Mother's Day News = BGB

We are expecting Baby Girl Basque (BGB) to join our family in the Fall!!

Simon is very excited to have a baby sister and is already talking about sharing some of his toys with her. He has even told some folks about the new baby in Mama's belly. He is most excited to hold her, but does usually mention to us that babies cry, whenever we talk about babies.

She is officially due on Nov 8, but because Simon was 3 weeks early we are expecting her to join us around the middle of October. I am already showing, it happened much faster this time around! And I've had terrible morning sickness, unfortunately like the first time (I had hoped that too would be different). We will continue to give updates as we learn anything new. Alan and I are really excited!

Dad and Kiki with Pictures!

Dad and Kiki came into town last weekend. We looked at lots and lots of tiles and we took some pictures. Here's one of the group (sadly minus the photographer) and more of my big belly after the jump.

Hiccups and Heat and So Much More

The past couple weeks have FLOWN by. We've had so much going on... from visitors to extreme weather, to more house demo (Alan will cover the pictures on that). I've got lots in this one post, so jump to read the details.

One and a half weeks

Every day I say how far along I am at least twice a day. That means that being 35 weeks did not sneak up on me at all. And I always tell people that 37 weeks is considered full term and I don't really think I'll go all the way to 40 weeks, which is considered 'normal'. It's not like I didn't know that soon there would be a baby soon... But I guess it didn't hit me how close it all really was until Erika as she was leaving this weekend said something along the lines of 'just 2 weeks now!' and I was floored. We could have a baby, not early or something to worry about, but a perfectly healthy, happy baby in just two weeks. One and a half weeks now. Wow.

Baby Boy Basque only needs a very few things for his first few days, so we are making sure the list is completed this weekend:

1. Cradle - Cindy and Ken still have the cradle that Ken made for Alan. It's beautiful and they're sending that this week. So Baby Boy will have a place to sleep.
2. Car Seat - Alan is ordering it today and we'll go to the fire station this weekend to get it installed. They won't let Baby Boy leave the hospital if you don't have a car seat.
3. Diapers - We will go this weekend to get newborn diapers and the accouterments. We are going with cloth diapers.
4. Pack Hospital Bag - We've got to have a bag packed of snacks and other essentials like a tooth brush and socks! Who knows how long we'll stay, at least 2 days probably more.

One more really important thing we need before Baby Boy Basque makes his appearance:

A NAME! Unfortunately not too much progress on that front. Luckily we can decide when we see his cute little face in person! Though we might be so distracted counting fingers and toes that we won't get around to a name for a while.

Anything else we need for the first couple days that we're forgetting?

Secretly Pregnant

She hides it well, doesn't she? :)

More Baby Facts

One of my favorite things about being pregnant is all the amazing things that are happening to my body and to the baby in such a short period of time. It just is astounding that there is a whole little person living inside me right now! He's about five pounds and is developed enough that he could be on the outside kicking his dad instead of on the inside kicking my bladder. It's better for him to stay tucked in my belly for the next 5 and a half weeks, but he's just putting the finishing touches on right now.

The Chicago Museum of Science has an interactive online exhibit where you can watch a video called Make Room for Baby that shows how the organs move and adjust in a mother's body for the baby. Definitely take a look - it's crazy how small the liver gets!

After the jump some cool facts about babies.

Stuffy Nose (Be Prepared for Complaints)

I'm finally getting over the first illness I've had during the pregnancy. On the surface it appeared to be a simple cold - but it was much more malevolent than that. My nose was so stuffy! I am not usually one to take anything when I am sick, but man I really wanted some NyQuil or Sudafed or _something_. Sleeping is hard enough with our huge baby wiggling around in my belly, but not being able to breathe adds a really not fun dimension to that.

I am certain that I got sick from standing in cold, dirty water all night Wednesday night and Saturday night. As a side note - Alan's post and pictures about Wednesday night's flood didn't quite convey the magnitude of water that was pouring from our ceiling. It was more water than the quantity of four showers and coming in anywhere within a 2 to 3 foot radius. We filled buckets in a minute and the sink couldn't keep up with the water we were dumping into it. Finally we just threw in the towel (forgive me) and made the levee in that picture Alan took.

These are the worst things about being sick this past week:

Well-deserved

It's not always as tough as this weekend has been.  This is a picture from earlier this month of Emily (and baby) enjoying some sunshine and quiet time, both of which have been far too rare lately.

Monitoring

On Monday we had our first Monitoring appointment. When they monitor the baby they use two disk-like amplifier things about the same size around as an apple, except thinner. They strap them around my belly with a big plastic band (putting some goop between the monitor and my skin) and then you can hear the baby's heartbeat on a speaker and it gets charted on a little printout like you see brain waves getting drawn in movies.

It was really cool to be able to hear his heart. It beats so fast! It was between 120 and 140 beats per minute and that was normal and good. (My pulse is around 80-90 I think.)

We have to be on the monitors at least once a week for 20-40 minutes every week from here on out and we'll do it before our weekly appointment. It's just a precaution to make sure everything is okay and the little guy is not in distress.

A Very Pregnant Morning

We had our last child birth class today. Now-parents who had previously taken the class come with their new babies and share birthing stories in the last class and there is general social time where current class attendees can talk about registries, concerns and just general life things. It was also a potluck, so we needed to bring food to share.

I had a recipe we used to make often for Raisin Bran muffins and had found another recipe for oatmeal muffins to try. Easy to make, transport and eat, so they seemed like a good potluck food. Making both for a taste test Sunday morning sounded perfect, then we could have them for breakfast and then bring them to the class that afternoon.

It was shaping up to be a great morning: I slept a ton (for a pregnant lady) and was feeling good. Plus Alan recently got me the "Beaches" soundtrack, which I used to have on tape and loved as a kid, so I could listen to it for the first time in years sing along while I cooked.

I was elbow deep in suds washing dishes to prep for the morning (everything is always coated in construction dust so we wash before _and_ after eating), I was singing and smiling and generally having fun. Then "Wind Beneath My Wings" came on. It was suddenly the saddest thing I'd ever heard and I started to sing and cry, and then laugh at myself for crying so hard at the song. That's when Alan walked into the kitchen. I'm not sure exactly what he thought, he just came up and gave me a big hug and let me cry on his shoulder for the duration of the song. Then a new song, nose blow and I was singing and smiling again. It was the fastest transition between insane crying and happy singing that anyone has ever had. Once the song was done I was completely fine... at least until replay had the song on again and I burst into tears, again.

I still managed to finish all of the baking. I'm not sure if this is evidence of 'nesting' or just my own personal insanity... I made FIVE DOZEN muffins. Then I took a nap.

Belly Mapping

Last weekend Alan and I started looking into 'Belly Mapping'. It was something the teacher in our childbirth classes mentioned and you can only do it in your last two months. That makes us the tiniest bit early, but we figured we'd try anyway.

I learned quite a bit, like what I thought was his head and would often pet is mostly likely his butt. Whoops. At least I got his little arms and legs right!

We thought we'd be able to feel him out because he isn't in the normal 'birthing position' yet with his head down, facing my back. Our little one won't settle for normal and instead usually lies crosswise in my belly, with his head on one side and his butt on the other and his tickly little hands and feet facing either up or down. He rolls a lot still and is big enough to give me a lurch when he abruptly changes position. When he's changing position, he's moving from that horizontal position to the far right side of my belly. Apparently that is the place to be. Often I'll look down at my belly and find it completely lop sided. When I touch my belly there's a rounded, hard spot (his butt not his head!) in the upper right just under my ribs and then a longer solid part down my side (which is his back). On the left side there is no baby, so it is soft and you can push your fingers into it a bit.

His little limbs have gotten long enough to poke into my back a bit and up and down. Sometimes I'll find a little foot (or hand, I can't tell them apart yet) poking at my back and you can feel it from the outside! That of course is always only on my right side.

As a side note, all directions are from MY perspective.

Baby Development Facts

There are so many fascinating things related to baby development and pregnancy, I thought I'd post a couple of the things I'm learning here.

• Breast fed babies have a lower rate of childhood obesity. The theory is that they have to work for the milk where a bottle fed baby essentially gets milk poured in.

• At 29 weeks (where we are) the vocal cords are completely developed, but the baby can't make any noise in the womb because he's breathing in the amniotic fluid (getting those muscles ready for air!).

More after the jump...

The Stretch

Although I have no evidence, I think the baby started a growth spurt a few days after the ultrasound (so starting a week and a half ago). Where before we could feel kicks and I felt some little bit of internal movement, then it turned into an odd lurching sensation that I could feel inside but you couldn't feel it on the outside. Then, suddenly one day we could actually FEEL a head or sometimes a little limb - I really can't tell arms and legs apart yet. He presses all the way to the left and you can see my tummy get lop sided and feel the solidness of baby on one side and no-baby on the other side. Then he'll roll and suddenly he's all the way on the other side. It's pretty amazing to see and feel and really odd to experience.

That's the cool part about his growth spurt: the more obvious movements. Soon we'll probably be to the point that I've heard others talk about where you see a little foot or hand move across your belly.

The less cool part about his growth spurt: my belly _hurts_ when it has to grow as fast as he can grow. It's not terrible, but it certainly isn't fun. And I feel a little like a wuss complaining about it considering I'm going to be experiencing labor pains in not too long and I'm sure that's much stronger. But complain I will anyway! Just this little guy alone is growing a half pound a week. At 2.5 pounds (as of 2 weeks ago), that is quite a lot of percent body growth! Can you blame my poor tummy for complaining about the stretch?

Sugar!

Last Thursday I took the day off work to go to the doctor's office. They needed me to drink a special glucose drink (essentially kool-aid without enough water) and sit around and have my blood drawn for a few hours. It was not something I was looking forward to just for the blood draws, but the purpose of the test was to check if I was gestationally diabetic. Not that anyone wants that, but I REALLY didn't want that.

I had to go on a special "eat more carbs and fruit, no sweets" diet, then fast before the test. I ate dinner at 7:30ish on Wednesday and the test started at nine on Thursday. I did okay getting myself to the doctor's office that morning, but by 12:30 - after four blood draws and still no food - I was a mess. Alan thankfully met me at the office and walked me someplace new with the most delicious grilled cheese and tomato soup I've ever eaten. It was a fun cafe inside a grocery store so we swung by and got some candies (since if I failed that would be the end of candies). Because four hours isn't enough, after lunch we went back to the doctor and did another ultrasound. The pictures aren't as good as the last round because he's getting big! But Alan will post details on that later.

Thankfully, the doctor called yesterday evening and told me that the results came back great. I'm healthy and the baby is looking good. We'll get one more ultrasound in four to six weeks just to check in, but my third trimester has started off quite well!

Our Little Soccer Player

Just a couple days before we officially got to 24 weeks, our future Soccer Star started to make himself felt regularly and this week he has been going like the Energizer bunny. I'm not sure if he's just gotten big enough so I can tell when he's making smaller moves or if he's stronger or some combination of both, but now I can regularly feel him moving around.

I always wondered, "These are just little movements, how could someone be distracted the baby?" Now at 25 weeks it no longer feels like fluttery light touches, but more like when you've got your hands in the water and have caught a little tadpole or something and it's trying to get out of your hands and poking between your fingers with it's little nose. It is really distracting and surprisingly strong. When he turns and starts touching someplace new inside, it's the strangest feeling. Not painful yet (though I've been told that'll happen), but just really different. Like there's someone inside me!

I do think he's getting awake patterns and a little personality. He is always awake at 8:30. Just when I've settled into do something focused at work, he usually pokes my bladder and suggests that I instead go to the bathroom to give him some more room to play. When we get home from work, as soon as Alan starts talking the little one will start kicking up a storm. I think he likes to hear Alan's voice. Or maybe he's already been trained that hanging out with dad is happy, relaxing time.

Note: We hit 24 weeks on March 13, 2011

The Amazing Mrs ...

This morning I realized that I now have a super power - a lizard super power. My belly is so full of baby that when I take a deep breath my chest gets a bit bigger and instead of my tummy going forward like a normal human, my belly expands to the SIDES. I don’t know what other lizard powers I might have gotten as well, we’ll have to wait and see. Though I did go through a “green” phase months ago, but is that more froggy? I can’t think of any good super hero names…

Summary of First 5 months

I am amazed that it's already been 21 weeks. How is that possible?

The first three months dragged and dragged. I was nauseated all the time and while I didn't really throw up a lot, I spent a lot of energy making sure I did not throw up. The two things that made it possible (beside my iron will, of course) was ginger sucking candies and those sea sickness bracelets. What little energy I had left was focused on pretending to the whole world that I was normal and everything was okay. I worked a few less hours, but tried to keep up pace and at least the appearance of normalcy. When I left work I usually went home for a quick nap while Alan took care of shopping and cooking, woke me up to make sure I ate and then put me to bed in bed (the couch was always so comfortable!); then he did all the dishes and straightened up.

Finally week 12 came and with it Christmas. All the tests came back healthy and perfect from the doctor's office. The news was Christmas present to family, though we weren't quite ready to tell the whole world yet. And the promised relief from nausea did not happen. Though the change to maternity jeans was a godsend. I think I'm never changing back. I didn't have a bump, but my belly was more sensitive and it was a joy to not have to fight with that terrible button every morning.

Around week 14 (3.5 months) I finally started to feel normal again. (Though even at week 21 the train rides to/from work can still be a challenge.) I also felt for the first time something that I qualified as "not normal" in my tummy. When you're feeling sick all the time, you spend an abnormal amount of time thinking about your belly and how things are feeling. I was pretty sure that "not normal" was a baby (!) but wasn't certain enough to really call it out as such. When I didn't feel it again for over a week I figured I'd made it up.

Week 16 (month 4) I started telling work because I could definitely see a bit of a belly showing. Not enough that anyone would dare mention it (horror!) but enough that if you knew, it was obvious. Work took it great and I felt a bit more ready to make the next step.

Good thing, because by week 18 I had definitely popped. I got my first "Are you Expecting" question this week. That was startling, and quite brave of that person cuz if I wasn't they'd have been in trouble! I also often started to feel the occasional little movements from week 14 again, definitely the same thing. This is also about the time I lost track of my belly. I felt so much like my normal self and wasn't feeling movements very often, so I sort of forgot my belly wasn't normal sized. I bumped into coworkers, chairs, frequently pulled myself too close to tables and occasionally gave myself quite the fright when I got up in the night to go to the bathroom and hit a THING where only air should be in front of my stomach.

Now, at 20-21 weeks (5 months) I feel movement pretty frequently. It is now strong enough to distract me in meetings and Alan finally felt it too yesterday. I think our little boy will be kicking tea cups, pencils and whatever else I can balance on my belly off of it in not too long! Unfortunately, if he's not actively kicking it is still easy to forget that there is a now quite sizable belly in front of me and I can't quite walk as fast or scoot as close to the table as I think I should be able to.

All in all it's been a pretty great second trimester so far. I'm looking forward to the rest of it. I'll keep you up to date on status.