Very active baby

On December 6 I went to a holiday party for Momtourage and was lucky enough to wear a pretty maternity dress lent to me by the Organizer, Lori. It was a lot of fun and I certainly enjoyed the food there!

That weekend Angela, Wayne, Megan and Katie came to CT to celebrate Christmas early since they were going to be in IL for Christmas this year. The girls were very excited to see my belly and offer their name suggestions. They are both thinking / hoping it's a girl. We shall see!

Bringing Ian to the different library storytimes / sing-alongs has been a little more difficult lately since Ian sits on my lap during the first half until he is warmed up. Sitting on the floor with him sitting on me puts a lot of pressure on my belly.

December 18 Ian and I visited Kate and Liam at their house. It's so fun to be pregnant at the same time again with her. Kate is due April 14, which is 3 weeks after my due date. She is having a girl and loves the name, Samantha. She said this pregnancy feels so different from the last one which is just another confirmation that I think I'm having a boy. But I''ll be VERY happy if I do have a boy since I have all the clothes, toys, etc that I will need. Plus Ian will have a playmate. But I will also be very happy with a girl. As long as the baby is healthy!!!

I went to my friend, Gail's house for a GNO / Yankee Swap one night and my friend, Melissa (I used to babysit her daughter, Annabelle) was there. She had a baby 3 weeks ago and you couldn't even tell! She was so skinny! I can only hope to be so lucky!! It took me forever to get back into my pre-pregnancy jeans last time...

On December 23 I had another OBGYN appointment. Now I weigh 146lbs! I gained 7 pounds in 3.5 weeks. I was utterly shocked! But Dr. Shafi says it's nothing at all to be concerned about and a lot of it is probably water weight. I sure hope so! So far I've gained 25 pounds in 27 weeks. Now if I can only gain 1 lb / week from now on I will be ok. I also had my glucose screening test. When Ian saw my cup (of that orange sugar drink) he kept saying, "cup, cup" and wanted my cup. I don't think he would have liked it too much! Dr. Shafi was having a hard time getting a strong heartbeat on the monitor so she just wanted to check the baby's position via ultrasound. What a special treat to see my baby again! She couldn't get a strong sound because the baby's head is up and is facing my back. But she said there is plenty of time for the baby to flip head down.

Merry Christmas, Baby Due! We all really enjoyed Christmas with Ian this year. But I kept thinking how next year I will have TWO KIDS to celebrate with! It seems so unreal.

My rib and back pain are soooo annoying. I have extreme back pain all morning (which Dr. Shafi said to take Tylenol, baths and heat compresses to relieve otherwise I'll need physical therapy) and by the time the back pain is gone, my right rib starts hurting! But at least I don't have leg cramps (so far...) like I did with the last pregnancy. But this back pain is awful especially because Ian wants to be picked up and carried. I have been taking Tylenol though here and there and it really helps.

Did Ian move around this much in utero? My heavens, this baby seems to never stop! I wish Ian could feel the baby kick and understand it. But I love how he lifts up my shirt and says, "baby." Lately though he pushes on my belly; like trying to squash it down! LOL!

When people ask me how I'm feeling, lately my answer has been, "I'm so over this pregnancy and ready to be done." It's true. I cannot fathom another 3 months. It's so much harder this time around. I'm absolutely exhausted physically. Bending down to pick up Ian's toys or food he's dropped is a full on workout it seems. And my moods are up and down - poor Nathan. I just don't have a lot of patience and it doesn't take much to tire me out. But it really is all worth it for Baby Due. I just cannot wait to meet him / her!!!

26 weeks, 3 days

28 weeks

Nathan feels baby kick

Anokhi Bock was visiting her in-laws again in MA so I got to bring Ian down to visit with her, Bela and Asha. Turns out Anokhi is also pregnant and due only 4 weeks after me! So it was nice to talk about pregnancy-related things. The second she saw me, she said, "My gosh, I am already so much bigger than you!" Which is funny since I feel like my stomach is huge.

Nathan felt the baby kick on November 18. He has admitted that it kind of freaks him out a little to feel the baby. He says it did last time too. I guess I can see that. But it's so nice that other people can feel these movements too. And I feel like this baby moves around a lot more than Ian did when I  was pregnant with him but it may just be that I notice it more this time. There was one night the baby woke me up in the middle of the night kicking and I couldn't go back to sleep for about 2 hours from all the movements! The baby isn't even born yet and is already keeping me awake in the middle of the night!

Me, Nathan and Ian drove to PA this year to be with Aunt Val and everybody for Thanksgiving. Going on long car trips while pregnant is quite annoying since it's impossible to get comfortable. But we all had a wonderful time and the baby enjoyed the enormous piece of cheese cake I had after my Thanksgiving meal! And Hae finally got to feel the baby kick.

At my November 30 doctor appointment, I was very nervous to step on the scale considering all the Halloween candy I ate as well as the big Thanksgiving dinner. But I was pleasantly surprised when it read 139 pounds. I only gained 3 pounds in 4 weeks! Hurray! Now I'm hoping I continue to gain only 1 pound per week. The baby's heart beat also sounded great at 140. Ian really enjoys listening to it.

My friend, Gail Heneghan had her 3rd baby, Connor, and I got to hold, feed and burp him when he was just over 2 weeks old. It was a little strange holding a baby that little and trying to burp him. Of course, Ian was jealous the whole time I had the baby. He kept tugging on my hand for me to get up and play with him. I hope he's more understanding when his baby brother/sister arrives! But it really was quite amazing to hold little baby Connor. And Melissa Murphy had her 2nd baby, Grace, via c-section just yesterday. I can't wait to meet her and see how Annabelle is as a big sister. All these new babies makes me that much more excited to meet Baby Due!

I am very physically exhausted at this point. Carrying Ian up and down the stairs is a huge chore but he refuses to go down the stairs most of the time. And putting him in his car seat is a work out. I'm going to have to adjust how I do things so I'm not constantly out of breath and feeling like I need to lay down.

20 weeks, 4 days

24 weeks, 2 days