louisiana to be dealing with an unreliable A/C! But they are incredibly expensive to replace, so we are weighing our options at the moment, and trying to keep it running in the meantime.

That's it for now! It's off to the daily grind again for me!