Are We There Yet???

My Growing Belly

I enjoy being pregnant. I really do. But lately, with this HOT (high 90's and humid!) weather, an ever active CR, and little energy, I think I'm just ready for the kid to get here. Although I'm not so sure that will help with the energy part. This baby is constantly dancing and jumping. Especially at four o'clock in the morning! Which I'm sure he/she will still do after birth. At 27 1/2 weeks, it's crazy to think that our little bundle of joy will be here in around 3 months! Just have to get through the summer :/ I haven't had any really intense cravings for a while. Nor have I been extremely hungry all the time, like it seemed I was with CR. Which really makes me question why I've gained so much weight this last month! 12 lbs in the last 5 weeks seems like a lot to me, but my midwife said not to worry about it. I'm not worried. Just really curious as to what it's from. Yes, I know, a baby. I'm just going to call it water retention.  That works for me!
I was babysitting my cousins 3 young kids, and her oldest, 5 year old, loved touching my belly. She just laid on the couch with me, her hands on my tummy, concentrating on feeling baby kick. Her mom is also pregnant and about as far along as I am, and the kids are really looking forward to a younger sister. So of course, they also referred to my baby as a 'she'. This really makes me wonder how CR will react when she's old enough to understand and I'm pregnant again. Right now she kisses my belly, but it could be because she likes round objects ;)

How your baby's growing:

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were to be born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

The second trimester is drawing to a close, but as your body gears up for the final lap, you may start noticing some new symptoms. Along with an aching back, for example, you may find that your leg muscles cramp upnow and then. They're carrying extra weight, after all, and your expanding uterus is putting pressure on the veins that return blood from your legs to your heart as well as on the nerves leading from your trunk to your legs. Unfortunately, the cramps may get worse as your pregnancy progresses. Leg cramps are more common at night but can also happen during the day. When a cramp strikes, stretching the calf muscle should give you some relief. Straighten your leg and then gently flex your toes back toward your shin. Walking for a few minutes or massaging your calf sometimes helps, too.

It may be the furthest thing from your mind right now, but it's not too soon to think about family planning. You'll want to have made some decisions about postpartum birth control before your baby arrives. If you're considering a tubal ligation, be aware that most states require you to sign a consent form at least 30 days beforehand. So if you'd like the option of having the surgery during your postpartum hospital stay, don't wait too much longer to discuss it with your caregiver. (You can still change your mind later.)

That thing about leg cramps? Awful but true! I even get them in my feet. Ugh. I almost prefer labor contractions! And while we're on the subject of painful experiences, let me tell you about something that happened last week! I mentioned in an earlier post that I had swollen lymph nodes under my right arm. Turns out that's not what they were. The lumps came back a couple of weeks ago, and I figured I would just let them work themselves out. Well, more kept coming, and they just got bigger. And painful. I woke up last Tue, and I couldn't take it anymore. I don't think I'm a wimp, but it HURT! I looked at them and noticed the biggest one was turning whit at the top, and was extended maybe a 1/4 of an inch. It was so sensitive my whole arm hurt, and it was all I could do to carry CR to the car, take her to a babysitter so I could go to the Dr. The Dr. took one look at it and said "you're not going to like this but we need to cut into that and squeeze some of that puss out." Gross. So he and his nurse laid me down, shot the lump with Lidocaine to numb it (which it didn't) and lanced it. They then taped my arm with gauze and told me to expect lots of drainage. For pain he said use a heating pad. And here's what makes me laugh. He said if I had all day to just sit on the couch with a heating pad, do that as much as I could. Really? With a 1 1/2 year old to run after and care for? I don't think that's gonna work.  Anyway, after the wound cultures came back, it seemed I had a pretty bad infection that probably just started with shaving under my arm, but once the infection took hold it was very aggressive. Dr, strongly suggested I stop shaving and just let the hair grow. Oh yeah, "sorry Corey,  but I'm an all natural woman from now on!" I then spoke with another Dr. who told me if I just washed with antibacterial soap fist and changed razor blades often, I should be fine. Whew. I admire women who don't care about body hair and let it all grow. I, for one, am not one of them. So there's my insane medical story and excitement of last week!

My Daughter

Is crazy! I would love to borrow some of her energy! She now runs all the time, climbs on everything, and dances and jumps constantly. In fact, I'm pretty sure she broke her crib this morning with all the jumping she did on it. Seriously. I need Corey to look at it. (Excuse me for a second. I gave Charlie some dried pineapple snacks which she is now putting into her shoe.)

Ok, back. A few weeks ago at Charlie's 15 month check up, she measured at 75th percentile for her height and 30th percentile for her weight. Which means she is tall and skinny. Like her mama! Ha. ha. ha...  CR is a little escape artist too. Apparently she escaped from church nursery a couple weeks ago and someone found her climbing the stairs. She's fast when she wants to be! She has also learned how to blow rasberries. On my tummy. She thinks it's hilarious. And if she leaves any drool, she tries to wipe it off. Too cute:) She can now say Mama, Dada, Gramma ('amma') and Ella ('Eya') Ella is my sister in law's dog that is usually at my in-laws when they babysit CR. CR loves dogs. I took her for a walk in the stroller a few nights ago and we passed a yellow lab. CR couldn't take her eyes off of it and looked back at the dog until it was out of sight. 

The other day Corey came home from work, but only for a few minutes as he had to go straight to school. CR was so excited to see him and promptly burst into tears as soon as he headed back out the door, and tried going after him. It made us both realize how terrible it would be for him to be deployed with CR at this age. I'm so glad she doesn't remember him being gone when she was a baby! Later that evening, CR played a game with me. We were in the living room, and she would wave goodbye and go into the kitchen, but a few seconds later, she would run back with arms flung open, and give me a big hug and kiss. She did this over and over.