Archive for the ‘belly pic’ tag
Baby Jake, due July 22; arriving sometime in August
Pregnancy notes : : Belly : : Ultrasounds : : Birth : : Baby gear
Pregnancy: 40w2d belly photo
Pregnancy: Week 33
It's June! That means now when people ask me when I'm due I can simply say, "Next month!" Also, I'm only 3 weeks from qualifying for homebirth with my midwife, presuming all else is well. There are some hurdles still to clear in that regard… the main one at this time being GBS screen, which will hopefully be negative (positive means IV antibiotics during labor and a hospital birth). <fingers crossed> that we don't have to deal with any such complications.
Baby's position is head down (vertex) and he's been that way for weeks. Like all my other babies, he really seems to favor my right side. Mostly he's alternating between ROA and ROT and is very, very occasionally posterior (ROP). That basically means he's head down on my right side with his back facing either out, opposite my spine, or his back is facing out from my side. He is really just all cuddled up under my ribs. Um, it's a little tight there, baby!
He's just so big and… present these days! At any time Scott or I can cradle his little back and bum with our hands. A little in utero snuggle! There's often a knee part poking up about halfway between my belly button and sternum – sometimes I can gently press and prod and even move it gently around and he'll give me a little punch back. He also reacts – very predictably! – with a startled jerk when Scott blows raspberries on my belly. If Scott's interactions with all the other kids is any example, that is some teasing and hassle Jakey better get used to. 
Pregnancy: Week 30
Woo – 30 weeks! Only 10-12 weeks to go; three-quarters of the way done. I would expect the time to fly right by if it wasn't for how uncomfortable it's getting (and how much more uncomfortable I know it's going to get!).
I look at the pictures of how big my belly has gotten and it's hard to imagine how much bigger I will be at the end, considering that this babe is currently not even one-half of his birth weight! (Assuming he's somewhere around three pounds now and predicting that he'll be somewhere in the 8 pound range like my other kiddos were.) If only there was a way to get that huge and NOT feel so miserable in the process…
Anyway, for now I still feel wonderful in lots of ways, especially in the mornings. I'm pretty much shot by mid-afternoon, though, and desperate to be in bed by 8:30-9 pm most evenings. That means Scott mainly sees me only at my grumpiest. Poor boy. It's not pretty.
I'm sleeping particularly badly at the moment. Caught a cold a couple days ago – ugh. I have NO energy – but of course PLENTY of obligation between work, end of year school activities and HM's birthday (10!) tomorrow.
The stairs: Our bedroom and office are both upstairs and since I work from home, that means I have to deal with the stairs anytime I want a fresh drink or something to eat (that isn't stashed at my desk…). They make me so winded! Pathetically, I find myself strategizing to save myself as many encounters with the stairs as possible.
I had a midwife appointment yesterday evening and everything is still insanely textbook – fundal height measures 30 weeks, I'm gaining a pound a week (up 15 lbs total for the pregnancy so far). Baby boy is head down, and seems to be so consistently. He's used up most of the space I have to offer in there – no place else for him to grow right now except out – and into my ribs, of course.
Jake is a super-active babe. Reminds me of Mir, who was (and is) always on the move. She was totally the toddler you'd find standing atop the dining room table striving for the chandelier. Eep! I think I have another one of those!
Pregnancy progress: Sibling bonding
Here are a couple sweet belly bonding snaps from our visit to Tuscon's Reid Park Zoo yesterday afternoon (more about that and pix in a separate post later).
Pregnancy: Week 27 belly photo
Pregnancy: 26 weeks belly photos
Pregnancy: 100 days! (Week 25)
I am 25 weeks pregnant (almost 26!), and today my little ticker tells me, YAY, only 100 days until baby Jake's due date!
(And that means only 99 days for HP and the Deathly Hallows, which I have preordered and am hoping it will prove a fun distraction for at least a couple days when I'm annoyingly overdue…)
I'm getting excited to meet the little guy. I think this period of just 100 days left (give or take about 14ish days) is just a little golden time of pregnancy. Anxieties, which never entirely go away, at least have eased back somewhat. I'm not so far along that I'm getting impatient and grumpy and super uncomfortable. But his arrival doesn't seem impossibly far away anymore either! It's really going to happen.
Symptom watch
The belly is starting to get quite unwieldy. Rolling over in bed is becoming an effort. I waddle a little bit and have to walk more slowly. The increase in my blood volume has reached peak, so I can tell I have to take it easier; I'm easily winded these days. I've been dealing with some painful sciatica and neverending heartburn. Thank goodness for Zantac. I also feel a lot more tired. By late afternoon, I'm fading fast. In all, definitely feeling third trimestery.
Baby movements
Just palpate my belly a little bit and you can feel how much this boy is growing! Every once in awhile a sturdy little body part (maybe a foot, a knee, an elbow?) will randomly present itself – announcing itself with a gentle roll or a hearty thump. I can feel how strong he's getting! And it's so easy to visualize him as my little babe in arms. Soon. Soon!
He was a frustrating boy last night, though. Scott's mom is down from Colorado for a short visit. The last time we'll see her until Jake's arrival in July. Usually the baby can be counted on to be very active in the evenings – and we were hoping his grandma would have a chance to feel him moving about. But he was obstinately quiet last night, to the disappointment of everyone. He was also unfortunately positioned in such a way that what few nudges he did offer, I could really only feel inside. Little stinker – no one's performing monkey, I guess.
Health stuff
Aside from the expected discomforts. So far, a very healthy pregnancy – let's hope it stays that way!! I did find out at my OB appointment last week that I do have to go in for another ultrasound around 29 weeks (May 3). Apparently the placenta was a little low (close to my cervix, but in no way covering it) and they want to confirm that it's moving up as it should. A very common "complication" – and the vast majority of the time the placenta does indeed move up. Hopefully I just follow that common pattern here. 
I am looking forward to seeing little Jake again, but I do hope this is the last time until I meet him in person in July.
A note about the belly pic
I didn't realize until I saw this photo just how unflattering those shorts are. UGH. The are super comfy, because the waistband rides under the belly and they are a little too big so that means not binding or restricting in anyway. But, DAMN, they make my butt and thighs look HUGE. WAY too huge. Boo, hiss.
Pregnancy: Week 23
Falling apart and whining about it
I feel like symptoms are starting to gang up on me (and I also know the worst is yet to come!!). It's making me grumpy.
- My hips hurt
- Sciatica
- Increasingly BAD and painful heartburn (up to 150mg Zantac, most days)
- Lots of fatigue
- Hormone SOUP (Emotional roller coaster, impatient, frustrate easily)
- My foot hurts (Morton's neuroma – running injury to my foot – is getting compressed. Have to wear shoes inside house for relief. Ugh.)
- Constant congestion (I especially hate when my ears feel plugged up)
- Worrying about having MS. This one is a little irrational, but I've been obsessing about it since the weekend when I looked up, for the first time in years, my odds of getting MS since my mom has it. Um, those odds are not good. Scared me. (Like I ever need a reason to go into hypochondriac mode – geez.)
- Pregnancy mush brain which means I'm probably forgetting something…
I think I'm doing a pretty good job taking care of myself. I'm generally healthy <knock wood>, I'm taking my vitamins, drinking lots of water, eating well (supplementing with whey protein and fiber as necessary).
One thing I haven't been good at is staying active. I felt so crummy today though that I just needed to get out of the house and clear my head. So I geared up for a brisk 30 minute walk around the neighborhood and I feel much better since. I feel a little more stable mentally and – although it may be too early to really tell – I think my hips feel a little better, too. I really need to make this effort daily.
Favorite 2nd trimester breakfast
Strawberries are in season. They are yummy and beautiful. I find myself very attracted to them. Most mornings for the past several weeks, I've had this for breakfast:
Pregnancy: Week 22
Update 3/19: Jake is moving a lot these days and his punches are getting much stronger. In fact, not long after I posted this picture last night, Scott finally got to feel his movements definitively for the first time!
Mom to 4 kids and 2 stepkids, I am a writer writing in the heart of chaos. I am the co-founder and former editor of 
