Friday, February 25, 2011

25 weeks


How Far Along: 25w1d

Size of baby: Onto another month - Month 6 (25w - 28w)– Baby is the size of an eggplant, 13.6 - 14.8 inches long and weighs about 1.5 - 2.2lb.


I should let C put an ear to my belly -- he might be able to pick up Peyton's heartbeat (no stethoscope required). Inside the womb, the formation of tiny capillaries is giving her a healthy pink glow. She's also soaking up my antibodies, getting the immune system ready for life outside the womb. Eyes are forming, and she will soon perfect the blink -- perfect for batting those freshly grown lashes.

Maternity Clothes: Yup – still just maternity pants though

Weight Gain: I believe I am up 10-11 lbs. It's slowly coming on now.

Belly: When I throw a bra on, I'll take a pic. :)

Stretch Marks: Nope, not yet.

Sleep: I actually slept well last night. But I think I was so exhausted from this past week that nothing was going to keep me up.

Best Moment of the Week: Having someone at the funeral tell someone else that I was only 4 months. I had to correct her and say I'm 6 months and she looked at me surprisingly and said "You look GREAT!" :)

Movement: She is moving around. But her kicks aren't hurting, but I am noticing that they are getting stronger. I can't wait until C can feel her all the time.

Symptoms: Same ole', same 'ole - allergy symptoms, leg cramps, etc.

Food cravings: No more consistent cravings.

Gender: Still a vagina ... I hope.

What I Miss: Sleep. And after this week ... WINE!

What I'm Looking Forward To: Seeing my husband. He had a business trip to Cali scheduled for over a month and after my grandma passed, we talked and I told him he should still go. Now I'm wishing that I told him to stay home. I can't wait to see him tomorrow.

Weekly Wisdom: Don't eat frozen yogurt before bed if you're lactose intolerant. Not a good evening.

Milestones: In the 6th month. I am two weeks away from the third trimester! I can't believe it.

Emotions: I'm pleading the 5th on this for this week - I had CRAZY emotions, but it was def warranted.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Another angel

First off - it's not the baby - every thing's fine. I don't want to freak anyone out with my post title.

My grandmother passed away this morning.

She quickly declined since Wednesday. She unfortunately caught a chest cold and she didn't have the strength to cough, so fluids have been building up in her lungs. And it went quickly. I was lucky enough to live fairly close to her and see her often. C and I went there Wednesday evening when we received the news that things didn't look good - and we were joined by several cousins and my sister. The doctor said that she wouldn't survive the ride to the hospital and she had a DNR anyhow. We all knew that she wanted to go. Over the last year, she had said it to my dad several times. She had been in pain from hip problems, back issues and such. And I know she missed my grandfather - he passed about 8 years ago. They were married for 60 something years - the best couple, the best grandparents.

I went there Friday morning and no one else was there - just me. So I got to spend some time with her alone. Granted she wasn't speaking, not really responsive, but I got to hold her hand and tell her how much she meant to me and how I loved her. We all knew it was coming and I know she is in a better place, with the love of her life and pain free and that's what makes this OK for me and my family.

She had always cared so deeply for her children and grandchildren that I absolutely know that she is going to be the sweetest angel looking over us forever.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

24 weeks

How Far Along: 24 weeks

Size of baby: Month 5 (21w - 24w)– Baby is the size of a papaya, 10.5 - 12 inches long and weighs about 1 - 1.5 lb.

Peyton’s growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. Since he's almost a foot long, she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Maternity Clothes: Yup – maternity pants only though. I love them. I told a friend who is still struggling with her normal pants and a belly band, just take the plunge.

Weight Gain: I didn’t hop on the scale this morning – I was too tired. But I think I’m up 8-9 lbs.

Belly:
Stretch Marks: None so far.

Sleep: Sleep is sleep. I long for it, but no longer look forward to it because I know I will be tossing and turning all night.

Best Moment of the Week: C saw my belly move with a kick from Peyton.

Movement: She is moving, but not as much on a schedule anymore. But C FINALLY felt her kick for real. He was so cute and so excited.

Symptoms: Swollen Hooha is rearing her ugly head again and I swear I have major allergy like symptoms. I sneeze ALL. THE. TIME. Doesn’t help that I pee a little each time I sneeze. I’ve been good though – I know to cross my legs really tight or if I’m alone hold my crotch. LOL. I’ve been getting leg cramps in the middle of the night. Not fun.

Food cravings: No more consistent cravings. Gender: My little Miss Peyton.

What I Miss: Sleep.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Registering. My baby shower date is set and C is out of town for a few weeks in March, so we are going tomorrow. Also it’s suppose to be 70 degrees tomorrow … I need some warm weather! YAY!

Weekly Wisdom: I saying this again –drink water because I keep waking up with leg cramps. OUCH!

Milestones: We have made the viability mark!!! Meaning if I were to go into labor they would take measures to stop it and monitor the baby. And god forbid if she came now, she would have a 60% chance of surviving.

Emotions: Still all over the place. But I recover fairly fast. So that’s good.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Progression


Here is a mid way progression ... it's interesting how your belly changes. I think I looked big around 14/17 weeks then I do now. But I definitely see a change. I still sometimes think that I look the same as I did before pregnancy --- this definitely makes me see that is not true. Haha.

(This was for you Michelle ... xoxo)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

23 weeks

How Far Along: 23 weeks

Size of baby: Month 5 – Baby is the size of a papaya, 10.5 - 12 inches long and weighs about 1 - 1.5 lb.

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, Peyton can feel me dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, I may be able to see her squirm underneath my clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that her increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as Sammy barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb. I may have to stop the trucker mouth I have now ... or at least she will know when I'm driving. :)

Maternity Clothes: Loving my new maternity jeans. I spent a little money on them and have gotten tons of compliments of them – people don’t know they are maternity jeans. C has said to me a few times – shocking – how much he loves the jeans. Makes me feel good to wear clothes that fit and highlight the bump.

Weight Gain: I apparently am up to 10 lbs. Eek. I want to call an audible on this stat … because when I weighed myself this morning, I was up a total of 8 lbs. So, we’ll see how this whole thing shakes out. :)

Belly: Too come. Sorry I’m never good on this.

Stretch Marks: None so far. Though I’m noticing more blue veins on my belly now. And a ton of peach fuzz …

Sleep: Sleep is sleep. I long for it, but no longer look forward to it because I know I will be tossing and turning all night.

Best Moment of the Week: Just being pregnant is the best moment of the week.

Movement: She is a mover and a shaker. I feel her move quite often. I ate Indian food last night and mid way through she must have caught a taste of it, because she was bouncing off my walls. :)

Symptoms: I'm getting a little tired again, but that might be from the lack of sleep I'm getting.

Food cravings: No more consistent cravings.

Gender: My little Miss Peyton.

What I Miss: Feeling good. I caught C’s cold on Monday and have been struggling through work with it. Can’t wait for tomorrow so I can lounge around for a bit.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Registering. My baby shower date is set and C is out of town for a few weeks in March, so we need to do it next weekend. I’m excited to go “shopping”

Weekly Wisdom: Drink tons of water. I know – I already said this, but it is very wise advice.

Milestones: In 6 days, I will be at viability mark. Now I want her to stay in there a bit more, but it’s nice to know if she decided to make an early appearance, she would have a good chance.

Emotions: Cry easily. I had my 23/24 wk appt today and I was not happy. My appt was at 8:45 and I wasn’t seen until 10:20 and it was for about 2 mins because I had a 10:30 meeting I needed to get to. I was so pissed that I didn’t get a chance to ask her anything I wanted to. So I drove to my office and told the people I had the meeting with I’d be right in and went to my office and cried. I’m such a wimp.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Name Game

As I mentioned in my last post, we have finally locked up the name for the little one. I wish there was a good story behind it, but there is not. For the longest time, I loved the name Logan for a girl. This goes back to pregnancy #2. I hadn’t really thought of names for the first pregnancy, but once I had made it my life’s mission to get pregnant again over two years ago, I lived, breathed, and talked babies. So I had the names all settled … Jackson Charles for a boy, Logan Elizabeth for a girl. I never brought it up again. I kept them in my vault prepared when it was in fact my time, to bring them out, brush the dust off them and put them to use.

While we were preparing for IVF this summer, I brought up the name game again. I had different feelings about Jackson – as in the two year time frame, a family member had named their son Jack and I felt I lost the privilege of using it. So I went back to the drawing board. Our next name for a boy was Carter. I absolutely LOVE this name and it is still our number name for a boy. (Hands off ladies … just kidding) However our name for the girl hadn’t changed. It was still Logan Elizabeth. When by the grace of “someone”, I ended up pregnant after IVF, C and I spoke a little bit more about the names. We playful added a few more names to the mix for a girl and we’re settled on Carter for a boy. Since we swore up and down that it was a boy, I hadn’t even given the girl name any more thought. However when we heard those little words “It’s a girl.” That all changed.

One of the names we added to the mix for the girls really struck me as such a beautiful name. And more and more, it started to push Logan out of the frontrunner’s position. I started to feel like this was my little one’s name. So finally I said to C that we really need to lock this up. I felt like I wanted to give her more a personality, make her more “real” to me and having a given name would help that. We sat one night at P.anera Bread and went through a list of girl names on my i.Phone. We brought up a few other names we liked – Logan, Parker, Morgan, Kennedy, Reagan (do you see the how this almost turned into a list of airports there – that was noticed by my brother who saw the list. I just love unisex names.) As much I liked some of these other names, they weren’t hers. I kept going back to the one I’d fallen in love with. And finally as we ate our cookies, in a P.anera Bread, we decided on the name of our daughter.

That was probably 2 weeks ago. I held onto the name and didn’t share it – well I did with BFF and a few other family members, in case we wanted to go back and discuss it – and we have. C still really likes Kennedy. But ultimately in the end, we stuck with the name we agreed on. And that name is .... drum roll please .....



Peyton Elizabeth


I'm really excited about it and can't wait to meet her. C is really cute and always kisses my belly in the morning and says "Good Morning Peyton." My BFF has already taught her kids "Peyton." When I told my dad, he said "Peyton's Place?" I had no idea what he was talking about, but apparently there was a prime time soap opera - before Dallas and Dynasty - called Peyton's Place. I like that I haven't really heard the name used by friends, but that it is recognizable as a name and not something obscure like Apple or Pilot. Anyhow, it's feels great that she has name and that we are less than 4 months away from meeting her! YAY!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

22 weeks

How Far Along: 22 weeks.

Size of baby: Month 5 – Baby is the size of a papaya, 10.5 - 12 inches long and weighs about 1 - 1.5 lb. Here's another comparison.

The facial features are becoming more defined, with brows and eyelids in position, lips distinct, and eyes have formed completely, yet the iris still lacks pigment. The fingernails have grown to the ends of the fingertips and the hair is without pigment and is a shade of striking white. The liver is beginning to break down bilirubin with help from me, and the pancreas is maturing. The brain is entering a stage of rapid growth. Hearing is sharper, and the baby can pick out voices, the sounds of your rumbling stomach and blood circulating.

Maternity Clothes: OK – I’m biting the bullet and moving to straight maternity pants. I ordered two pair of good jeans and two more work pants. I think I should be good now … My shirts are still fitting and I think they will for some time.

Weight Gain: Up to 7-8 lbs.

Belly: Michelle – this is for you! I feel like I look huge!


Stretch Marks: None so far.

Sleep: I don’t want to talk about sleep. Last night was terrible. Between tossing and turning to begin with, C was snoring because he has a cold and then the fact that my lady parts are still itchy from being swollen made for a nice sleep of … ohh … 1.5 hours.

Best Moment of the Week: Locking up the name! I will put it in a separate post.

Movement: I am starting to feel her on a schedule now. I feel her move around 7:30-8am, then again around lunch time, sometimes in the afternoon and then not again until 8-9 pm. I don’t really feel her during the night – but it may be because it’s not strong enough to wake me up …

Symptoms: I'm getting a little tired again, but that might be from the lack of sleep I'm getting.

Food cravings: No more consistent cravings.

Gender: Still a girl … I hope. ;)

What I Miss: Nothing really. Well, actually sleep. I miss sleep.

What I'm Looking Forward To: Registering. We’ve talked about it a few times, but haven’t actually gone out there to do it.

Weekly Wisdom: This is going to be weather related ... um, don't go outside in the ice if you're pregnant. Plain and simple.

Milestones: Feeling her move all the time now … J

Emotions: I still get a little snippy fast, but I’m going to blame the exhaustion. Haha.