New Life

26 weeks, 4 days (can I round up to 27?)

Due Date: 1 August.  3 months from today.

Weight Gain:  28 lbs!

Did you read that?  Being as 25 to 35 lbs is the recommended weight gain amount, in an ideal world I would be full term right now.  But I'm not.  I've already gained what I'm supposed to and still have 3 more months to go.  Needless to say, I'm nervous about how much more I will inevitably gain (and need to lose).

Symptoms:  Some mild aches and pains but nothing like last pregnancy.  I can tell, though, that I'm starting to get into third trimester.  I'm starting to get worn out much more easily.  Getting up is a bit of a struggle, and my motivation is beginning to tank.  But still quite a lot to do. 

What's different this time:  Much less pain than last time around.

Diet/Cravings/Aversions: Craving lots of sweets.  That's not necessarily unusual, the need seems more urgent now, though.

Sleep:   Not quality.  I've been getting a lot of it but still not feeling rejuvenated.  I blame part of this on our dog, who insists on sleeping under the covers but then gets too hot and gets out of the bed.  Then gets cold and goes back under the covers, repeat, all night long.  When you're not sleeping well already it certainly doesn't help.

I am loving:  The weather.  Today I worked in the garden and planted some plants, and MJ loved digging around in the dirt.  As for pregnancy, still just loving the movement.  It's such a comforting presence, a little reminder of something amazing happening even at the most mundane of times.

I miss:  Being comfortable in clothes.  I'm down to one pair of comfortable pants, and most of my shirts are too short.

 

I am looking forward to: Finishing the nursery.  Still a lot to do on it, though.

I'm spazzing about:  Getting everything done!  Thankfully we got some of the big stuff done, like doing the taxes, getting a new car and assembling some furniture.  The remainder is mostly the little stuff, like digging out all the baby stuff and making sure everything's washed.  Though we do have a car to sell, too.

Milestones/Progress: Viability!  Although there's no definitive date when this happens, over 90% of babies born at 26 to 27 weeks of age survive.  So it's nice to know I'm in that window.  Which isn't to say I want the baby to come now.  Also, depending how you define your trimesters, I'm now in third trimester (being as I have exactly 3 months left....).  And baby is now about the size of a cauliflower.

Movement:  Lots of it.  DH can now feel it fairly easily.  MJ still hasn't, but that's mostly because she is incapable of sitting still for more than 2 seconds, and usually you have to rest your hand for longer than that before you feel something.

It's a...: Girl.  The name is still undecided, so those of you who have gotten names from MJ, they don't mean much yet :) 

Exercise:  Lots of walking.  It's been beautiful outside, definitely trying to take advantage.

First born: Amazing, as usual.  She's been starting to develop a sense of humor, which is thoroughly entertaining to watch.  Her jokes make absolutely no sense, but her hysterical laughter is impossible not to laugh at.  Furthermore, she is intent on understanding the jokes made around her.  If someone laughs at a joke, she will laugh along, and then try to find out what was funny. 

She's still fixated on her sister.  She has explained to me how she will protect her, and help her, and put her to sleep, etc.  If she is half the sister she intends to be she will be amazing. 

In other categories of new life, these baby birds are new residents of our front porch:

When we moved in last year there were two nests on our front porch complete with lots of bird poop underneath.  The birds moved out when we moved in (the house had been empty before) and we intended to bring the nests inside over the winter, when anything else living in the nests would be killed by the cold.  But we forgot.  And one family moved back in this spring.

After watching the birds sit on the nest with MJ, I started to grow attached.  We peeked inside two weeks ago and saw four tiny eggs.  Today when we peeked inside there were no more eggs, but tiny new residents.  MJ was ecstatic.   The bird poop seems a small price to pay.  It's also a nice reminder that VERY new life is often kind of grotesque looking, as these naked little birds were.  Much like newborn babies.  It takes some time for them to fluff up and plump out before they look cute.