No more delays, it is time to post some photographs of Beth at 6 months pregnant.

These photos are not a joke, they are not taken of Beth a month ago, she really is at the 6 month mark (hard to believe, I know).

Here we go:

So, let’s all give an extra special round of applause for an extra special “thank you” to Mama K for the “It’s a Girl” shirt (notice that the “a” is a “female” sign - clever).

Teaser: not only did Beth receive a special gift from Mama K, but so did the little one.  

Not to be out done by Beth, Lee will soon be making a special appearance on the blog (sometime this weekend) to model the little one’s gift.

Stay tuned…

I know, two posts in one day! I even impressed myself!

Anyways, here’s a little pregnancy update and picture at almost 24 weeks:

I had an appointment this week and had to do the blood glucose test. Yuck! They gave me a choice of fruit punch or orange koolaid-like stuff, and I naively chose fruit punch. Only after I started gagging (yes, literally gagging) did the girl next to me in the waiting room inform me that I should have chosen orange. Apparently orange is much better…. anyways, they said that if I didn’t hear back from them that means everything is fine, so I guess I passed. Which is good, because I had a very naughty food day the day before when someone left chocolate chip cookies in the teacher’s lounge… I had 6 with my lunch. oops. I do really good at home because I just don’t keep junk food in the house, but when sugar is right in front of me I really have a weakness…

I have gained about 9 pounds total, but I am trying not to focus on weight–just eating healthy foods (and the occaisional cookie) when I am hungry. So far that seems to be working! Oh, and I am LOVING the prenatal yoga videos I have been checking out from the library (They can only be checked out for a week at a time, so I have been cheating and having Stephen check them out for me as soon as I turn them in. shhh!!!) I usually start out achy and heavy and sore in the morning, but if I have a chance to exercise I feel 10 times better the rest of the day.   

Oh, and the really good news: My TSH level was down to 1.21!!!! I think that is the lowest it has EVER been, and that has really been helping with the tiredness. I still prefer a nap most days, but can at least get by until 9 pm or so without one if I have to.

Let’s see, what else? Oh yes, Baby’s heart rate was down to 144 bpm which, if I remember the wives tale correctly, means it is in boy range…. hmmm…… we could have a Miles after all!

Whether we have a Miles or an E- (still not telling our girl name!), he or she is moving and kicking up a storm! Usually in the middle of the night. And usually right on my bladder… The other day Lillian (our cat) was laying against my stomach, and she was surprised with quite a kick! I wonder how she will react when there is a little one around the house getting all of her attention…

I can’t begin to explain how much we already love this little one. We are so, so happy that he or she is in our lives, and can’t wait until we meet face to face. We still feel a lot of anticipation about meeting our child for the first time, just like we did while we were waiting for a referral, but in many ways our wait now is very different. Of course, the time line is a bit (or a lot!) more predictable, but even more than that there is an incredible peace in feeling the baby kick, or knowing that the baby can hear my  voice and feel my movements. It gives me new perspective and really makes me ache for those of you who have endured (or are still enduring!) the wait knowing your child is halfway around the world…

In many ways I think I never fully let myself believe the adoption was really going to happen. I hoped and prayed that it would, but I guess I didn’t want to put myself in a position where I was vulnerable to a let-down if it didn’t. I think that feeling carried over during the first few months of pregnancy as well. I just didn’t really feel like it was real. Recently, I have started to let my guard down and really enjoy being pregnant. A few times it has even hit me that February will be here before we know it!

We never guessed this would be the path that God would chose for our family, and still don’t know what the future holds, but we are so incredibly happy to be where we are right now! We love you, Little One!

At our 24 week ultrasound, we had too much amniotic fluid. They called this “Polyhydramnios”.

That big word scared the shit out of us.

Back at home picking up supplies for a hospital visit, Pink M got onto Google. She just about scared the life out of herself with other big words like, “anencephaly” and “chromosomal abnormalities”

Then we went to hospital and had tests. Lots of tests. With big names.

Maternal causes of polyhydramnios are most often diabetes or infections. Boulanger was all clear.

A scan of Baby was “inconclusive”, but they threw in a couple more big words anyway - “Gestrointestinal abnormalities”.
Oh, and they added “acute” to the front of “polyhydramnios”.

Then another big word - “amniocentesis” - was spoken.
This was followed by a bloody big needle.
Which was followed by a contraction.
Which was followed by another contraction.
Then the very big words, “pre term premature rupture of membranes”.

At this point Blue M decided to introduce Baby to a few smaller words.

“Hey you. Stay. Put.”

Baby was much happier with this style of vocabulary.

To cut all these long words short, here is what we are dealing with:

Baby has atypical Esophageal Atresia. This means that his esophagus hasn’t formed properly. It is fixable by an operation after he is born.
Baby also has a cyst in his esophagus. It is probably unrelated to the atresia. It is not life threatening.
Both of the above conditions are stopping Baby from swallowing amniotic fluid properly, causing it to build up in his water bed.
On top of this Baby’s urine output is quite high. The cause of this remains uncertain. Repeat scans will possible shed some light on this as he grows.

From here Boulanger will have scans twice weekly to manage the polyhydramnios. The specialist is confident of a good outcome.

All 3 parents (and Baby) are now resting at home.

They do not want to hear any more big words for a while.

• We bought a crib and changing table at a garage sale last weekend for $35 total. Not too shabby. Still need a crib mattress and a changing table pad, but it is exciting to see Sam’s room come together.
• We are moved into our house, finally. We still don’t have internet. I am at my mom and dad’s house to watch the debate, but it’s boring, so I decided to get on the internet instead. I am just tired of all the politics, and will be glad when the election is over.
• I love Google reader. I just love it. You can even subscribe to an RSS feed of the Bible. It’s a good way to read the Word. (HT: 22 Words)
• It’s almost Christmas. By almost I mean it is October, and I break out the Christmas music around October 1st. I am a freak, I know. My husband thinks I am crazy. I am trying to really get organized early this year, as opposed to most of the time when I realize around December 15th that Christmas is 10 days away and I still have all of my shopping left to do and Christmas cards to send out. Every year of our marriage I have wanted to send out Christmas cards but never got around to it. No more. I found a really cool little countdown that tells me what I should be getting ready and when from now until Christmas (just 12 weeks away). It’s on a blog I discovered called Simple Mom. You should check it out — it is full of great ideas for organizing and budgeting and whatnot. I am really trying to be better at those things, but in the meantime, I am thankful for the wisdom and advice of those who are more gifted in those areas.
• I made bread today. Only I didn’t have honey, so I substituted molasses. And I didn’t have oatmeal, so I substituted flaxseed. The result? WIN. I love my bread machine.
• I had a prenatal appointment today again. Everything is good. I was worried that I was gaining too much weight (I gained 12 pounds since my last appointment, and 21 pounds so far since the beginning of my pregnancy) but Barb said I was fine. I am not really that worried about it — being healthy is more important to me than a number on the scale — but still, it is a little unsettling to get on the scale and see that you weigh 181 lbs. We listened to Sam’s heartbeat again. It took two tries because the first time he wiggled away and we had to find him again. He’s a wiggly boy, that’s for sure. Sometimes my whole belly jumps and moves and rolls. It’s crazy. Watching my belly move has become nightly entertainment for Tim and I.
• The debate is boring.

There is a little premature baby who is fighting for her life as I write this, her name is Scarlett and she was born last week at 24 weeks and 2 days, which is what Eoin will be tomorrow… I am thinking of her every day and wishing her stronger, and anyone who reads this I ask them to think of her and send love. I have cried every single time I have looked at her pictures, she’s such a perfect little tiny girl… she’s nearly a week old now and every day is a major hurdle crossed, I’m guessing.

My brain has been on overdrive for over an hour, this morning. Mornings can be tough. I quite often have a low around half an hour after waking, when, for no clear reason, I will just cry like the world’s ending. It only lasts a very short time - maybe five, ten minutes max. But it’s horrible while it lasts, it’s a dark place. And afterwards I feel shattered, like I’ve run a marathon. It’s been that way for years, not just during the pregnancy. So I think maybe it’s a chemical imbalance that happens in the morning, like some sort of a delay in getting the ‘awake’ chemicals into my system, so that for that ten minutes in the morning I’m literally running on empty.

I’m at my mums now, in the room where I’ll be staying when Eoin is born. I’ll be here for about four months, if all goes well and we don’t drive each other up the wall! Then Eoin and I will move to the flat, in June, just in time for summer and beach walks! The flat is only about 30 seconds from the beach, so it will be really lovely! The swimming pool is also just up the road, which is great because Eoin is going to swim from as early as I can get him in the water. He’s quite good at swimming, actually sometimes it does feel like I’ve got a little fish-baby in my tummy! (sometimes it feels like I’ve got a little boxer-baby, though!)

I realised on Friday at work that if things had worked out differently, it would have been my last day at work. I would have been clearing my desk, and preparing to go on my world trip! I suddenly felt strange, disorientated, and a little sad. But not for long. How could I compare a world trip to a new baby? There is no comparison at all! My baby is going to be my life, my heart, my everything - literally for the rest of my life. And we will travel the world together, I will do everything I can to make that happen. I want him to see the world and to have a thousand hair-raising adventures, to explore and see things I have not seen, to go places I won’t go. Maybe he’ll prefer to stay and home and raise a family, but that’s fine too… how peculiar to think of my unborn child as a grown man - I’m wishing my life away, here!

not me

I’ve been getting a lot of comments lately about how small my baby bump is relative to how far along I am.  After last week’s post, my friend, Keith doubted there was any way a $5 footlong from Subway could fit in my belly.  Actually, I ate one the other day, so truth is, my mini belly can actually fit two!  Take that, Keith!

Seemingly, it’s some kind of phenomenon.  I mean, check out the woman on the right compared to me - no wonder people think I’m a freak.  James laughs at me because I’ll look at pictures on Baby Gaga of other women with similar due dates and get what he calls “belly envy” because I’m so much tinier than they are.

What’s funny is that women who have had children keep saying how lucky I am to be so small at this point in my pregnancy.  The only problem is that my paranoid self keeps worrying something is wrong with Baby Lump, even though my doctor seems to think everything is normal.

me

I am, however, secretly hoping my lack of bump means my baby will turn out to be one of those five and a half pounders instead of one of those bowling ball-heavy babies like James was.  (He was almost 11 pounds at birth!)  James laughs at me for thinking this, too.  Hey, I can dream …

I’m pretty confident strangers can’t even tell I’m pregnant.  At least, I haven’t had any random people give up their seats for me on the train or pet my belly yet.  Although I’m thinking maybe the latter is a good thing.

In developmental news, Baby Lump won’t really be getting any taller this week - just chubbier.  Keep thinking $5 footlong, just ask the sandwich builder to stuff some more meat in there.  Anyway, hooray for adorable baby fat weight gain!  This week alone, he/she will be gaining half a pound, totaling 1  1/3 lbs.  In addition, rapid bone formation is occuring and Baby Lump’s brain and nervous system continue to grow in complexity.

Another major milestone is that Baby Lump is now at the point of viability, which means if Baby Lump would pop out of the womb today, he/she would actually have a fair chance of survival (30%-70%!).  If born this week, Baby Lump would look something like this.  Can you imagine?  I have to start watching for signs of premature labor.  Yikes!

Let’s just hope Baby Lump decides to bake for a while longer, shall we?

Oven Timer: 24 weeks, 2 days

I’m combining these mostly because I know today is the only day this week that I’ll actually bother to put on makeup. I’m generally not a fan of the pants and skirt or dress combo, but despite being sunny in these photos it is actually freezing and windy (in the time it took me to come inside and upload these it’s gone back to being grey and overcast again) and tights just didn’t cut it this morning. I bought this dress before I was pregnant, back in March, but it’s always been a tad too big (it’s an XS ffs. I am meant to be a size 10 normally). Now it’s absolutely perfect and still has growing room. I’m pretty sure I will never be able to wear it when I shrink again post-baby, but oh well.
Shirt - Brown Sugar
Pants - Pumpkin Patch Maternity
Shoes - thrifted
Dress - Jeans WestMakeup - Lancome Photogenic Lumessence Foundation, Girls Secret green eye shadow, Covergirl blush, Rimmel Exaggerate mascara, e.l.f. eyeliner in black.

Hehe, I am actually glowing in this photo, but it’s mainly because the sun just came out for the first time in two and 1/2 weeks and my camera isn’t quite used to it.

Kaidin is at home today because he might have hand, foot and mouth diesease. He has blisters on his mouth and a doctors appointment at 2.30pm. He has turned quite sookie and believes he is going to die, so he keeps climbing all over me for cuddles. Not quite working when he is big for his age and I am the size of a horse. Mum is worried that I’ll catch whatever he’s got, but I’m pretty certain I’ll already have any bug he’s carrying. Hand, Foot and Mouth isn’t dangerous during pregnancy unless you get a super high temperature, which is good to know.

Anyway, he wanted in on the photo shoot. I am wearing 2 inch heels, so you can imagine how tall he is when I am wearing flats. He’ll be taller than me in a few years..

I don’t ask, I just point and click…

Now I’m back to perving on Jason Stratham in ‘In the Name of the King’. Very crap movie, very hot actor. Plus I really like Claire Forlani.

What are you wearing today?

One of the more strange things about being pregnant is the dating system. No, not RSVP online, how they work out how far gone you are. This caused a shitload of hassles for me when I found out. They sonographer told me I was 8 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Count back 8 weeks and 8 days and you find me sleeping with my ex. So dutiful little me, rang my ex and told him. He didn’t want a bar of it, which is perfectly fine by me - there are reasons why I dumped his ass! Then, at about 10 weeks, my lovely midwife friend and I had a revelation - they take your dates back to your last period, not when you actually got laid! They also only estimate your period date - conception is always taken as 2 weeks after the first day of your last period. Which brought me to the 6th of April. What was I doing on the 6th of April 2008? Sleeping with a very, very hot bouncer who I’d been crushing on for years as a way to help me get over my ex. Cue very embarrassing text message to ex, blaming the sonographer for not telling me about dates and more text messages to very hot bouncer who is now very, very angry bouncer. Which is perfectly fine by me - there are reasons I didn’t continue that relationship past a couple of nights.

It might interest you to know that my last period occurred sometime in January 2008. I’m on the pill and I don’t like being a moody bitch. So when every doctor and midwife tries to base my due date on my last period, I’m due now.

This other thing about dates is that everyone knows that a pregnancy lasts for 9 months, right? Wrong. A pregnancy (from date of last period until due date) is 40 weeks. Closer to 10 months. My pregnancy will be 38 weeks or 9 ^1/2 months. I am 24 weeks now, which to my mind equals 6 months or the third trimester. Wrong again, the third trimester doesn’t start until 27 weeks. Is anyone else losing track here?

I have 14 weeks to go. I try not to work out the maths behind the rest - it gives me a headache.

Here are some belly photos of me at 6 months 24 weeks with 14 weeks to go..

Everything is black. I hear it’s slimming.

• Shirt from Jay Jays
• Maternity pants from Pumpkin Patch
• Bra from Bras n Things (too small and I’ve only had it for 2 weeks)
• Underwear from Kmart

]]> http://wifeandamother.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/micah_james_daniel_vizthum/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:15:20 +0000 Bethany http://wifeandamother.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/micah_james_daniel_vizthum/

So Yesterday we went to see the high risk ultrasound guy to check on Micah’s heart. Everything was great everything looks great not only was the heart great but they didn’t find anything else wrong. He said he’s weighing in at a whopping 1 lbs 10 oz and looks great! I’ll go back at 32 weeks to check to see how’s he growing.

Today I went in to see my ob and he said everything looks great too. I’m measuring a week ahead of schedule and in 3 weeks I go in for my 1 hour glucose test to do so I’m not looking forward to that. I also headed upstairs and had my blood drawn for my thyroid. I’ll be able to check online sometime tomorrow to see if my levels are still normal. If they are I’ll just go get more blood drawn in 8 more weeks. If they’re high then I gotta go in and see the endocrinologist. Hate doing that too but it’s not about me it’s about me being healthy for MY BABY so I just gotta suck it up.

On a scary note I heard a story about someone that was due this October who just had her baby!  Luckily he’s a fighter and doing really well so that gives me hope that if something does go wrong. she was only 24 weeks and 2 days into her pregnancy which for me is just a few days away.

On an exciting note we start our Bradley classes next Wednesday. I can not wait!!! It’ll be so much fun! I’ve already read the book but it’ll be fun to take the class and get to watch the video. It’ll help Daniel feel more in control.

here’s a good profile pic from yesterday.

We are coming on 4 weeks we have been in Australia. I am so thankful to report that I healed up on Saturday and was able to visit and sight see with a family from the church we are attending. We enjoyed spending the the afternoon together, walking around a few parks in the suburbs of Sydney. Dennis is the pastor of the church we attend and also worked some in India with his wife Elizabeth who is a middle school teacher. Elizabeth shared wonderful advice with me about raising children and told me to enjoy every stage and realize how quickly it will pass and also to remember how much impact your work has on the child and to focus on relaxing, loving and creating a nurturing enviroment. What wise advice from a mother of four grown children. Their youngest lives at home and is studying law all the others are married. On a random note did you know that voting is compulsorary in Australia? That’s what you find out when you actually talk to the locals. I guess the fines are pretty hefty too if you somehow ‘forget’. Also the population of Australia is SMALL around 20 million. That is tiny tiny tiny for the amount of land in Australia. The Australian government is even giving out money annually for each child born. Since that law was passed their was a substantial baby boom. It is stressing out the midwives, health care systems (which are all government funded–think Canada! Gasp Australians ask me about what it is like to pay for my health care.) as well as the teachers and day care workers. The government over here is finding that it has rising problems with it’s health care systems as a lot of people can’t get a bed in the hospital because of “lack of funding”. Oh another thing on money…Guess how much “petrol” (gas) costs over here?! It is inching up close to 7 dollars a gallon! Gulp.

On Sunday we visited with another family from the church at their home in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Here are a few pictures from our visit with them as well as my 24 week belly picture.

Wouldn’t you love to have a grove of these in your back yard? This family had 3 different varieties growing in their back yard. Along with a bird feeder that regularly attracts 5 different kinds of parrots. We only saw 3 over our visit. I loved the red and green ones but the white Cockatoo was beautiful also. I didn’t get a good picture though. They ate their lunch at the feeder right in front of the table we ate our lunch on!  Oh, let me tell you fresh picked tangerines mmmm….

The view from a lookout in the Blue Mountains. You could see Sydney’s skyscrapers in the distance but my handy yet novice-esque camera can’t quite capture that.

A Wattle Bush. There are the most unique plants, birds and trees over here. I love the trees! They definitely make me realize I am no longer in Kansas! The majority I see are varieties of palms, Eucalyptus and gum

I love those trees!

The Little One’s home, convienently growing right along with her/him. I think I really popped this week. Full of Little One is another way to put it…Yet with about 15 weeks to go, the stretch must go on!

I was deeply saddened to hear the news of Tim Russert’s passing.  I was at work and was looking for something on Yahoo when I saw the news.  It isn’t just pregnancy induced emotion (I reserve that for game shows and meaningful commercials), but genuine sorrow for the loss of such a great reporter and writer.  While I have respect for his work, I also feel a personal connection because he is part of one of my clearest memories from adulthood. 

In November of 2000, two of my brothers, Ray and I all traveled together to our grandmother’s funeral.  It was an 18 hour drive to and from the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania over the few days surrounding the presidential election that year.  I’ll remember the trip for why we were there, but I also remember it for the absolute knowledge that we were witnessing history.  I remember the seemingly endless search for beer and pizza to take back to the hotel.  I had no idea that the laws regulating the sale of booze were so restrictive in PA…but we became REALLY aware that night.  I remember gas station bathrooms that were hover only.  I remember being encouraged to nap rather than drive (thanks guys ).  And then I remember staying up almost all night to watch the election coverage. 

In our hotel room, Ray and I settled on NBC to watch Tim scribble projections and scenarios on a dry erase board with a red marker.  We were transfixed by the low tech, straightforward approach to dealing with the uncharted waters of this crazy election.  We’d occasionally flip to other channels to see what kind of tools they were using, but we would return to the purity and simplicity of good, solid analysis as opposed to hyperbole and conjecture.  On Wednesday morning, both NPR and Rush found a few seconds to talk about how the networks had handled the curveball.  The tone when they spoke about Russert’s approach can best be described as amused incredulity. 

I made it through work Friday.  Yay me.  The antibiotics may be doing something to help me, but the effect is negligible at this point.  If I could sleep more I would, but that whole breathing/swallowing thing isn’t working so well.  Baby seems to be dozy this evening.  Until I started listening to music.  Then he perked up.  I’ve decided he looks like me in the sonogram picture…at least I think he’s got my nose and cheeks…but it won’t be long before we find out.

It’s 3 1/2 weeks until we reach the biggest milestone to date.  Potential viability happens around 24 weeks.  I knock on wood when I even think of it.  On the road to get here, we learned some of the contents of “The Big Book of Everything That Can Go Wrong.”  We picked up details on a few chapters, and then just headings and keywords for other sections.  The problem with the book is that it becomes permanently imbeded in the back of your brain.  It never goes away.  The assumption that bad things happen to other people is sent out to Los Alamos to be blasted into oblivion.  Bad things happen.  Sometimes to you.  Sometimes to people you love.  Sometimes to complete strangers who have been where you’ve been.  Everyone has shit in their lives. No one gets out unscathed.

This knowledge of the bad stuff doesn’t mean you necessarily live in fear.  You still find just enough hope to move forward, even on the bleakest of days.  You find ways to turn down the volume on the “what ifs” playing on a continuous loop in your mind and just go.  But what it does mean is that there is a little part of your breath that is always held, even when the sea is calm and the shore is near.  24 weeks fast approaches and will take forever to get here.   

As pro-choicers rightly bask in the knowledge that a woman’s right to choose won’t be eroded for at least the duration of this government, now is probably the best possible moment to warn against complacency. At Comment is Free, Mary Kenny argues that this debate has become far more complicated than those had during the ’60s and ’70s, with advanced photography of the reproductive process making the emotive case for restricting abortion seem stronger, even amongst those who’re sympathetic to a woman’s right to chose.

Then there’s the question of whether this issue will return to Parliament with a vengence if/when the Conservatives win the next election. There’s a strong likelihood that if it did re-emerge (and god knows Nadine Dorries hasn’t got much else to do with her time), the restrictionists would finally prevail:

The abortion time limit could be cut if the Conservatives win the next general election, according to an analysis of yesterday’s votes.

According to Philip Cowley of the University of Nottingham, a large influx of Tory MPs into parliament could lead to a reduction in the upper time limit of 24 weeks.

[...]

Cowley told guardian.co.uk: “I can’t see 24 weeks surviving a large Conservative intake at the next election. It’s one of the underlying truths that so-called free votes are not as non-party as people think.

“The majority of Conservative MPs voted for a reduction in the abortion time limit and the majority of Labour MPs voted against. The maths are pretty straightforward when there’s a large Conservative intake.”

He added: “One of the problems for the Tories’ position is that once you state the argument for viability of the child and science, the abortion time limit will only go down. It’s never going to go up again.”

Whilst there’s still not an awful lot of evidence to prove that a foetus can exist outside the womb after 20 weeks, Nadine Dorries and her merry band of restrictionists are happy to take a few astonishing cases and construct a law around them. Dorries is proposing an amendment to the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Bill (yeah, I thought that’d finally disappeared, too) which would slash the legal time limit on abortions from 24 to 20 weeks.

Now, I can’t make an argument about abortion law without sounding like an utter dilettante. I can, however, provide links to people who do know what they’re talking about - like Unity, Laurie Penny and the cast of The F-Word - and I can link to this new-fangled Coalition for Choice website, which gives more information and instructions on how to take action.

Ons het uiteindelik die kot gekry, dit lyk pragtig.  Ons moes natuurlik die kot eers aanmekaar sit (DIY is nie ons maat nie).  Die seelewe is ‘n goeie tema en die kot kan laer verstel na so 6 maande en word uiteindelik ‘n klein bed.

Hendrik se vriende van die werk het alreeds ‘n klein Wallaby rugby trui gekoop ‘trippel nul trui grote’. Ons het kaartjies vir die toets tussen die Bokke en die Wallabies in Julie, dit sal sy eerste rugby game wees wat hy gaan beleef.  Die groot vraag is vir wie hy gaan skree.

Eers kon ek hom glad nie voel skop nie, maar deesdae voel ek hom elke dag.  Hendrik het ook so week terug die eerste keer ‘n hele paar skoppe gevoel, maar ek dink die kleinding het dalk gehik, want dit was so ritmies.  Dit is wonderlik om te voel hoe hy skop en rondbeweeg.

Intussen is ek nou al 10kg swaarder en my voete ly daaronder.  Ons het die naweek vir my ordentelike tekkies gaan koop, sodat ek kan gemaklik rondbeweeg. My bed is ook al gepak met ekstra kussings en duvets sodat ek sagter kan slaap, ek kan nie glo hoe moeilik dit is om te slaap nie. 

Ons was weer by die dokter en die keer het ons net geluister na sy hartklop wat so vinnig is, siestog hy is nog so klein, hy het nog nie baie vet aan die lyfie nie en weeg so tussen 570-700g en is al 22cm lank.  Sy middel oor het nou ontwikkel, wat dan sy balans sal kontrolleer, nou weet hy of hy onderstebo is of nie.  Ons baba se gesig is nou heeltemaal ontwikkel en hy is bedek met fyn haartjies (lanugo) en sy vel is beskermd deur die wax op sy vel (vernix).

Voorbeeld hoe hy nou al lyk.

Last Friday I was officially six months pregnant (24 weeks). The time is going by so fast. It will be fun to see all the new babies that will be making their debut this summer. One of Mike’s cousin’s is due this Summer with a little girl, two of my friends and my brother are all having baby boys in July. I also have another cousin that is expecting a baby in September. Baby weighs in at a little over a pound now and is a little over 12 inches long. You can feel and see the kicks from the outside but thus far only I’ve seen it because the baby decides to be real still anytime I try to show anyone else. Go figure. Overall this baby appears pretty mild - like Camden was during pregnancy. The pregnancy is very uneventful (which we love) and I really don’t have any significant pregnancy complaints. Mike, in his usual loving and affectionate (yes, that is sarcasm) manner usually addresses our encounters with “hey slim” or gives me a look of horror and shakes his head. Good thing we both have a sense of humor about that. At my last prenatal appointment at 21.5 weeks I was measuring 23 weeks and baby’s heartbeat was between 150-160 bpm.

We still are not finding out the gender and apparently that really ticks some people off, lol. One of my friends did a pressure point thing on my foot that is supposed to determine gender and according to that it is a girl…big shocker there. Despite every indication that we are most likely bringing forth another little princess into this world I keep inadvertently referring to the baby as “he”. We are also not being very productive in finding a name for this baby, which is fine, I like the idea of waiting to see what the baby looks like before we solidify any name. As always, Mike is set on naming the baby Garrett if it is a boy. Camden wants to name the baby James if it is a boy and we still have the tentative name of Kiera if it is a girl. But again, we’re not set on any of these names. Mike insists if we can’t name the baby Garrett it is going to be Bruce. Ugh. Um. No.

In other family rambles, life is going well. We are really, really, really hoping that our house sells soon. Like, really soon. We’ve had a couple people look at it and one family that was very serious and it was between our house and one other house but it appears that the other house won since we haven’t heard back from them. We have been so blessed to be able to make ends meet every month but I just wonder how much longer we will be able to pull that off.

Mike’s still working out at Hanford and his finger is healing well. He no longer has the funny looking white wrap around his finger and now we get to look at his revolting fingernail every day (which he tries to make me kiss, gross). We’re pretty sure his fingernail is going to fall off soon. He still walks around work and does nothing because the doctor has not given him clearance to work a full load yet and his work doesn’t want to have him out of work because that costs them more money in a “time loss” due to “disability” so he goes to work for 40 hours a week but does absolutely nothing. How mind numbing. At least he is getting paid though. Starting Monday he is at school (for his work) for a week and will be unpaid for that time, joy.

Camden is being Camden. She is really testing the waters these days and I have a feeling it will not go away anytime soon. To her, everything has the potential to be a debate and she thinks she is very tough stuff and tries to boss us around all the time. Most of the time it is really funny and we try not to laugh, the other part of the time it is exasperating. Yay for three.

I know everyone experiencing their first pregnancy feels like time is flying by, but really, time is just flying by. We’ll hit the 24 week mark in just a couple of days (Saturday), and it really feels like we’re heading towards the home stretch. This of course is nervewracking, stressful, scary, exciting, and fun all at the same time.

We’re all signed up for our litany of birthing, parenting, poopy diaper changing, and breastfeeding classes which start in May. I’m pretty stoked about this portion of the pregnancy adventure as I’m more or less clueless as a parent. It’s my understanding that we’ve made such advances in technology and medicine that every baby comes with a personalized, indexed, 250 page PDF instruction manual that takes you through the first two years of life. They just plug the kid into some machine as soon as he comes out and the computer does the rest. What’s that honey? What do you mean there’s no such thing? They lied to me?!

I’m so screwed.

Other updates: Momma’s finally starting to feel better have the flu of doom last weekend. She’s back at work as of yesterday (just in time for fiscal year end), and is looking and sounding much better. She’s still horking up the occasional bit of off-colored phlegm, and is a bit drained, but other than that she’s doing nicely.  The belly is coming along nicely, and frankly she’s hit that absolutely adorable stage. Also, the PUPPP rash is being very well managed with organic dandelion root extract, combined with the PUPPP soap and PUPPP relief cream that I mentioned in the previous post.

So, that’s life for now.

Last month, two of my friends emailed to ask if I wanted to go up to NYC for a girls’ weekend. So we planned it that I would go up from the 22nd to the 24th. When I arrived, several of my friends from California had flown in to surprise me! And it was all arranged by the hub! I was definitely surprised — and shocked that the hub managed to pull it off and keep it a secret. He did say that he let out a few slips that I didn’t catch. Must’ve been my pregnancy brain.

Anyway, I had a great time with my friends. The hub had planned lunch and dinner for us for the entire visit and took care of the bills. My friends told me how sweet the hub is — to which I replied, “Well, I am having his child.” We all agreed that the other hubs would have a hard act to follow for the next one who gets pregnant. We also all agreed to do something relaxing, like a spa.

In this group of friends, I’m the second one to get pregnant. One friend already has a son. We both thoroughly frightened the others about pregnancy… but I always believe it’s better to be informed than not!

The swelling of my ankles/legs have gotten a little worse this past week. I definitely see a difference on the days I exercise and the days I don’t. My ankles were terrible last night and I would actually feel the swollen flesh digging into my shoes! But when I got home and put my legs up, they immediately started to feel better.

I’ve been fairly lucky thus far to be able to still fit into my pre-pregnancy undies. But maybe within the past week, I noticed my undies and pants getting tighter. I was hoping that my butt wouldn’t get wider like the rest of my body, but I guess it’s starting to happen. I can tell that I’m taking up more space on the toilet too because when I get up after doing my business, I find the toilet paper I thought I tossed into the toilet in a pile behind me on the back of the seat.

I’m still getting tired around 3 PM and feeling sleepy earlier at night, and I wonder if that has anything to do with the weight gain. I used to be a very fast walker, but now my normal pace is the hub’s really slow pace. I also get breathless quite easily too, which concerned me because I think I’m a fairly fit person both pre and during pregnancy. But I heard another woman in my prenatal yoga class complain about it too and it’s the babies squeezing against our lungs. Stairs are definitely a chore now and as a germaphobe, I never used to hold the railing. But now I do and doing that in NYC made me cringe.

I recently finished reading “Baby Love: Choosing Motherhood After a Lifetime of Ambivalence” by Rebecca Walker, which is a memoir of her pregnancy. I could relate to a lot of it because she was pregnant at my current age and I’ve also had moments of ambivalence about becoming a mother. But once she found out, she embraced it and the same has happened to me. I feel very attached to my son now. Her entry on the labor is a little scary though. But I appreciate her honesty. One particular entry in the book really struck me. As a feminist and independent woman, Walker discusses how vulnerable she felt when she went out late one night to get groceries. For the first time, she was afraid to get mugged because someone could hurt her baby. I could strongly relate to that. I’ve always thought of myself as someone who could take care of myself and fight off an attacker. But since becoming pregnant, I’ve definitely had instances of fear that I can’t fight back now because someone could easily come up and hurt the baby by kicking me in the stomach. I think this feeling of vulnerability has been the hardest thing for me to deal with.