belly!

5/8 of the way there!

How Far Along: 25 weeks

Total weight gain: As of Thursday, up 11.8lbs at home, and on Weds at the Dr I was up 9.4 overall since my 1st appt @5 wks

Maternity clothes: Yes!  Andy got me a few more items for Christmas, which was great!  

Sleep: Rough this last week.  With the unusual holiday schedule I have had several nights of less than ideal sleep!  Woke up at 3am on Thursday and couldn't fall back asleep :(

What do you miss: Nothing really, everything is going so well :)

Movement: All the time now!  Some days are still calmer than others, but sometimes I think he's having a temper tantrum in there too.  Starting to feel movement higher up too, above my belly button!

Food cravings: Today I am craving Tostitos w/queso dip.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nothing really - I did feel nauseous a few times over the holiday, but eating weird foods at weird times can do that to ya!

Symptoms: Braxton Hicks occasionally, although if I keep up on my water they are pretty non-existent.  Other than that, not really too much other than having someone kicking away inside of me!

Belly button in or out? In, starting to get flatter though I think.

Wedding rings on or off? On and still fitting great!

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy happy happy :)

Best part of the week: Andy getting to see Oliver move (and catching it on video too!), figuring out how to knit, getting 5 days off of work to spend with Andy (woohoo!), a great Christmas with great family, and getting back to the gym and remembering how much I actually enjoy running (who would have EVER thought???)

Looking forward to: Starting my Hypnobabies home study, working on Andy's scarf, savoring every moment of this pregnancy :)

So if you couldn't tell, I am just feeling great these days.  I am so pleased with how well this pregnancy has been going.  Of course I have a few aches and pains and all that, but nothing bad at all, and the excitement of knowing we'll get to meet Oliver soon plus just the cool feelings of having him in there outweigh the negatives by about a million. 

I am just so happy and excited and can't wait to meet our newest family member!  I know Andy is going to be such a great dad and it is going to be such a joy to see.

This week, Oliver should be weighing around a pound and a half, and 13.5" long head to toe!  Longer than a ruler now :)  That's an inch and a half of growth in the last week, so he's definitely getting bigger!  He's about the size of a rutabaga (babycenter) or a cauliflower (the bump).  He's developing his equilibrium so he knows which way is up and which way is down.  Skin is smoothing out as he fills out, and he's growing more hair that we would be able to tell color of at this point!  

Viability!

We are at 24 weeks!!  Only 16 more to go!

Now that we're at "viability" it means that if he were born now, he would have a reasonable chance at survival and doctors would try intensively to save him.  Let's hope he still stays in there for quite a while!

двадцать две недели (dvadtsatʹ dve nedeli)

That's twenty-two weeks pregnant in Russian, in honor of my dad being in Moscow right now!  He got good news today and will be coming home as planned on Sunday, instead of having to stay an extra week.  I think Russia would be really cool to visit one day.  Along with rural Japan.  And a lot of other places :)

How Far Along: 22 weeks

Total weight gain: 7.9 lbs, down .3 since last Fri

Maternity clothes: Wearing a regular shirt right now, but those are few and far between (other than t shirts .  def all maternity pants other than PJs.

Sleep: It's been pretty good this week!  Have to get up two times per night to pee most nights but have gotten lucky with one time a few nights.

What do you miss: Being able to climb the stairs at work without being embarrassingly winded!

Movement: Tons tons tons!!  He is super active.  Andy got to feel him move on Monday night for the very first time, and got to feel him again last night!  I am feeling him a whole lot during the day and also in the evening.  Luckily he is not waking me up with any kicks yet.

Food cravings: Hmmm nothing in particular.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!

Symptoms: I am often feeling some pain in the upper right rear portion of my hip (really more on my back) and last night it was really bad and going down my leg.  Sciatica I'm guessing.  Heartburn *was* bad but has lessened a lot in the last few days.  Also got a Braxton Hicks on Weds night - I wouldn't have noticed it if my hand wasn't on my belly at the time, but I definitely firmed up for 30-45 seconds then my uterus relaxed again.  Weird feeling!

Belly button in or out? In but I think it's starting to get stretchier.  My uterus is definitely up past my belly button now.

Wedding rings on or off? On and still fitting fine, I have minimal swelling (which I have now jinxed I am sure)

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy!  Unless I'm being neurotic about straight lines in a sewing project.  Then I'm not so pleasant.  Sorry :(

Best part of the week: Having Andy be able to feel Oliver this week.  It's such a cool feeling, I can't wait until outside movements are felt a lot more often.  

Looking forward to: The weekend!!!  And getting back to the gym, starting today.  I was not in good shape after teaching/running at class last night - I really need to get my body back into feeling more OK w/physical activity!

Overall I am having a great time being pregnant.  Sure I don't feel great sometimes, but what a cool experience to know there's a new life growing inside of you and that your body is capable of doing that!!  I've read a lot of women really miss being pregnant (although of course are thrilled to have their little ones on the "outside"), and I can kind of understand that already!

We got his room all painted (Andy did most of it, thank you so much, it looks great!!).  We ended up going with a color that is nearly identical to our bedroom actually, a light-ish gray.  It really looks nice and goes well with all of our colors.  Andy calls it dolphin-gray to go with the Hawaii theme :)  I got one curtain panel done and will do the other one this weekend, and maybe do the crib skirts too depending on how ambitious I feel.  We are able to sort of tell what the room is going to pull together like, and I love it :)

At 22 weeks, Oliver is likely between 12.7-20.8oz.  Since he measured around 15oz last Thursday, I think we can assume he's the upper end of that range!  He should be about 11" head to toe, or about the size of a papaya or spaghetti squash.  His facial features are becoming more distinct, and he's looking very wrinkly since he's got all of his skin but it's yet to be filled out with fat!  He is sleeping in cycles and sleeping a total of 12-14 hrs a day.  Luckily for me it seems like he sleeps a lot at night, which is abnormal for babies, but I feel him TONS during the day and as I said I haven't been woken up by any kicks yet.  I'm sure it's coming though.

I personally am feeling HUGE this week, my belly is really growing.  Pic to come tomorrow or sometime this weekend :)  

He's a kicker!

Ok, so he's definitely not doing *that* to my belly yet!  But, Oliver is extremely active these days.  While I have been feeling him move for a week or two now, I am able to feel him much more frequently, and he is becoming stronger every day!  Yesterday, he picked a time when I was in a meeting to begin swiftly kicking my bladder several times in a row.  I think he has his father's sense of humor.  

I feel him a lot in the evenings, and have been calling Andy over to put his hand where I'm feeling him.  I think Andy thought I was making up the movement, because usually Oliver would stop moving or just kick very softly after that, so of course Andy hadn't been able to feel anything!  BUT, last night I felt Oliver starting up while we were laying down, and I put Andy's hand in the right spot.  In just a second, Oliver delivered a pretty hard kick right in the same spot!  Andy felt it finally!  Oliver continued on and got in 4-5 good ones that Andy could feel.  What a cool moment that we can both finally feel him moving around in there.  I feel like being able to feel him move has made me feel even more connected to him than before.  

Also we've gotten some more progress made on the nursery!  His room is now painted except for the closet, which we will tackle later this week.  I think the color we picked is perfect.  It's a lighter gray color which will go with all the colors we have planned for the room, and help it still feel calm and soothing. 

We also have finished one of the curtain panels, and several fitted sheets!  Andy is also now working on making some wool soaker pants to put over the cloth diapers.