27 Weeks

How many weeks am I again?  I keep losing track :P.  This is a little bit late, so I'm now 27 weeks and 4 days (oops), but oh well.  I've been doing pretty good this week.  Little man is still growing and I feel him moving a lot.  Lately it's been feeling like his head is up against my ribs, which is interesting.  I laugh because it's a weird feeling and it's all new, but at the same time I'm hoping he'll move because it's kind-of uncomfortable.  Things are definitely getting squished!

I've been feeling a tiny bit more energetic, but with the emphasis on "tiny".  I try to take care of things around the house when I get home from work, but usually once Jason gets home, I'm too tired to do anything else.  He's been really great, though, and he helps make dinner and clean up the kitchen when I'm a blob on the couch :).

I've been having more back pain when I get into bed at night, which is really frustrating.  It usually takes about 10 minutes for it to subside, so I think it's related to my 'slight scoliosis' and it's just being aggravated by the pregnancy.  I haven't been having as much trouble with hip pain when I sleep, though, which is good.  Another bad thing is my heartburn, though.  I try to eat all the things that are supposed to help neutralize heartburn, but when I go to bed at night it seems to get worse.  My doctor told me I can take a low dosage of zantac, so I've been trying to do that at night since Tums and Mylanta aren't helping and I keep waking up with reflux.  Oh, the joys of pregnancy :).

In my last blog post, I mentioned how my coworkers haven't really said anything about my belly.  Well, on Friday one of the guys at work came to my desk to ask me a question and stopped mid-sentence.  He was looking at my ultrasound picture on my desk and he said, "is that yours?".  I told him "yes" and he asked, "are you pregnant?!?!"  I patted my bulging belly and said "very much so... about 7 months!"  Ha, I thought it was funny.  He then said that he's a guy, so he doesn't notice that kind of stuff.  I told him that if he sees me waddling around the office, that's why.  I guess maybe I should be flattered that people haven't really noticed or put 2 and 2 together, but at the same time I hope they don't just think I have a huge belly.  Oh well :).  It will become more and more obvious the closer I get to May 6th.

One last thing about this week was something that happened on Friday morning.  I didn't have to work, so I slept in until 8 and then the dog woke me up to take him outside.  It was raining and he's a huge pansy, so I figured I would take him out front, where the porch is covered and he could just go potty on the bushes out there.  I took him out to take care of his business, but when I tried to come back inside, the door was locked.  I couldn't believe it.  Our doorknob has been acting funny lately and from the inside it won't lock, but apparently even if it doesn't feel like it's locked, it really is.  I ended up sitting on the front doormat with the dog for almost an hour, wearing only my pajamas, thigh-length bathrobe, and slippers in rainy 34* weather.  It was not fun at all.  Thankfully I had my phone with me, so I called Jason and his mom and they both showed up to save me, so everything was ok, but I got a bit emotional while we were sitting outside... and Gandalf kept scratching at the door like I was stupid and just wanted to sit outside, ha :).  That afternoon, I made lots of copies of our house key and I've been taking it outside with me every time I take the dog out.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now.  Here are the development details for the week:

• Your baby continues to grow and develop inside of you. Measuring about 14.5 inches long, he weighs just about 2 lbs.
• This week, his brain is developing quickly. His eyelids, which have remained closed up until this point, begin to open and now his retinas can begin to form. The retina contains specialized photoreceptor cells that respond to light, called rods and cones. Cones in particular help us perceive color.
• His skin is still wrinkly but by 27 weeks, he basically looks how he will look when you give birth to him, in just a few months!

Oh yeah, and my uterus is the size of a basketball, woot woot! :P  So exciting ;). Thanks for reading and I'll be back in a few days with Week 28 :).

Final Amnio Update & 26 Weeks

As most of you have probably already heard, I got a phonecall from the doctor on Thursday morning with our final amnio results.  As with the first results, these also came out "normal", so Logan has 46 perfect chromosomes :).  We're very happy and relieved to have these results so that we can move on and focus on his heart.  The doctor scheduled the echo ultrasound, which will be done by the cardiologist, for February 14th.  She will be looking at a special sweet heart on Valentine's Day :).  Jason will be in Brazil for work, but his mom said she will go with me.

I'm still feeling a lot of kicking and movement, which is great.  I've been getting a little nervous whenever I don't feel anything for a large part of the day, but I think he's just sleeping :).  I sat on the couch yesterday and watched my belly moving for a few minutes.  It was very very cool to see his kicks from the outside :).

Sleeping at night can still be a challenge, but I keep switching up my pillows, which seems to help.  I've had to start getting out of bed differently for potty breaks.  Since my stomach is growing, I have to swing my legs off the edge of the bed, then boost my upper body with my arms and then I can stand on the floor.  It gets interesting some nights, especially if I'm not quite awake yet, ha :).

It's getting harder to put my socks & shoes on and taking care of my feet is nearly out of the question.  I finally got a pedicure on Friday because my toenails were getting out of control.  I just have to say that even though pedicures are great anytime, they're about 10x better when you're pregnant!  The massage chair nearly put me to sleep and then the foot and leg massage (don't worry, it was a light massage) was amazing!!!  Now I can wear open-toed shoes without cringing whenever I look down... and yes, I can still see my feet when I look down :).

Jason painted the nursery today and it looks great!  Lots of people have asked what we're painting it, etc., so I'll tell you the plan.  He painted it a beige color since I'm not sure how long we'll be in this house and I want to be able to use it for a girl's room someday if we need to.  We're going to put some car-related decals on the wall (cars, trucks, streets, etc.) and I'm going to paint letters in light blue to spell out his name and hang them on the wall.  Other than that, we'll just have furniture in there and that will probably be it.  I'm wanting to get a pack 'n play for downstairs, though, and I'm going to use a jungle theme for that (and his bouncer, swing, etc.).  I'm excited to see it all come together and now that the room is painted, I'm even more eager :).

A few people have made comments lately that I'm "really starting to show".  In my opinion, I've been showing for a few months, but I guess it's pretty obvious now :).  I don't mind at all, because I love being pregnant.  My belly button is starting to push out a little, so I'm sure that'll "pop" soon and even more people will notice my belly.  What I find most funny is that hardly anyone at my work has said anything.  I think they're being careful and they don't want to assume that I'm pregnant, but my belly has grown since I started working there :).  Oh well... I'm sure it'll be pretty obvious to them in the next month or two :).

Welp, I guess it's time for the new developments:

• Your baby continues to grow and develop inside of you. Measuring about 14 inches long, he weighs just less than 2 lbs!
• His lungs continue to develop and he is taking small breaths of amniotic fluid inside your womb. These small breaths are getting him in shape for his first breath of fresh air.
• His veins are visible through his transparent skin but soon that will change as his skin begins to turn opaque.
• The nerve pathways are becoming more and more developed, making him more responsive to sound. Don't be surprised if you feel him jump inside you if he is startled by a sudden noise.
• If you're having a boy, his testicles are descending into his scrotum this week.

Sorry that some of the info is a bit TMI, but hey, things have to happen for little boys! :)

Thanks again to everyone for your support and prayers :).  God is so good and we are thrilled to have the results that we prayed for.  Please continue to pray for the hole in his heart to close on its own.  If it doesn't, then that's God's plan, but we will still pray :).

Have a great week and I'll be back for #27!

25 Weeks

This week has been a pretty good one with the exception of a couple things.  First, I had morning sickness on Monday and that really stunk.  Second, I've been having a hard time sleeping at night.  I still have back and hip pain, so I've had to figure out a new pillow setup.  I've also been waking up a lot with heartburn or to go to the bathroom.  All of these are normal symptoms, but they're still not fun :).  Oh, I've also been getting some headaches, but from what I've read, that's also normal :P.

My 24 week checkup was on Tuesday morning and that went really well.  I love the doctor I saw that morning (there are a few that I can choose from each time).  She's very sweet and talked to me about the amnio and made sure I would be ok.  She even gave me a hug and told me she'd be thinking about me that afternoon.  She used the doppler to listen to Logan's heart, but she had a hard time finding it.  I knew Logan was fine, because he had been kicking me all morning, but he wasn't cooperating.  She could hear him moving around and when she finally found his heartbeat, he kicked the doppler!  It was really funny :).  The doctor laughed and called him a stinker.  He also kicked the ultrasound 'wand' during my afternoon appointment.  I guess he got tired of being poked :). 

My ultrasound and amnio were Tuesday afternoon, but you can read my separate post for all of that information.  I also posted about the initial results, so I won't go into that here either :). 

Here are the development details for this week:

• Your baby continues to grow and develop inside of you. Measuring about 13 1/2 inches long, he weighs approximately 1 1/2 lbs. In the coming weeks, your baby will continue to grow and mature at a fast rate, gaining some baby fat and filling out his long, lean frame.
• As he gains weight, his skin begins to become less wrinkled and he begins to look more and more like a newborn. Also, his skin is finally gaining some color. His hands are fully developed by this week, fingerprints and all! And at 25 weeks, the structure of the spine is beginning to form.

I guess that's about it for now.  I can't believe I only have about 3 months left!  I'm almost to my 3rd trimester :P.  I'll be back again next week to post about the rest of the amnnio results and my 26 week update.  Please continue to pray for these results to be normal and also for Logan to continue growing like he should be :).  Thanks for all of your prayers and support!