23 Weeks Pregnant

Welcome to week 23!

This past week was so much fun…we got lots of snow, and school was cancelled ALL WEEK! I’ve never seen snow stick for that long down here. We were trapped in our house – or I should say our cars were stuck in the driveway – from Monday to Wednesday, and it was still pretty treacherous trying to walk on our icy sidewalk until today. I don’t know how I’m going to find the time to make up everyone’s missed lessons, but it’s fun to be snowed in once in a while. J

On Saturday we decided to go and get our hair cut. Mine isn’t a drastic change, especially since I have a habit of cutting it short, growing it out, getting sick of it, and cutting it short again. I got something like three inches off. Travis, on the other hand…

Yep. It’s shorter than he’s had it for as long as I’ve known him, and long before that. I like it…I’m not used to it yet, though!

Oh, and by the way, he’s modeling one of the bibs I made. J I have to finish the sewing on some of them, and then they’ll be up on my Etsy site, which I’m finally going to give you the address to! It is: www.friendlybeasts.etsy.com. Check it in a day or two, and I promise I’ll have lots of bibs posted.

Ok, on to pregnancy stuff! I haven’t had any more Braxton-Hicks, which I’m happy about. It’s not that they were painful – it just kind of freaked me out. I’m starting to have trouble getting comfortable at night. It’s not terrible, and I haven’t resorted to surrounding myself with pillows just yet. I’m not looking forward to that. Also, I keep waking up with a really stuffy nose, which I’ve read can be a pregnancy symptom. Last night I woke up gagging and struggling to breathe because of it. I’m hoping it’s partly because I’m fighting off a cold, and not solely a symptom of pregnancy. I’ve been very lucky with my lack of uncomfortable symptoms so far, though. Thebump.com says I might be swelling up from head to toe by now, but I’m not, so I guess I should count my blessings!

I don’t think there’s much of anything new going on with the baby. Still kickin’! Last week the website said it should be about 11 inches long and weigh a pound or so, but this week it’s giving a range of anywhere from 10.5 to 11.8 inches, and 12.7 to 20.8 ounces, or approximately the size of a papaya. I’m hoping it’s on the small side! I’ve had nightmares about giving birth to a 13 pounder…

Last but not least, THE ultrasound is this Wednesday morning at 9:00! That’s only 37 hours and 22 minutes from now! I’m planning to do a bonus blog on Wednesday night to let you know what the gender is. I can’t wait to not have to call the baby an “it.” Poor baby! He or she needs a name! I feel like I’ve been waiting forever!

Don’t forget to check back on Wednesday! Until then…

16 Weeks Pregnant

Hello! Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! Ours was great! We went over to Dad and Jen’s house and brought Travis’s parents and brother with us. It was nice to have members of both of our families there!

I have been sick with a cold since last Monday! I’m finally just about over it, but still coughing some. I had a fever that, as far as I know, got as high as 100.2, and I was a little worried because I read that it’s dangerous for a pregnant woman to have a fever over 101, so I took some Tylenol (that’s all I’m allowed to take as far as a fever reducer) to try to bring it down. Anyway, like I said, I’m doing better now, finally!

Speaking of viruses, at my midwife appointment yesterday, I asked Amy (the midwife) if I should get a flu shot. I was assuming she would just confirm that, yes, I should get one, so I was surprised when she said she is wary of them. She said she comes from a “non-vaccinating” family, though. She wants me to do some research and decide whether I feel that it’s riskier to have the shot or not to have it. Everything I’ve read so far is completely pro-flu shot for pregnant women, so I don’t even know what risks she is referring to. I’ll probably end up getting it.

This week, baby is about 4.5 inches from crown to rump, so if it were lying flat it would probably be about the same length as my hand! I just can’t believe how big it’s getting! I keep looking down at my belly and thinking, “Where did this come from?!” The baby’s ears are completely formed now, so it should be able to hear soon. I asked Rachel (Travis’s sister, who is a nurse) about that, and I think she said that even after the ears are physically formed, the brain connections that allow the baby to process the sounds are not yet in place. (Is that right, Rachel?) It’s been a few weeks since she explained it to me, so I’m not completely sure.

Travis’s mom, Faye, came to the appointment with us yesterday. We managed to get the heartbeat on tape this time! We still need to get the right cord to hook up the camera to the computer, though, so we can upload videos. The baby seems to have a favorite spot right underneath my left artery, so it was still really hard for Amy to get the Doppler pointed at an angle that it would pick up the baby’s little heartbeat over the loud swishing in my artery. It took probably 15 minutes and three different Doppler devices.

Other appointment stuff: my hemoglobin is on the low side of normal, and it normally drops by two points during pregnancy, so I have to try to eat a lot of dark leafy greens. If it drops below where it should be, I’ll have to take some type of supplement. The rest of my blood test stuff looked great! J

Amy said I should be feeling the baby move daily within the next couple of weeks! I thought I might have felt it the other night, but I haven’t felt anything since, so I’m not sure if that was the baby or not.

This week I’ve been busy sewing, sewing, sewing! I didn’t get a ton of time to work on the bibs because, well, I was sick, and I decided to make a set of scrubs for Rachel’s birthday! It took me about two and a half days to complete those…it’s ridiculous how long it takes just to cut out all the pieces!!! Travis and I picked out the fabric together, and I think they turned out really cute!

On to the bibs. Here’s the first one I made:

I think I’m going to hold on to this one because it’s not perfect, and I like it, and it was the first one I did… J

And here are some almost finished ones. I still have to cut out and appliqué an animal onto these, and I have a few more ready to sew together.

Fronts:

Folded over so you can see the backs:

To personalize them, I’m just going to cut letters out of the solid colored flannel fabric and iron them on with “Heat ‘n Bond Ultrahold.” They’d be too hard to sew on, and I don’t have a fancy sewing machine that can do monograms. Anyway, I think these turned out really cute, and I’m going to get more fabric soon! I’m hoping to make my Etsy page tonight!