Our Little Soccer Star

Mei Mei has been incredibly active the past week, so I took advantage of it and got a good video of her moving around. If you wondered why my belly is sore or why I'm always so tired, I think this explains it pretty well.

I'm just breathing, all the side to side stuff, lumps, and bumps are her.

30 Weeks, 7.5 Month OB Visit

We're in the home stretch now.

Our baby is right around 3 pounds and is 15.7 inches from head to heel. Tell you what, if three pounds of baby on your bladder doesn't make you sprint for the bathroom, I don't know what will. It's frustrating because I won't have to go, then she'll shift and it's suddenly and EMERGENCY, then by the time I get there, she's moved again and I don't have to go anymore. I usually just hang around for a minute or two, because I know she's gonna move right back onto it.

She's supposed to be sleeping most of the time now, but she's been more active the past week than ever before, which is making sleeping very difficult. She's gotten to the point where she sticks her feet in my ribs and up against my diaphragm a lot. It's hard to focus on work or to move plants when you can't breathe.

We're getting her room set up now. We've got a changing table from Ryan and Meg and a dresser that was Dad's. Kelly wants to make her a dresser, but that's gonna wait until I get back to work and we have a little more money coming in.

I went to see my OB on Thursday. Everything is still right on track, and the baby is doing really well. He says that we're going to stick with the August 3rd due date, but that realistically she could come anytime between the 1st and the 15th and he wouldn't be concerned. I'm leaning toward the 1st week of August so that Ryan and Megan get to see her before Christmas 2009. We'll see how it goes as it gets closer.

Colors Shmolors

So, maybe 6 hours after announcing on my last post that our colors were pink and brown, we went shopping with Mom and Dad and came home with this: and this: I don't really care if this matches anything, it was free.

Mom and Dad bought us the stroller/car seat combo as an early baby shower gift. Grandma and Grandpa Spiers got us a matching pack and play that we'll use as a crib. We aren't allowed to have that one until the shower. Which I'm not sure when will be. Sometime in the next 3 months.

There were brown car seats, pink ones, and neutral ones, but the orange was on sale and we really liked it. The matching pack and play was on sale too. It clashes horribly with pink and some browns, but I don't care. We're still going to dress her in lots of pink and brown, because those are our favorites, and we'll just try to get some of the decor for her room in brown, cream, and orange.

This is the darling blanket that Sid's Grandma Walker made for Mei Mei. It's really soft and really warm. I'm gonna have a hard time getting it away from Kelly.

This is the adorable dress that LaRae (Sid's Mom) made for her. We didn't have any lavender clothes yet. It's gonna be one that we'll have to hand wash, so it's going to be a special occasion dress. That or a "I feel like dressing her up" dress.

This is the awesome onsie that Sid got for us. I forgot to post a picture of it then. It was the very first article of clothing we had for her.

29 Weeks

Mei Mei is 2.5 pounds and 15.2 inches long this week. Her eyes are tracking and her bones have finished developing, all 300 of them. Her little brain is partially controlling her breathing and body temperature. Her sleep patterns are regulating and she's starting REM sleep, which means she is probably dreaming. About what, I have no clue. What would you dream about when the only memories you have to draw on are the sound of my heartbeat, my stomach gurgling, and disembodied voices that you don't understand?

Still no swelling, thankfully. I am exhausted all the time though. My blood volume has increased by 50% since November, which explains why I bleed like crazy from the smallest scratch.

We've picked colors for the baby's room. We're going with pink and chocolate brown. We don't really have a theme though. Probably be polka dots, floral, or something similar, if any theme at all. We're slowly collecting the things we need for her. A girl from work gave me a baby swing and a front baby carrier. Ryan and Meg are giving us a changing table of Addison's. Grandma Sugar has given us a lot of clothes. We'll have the cradle Dad made for me when I was a baby, that should do for a crib for the first few months. We're probably going to use a pack and play as a crib like Ryan and Megan did, along with the carseat that attaches into the stroller setup.

It's really nerve racking. No matter how much I read about taking care of her, I don't feel any better prepared. I guess this is the kind of thing you just have to jump into, ask questions, and figure out as you go. I hate doing that.

28 Weeks

So begins the third trimester. Looking back, the whole pregnancy has gone by really quickly. Everyone says the third trimester is the slowest one though.

Our daughter is 2.2 lbs and is 14.8 inches from head to heel. Her eyelashes and eyebrows are growing in and any hair she may be born with is thickening up. She's starting to regulate her own body temperature, so I might actually start to feel overly warm. I don't yet, but it could happen. She's gaining muscle tone and her bones are hardening too. Those ones I can definitely vouch for. Feels like she's playing the drums on my insides some days. She got the hiccups yesterday for the first time (that I've noticed anyway). That was an intersting feeling. Kelly wasn't as amused as I was, but his belly wasn't the one that kept bouncing. My new favorite game is to put the remote on my belly when we're watching tv at night and see how long she lets it sit there before she tries to kick it off. Side note: a similar game that is not as amusing is "how long can I sit my dinner plate on my belly before she tries to kick it off?"

Fun fact from my pregnancy books: my uterus is now the size of a basketball. Pre-baby it was the size of my fist. I feel like one of those super stretchy balloons. I've still got 12 weeks of growing to do too.

7 Month OB Visit

Today will be my first appointment with my new doctor here in Ogden. Kelly had to work, so it's just me and the baby today. I'm nervous, but I've only heard good things about this guy from the people that recommended him. The fact that he's a guy is a large part of my nerves. I didn't particularly want a male obstetrician, but I had to make a choice and no one I knew down here had a female one. I figured that I would be farther ahead to choose a doctor I'd heard good things about, but was a guy, than to just randomly pick a female one I knew nothing about.

I have to do the gestational diabetes glucose screening today. Basically, I have to eat a normal meal, wait an hour, drink this glucose drink they gave me, then have my blood drawn exactly an hour later. Ick. More needles.

I think now that I'm in my third trimester I have to start seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. That's going to be difficult to arrange around work. I should swing by before I go to my appointment to see if they've posted the schedule for 2 weeks from now.

I'll let you know how it went in a few hours.

The glucose screening was normal, so no gestational diabetes for me. They didn't even draw blood, just a little finger prick. After meeting my doctor, I don't think I like him as well as I liked my old OB, but he's a good doctor. He did a quick ultrasound, the baby is doing well and is pointed head down. Her heartrate is normal and her retinas have developed, so she's right as rain. He says that based on the measurements they took at my official ultrasound a month ago my due date is actually going to be closer to August 9th. I think they're trying to make me stay pregnant forever. He also wants me to start taking Prozac again, given my personal and family history. Says he's being proactive and trying to ward off postpartum depression. He also told me to call the pregnancy risk line and double check him, just to make sure he's not wrong and to keep the baby safe.

So, I called the risk line and they said that it's just fine. She's completely formed, so there is no chance of any birth defects. Prozac is the most tested medication of this type out there, so I'm feeling okay about it. They said that when she's born she might be a little jittery from coming off of it, but that as soon as I can start nursing her, she'll be just fine, and that the doctors can very easily manage any symptoms she may have. Clinically, the number of babies that have any symptoms at all is very low. They said that it is much better to have it in my system and working than to have to start on something new after I've had her. They also agreed with my doctor that it would be best to start on it now given my past problems with anxiety and depression.

I'm actually a little relieved. I've really been feeling really off lately, and am happy to take a little help to make me normal again. Poor Kelly gets the worst of it, so I think he'll be relieved too. The doctor said I might be a little crabbier during the first week or so that I'm on it, but I don't see how that's physically possible.

27 Weeks

Not too much going on during this last week of my second trimester. Our little girl is just shy of 2 pounds and is 14.5 inches from head to heel. All the parts are functioning, and just need a few more weeks to finish maturing.

One tidbit of note: Heaven forbid that I go into labor prematurely, but she has a decent chance of survival starting this week (with intensive care) and her chances get better with every passing week. Officially 10 weeks from now she will be considered "full term."

The aches and pains of pregnancy are starting to get worse. Probably from working so much. My hips are separating, so they hurt like mad. My feet ache from standing all day. My lower back hurts from carrying the extra weight out front.

This is the difference that 20 little weeks can make.