26 weeks!

Week 26

Summer dresses are the best!

This week marks the final week of the second trimester. Last week flew by, with work and studying every day. We were both really tired last week - not sure if it was our schedule, the weather, or the baby, but it seemed that we couldn't get enough sleep. I've been reading and taking notes on my comps list every day, and am happy to report that I hit the halfway mark last week (read 57 sources out of 102). My goal is to finish reading/note taking by the end of the first week in July so I can spend the last two weeks before the exam memorizing. I think it's doable, it's just very time-consuming. But 4 years of grad school has made me a pretty efficient reader and note-taker, such that I knocked out 22 books (plus 30 or more articles) in about a week and a half. Jonathan finished the bulk of the work for his summer class this past week. We are going to our last Sunday evening work shift today, and then we will finish with the evening/weekend job on Thursday. This week will conclude a job for both of us and Jonathan's class, which leave both of us a lot more time in July. One last week to go!

As I said, I felt really tired this past week. It wasn't just the sleepy kind of tired, but the wow-my-body-is-exhausted kind of tired at the end of the day. I've had some decent back ache and my feet ache after a long day of walking, but these are minor complaints given that I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant. The exciting thing about being this far along is that my fantasies (and fears) about our son's arrival get more acute with each passing day. I obsess about him all day long. The time has gone by so fast that I am starting to realize how much more we have to do before he arrives - choose a pediatrician, finalize our birth plans, attend childbirth/breastfeeding classes, research and decide on immunizations, etc. It's a lot to do, and the time has crept up on me.

Despite the high temperatures (100 degrees today) and a bizarre work schedule, we have been loving summer so far. I exercise every day, eat lots of fresh in-season fruits and veggies, and enjoy the early mornings and late evening sun. I had a fun encounter with another pregnant woman at the Farmer's Market yesterday. We both ran for the free mint water and discovered that our due dates are 17 days apart. She is having a girl. I never put much stock in the "you're carrying low, so it's a boy" wives tale, but I keep hearing it and finally had some convincing evidence of it yesterday. She was carrying so much higher than I am, though I didn't notice that he's so low until I stood next to another pregnant woman carrying high. It seems that all of Quinn is bundled up and jutting out beneath my belly button. He's still super active - jumping, kicking, and punching. Weight gain so far: 13 pounds.

14" long and 1 2/3 pound baby in there!

Here's how the little guy is developing this week:

"The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take about two to three days."

Summer fresh foods

Reviewing the last several posts, I am afraid this blog may appear to have turned slightly narcissistic - my apologies. We tend to get busy and the only way I even remember to take pictures and post is to do the weekly pregnancy updates. Otherwise, I probably would take fewer pictures and post every few weeks.  It's not good to present only pictures of myself (and the baby) though, so I will make an effort to take pictures of the rest of the family and our daily lives. In that spirit, here's a picture of some tasty caprese salad I made this week - organic roma tomatoes and mozzarella, with home-grown basil. Yum! I also thought it would be fun to post some more thought-provoking material (rather than pure updates) on some of the great parenting research that I'm reading. So expect some fun posts here pretty soon! (Or maybe it's just fun for me, in which case, again, I apologize).

25 weeks

25 weeks

Is it really that huge?

 Only 2 weeks left of the second trimester! I've still been feeling great this week, although I've had a little lower back pain and some pelvic pain due to loosening of my ligaments. But nothing to get too upset about because I feel great in all other respects. We had our 6 month appointment with the midwife on Friday and got a great report. Blood pressure is good, and I've gained almost 12 pounds so far. It's not a lot, but enough of a gain from last month to appease the midwife. Quinn had a good time, too. As she put the doppler wand on my belly to hear his heartbeat, he punched it and made it jump off my belly! She laughed - he's a strong little guy! She could also feel his head and tell where the rest of his body is - she said he is filling up the entire space, which is probably why I feel so full all the time. The belly is getting big in our eyes, and it's a bit scary to imagine how much bigger it's going to get in the next 12-15 weeks. How much room is left in there?! We've really enjoyed singing and reading to him. I absolutely love getting to know his movements and sleep/awake patterns. My new craving lately is chocolate milk. Organic milk + a bit of Stevia + organic cocoa powder = amazing! I never even liked milk before, but I can hardly go a day without my chocolate milk.

Here's how the little man is developing this week:
"Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture." (Sorry, no pics of a rutabaga because, frankly, I have no idea what that even looks like.)

Father's Day breakfast

Today we celebrated Jonathan's first Father's Day by having breakfast out. I made him a card from all of us (yes, I signed the baby's and pets' names on the card - I know, I'm crazy).  We then got some work done, had lunch, and went to work on campus this evening. We're already halfway through the program that requires us to work evenings and weekends this month. We're enjoying it because we love the students and our co-workers, but it will be nice to not go in to work on Sunday afternoons next month.
 Even though we are only working two jobs this month, between the work, Jonathan's class, and studying for comps, we feel like our days and evenings are pretty booked. A typical day for us this month goes as follows: leave for Jonathan's class at 7am, I come home and get ready and prepare some of lunch in advance, go back to campus to tutor until noon, come home, eat lunch, study/read/do homework, go back to campus for second job at 3:30, get home at a little after 8pm. Since we spend most of our time at home studying, poor J.J. has been pretty bored lately. He takes it like a champ, though, so we took him outside to play a while before going to work this afternoon. He loves jumping for sticks. That's about it for this week. It seems like I'll wake up and be writing next week's post, as fast as this summer is already flying by.

Burning some energy

24 weeks - 6 months!

24 weeks!

 Friday we reached a new milestone - 6 months! One exciting thing about being 24 weeks pregnant is that our baby is now technically "viable," meaning that, God forbid, modern technology would be able to save him if he came early. We think he will be a week or so late so we aren't anticipating an early labor, but it is a comforting thought that he would be okay if something did happen.
More exciting things about being 24 weeks pregnant: He is big enough now that we can actually feel his head, and he responds when we rub it! I'm big enough now that strangers feel confident enough that I'm actually pregnant to ask when I'm due. Although it's not so fun to tell someone and they say how huge I am for 6 months... I'm blaming a baggy shirt. :) I feel really great - I've had tons of energy every day except for one day, I've had very little back/joint pain, no heartburn/indigestion, no swelling. I'm starting to notice sometimes that there's less room in my stomach, especially after I drink a lot of water, but for the most part I am still very comfortable. I exercise at least once a day (yoga every morning, lifting light weights three days a week), and eat lots of salads. I've gained about 11 pounds so far, which is pretty good considering my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball!

He's about a foot long now!

Here's what's going on with Quinn this week:
"Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's over a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon." I read in other sources that his hair is starting to turn the color it will be at birth (which I assume will be white if he's anything like us).

This was a very busy week. School started on Monday - Jonathan is taking a two hour class every morning and has a lot of work to do for it. Then we go to work until around lunchtime, go home, eat lunch, and go back to work in the late afternoon until late evening. It's not an ideal schedule, but we love working with the students, so it's worth it. I also got my readings list approved for my comprehensive exams last week (yea!), so all I have to do is get it scheduled and study! There are over 100 sources on my list that I have to read and memorize by the end of July, so I better get to work!

Belly love!

Monday our very good friend from grad school, who now lives out of state and has been out of the country for months, came to visit. It was so great to see her again, especially because I will be too pregnant to go to her wedding in September. But I got to see her in her wedding dress, and that helped. We had to work while she was here, but spent as much time together as possible. It was such a great visit - love you, Ariel!

Visiting with our friend

Happy Birthday, Amanda!

More big news - my little sister turned 18 Saturday! I can't believe that she is an official adult now. I changed her diapers! We had a great day at the Farmer's Market, lunch at a Middle Eastern restaurant, and dessert at a nice bakery downtown. It really is bizarre to think that she is one year away from college. I am so proud of her.

23 weeks!

23 Weeks pregnant

 One more week and I will be 6 months pregnant! By some standards, that will be the beginning of the third trimester. The past 23 weeks have gone by in the blink of an eye. I have been feeling great this past week. I am getting lots of exercise - yoga every morning on the deck, lifting three times a week. I've gained only 10 pounds so far, which is still on the low end of normal. I'm eating great - we switched to all organic produce and dairy, and most of our grains are also organic (thanks to an amazing, cheap organic/natural foods store that opened in town a few months ago). My cravings revolve around fresh fruits and veggies - lots of salads, homemade frozen yogurt with various kinds of fruit (kiwi and banana is my favorite), and lots of lemon water. I haven't had many aches and pains - just some lower back pain and my feet hurt after an active day. But it's nothing some rest and a heating pad can't handle. I was worried that I would feel self-conscious or strange about how my body is changing, but so far I am loving it. I love how the belly looks and feels; it doesn't feel foreign at all. 

Quinn is very active, though not quite as active as last week. I think he's doing some sleeping to recover from all of the organ and brain growth he is experiencing right now. The most exciting thing is feeling him kick and move when Jonathan sings to him, and when I read his bedtime story at night. 

Here is what the little man is up to this week:

"Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing his for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb."

I don't have a mango picture this week because I couldn't find a mango that big! Hopefully a fruit picture will be included next week.

Bagels and Lox

On  Friday morning, Jonathan treated me to breakfast out at one of our favorite little morning cafes. They are our favorite because they serve a bagel with lox as if lox are cheap. This thing is loaded, as you can see in the picture. I enjoyed some eggs and toast with fresh fruit. Yum! What a nice treat.

We went to visit family this past weekend and had a great time with Jonathan's parents, sister, niece, and nephew. The main purpose of our visit was to do some serious yard saling at the annual neighborhood event there. We cleaned up! We got garbage bags full of baby clothes - Quinn is pretty much set until he is 2 years old! And of course, all at crazy bargain prices! It was a great weekend.

Today the summer semester began. We started jobs and Jonathan started his summer course. I may also be taking comprehensive exams at the end of July, so I have to start studying! Looks like it will be a fun summer!