Yin and Yang

Today I went to a prenatal yoga class. I love the poses, the focus it takes to balance, and the challenge it is. The instructor was so positive and it was fun to see pregnant belly's all around. It was a great start to my day. I am feeling especially grateful to be pregnant and finding joy in the size of my belly. I have spent so many years wanting to be pregnant, that it is truly a dream come true to watch my body change and adapt. I love feeling the kicks and movements when big D is active. I love to feel a body part pushing up against my stomach and see my whole stomach move. It is a marvel.

This pregnancy is also fun to watch Chief interact with the baby. For a while he played a lot of peek-a-boo with my stomach. He likes to feel for kicks, talk to him, and give my stomach kisses. He also will lift up his shirt and say that his belly is growing too and wants to compare our belly sizes. He used to say "Your belly's getting bigger" but now he says "Your belly is huge!"

28 weeks

I am now in my third trimester! 

I saw my Doctor a few days ago. I had a follow up ultrasound to check the cord. I have velamentous insertion of the umbilical cord. Which is fine as long as it doesn't run near the cervix which mine doesn't. He is going to do another ultrasound in 6 weeks and a few non-stress tests as I get closer just to be cautious but he is very optimistic that I can go full term with no problems.  I measured at 27 1/2 inches, right on schedule but the baby measured 10 days ahead of schedule on the ultrasound. So obviously the placenta is working just fine. (hopefully it's not just a big head)

I am feeling pretty good so far. I am tired but it's not the baby who pitter patters into my room in the middle of the night. My back bothers me most on days that are busy when I do a lot of running around, but the physical therapy and exercises are helping. I do get heartburn but it doesn't stop me from eating whatever sounds good even if it is onions or something acidic. I never was very big with my first pregnancy. But in these last two weeks I have really grown a lot in size. I am even starting to get "cankles" AHH!! It's almost impossible to rest and put up my feet between chasing my 3 year old, working, and getting ready for Christmas. My wedding ring is starting to feel a little tight too. Hopefully I don't continue to swell.

My life is going to change a lot in the next few months. I am going to quit working and stay home full time with my two little boys. I am really looking forward to this. Chief is coming up on age 4 so it will be nice to be more flexible with my schedule for preschool and activities for him. I am happy to think of being with the new little one all the time without having to worry about pumping milk or depending on someone else to keep him on schedule or care for him. I feel like I am now entering a whole new "mothering" stage. I have always wanted to be a mom and this is my time to really make it my priority and enjoy it as much as I can. I feel so blessed.

100

Only 100 more days to go!

Pregnancy

I am now twenty-five weeks along. I feel a lot of movement every day and especially at night when I lay down. He kicks and kicks like crazy which I feel most often on the bottom left side of my stomach. This morning I was woken up at 5 by chief and could not go back to sleep. As I had been laying there for a while I started to feel a lot of movement. I put my hand on my stomach and enjoyed the moment. Then came a body part sticking out of my half circle stomach. I guess it is starting to get a little tight in there. I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I am so lucky and blessed to be pregnant and have the experience of being a mother. What a miracle it is. I want to savor these moments and yet at the same time I can hardly wait to meet the little guy.

Cravings

Last pregnancy I wanted eggs any style ALL THE TIME. I do still want and like scrambled eggs late at night when I feel hungry, luckily my husband is nice and always makes them for me when I ask. But with this pregnancy I want most everything I see or hear about eating. We watched a TV show where they were eating spaghetti, guess what we had for dinner the next night... spaghetti. I do seem to really like onions right now, especially red onions on sandwiches so I am hitting up Kneaders a lot for lunch. I am also liking salty things and garlicky stuff. I was craving garlic bread twists from The Pizza Factory so we have picked them up twice this week. The other thing that I want is the Chef salad from Ligori's. So yummy with chunks of ham and pepperoni, cheese, green peppers and the best ranch dressing ever. It is making my mouth water just thinking about it. Notice I am listing foods to pick up and eat so I don't have to make them myself. I have been terrible about cooking lately. Maybe someday soon I will start a better dinner routine.

Boy oh Boy!

I had my big ultrasound today. It's a boy! My husband had a hard time seeing the body parts so finally the tech got a great shot in between the legs and there is no doubt. We are so excited. My boys will be just shy of four years apart so I already have a lot of boy clothes in the correct season and now they will have a buddy to do boy things with!

It was so fun to see him moving around and kicking. He kept bringing his right hand up to his face but we couldn't tell if he was putting it in his mouth. He measured at 9 ounces and 6 1/2 inches.

The ultrasound went well. There is a little concern because the last third of the placenta is not fully covered with tissue and umbilical cord. They are NOT diagnosing it as vasa praevia BUT they are going to watch a little closer and do another ultrasound in 8 weeks to check it again. My doctor is very reassuring that he just wants to be cautious and expects everything to be fine.

Here is a picture of the little guy:

I have been feeling well for about two weeks. I made the mistake of taking my vitamins in the morning and threw up during lunch. I won't do that again.