10 Week Countdown

Hi Everyone,

Not much to report. I've been lazy getting another belly shot in, but suffice it to say, Baby Berry is growing and she's growing fast! The third trimester is so far kicking my butt. I'm exhausted most of the time, and it's not unusual for me to be asleep by 9PM. The bad news is that because Baby Berry is so active, I'm not sleeping through the night anymore either as her kicks and twists and flips wake me up. But fewer than 10 weeks to go!

The fact that we're going to have a real, live baby human being to take care of is finally dawning on me. Chris spent the majority of this weekend working on the nursery -- he painted the walls a few weeks ago, so we just needed to put up the wallpaper border. We fell into a bit of a hiccup when we put up a small section and realized you could vividly see the two paint colors underneath. Blerg! So, my poor husband had to remeasure and paint the border area white in order to mask the colors underneath. It took almost the entire weekend. The good news is that apart from one wall (we had to order another roll because of the mishap and don't have it yet), the border is up. It looks fantastic. As one of my friends said a couple weeks ago when she saw the two-tone room, "it looks like an Easter egg!" And so it does - bright and cheery and good enough to eat!

Once we have the last wall papered, we're going to have the carpets steam-cleaned and then Chris will be able to put the crib together! I can't wait.

Also, another realization that Baby Berry will be here before you know it -- the date of my baby shower at work has been set. My wonderful assistant at work is leading the charge for the work baby shower and she sent this picture out to the staff as a Save the Date:

I love it. She googled the image when I told her about my pink elephant fix.

Anyway, will try to post photos soon. Chris and I are heading to the Sonoma Coast (Sea Ranch) this weekend for a little "Baby Moon," also known as the last weekend away before bébé arrives. It will be a long drive, but it will be nice to do nothing but relax and watch the ocean (and maybe some whales) outside our hotel window.

Scale Shock

Hi Friends!

I had my 28 week appointment today, this time with my nurse practitioner (she was on maternity leave herself when I first got pregnant so this was the first time I've seen her in a long time). She is really nice and we chatted for quite a while about various pregnancy-related things.

The biggest shock is that I gained eleven pounds in less than four weeks. Eleven pounds!! I practically had a heart attack when I saw the number on the scale. I am now up to 35 pounds in weight gain. I asked Gina if she thought I was gaining too much, but she said she wasn't concerned because I don't have gestational diabetes. Also, apparently most women make a huge jump in weight gain at around 28 weeks. Plus, have I mentioned my hobbit feet lately? I have so much water retention in my ankles, I might as well have injected liquid straight into my feet given how squishy and puffy they are. That probably accounts for a good part of the weight gain.

Plus, Gina made a point of saying how great I looked, so this is encouraging. Plus, just about everyone who sees me says the same thing, so I guess most of it must be belly. Still, I can't help but feel enormous. I also have great blood pressure and the fundal height is right on track. I was secretly hoping she would tell me I was several weeks ahead, but alas, Little C. is going to have to be content to stay in there for another 12 weeks.

Speaking of our little girl, she is moving now like crazy! She's actually been waking me up in the morning due to her alien-like shifts. I guess I'm already on her schedule and not mine. :) And now I can even notice when she's back or butt-side up because one side of my stomach will be hard and smooth and the other will be soft. Too weird.

Gina, like the nurse midwife and the OB (yes I have 3 providers) remarked how active she was when trying to get her heartbeat. I believe the term Gina used was "Wild Child." If all three have mentioned the same thing, it must mean something! Does that mean she's going to be super active on the outside? If so, Chris and I are in trouble! 28 weeks is also when I start counting kicks each night with the kick count card. Given her activity, it shouldn't take very long to get her to 10 kicks.

On another note, I'm heading to Washington, DC for 7 days on Monday. It's my last flight before the baby arrives, and it's definitely going to be tiring. I have to find some "support hose" to wear during the 5 hour flight to help with circulation, and I need to find a coat or rain jacket I can wear because I have zero coats that button up now!

Anyway, wish me luck on my trip. I have a feeling it's going to be very exhausting traipsing through the Capitol buildings!

Show and Tell Tuesday

Hard to believe another two weeks have gone by! I guess I'll let you be the judge if you think I've gotten bigger. I can't really tell. I haven't gained much weight in the past two weeks, but I think part of that was being sick last week. Nothing like a head cold to curb your appetite.

So here I am 22 weeks 5 days. I've read that the baby's weight gain really takes off from here on out -- at the rate of about 6 ounces a week! So maybe the belly will get noticeably bigger. In any case, it's kind of fun to run into acquaintances who didn't know I was pregnant. Jaw kind of drops. :)

Oh and the good news is that Chris finally felt Baby Berry kicking last night. He describes it as a tiny fist bump from the belly. Or should we call it a tiny terrorist fist jab? ;-)

Beware the Kicker and the Waddler

Chris and I went to my 20 week appointment with my ob, and everything looks great with Baby Berry. She's growing just as she should be. Apparently, the ultrasound technician gives the doctor all the measurements, but does not write down the gender because they don't want to be wrong. My doctor said that there hasn't been a single time in her experience that the u/s technician gave the wrong gender, and as we've seen from the photos, our little girl is not shy.



Then the doctor measured my belly and took the baby's heartbeat. The baby's heartbeat was hard to find because every time she tried to get a reading, the baby would kick! And of course that started me laughing, which also disrupted the reading. Afterwards, my doctor said: "Wow, that baby is lively. I know it's always reassuring to have a lively baby, but you might be uncomfortable after a while if she's moving all the time."



Which of course brings me to the latest development -- feeling the baby kick! For a few weeks now, I thought I was maybe feeling the baby move, but it really hasn't been until last week that I knew for sure. I guess the best way to describe it is little gas bubbles, but coming from a different place than normal. It's definitely a trip! She's not kicking hard enough that you can feel it from the outside, but I'm sure that will change soon.



And if Baby Berry is growing just as she should be, so am I. At 20 weeks, I'm halfway done with this pregnancy, and I've gained, I'm embarrassed to admit, 20 lbs! And I don't quite understand it, considering I've been walking about an hour at a time, and yesterday, I walked so much while we were out at in Fol.som looking at houses and going to a certain baby super store that I literally started waddling my feet hurt so much. I'm also not eating a ton more than I usually do. But the doctor doesn't seem to be concerned and thinks I might gain most of my weight in the second trimester. Oh well. I'd write more, but it's time for dinner. =)