Pregnancy Update: Week 26

We matched in our chambray :) Cute photo bomber!

 Weeks: 26

Trimester: Second, one week away from the third trimester

Gender: GIRL!

Name: Ha, like we even know. I tried to make a go for the name “Eden” but Lance hates it.

Baby's Size: One and 2/3 pounds

Cravings: Root beer floats. Sweet creamy goodness. The occasional pickle.

How I'm Feeling: More energy than first trimester (thank goodness, I don’t think Lance thought that I was ever going to make supper again and I think Lucan thought that the baby and momma must need a lot of rest.) But about mid-second trimester I started developing more lower back and left hip pain which seems to go hand in hand with a protruding belly. After walking around the Iowa State Fair all day, I thought that I was going to keel over and die. I’m just trying to be mindful of not overdoing it. 

Sleep has been good, just never enough of it. Rolling over is quite the process these days and will only get worse. I miss sleeping on my back. 

I do seem to be doing a few absentminded things which can only be attributed to needing more sleep and baby brain. For example, I wrote out Lucan’s daycare check to the wrong daycare. I completely got the wrong day for a chiropractor appointment. Forgetting treats I made for treat day on the counter at home and having to go back for them. Burning a pan of bacon to a complete charred mess. Silly things that usually I’m much better at remembering to do.

Movement: Little girlie seems to think tap dancing on my bladder is a fun activity. Not a fan. Or she tries to stretch up into my ribs making breathing hard.

Wearing: 90% maternity clothes, 60% mine, 40% borrowed from friends. I love having gracious friends to loan me their clothes. There are some looser or stretchier things I’m wearing that are non-maternity, but as I’m rounding into the third trimester, my thought is, why bother?! Embrace elastic people! No one is impressed by the fact that you uncomfortably compressed yourself into your pre-pregnancy clothes. I wearing lots of dresses because dresses = no waistbands. I’m not sure what I’m going to wear when it starts getting cold outside because 80% of the maternity pants I own are jeans.

Momma thoughts: I am amazed by different people’s reactions that this baby is a girl. Some of them are outright overjoyed by the fact. And yes, while we feel extremely lucky to have a boy and a girl, there would have been nothing wrong if this baby had been a boy too. So moral of the story people, be excited that it’s a healthy baby. Not that it’s a healthy baby girl.

I filled out a Target online baby registry. Not that I have expectations for anyone to actually buy me anything or throw me a shower, but it’s a good way to keep track of things that I want to get for baby girl. 

Picking garden produce with a pregnant belly feels like a punishment. Seriously. It's too bad that Lance's color blindness really impairs him from knowing which tomatoes are red and which are green... 

We canned a small batch of salsa two weekends ago and it also felt like a punishment. Lots of standing. Boiling water. Hot kitchen. Not a good time. We'll see how much I feel up to come apple time.

Nursery thoughts: We officially moved Lucan out of the crib this weekend. It’s a convertible crib and we had taken off all the sides months ago, but we finally bit the bullet and bought him new bedroom furniture in preparation for the crib to be girlie girl’s. Lu’s having fun sleeping in his new "big boy" bed and enjoys tucking all of his animals in. But it’s nice to be making steps forward to getting ready for baby girl (or as Lu has named her this week “Paco”).

We’re keeping Lucan in his present room and turning the guest room into the nursery. I haven’t purchased anything yet, but I’m trending towards a grey and pink theme. Light pink, light grey. Grey walls with one wall that is grey and white horizontal stripes. Lance readily agreed, which I was a bit surprised by. I wonder if there’s any way I could convince him to install a chandelier...

Placenta problem update: at my last appointment and ultrasound things had remained largely unchanged. My patient OB-GYN (best doctor ever!) explained to me while there is nothing that they can specifically pinpoint that caused this “spot” on my placenta and nothing that can be done to resolve the spot either, as long as the baby keeps growing and the “spot” doesn’t increase in size they aren’t going to be too concerned about it. I will have another ultrasound in September to check everything out but if things remain unchanged they will discontinue the ultrasounds. Which is fine, I’m already getting a little concerned about how much more this pregnancy is going to cost.

Exercise: I'm still doing some yoga  and bike rides and irregular walking and running about with Lucan. I took Lu on a tricycle ride the other night (he rode and I walked) and there were times where I felt like I was getting a side ache from trying to keep up with him. Pregnancy is slowing me down.