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.