Appointment update

So I drank the orange stuff. It was much tastier than anticipated. It was much like extra-syrupy orange Sunkist/Crush/Fanta. I was told by others that I needed to open up the hatch and chug it. Eh, whatevs. The nurse (Alex) said that the serving of orange drink had about 50 mg of sugar in it. A can of Mt. Dew has about 40 mg. And this drink was not 12 oz--maybe about 4-6 oz. So yeah. Sugary. I won't know the results until Tuesday morning. Alex said no news is good news.

I gained 1 lb since earlier in the month, which puts me at 17 lbs total (I think...I'm beginning to lose track). That 1 lb. is mostly baby :)

My cervix was hard to find, and that's a good thing because that means it's high :)

Baby's heartbeat was 136 bpm. Keep in mind that's after the sugary drink.

My midwife noticed my slightly swollen ankle/calf/shin area. Yes, when I take my socks off at night, I can see the bulge above where my sock use to be. Fabulous.

Now I start my every-other-week appointments. This pregnancy really is going so fast. I feel like it was just yesterday that I went to my 8 week appointment!

My friend Jessica, who is 36 weeks pregnant, must have her baby in the next 1-2 weeks. She developed coliostasis, and baby P. needs to be evacuated. I can't wait to be a pseudo-aunt! Her baby will be my first pseudo-nephew/niece :) YAY!

Wish me luck!

I have my 1 hour glucose screening and first cervix check this afternoon. Here's hoping my body's doing what it's supposed to be doing, and baby is in no hurry to meet us!

28 weeks: Chinese Cabbage

Just in case you're not up to speed on your cabbages:

I feel like the produce of recent weeks has become much less attractive and appealing than the produce of yore. Lemons and oranges are so much prettier (and tastier) than cauliflower and cabbage. That's alright though, because deep inside my baby is getting cuter and cuter. Raina's measuring 2.25 pounds and measures 14.8 inches. She can blink her baby blues, which now have eyelashes. She might be able to see light filtering in. And, once again, continues her brain development and packs on the fat. Here's a fun look showing what's going on inside:

And what it looks like from the outside:



As for me, I've been feeling a few Braxton Hicks contractions every day for the past few days. They're not painful nor anything to worry about. My chiropractor said they're practice contractions to get my body ready for what it has to do in a few months. His theory is that women who have Braxton Hicks early in their 3rd trimester can better handle the pain of the real contractions during delivery because they are used to the rhythm of contractions already. He's fascinated with pregnancy, so it's always interesting to hear what he has to say. That being said, I have an appointment with my midwife on Friday and I will talk with her about them as well. I also have to do my 1 hour glucose test, get my cervix checked (can't WAIT! errr...), and talk about education classes Kev and I need to sign up for, along with the usual weight/bp/hb checks. It's a long appointment. Obviously.

Baby Dream

Friday night I had a baby dream. I loved this one so much.
Characters:
-Kevin
-some family members and friends that appeared/disappeared randomly like in dreams they often do
-the "baby," who was actually a 2-year-old BOY.
-me, pregnant again

Setting: What we called the zoo, but there were no animals. Same type of outdoor walking environment though.

The dream: All I really remember was being on this wooden-slat path with round posts coming up and rope going through the posts (zoo-like, see?) and I saw Kevin holding our toddler all comfortable-like as if he'd done it for two years already. Then I, with a pregnant belly, wonder if I can hold the little guy if I'm not supposed to be lifting heavy things. I think to myself, "ah, screw it. He's my kid. I need to hold him." and I scooped him up and gave him a big hug. He wasn't that heavy after all.

The part I loved was that I actually caught a glimpse of the tot. He was absolutely a mix of Kevin and my brother at the age of two. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and bright red lips (from being chapped). I remember thinking he was super cute, and that's why I wanted to hug him. For funsies, here's Kevin (2ish, I'm guessing):


And here's my brother Scott (18 mo), along with my cousin Sarah, me (4th birthday), and my cousin Ruth:

Now, who knows how to morph two pictures into one?

Diaper cover update:
I got more fluffy mail yesterday! My yellow Bummis Super Brite arrived from Comfy Cozy Diapers. No blue one though. She sold out. :( I now have 3 total newborn-sized diaper covers. I think I'll hold off on buying any more. If I need some newborn sizes after the baby's here, I'll purchase them at that point. Now I just have to wait for the prefolds to get back in stock so I can order those.

27 weeks: Cauliflower

This week, Rain weighs almost 2 pounds (about the weight of a head of cauliflower) and is about 14.5 inches long from head to toe. He's sleeping and waking at regular intervals (really? Because it feels like he's awake A LOT these days), he's opening and closing his eyes, and maybe even sucking on his fingers. With more brain tissue developing, his brain is very active now. Rain's lungs are still immature, but they would be capable of functioning with a lot of medical help if he were to be born now. He may start to hiccup any time now. I don't think I've felt those yet, but I'm on the watch.


In the past few weeks, I've felt more movement throughout the day (rather than mostly at night before) than I've felt before. I'll be up in front of the class, and feel the baby somersaulting around. It's hard to concentrate on my job when he wants to play in there!

Last Friday we had another no-snow snow day, and I found a good deal on Thirsties diaper covers at My Baby Pumpkin, so I snatched them up. They came in the mail yesterday--my first fluffy mail! They are super cute. I got them in celery and melon.



No word yet on the Bummi's Super Brites I ordered. I'll give the online store girl another day to send me some sort of email before I start asking about their status.

Oh Happy Day!

Today Baby Rain(a) is officially two-thirds cooked. 3rd trimester, here we come! (Yikes!)

A picture is worth a thousand words

::sigh::
:)

That is all.

I should clarify...

The "diaper" pictured below is actually a diaper cover. It's the opposite of absorbent. It contains the pee and the poo. The actual absorbent part will be prefolds, probably what you think of when you think of old-school cloth diapers. The prefold gets folded up inside the cover, then the cover gets put on like a regular diaper. Thus, usually only one (perhaps two) diaper cover is needed per day. I will not need as many diaper covers as I do prefolds.

Oh, and also, I just wanted to say that I love my wedding photographer, Betsy Cole. She is the best ever.

26 weeks, 1 day belly pics

Because you've been so patient with my neglectful belly pic posting habits, I will even "treat" you to a full-frontal linea negra shot. It's faint in the picture, but it's there. You can especially see it above my belly button. How lucky you are!



Ah yes, today is a "cold day" as I like to call it, since snow is not the factor. I spent some of the morning surfing the internet, in hopes that the word "surfing" would warm things up a bit. No such luck. As some of you know, Kev and I have decided to cloth diaper. Before you call us crazy, do a bit of research. The 2009 version of cloth diapering does not mean taking the ol' rags down to the river to beat them on rocks. And...baby gets to wear these!
...HOW CUTE?!? I started my diaper (cover) collection and purchased two of these today for the low, low price of $8/each from Comfy Cozy Diapers! I bought them in blue and yellow. Super excited :) I can't wait to get some "fluffy mail" in a few days!

In the world of my Escape, it's done! Hallelujah! BUT, I can't get it back yet. The insurance adjustor has to look at it before they release it to me. The auto body shop was having a hard time contacting the adjustor. The first one retired, and then another one took over my claim, and couldn't be reached. So after a phone call from me to the insurance company yesterday, hopefully things are moving along again.

26 weeks: English Hothouse Cucumber Wiggleworm

A wha?!? You ask. This:
Wiggling around like it's never wiggled before.

This week, Raina measures in at 14 inches and about 1 lb 10 oz. The network of nerves in her ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both sides of the conversations I have. I hope she understands why mommy has to use her angry voice sometimes at school now that she hears my students. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. If Raina is actually Rain, his testicles are beginning to descend--a trip to the scrotum that will take 2 or 3 days. I'm sure he'd be embarrassed if he knew I were telling you this :) She's starting to kick/punch/jab/wiggle a little bit higher up now. Not quite into the ribcage yet, but getting closer.

In the outside world, the tendonitis that resides in my hip flexors flares up about once or twice a week. Stretching and exercise helps, so I must be more diligent about getting to Snap and riding the recumbent bike.

I also woke up this morning at 4 am feeling a bit (shhhh!) constipated. I haven't been eating nearly as many veggies as I should, and look where it got me. To get things moving, I will bring a big bowl of veggies to eat for lunch today.

Car accident update: Still don't have the Escape back (yeah, I know, ridiculous), but my chiro said perhaps after a few more weeks, we can cut back down to every-other-week appointments again! Awesome.

Let's hope for a "cold day" tomorrow so I can sleep in a little just for fun, eh?

Oh yum

Cupcakes and doughnuts. It's taking all my willpower right now not to drive down the street to the grocery store and get some. I've never made cupcakes before, and I love to bake! Some cream cheese frosting on top...oh yummers. I can't make doughnuts, but I'm willing to buy them! I watched "Donut Paradise" this morning on Food Network and about died. I'm so glad that none of those doughnut places are anywhere near here, or I'd be so tempted.

Baby, you must crave good things like carrots and broccoli and all things made from nature. I know, sometimes you do. Christmas was your time to eat all the cookies you wanted. Now we must get back on track. No more constant sugary goodness.

Alright, alright. Honestly, I really don't think this is the baby talking. I've tried to blame it on him/her, but I can't. It's all me. I've always loved cupcakes and doughnuts. I can't use the baby as an excuse. Or can I? I do only have a little more than 3 months of using him/her as an excuse left...

Oh, and I learned today that doughnut is the correct spelling. Because they're made out of dough, not do. AHAHAHAHA!

After a google search to find some delectable pictures to add some excitement to this post, I find this: Cupcake in Mpls OMG. It's Cupcake Paradise.




This, too, shall pass. Right? Right?

25 weeks: Eggplant or Rutabaga

You choose which one you can relate to best. Rain is now somewhere around 13.5-14 inches, and somewhere around 1.5-2 pounds. He's beginning to exchange his long, lean look for some baby fat. His wrinkled skin is becoming more smooth and he'll start to look more like a newborn. He's still growing that hair. If we could see it, we could discern its color and texture. Since this is the week we should supposedly be able to hear his heartbeat, perhaps Kev will have to give hearing it another shot. Tiny capillaries are giving Rain a healthy pink glow. He's soaking up my antibodies and getting his immune system ready for life out here. His eyes continue to form and will soon perfect blinking.

It hath appeared

my linea negra. The darker-shaded line that now runs down the middle of my belly.

Apparently I ate too many Christmas cookies the past 2 weeks, because many of my coworkers made comments like, "You popped!" or "You look pregnant!" today upon the return to school. Good times.

And, for the record, I exercise more now. I biked recumbent-style 6.66 miles while correcting math tests at Snap today. I hope the 6.66 doesn't bring me bad luck. It just happened to be the distance I had traveled in the amount of time I traveled in.

Also, the tendonitis that resides in my hip flexors is out full force. I was limping for a few hours this morning until it finally loosened up in there. So I made sure to do a long stretching session at Snap as well.

Baby's room phase 2, midwife appointment

Kevin put up most of the trim yesterday. We left the trim around the windows, closets, and door for a later time. We'll be ordering a new door and a new set closet doors soon. So you won't see trim around those areas in the pictures.

The carpet guy came this morning to lay the "wren" colored carpet. Lovin' it!


*The first picture is closer to the actual wall color.

I think it will look great with the dark color of the crib, which I will be ordering this weekend.


I had another midwife appointment today. Thanks to the holidays and its surplus of cookies, I gained 5 pounds in 3 weeks. That's to be expected, I guess. So now my grand total is 16 pounds. Rain's heartbeat was in the 140s today, which was up from last appointment, when it was 124. Today was the first appointment I got my belly measured with a tape measure. Midwife said it was perfect. She was thrilled to hear that we didn't find out the sex at the ultrasound, and made a note in my file that read, "Daddy will announce sex at birth." How cool is that?!? Kev does not know he has this job yet.

My next appointment will be a joy. On the agenda: 1 hr glucose screen, a chat about classes, and my first cervix check. Oh what fun.

Check this out!

This is what baby (not our baby, but a baby) looks like at 24 weeks. You can see the lanugo and the vernix and the little eyebrows :) In my first trimester, I actually got a super cool book with real pictures of babies developing from my midwife. And now I found the same pictures online! I'm so excited to share them with you.