Assume the Position

Well...for a solid week now I have been battling a sore back. I attributed most of the problem to lugging around some extra baby weight and taking 3 kids all over town to 4 or 5 different stores last week in a matter of 3 hours. By the time I got home from that adventure, my back was tired and a little stiff. When I got up the following morning, it had hardened and I knew I was in for a few days of stiffness. There's only so much Tylenol can do and muscle relaxation is not on the top of its list. For the first time yesterday morning I could get up and move around without a 10 minute stretch session just out of bed...which I happily welcomed. I spent most of the day doing the daily things I do, including the endless cleaning up of the playroom and various toys scattered around the house from 3 happily playing children. In doing so, I spent a lot of time on my hands and knees. And by night's end, I realized I had not felt the baby move much that day. What I did notice was that I felt every bit of 9 months pregnant at a mere 24 weeks and if my stomach could have popped last night, it would have. Everything was so tight and hard. When I finally layed down to rest..I was anxiously awaiting all the fun kicks and prods I usually have on the sides of my stomach from this little being inside of me (which we still have no name for!!). And to my surprise, they were no longer on the sides of my stomach. I was getting kicked in the ribs. And, when I woke up this morning there wasn't one twinge of any pain whatsoever. So...in my professional, pregnancy opinion, I think the baby has finally decided he needed more room and chose to turn himself south. And that I am quite thankful for...it has given me some much needed relief. Now, I realize it is still very early and the baby could choose to flip and move however much he wants to between now and whenever he arrives, but I am thankful for the time being that I have some relief of the pain I had. And maybe now he'll have a little more room to wiggle.

A Doctor's Appointment and 24 weeks

Well...this has been an eventful week. 24 weeks is a big one...VIABILITY!!! Yeah!!! That's always good news to hear. If the baby should decide to come early, the chances of survival increases greatly after this week and continue to climb steadily as the pregnancy continues. The baby has gained about 4 ounces in one week and is about 12 inches long...the length of an ear of corn. He is still very skinny and his skin is translucent, but that will all be changing over the next several weeks as he begins to put on the weight and fill in with all that baby fat. He face is fully developed and looks like it will at birth. His eyes are still tightly closed, but they will open soon.

As for the doctor visit, it was very quick and simple...just a measure and a heart rate. My belly is measuring right on track...23 cm and the heart rate has dropped significantly. He was down to 140 beats per minute this week...which is typical for a baby boy. This was the first appointment the girls got to go to. They really enjoyed hearing the heartbeat. And because Kelsey is having a baby girl when we have our baby boy, she asked if she could hear her baby's heart beat. So, the doctor willingly obliged. Kelsey layed on the table and pulled up her shirt. The doctor put some of that cold cream on her belly and put the doppler on her tummy. So cute...but not something we want to see again for a LONG TIME!!! Kelsey got to hear her baby's heartbeat (her own, really) and she was all smiles.

As for me, I am still nursing a sore back. I tweaked it last Wednesday while I was out running errands with all the kids. I'm sure it's just from being tired, carrying extra weight (which I have not gained a lot of!!) and doing some extra lifting to help get Jackie's house ready for her baby. I thought it would be gone by now as it usually only takes a day or 2 to work itself out. But, with no meds to help relax the muscles and the baby laying on my back all the time, I guess it takes a little longer. I just hope it goes away soon. I don't like waking up in the morning and not being able to move how I want, as quickly as I'd like. After an hour or so, it's still there, but it's loose enough to move, so I ignore it and go on. If nothing else...it will go away once this baby arrives...only 112 days left!!

23 Weeks

The baby is getting bigger and bigger...and so am I. I am ready for a record breaking weight gain this week at the Dr.'s office on Friday. I think the most I ever gained in 4 weeks was 8 lbs. with the girls. And, I am sure I am close with this one.

This week the baby is the size of a large mango and weighs a little more than a pound. He is about 11 inches long and he can hear all the different things going on in the outside world. He can hear the dog barking and the vacuum cleaner. He can even hear music and feel me sway with the beat. The baby is squirming all over the place and it is lots of fun to feel him move around.

It's hard to believe that after our appointment this week, we'll start setting up appointments for every 2 weeks. Can't believe we've almost reached that milestone already. This baby is coming faster than I had imagined and there is so much left to do...paint the room, bring up all the baby stuff from the basement and get it cleaned up and ready for number 3, find lots of cute clothes and blankets for our sweet boy to stay warm in, and, of course, prepare the girls for the shock of their life. Either way...it's getting closer and we get more excited with every day!!

Registering for Baby Jackson

I think yesterday was one of the first times it hit me that we are going to have a boy instead of a girl. We spent the afternoon at Babies R Us registering for our little arrival and all I could see was BLUE!!! And, it's been so long since we've had to do this, that there are so many things we forgot about. We forgot how overwhelming it can be to go to a huge store filled with baby stuff and try to figure out what you need. We forgot how long it takes to actually do it...even with a list. We learned that, even with a list, there are still tons of things on the shelves that you see and forget you need. And more times than not, I found myself going back to the same sections I'm used to shopping in...the pink sections!! After realizing I wasn't in the right section, I found my way to the boys' section and was really quite disappointed. The clothes for boys are NOWHERE near as cute as the things for girls. So...I'm going to have to find a way to keep our little one cute as a button some other way.

The fun part of registering was bringing the girls. They really enjoyed using the UPC gun to register for stuff for their new baby brother. After it was all said and done, I had some deleting to do. Anyone who had seen the registry last night might have thought we were having triplets because we registered for 3 cribs!! After the newness wore off, Bo did a fabulous job keeping them entertained while I finished up. And, really, with the limited time we had, there was very little we forgot about. It's still amazing to me all the things newborns need and all the stuff that has changed since we have last done this. At the end of it all, the girls each left with a toy for the baby and we got the Baby's First Year Calendar to hang in the room.