Happy New Year! 26 Weeks done!

Happy New Year! Hope you had a great time celebrating the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010! We had a lot of fun, I stayed up a lot later than I expected to, and I got a good sugar buzz from my sparkling grape juice :)
I feel like this year is going to be full of new and exciting experiences, besides becoming parents, I will probably (hopefully!) be finishing school, deciding on a plan for my future career, and hopefully getting a job, which could all lead to a big move. Of course the "becoming parents" part is by far the most exciting!! My very noticeable belly is a constant reminder of the big changes coming in just a few more months:


Baby's still an eggplant for a while...
According to the "Father's Guide", this month the baby is about the size of a 13" boot:


How far along? 26 weeks, almost done with the 2nd trimester
Total weight gain/loss: Maybe around 15 lbs?
Maternity clothes? I got a great pair of jeans that actually fit and wore them for New Year's- it was great! They were actually more cute than some of my normal jeans... Other than that, still mostly in pre-preg. clothes.
Best moment this week: Ringing in the new year, the year our baby will be born!
Movement: Tons- very fun!
Food cravings: Had a good appetite this week, but still no specific cravings.
Gender: Team green! Still no feelings toward either gender.
Labor signs: no thank you!
Belly Button in or out? It is disturbingly out.
What I miss: not much... I guess having a normal-ish belly button!!
What I am looking forward to: Putting together the crib!! It is in a box in our basement. There is room in the nursery but I think Mr. Beaver wants to clean the room out completely before putting the crib in :(
Weekly wisdom: Hmm my brain isn't working so well, no wisdom here...
Milestones: Picked, ordered, and received the crib! Still have to decide how to decorate the nursery, but at least we've got it started! The office has been moved, now we've just got to empty all of the random junk left over in the room.
Also, the big milestone- Less than 100 days left!!! Yesterday began the 99 day countdown!
I am starting to feel a little time pressure, even though I know I've still got three months. I am thinking I should start talking to my doctors about the whole labor and delivery process. I have a good idea of what I want and don't want, and don't really know how my practice's OBs feel when it comes to induction, epidurals, episiotomies, c-sections, etc. I guess I will bring it up at my next appointment. Even more pressing is my work, like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I may be finishing school in about 9 months which means I've got a lot to do, and a lot to think about. Unfortunately I'm having SO much trouble thinking about anything other than the baby, nursery, etc. and haven't been working as much as I should.
Maybe that will be my new year's resolution- work at least a full 40 hours a week before spending time thinking about baby stuff!! Wish me luck :)

I passed!!

I got my gestational diabetes results back today and I passed- yay! No diet-control for me :)
The limit they use for passing is 130 and I scored a 79, so I'm thinking there is no question that I do not have GD. This has me thinking about food and now I'm starving... off to celebrate with an early lunch full of yummy carbs!!

25 Weeks!!

Compare to 15 weeks:

No "How big is baby" this week, since now there is only one update per month, so baby is still an eggplant like last week.

How far along? 25 weeks, or 5/8 of the way done
Total weight gain/loss: I'm thinking I'm up about 14lbs now after the holiday feasts
Maternity clothes? Probably should, but still don't fit right, so not yet.
Best moment this week: Realizing it is our last Christmas without children :)
Movement: Tons- very fun!
Food cravings: my appetite has been pretty normal, no major changes or cravings.
Gender: Team green! Mr. Beaver thought the bambino was a girl for the longest time, but he is not so sure now. I usually use masculine pronouns, but have no idea whether it is a girl or boy squirming around in there.
Labor signs: no thank you!
Belly Button in or out? It is disturbingly out.
What I miss: not much... I guess having a normal-ish belly button!!
What I am looking forward to: Ordering our crib and starting to work on the nursery. So far we've moved the furniture out of our second guest room to make room for the office, next step is moving the office furniture into that room to clear out the nursery-to-be.
Weekly wisdom: The glucose test is not so bad, don't stress over it. I did mine at the lab at my hospital, so for the hour wait we explored the gift shop, cafeteria, courtyard, etc. so Mr. Beaver will know his way around in April.
Milestones: I think the glucose test was the last thing we do until April!! I'm pretty sure that is it for blood work, labs, ultrasounds, etc. **Fingers crossed I pass**

Bonus Christmas pic:

24 1/2 weeks!

I really was ready to jump back into keeping my blog updated weekly, but then was out of town AGAIN last weekend... anyway, here's 24 weeks, a little late:

How far along? 24 weeks, past the viability-marker!
Total weight gain/loss: Up 12.5 lbs at my last appointment (a week ago), I think I've been about the same since then, although the belly continues to grow.
Maternity clothes? I wore maternity pants once, but they still don't fit right. I have the jeans pictured above which still button and are comfortable, as well as one other pair that still buttons. With those and the bella-band I'm still okay in non-maternity stuff. My tops are getting short though, so might need to switch soon.
Best moment this week: Reaching 24 weeks, even though it doesn't really mean much, was pretty great. Runner-ups: Mr. Beaver getting to see movement from the outside (every night now), and friends getting to feel baby moving.
Movement: all.the.time. I don't mind it, but it worries me a little bit that this baby does not seem to sleep, ever! I love the constant reassurance that he or she is still okay in there!
Food cravings: Nothing specific. I feel like I eat a lot, but can't eat too much at a time without feeling sick, like it doesn't all fit.
Gender: Team green! Mr. Beaver thought the bambino was a girl for the longest time, but he is not so sure now. I usually use masculine pronouns, but have no idea whether it is a girl or boy squirming around in there.
Labor signs: no thank you!
Belly Button in or out? It is disturbingly out.
What I miss: not much... I guess having a normal-ish belly button!!
What I am looking forward to: Ordering our crib and starting to work on the nursery- hopefully soon!
Weekly wisdom: hmm... advice I need to take- don't eat more than my stomach can currently hold, even if that is less than half of a meal- it is not comfortable!!
Milestones: Passing the 24 week mark, buying coming-home outfits!

No more weekly fruits/veggies...
Baby's now the size of an eggplant!
That oh-so-handy sense of equilibrium is kicking in, and baby's learning to distinguish right side up from upside down.

I'm back!

After three very long weeks, I am home :)

First update for the blog: The last three belly pics!! I think my belly shrunk a little between week 22 and 23 pictures because of being sick, but it is still noticeably huge! I think my pregnancy is finally obvious to strangers, and even though my pre-pregnancy jeans are still buckled in these pictures, I'm going to be trying on the maternity jeans again tomorrow.

As if the last week+ wasn't bad enough...

I spent last night in labor and delivery :(

Luckily everything is fine, but it was just one more thing to deal with. I had caught a stomach bug, probably from one of the several sick people I was around at the service this past weekend. I couldn't keep even a small sip of water or a few licks of a popsicle for more than 3 minutes, so I got dehydrated pretty quickly. I would've toughed it out if I wasn't pregnant, but I read that dehydration can be bad for the baby, and I just did not want to risk anything happening, so I went in to the ER. I was taken up to labor and delivery (after getting sick in the waiting room-so embarassing) and I found out I was having contractions, which is typical if you are very dehydrated. I had a ton of tests done, and they seemed pretty concerned, but all of the results came back normal. 3000 mL of IV fluid and another 1000 or so oral liquid (once they finally let me have some this morning), and I feel almost back to normal. No more contractions, temperature back to normal, no more vomiting, etc.

So... back to Pittsburgh soon, and I'll see my doctor on Tuesday and get back to a more normal way of life again. And I really will try to get back to updating the blog soon!

So sad...

In memory of my step-father and his mother, who passed away only a week apart. We love you so much and you will be greatly missed :(