Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My little leprechaun is showing off his hat. And making his "picture" face.

Updates on Lilah

We had our 32 week (!!) followup ultrasound today. Our girl is healthy and wiggly and head down, and kept her hand in front of her face the entire time. She's measuring a week ahead size-wise, and weighs about 4 1/2 pounds. She's supposed to gain about a half pound a week from here on out, so depending on when she shows up she'll likely weigh between 6 and 8 pounds. We do have to go back in 4 weeks for another followup to check a couple things, but nothing big.

 

Don't worry, she doesn't have a strange growth on her face. It's the ultrasound distorting her arm.

Here she is with her arm, again covering up her little face!

31 Weeks!

How Far along: 31 weeks, 4 day

Baby size: Somewhere in the neighborhood of about 4 pounds, so says the ticker.

Total weight gain: +14 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: I really can't get enough, but I am still not sleeping well. Between having to get up to pee at least once a night, and having the stupid body pillow between my knees, and my sciatica...ugh.

Best Moment this week: The best moment was totally my date with Chris at the Melting Pot. Fondue. LOVE. And it was so wonderful to just get to spend some alone time with my husband. :-) We don't get dates too often, so when Dad and Diane gave us a gc for our birthdays it was such a treat!

Movement: Yeah, she's very roll-ey. I swear she has corners. She also really likes sticking her butt out.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: Still lots of BH contractions, but I haven't needed cramp bark for a couple days, so that's nice.

Belly button: Confused. It's kinda flat but with an umbrella top.

Cravings: Chocolate. Strawberries. Fondue. Ice cream. Meat.

What I miss: Bending over, not walking all gimpy because of my sciatica. Being able to bend down and stretch my back out. Sleep. Not having to have a pillow between my knees at night.

Stretch Marks: Yep. The rash seems to be mostly gone for now. It's only a matter of time before it comes back with a new batch of stretchies, though.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything.

What I am looking forward to this week: I have a 32 week ultrasound on Thursday, and an appointment at my midwives' on Friday. Wohoo!

29 Weeks

How Far along: 29 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about 3 pounds. I believe it, with the way she throws herself around in there.

Total weight gain: +13 pounds, holding steady.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: I really can't get enough, but I am still not sleeping well. I've had to resort to taking a benadryl every night just so my itchy belly doesn't keep me up.

Best Moment this week: Helping James with his "valentimes" for his friends at daycare. He even insisted that the dog should have one. Also made some further improvements on the kids' room this weekend.

Movement: Yep :-) All.The.Time.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: More frequent BH contractions, generally every 15-20 minutes in the evenings. I am going to bring it up at my appointment on Friday. During the day they're more mellow, more like 1 or 2 an hour.

Belly button: Confused. I think it's happy with it's current nose-like innie-outie state.

Cravings: Chocolate. Ice cream sundaes. Steak.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining easily. Feeling like a normal person. Being able to reach things in cabinets/the sink without my belly getting in the way. Deep, all through the whole night sleep.

Stretch Marks: Yep, complete with the rash. Ugh.I never got these red ones with James.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything still, including weight gain, cravings, and the scariness of my naked belly.The way this child wiggles instead of punching and kicking.

What I am looking forward to this week: I have an appointment on Friday, when I will be 30 weeks and 1 day. Holy moly.

Also, fun fact: the belly is now large enough that the motion-sensor sinks at work detect it. Awesome.

Recent "James-isms"

When something is broken, it's "borken." I love this.

"My sister is coming out soon. She's gonna to."

"How did Liwah get in there?" (The answer was that Mommy and Daddy put her there.)

"What does she play with in your belly? Baby toys?" (When I told him that she didn't have any toys, and probably played with her fingers and toes and umbilical cord-and explained what that was- he got a very disturbed look on his face. Especially when I told him he used to play with his cord.)

"I'm just going to sleep on the floor. I don't want to sleep in my bed."

"I'm a frog baby! Awwww."

28 Weeks!

How Far along: 28 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs about 2 1/2 pounds.

Total weight gain: +13 pounds (though it's anywhere between 10 and 13, depending on the day)

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. I miss deep, restful sleep though. Chris actually asked me last night how I can sleep with such a wiggly critter in my belly. I said "Not well." The problem is that most of my sleep seems to be in REM rather than deeper sleep. I am a tired Tena.

Best Moment this week: Getting the kids' room reorganized, and seeing James get so excited about his little sister who "is comin' soon!" according to him.

Movement: Yep :-) All.The.Time.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: None, really, though BH contractions are getting more frequent. Not timeable, but at least one an hour generally. Don't worry, I am keeping track of them in case things intensify.

Belly button: The top is still working it's way out. It's *lovely*. It kind of looks like a mouse nose or something.

Cravings: Donuts and chocolate. And ice cream. And nachos. And just Mexican food in general. Oh, and steak. *drool*

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining easily. Feeling like a normal person. Being able to reach things in cabinets/the sink without my belly getting in the way. Carrying James around without my belly protesting. And, as of this weekend, being able to reach the bottom of the washing machine. I guess I no longer get to transfer things to the dryer...darn.

Stretch Marks: More have joined the ranks. And my midwife confirmed that it is, in fact, PUPPS. Not much to be done about it, I just can't use anything scented *at all* on my belly or it make it worse, including soap. I can use hydrocortisone cream and take benadryl if I can't sleep from the itchies. The benadryl helped a bit, it seemed a little better the next morning. I've gotten some recommendations from a friend though that I'm going to try. This rash is not pretty, and it's spreading. Gah.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything still, including weight gain, cravings, and the scariness of my naked belly. The way this child wiggles instead of punching and kicking; she's got a very different personality than her brother.

What I am looking forward to this week: Chris's birthday is today, so I'm making cheesecake this week. MMMmmm. Also, 29 weeks on Thursday. *Gulp*

I also get to go for appointments every 2 weeks now, and I have an ultrasound scheduled for 32 weeks to followup on my low-lying placenta. I wonder if some women just have them more than others? I had it with James too. I'm not even a little worried about it, since they move up, and I get to see my girl on a fancy schmancy ultrasound at the consulting OBs office instead of a cheapo Kaiser one. *happy dance*

27 Weeks. AKA, Hello 3rd Trimester

How Far along: 27 weeks, 4 days

Baby size: According to my ticker, she weighs over 2 pounds.

Total weight gain: +11 pounds.

Maternity clothes: Yep.  

Sleep: Mmmm, sleep. Although deep sleep is getting harder to come by.

Best Moment this week: My birthday :-).

Movement: Yep :-) All.The.Time.

Gender: GIRL!

Labor signs: None, really, though BH (Braxton-Hicks) contractions are getting more frequent and I've had some non-BH contractions. Ouchie. Fortunately they went away after about 45 minutes, but ow. Not in a hurry to experience those again until the real deal, though they gave me an excuse to practice relaxing around the pain.

Belly button: The top is still working it's way out. It's *lovely*.

Cravings: Donuts and chocolate. And ice cream. Honestly, how I have only gained 11 pounds is a mystery.

What I miss: Bending over, being able to use my abs/sit up from reclining easily. Feeling like a normal person. Being able to reach things in cabinets/the sink without my belly getting in the way.

Stretch Marks: More have joined the ranks. And I'm getting a rash on the sides of my belly where the new stretchies end. *Joy* I'm going to be asking my midwife about that on Friday, I really hope it isn't PUPPPS again.

What is different this time around: Pretty much everything still, including weight gain, cravings, and the scariness of my bare belly.

What I am looking forward to this week: MW appointment on Friday. Whee!

It's snowing. I wanna go home and curl up with my dogs and read a book.