Week 29

The third trimester has brought with it its friend exhaustion. It's growing more & more difficult to sleep at night and I wake up almost every hour. It probably doesn't help that I'm having a lot of sugar and caffeine during the day. The baby senses that, too, and has become a whole lot more active these past few weeks! I'm able to see her move on the outside now, and she can sometimes keep me entertained for quite awhile. I think she has an exercise routine, involving jumping jacks and somersaults, that she performs each night when I lay down to go to sleep. My coworkers are my gauge at how much I am growing, since they see me every day, and this week, they've all been saying how it seems I really popped out. One even pointed out my swollen feet. I appreciated that. :-)

We have been slowly but surely preparing baby's room for her arrival. The painting is finished and everything will soon be back in place. I still have a lot of organizing of the closets to do too. I have a lot of ideas, but when I get the time to do things, I'm just too tired to put them into action. We are going to pick up the crib this weekend. I hope to also go ahead and get the mattress and at least a sheet, and maybe also the diaper changing pad with some of the gift cards and money we got at the shower. Then we can at least have some semblance of a nursery! All the preparations are making me very excited for her arrival.

I recently heard about an acquaintance who is also about 29 weeks pregnant who just found out her baby has an omphalocele, which is a birth defect in which the baby's intestines and some other vital organs develop outside of the baby's body. Other struggles with the heart and lungs also result. It's suddenly very scary to me that I have no idea how my baby is really developing in me. I haven't had the chance to see her for 10 weeks, and though the dr. has no indication that anything is wrong, would they have a way of knowing without seeing an ultrasound? Now, I chose not to do the amniocentisis or any other of the early tests for birth defects, but now I'm questioning that decision. I know that God has a perfect plan for my little one, but what if that plan involves some sort of birth defect or health issue? Each time I imagine my baby after she's born, I'm imagining a perfectly formed, beautiful little girl. But what if she's not? After all the planning and preparation for a "normal" baby, will we be prepared if something's not quite right? I am not going to spend a lot of time worrying or obsessing about this, since that would be pointless. I have to remain confident that my faith is strong enough to handle whatever may come.

29 weeks

Baby Shower #1

This past weekend was my first baby shower, at my parents' church in the Outer Banks. They are such generous people, especially since most of them barely know me or Brett! We had a great time, playing games that my mom had prepared (even Brett said he enjoyed them and he was the one who had to pin a diaper on a stuffed bear!). There was great food, and of course, some great gifts. I think I am finally starting to feel more prepared-- at least as far as "stuff" goes-- for this baby. Mostly we got tons of blankets and clothes, some diapers, lots of bibs & socks. I don't know why I spend so much time on my registries, seeing as how the only thing we got off those was a baby monitor-- actually, two baby monitors-- I will be taking one back to Target. Brett's mom sent money for our crib, which will arrive at the store in 7-14 days! Now I have a lot to sort through, wash & put away, but I'm finding that to be almost therapeutic for me.

The weekend with my family was also great- sharing time around the dinner table & playing games and relaxing on the beach. I haven't gotten much sleep the past few nights. Being in a different bed didn't help, but even in my own bed, I'm waking up every hour with achy legs and a backache. I hope I don't have 11 more weeks of this! Otherwise, besides the incessant heartburn nearly every night, I have no complaints. The dr. said baby is growing perfectly in every way.










A diaper cake-- cute & practical!

















Cool baby monitor














pink baby clothes!

















Diapering the bears
















Family portrait session at Mom & Dad's house

Week 27

I can hardly believe I've reached the 3rd trimester. Though time went by pretty quickly up till now, now it seems to be dragging by. With all the preparations and purchases that have been going on, I'm really just ready to hold my little girl. I'm still not feeling huge yet, and still have energy, most of the time. The only pain I can complain of would still be the back pain.

Not much new going on. I am getting ready for two busy weeks at work, made more bearable with knowing I get to go to my first shower this weekend, and at the beach, nonetheless!

I do have one gripe: stop with the pitying Sabrina because it's 101 degrees outside and I must be even hotter because I'm pregnant! I honestly don't think that on those few days of 3-digit temps that I was any hotter than a non-pregnant person. And I chose to go sit out at that baseball game last weekend, knowing it would be hot. And it was fun. So don't feel sorry for me.

6/11/08- 27 weeks

My Baby's Development: Week 26

Your baby may weigh about two pounds now (average is 1.7 pound, 760gm) and is 14 inches (35.6cm) in length. To support the fetus's growing body, the spine is getting stronger and more supple. Though no longer than the span of the average adult hand, it is now made up of 150 joints, 33 rings, and some 1,000 ligaments. Air sacs in the lungs form now.

Lungs begin to secrete a greasy substance called surfactant. Without surfactant the fetal lungs would stick together and couldn't expand after the baby is born. Although they've been sealed shut for the last few months, your baby's eyes are opening and beginning to blink this week. Depending on ethnicity, some babies will be born with blue or gray-blue eyes (which may change color in the first 6 months of life) and some will be born with brown or dark eyes. Retinas begin to form.

Brain wave activity for hearing and sight begins to be detectable. Fetal brain scans show response to touch. If you shine a light on your abdomen, your baby will turn his head, which according to researchers, means his optic nerve is working.

Week 25

I had my glucose test for gestational diabetes yesterday. From what I had heard, it was supposedly really awful. However, I had a good experience. I was not supposed to eat anything after midnight (thankfully, I could still have water) and then I had to drink a fruit punch flavored drink (which tasted like very sweet Koolaid) at 8am. I went in for my appointment at 9. After waiting about 15 minutes, they did bloodwork. Actually, that was the worst part. I have given blood many times in my life, but this needle was worse-- I don't know what it was about it, but it was quite painful. Then I waited another 10 min. before they did the usual weight, blood pressure, etc. (I can hardly believe I'm up to 150 lbs.-- a total of 16 lb. weight gain, which the dr. said is pretty good as long as I only gain a total of about 10 lbs. more.)

Then came the real wait. Apparently the dr. I was supposed to see got caught up in a hospital visit or something & wasn't able to make it. So another of the drs. was taking his appts. plus his own. So I waited in the exam room for 30 min. Now, I don't mind waiting in the waiting area, because at least there I can watch people, or watch TV, or read a magazine. But in the exam room, there is nothing to look at, except cotton balls and medical equipment. I considered curling up on the little table and going to sleep. The dr. was very apologetic when he got there and he was also very nice. This is the 4th out of 5 drs. in the practice that I have met, and so far I have really liked all of them.

So after that long wait, all he told me was that I am measuring just perfectly, the baby has a strong heartbeat, I have gained the right amount of weight, and everything looks to be just fine. (What do you know, my daughter is an overacheiver already!) And that was it. 5 minutes. So I got out of the appt. at 10:30. After clearing up a mix-up with the financial situation, which frustrated me a little (they are showing I have a $0 balance, and yet I still owe $196, go figure). Now I have to go again in 3 weeks. And then before long, I'll have to go every 2 weeks. Only 15 weeks left-- the end is near! Oh, the test results came back normal.

We have almost finished re-painting the baby's room (and by that I mean primarily Brett, isn't he sweet?), then I'll just have to finish cleaning out all the extra junk so we can move in a crib and whatever other furniture we decide to get. We might forgo the new dresser and use the old one we have, to save money, even though I really like the one we registered for. It's coming together slowly but surely. I would love to have it all finished in the next few weeks to be ready, but even if it's not, at least we have the baby's bassinet to hold us over for awhile.

2 years ago today...

2 years ago today I was doing this:

And then this...

With this amazing group of friends:

And I didn't think it was possible to love him even more, 2 years later...

Happy anniversary, sweetheart!

And P.S.

Congratulations Elizabeth & Dan! Looks like it doesn't matter if you catch the bouquet or not! I can't wait to celebrate your love in the nearby future!

Week 24

Finally I'm feeling much more movement, and I'm starting to figure out the baby's patterns. She seems to react more to low tones, like Brett's voice, or the TV. If I'm talking or if there is no noise going on, that's when she's still. I feel her most often when I'm sitting down to watch TV at the end of the night. Brett says my voice must be comforting to her, and maybe his voice gets on her nerves? I'm pretty sure she had the hiccups the other day in church, and that was the coolest feeling!

My belly is also starting to get in the way now. It's harder for me to get to sleep at night (even despite the huge body pillow I got that takes over half the bed!), and other little things are more difficult, as well-- things I usually take for granted, like tying my shoes, putting on my pants, or sitting on the floor. I am learning to live life at a slower pace.

Apparently babies born at 24 weeks and beyond can survive outside the womb. This makes the birth and her arrival seem so close. Yet when I think that I still have to make it through June, July, and August to carry full term, it seems so far away! I'm still not really afraid of labor & delivery-- honestly I'm excited about the unknown, the adventure.

I do have fears, of course. I fear I won't be successful at breastfeeding. This is something about which I refuse to put a lot of pressure on myself. Of course I really want it to work (especially since we have not factored the cost of formula into our budget), but if for some reason it does not, I will not be disappointed in myself. However, I refuse to give up without a fight. I also fear that if for some reason I have to have a c-section that it will prevent me from having future babies naturally and I won't be able to have the size family we desire. I fear something may be wrong with the baby and she will take a lot more care than I am bargaining for. Of course, I know that none of these fears are too great for my God to handle, and I am trusting Him to provide me with a beautiful baby and all that's necessary to be a great mother.





















24 weeks pregnant